Gasol Struggling: The Los Angeles Lakers have dropped two games in a row and with under 20 games left till the postseason the defending champs are looking a little bit vulnerable. Everyone is struggling to a certain extent, but the play of Pau Gasol in particular has drawn some criticism from the always quote worthy Phil Jackson.
"I really don't like to talk about that aspect of a person's game ... other than the fact that he's been weak and sickly," coach Phil Jackson admitted to ESPNLosAngeles.com's David McMenamin prior to the team's 15-point loss to the Charlotte Bobcats. Jackson later went on to explain that his comments were based mainly on his star power forward battling a cold.
Whether it was tongue in cheek or not though, the Lakers undoubtedly need better play from Gasol if they're going to repeat as champions. His production has been noticeably down as of late and it's hard not to wonder if fatigue is one of the main culprits.
Gasol has played a lot of basketball over the past year, winning a championship with the Lakers last year only to participate in international play for his country shortly after. He may be wearing down, which is why Phil Jackson plans to get him some rest over the final stretch even though they're in the mix for home court throughout the playoffs.
The Lakers may not have been able to beat the Bobcats last night even with Gasol at his best though. After all, they're 3-7 against the Bobcats under Phil Jackson. The 'Cats have always had their number and frankly last night no Laker other Jordan Farmar off the bench played particularly well. Farmar had 12 points on 4-6 shooting from the field, while the Lakers as a whole shot 36% from the field and 12% from deep. They also committed 20 turnovers. It has their captain and leader ready to send a message to them.
"We just looked flat," Bryant acknowledged. "I'll probably say something."
If it's any consolation, the Cavaliers are 1-3 against Charlotte this season. MJ's group seems to really bring it when going against the top teams in the league. We'll see if their success can continue in the postseason, right now Cleveland has to be hoping they don't get that eighth seed. Luckily for the Lakers there's very little chance they'll be bumping into the team they just can't seem to beat in the Finals.
Laker Related: In an interview with Dan Patrick on the Dan Patrick Show Kobe spoke on his future with the Lakers and whether or not he would leave the only franchise he's ever played for just to take on a new challenge:
"No, no, no," Kobe responded adamantly. "In this situation the challenge is winning championships. (Winning six) has nothing to do with it. For me it's about winning as many as you can. I've been fortunate enough to win four and every year it's a new challenge to try to win that one."
Stuckey Stable: For those who missed it last night, there was a very scary situation involving Detroit Pistons point guard Rodney Stuckey. During a timeout in a game against the Cleveland Cavaliers he made his way to the bench, appearing to be fine, before collapsing in the arms of a trainer. Stuckey was carted off the court immediately and taken to the hospital after reportedly having a seizure. According to Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press Stuckey is in stable condition but was kept in the hospital overnight for precautionary reasons.
After the game the Detroit Pistons and Cleveland Cavaliers huddled together and said a prayer for Stuckey, it was a great sign of sportsmanship and something we hopefully see more often.
Celtic Selfishness: We've all heard of Celtic Pride, which was restored two years ago when the franchise won its first championship in over 20 years. Now with the team struggling though and failing to live up to expectations going into the postseason they're may be a little bit of Celtic selfishness holding them back. Rajon Rondo explained during an interview with Dale and Holley on WEEI in Boston while also touching on a couple other different subjects:
On his comments about Celtics playing with agendas:
"Everyone wants to do it for themselves, but we need to do it for the team. At times, including myself, guys wanted to do it for the team themselves. Everyone wanted to do it ourselves. To sort of explain it, say we are down seven, I may try to take a guy one-on-one myself."
On thoughts about losing to the New Jersey Nets:
"It can't get any lower than this at this point. We lost to the best team in the league the night before and to follow it up, we lost to the worst team in the league. We gave the team confidence. They were more aggressive. We let our guard down. It was hard to turn those guys off once they got going. We can only get better and go up from there. We just try to get over it as quick as possible."
On trash talking:
"I try to just do my job. I always try to have an even keel on the court – never too high, never too low. At times you get into it with guys because of the competition level. I try to be the same for my teammates night in and night out. I don't think I play as well when I go get frustrated and get into it with someone else. Because I am the point guard, I can't go after a guy trying to score buckets on him. You still need to lead the team and lead the show and get guys involved."
On what he and the team do to keep him fresh:
"I am able to adjust now and absorb those hits that I am taking instead of the past couple years when I get hit and I am all over the floor. This year, that is a key for me to have longevity in my career, not to hit the floor as much. As a young player, you just want to play as much as possible to help the team. But, the last couple of games playing 45-46+ minutes, I haven't had my legs in the fourth quarter. I haven't been shooting well in the fourth because of fatigue. My floaters are a little short. My jumpshot's short. In order to have that presence in the fourth quarter, I need to have my legs… That (bringing in Nate Robinson) is definitely going to knock down minutes of mine, which is good for the team and will definitely help us in the playoffs. If we go deep in the playoffs, I don't have to play 40-45 minutes. A guy like Nate can definitely come in and pick up the tempo."
