Defending Marc Gasol from Los Angeles Lakers fans
Why critics are right to judge Marc Gasol’s offensive production:
Marc Gasol’s putrid offensive numbers are why he is being criticized. To be fair, his numbers look horrible – 3.8 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game is what nobody imagined when Gasol was signed this offseason.
Nevertheless, Gasol’s impact on the game was never supposed to appear on the box score. Lakers coach Frank Vogel realizes this most basic truth about Gasol.
Frank Vogel on Marc Gasol’s role: “He’s out there to defend, rebound and playmake from the top of the key … We’re not asking him to be a scorer in our offense.”
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) February 7, 2021
They’re just asking him to facilitate and shoot 3’s when they’re there, and he thinks the %’s will come up.
Even still, Gasol needs to score more than 3.7 points per game to be effective. JaVale McGee nearly averaged twice as many points last season. Gasol’s shooting percentage is also at a career-low. It is hard to watch Gasol often miss point-blank layups and lose confidence in his outside shot.
But within the Lakers’ current starting five, Gasol is the fifth scoring option. Swapping him for Markeiff Morris or Montrezl Harrell in the starting five makes little sense given Anthony Davis clearly does not want to play center, nor would it be best for the team to move AD to the 5 full-time because that would put him at greater risk for injury.
Why potential replacements for Marc Gasol will disappoint:
In future games against Philadelphia or Denver, neither Morris nor Harrell nor even AD have the height or size to stand a chance against Joel Embiid or Nikola Jokic in the paint. Nor will Hassan Whiteside, Robin Lopez, or JaVale McGee prove to be the answer.
Whiteside sits the bench for Sacramento. Lopez anchors the Wizards defense, which is dead last in points allowed per game and 28th in defensive rating. McGee lost his spot in the Lakers rotation in the bubble. It is unrealistic for Whiteside, Lopez or McGee to suddenly be all-world defensive players when they have not been throughout their career.
RELATED: 5 centers to bring in to help Marc Gasol
Oh, and by the way, Andre Drummond isn’t coming to the Lakers. The Cavs can get a much stronger trade package for Drummond than what the Lakers can offer, unless if the Lakers want to give up both Kyle Kuzma and Talen Horton-Tucker.
I am not making that trade. Would anyone else be interested?
So who else really would be better than Marc Gasol at this time? Pau Gasol? I want Pau back for one last title run but he was done three years ago (as much as it pains me to say this).
There just is not a strong market for quality centers in the mold of what they had last season. Hindsight is 20/20 when it comes to bringing back JaVale McGee or Dwight Howard. If I recall correctly, McGee and Howard were often criticized last season for their inability to make a shot outside of five feet.
Bringing in Gasol brought new dimensions to their offense. Given the Lakers offense was a major liability at times last season, it makes sense to sign Gasol and Montrezl Harrell to address a lack of scoring or playmaking from the center position (although Harrell is not a center – he just plays the position due to the matchup problems he creates inside).
Moreover, Gasol never was a primary scorer in his career. Even at the height of his powers in Memphis, he never averaged more than 20 points per game. Last season, he averaged 7.5 points per game last season in Toronto.
This season, the scoring decline continues. However, Gasol never was intended to be a primary scoring option on the Lakers, nor was he ever the go-to scorer for any of his teams.
In Memphis, his frontcourt mate Zach Randolph was the go-to scorer. Toronto had Kawhi Leonard and Pascal Siakam as the primary scorers whenever Gasol was there. To expect Gasol to score more than even 10 points per game on such a loaded team is unrealistic.