And on what stats he thinks are important for him:
"Assist-turnover ratio is the most important stat for me. Taking care of the ball and not giving up the ball. It's always been like that. That's the stat I always looked at that in my career and college and high school as well."
Click here to listen to the interview in its entirety!
Terry's Surgery Successful: DALLAS-Mavericks guard Jason Terry underwent surgery today to repair facial injuries sustained during Wednesday night's game vs. Minnesota. The surgery was performed by Dr. Neil Williams in Dallas. He is expected to make a full recovery and return to basketball activities in 10-14 days.
Scouting Saturday: There are nine games going on in the association tonight, let's take a deeper look into the action:
Golden State Warriors @ Charlotte Bobcats: Trying to get back to .500 the Charlotte Bobcats welcome in the Golden State Warriors, their trading partners from earlier in the year. Stephen Jackson will certainly be motivated to take it to his old squad while also keeping his team in the playoff hunt. The Warriors have lost three straight, but their rookie Stephen Curry is giving them hope for the future.
Atlanta Hawks @ Miami HEAT: As great as the Atlanta Hawks have become over the last couple of years, they do not like playing in Miami to say the least. The Hawks have dropped 25 of their last 29 in Miami, but are currently rolling as they've won four-straight. Atlanta's scored at least 106 in their past four wins, while Miami's done the same in their last two. It should be a high scoring affair tonight.
New Jersey Nets @ New York Knicks: There's must-watch basketball and then there's the New Jersey Nets taking on the New York Knicks. Neither of these teams care about this season, evident by their combined 27 wins. To the Knicks credit though, 21 of those wins belong to them. Getting number 22 shouldn't be tough against the Nets that are on the verge of making more negative history.
Dallas Mavericks @ Chicago Bulls: Even without Jason Terry the Dallas Mavericks continue to dominate. They've won 10 in a row while the Bulls are struggling, dropping their last three. Rookie Roddy Beaubois had a career-high 22 points in last night's win against Sacramento, further showcasing Dallas' incredible depth. They've got some guys battling some injuries right now, but they're still very tough to beat.
Houston Rockets @ Minnesota Timberwolves: The Houston Rockets are struggling with some injury issues of their own right now, which is a major reason why they've gone 3-7 in their last 10. The addition of Kevin Martin hasn't helped cancel out the fact that Kyle Lowry and Trevor Ariza can't play and won't until next week. Minnesota has won just one of their last 10 games and will be playing without Al Jefferson, who is suspended after getting a DUI.
San Antonio Spurs @ Memphis Grizzlies: There's nothing like back-to-back games against the Chris Paulless New Orleans Hornets to end a slump. The San Antonio Spurs have won three in a row and travel to Memphis, where the Grizzlies just can't seem to win. Quickly falling back down towards .500, the Grizzlies haven't won in Memphis since February 1st.
Cleveland Cavaliers @ Milwaukee Bucks: Benefitting significantly from an easy schedule the Bucks have been on fire as of late. They're back in the playoff picture and tonight they have a chance to prove themselves against a truly elite team in the Cleveland Cavaliers to see how they fare. Brandon Jennings is down on his offense right now, but his coaching staff and teammates are trying to get his confidence back up.
Indiana Pacers @ Phoenix Suns: Believe it or not the Phoenix Suns are actually putting a big emphasis on defense, which has helped them go 7-3 in their last 10. Tonight they face a team that struggles offensively, scoring just 99 points a game. It's been another disappointing season for the Pacers and it won't get much better tonight against a team fighting for playoff positioning.
Los Angeles Clippers @ Utah Jazz: This is a rematch of a game played just five days ago when the Los Angeles Clippers dropped the Utah Jazz 108-104. In that game Eric Gordon went off in the fourth, scoring 13 of his 24 points. The Jazz will have to key in on him and hope that their home crowd can help lead to a different result. On the year they're 24-8 at home while the Clippers are 7-23 on the road.
NBA Chat: Coming up shortly HOOPSWORLD's Susan Bible will be holding her weekly chat. She covers the Oklahoma City Thunder and NBA as a whole, you can get your questions into her here. Also, HOOPSWORLD is excited to have the premier draft analyst joining the chat schedule next week. Draftexpress.com's Jonathan Givony will be hosting his first chat coming up on Tuesday, you can get your questions into him early here.
