This isn’t the story Laker fans are used to. Losing. But this season they are growing accustomed to it. Last night the Lakers played as the away team at Staples Center against their cross-town rival, the Clippers losing 107-102. It was the same old story that we’ve seen as of late. Another game. Another loss. Another fourth quarter of Pau Gasol riding the bench.
There have been three other games where Pau Gasol sat for the entire fourth quarter. He was benched earlier in the season in games against Memphis, Charlotte, and Orlando, but this time, Gasol says, is different, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.
“The guys on the floor were doing a great job cutting down the lead, and we gave ourselves a chance, so it wasn’t that frustrated from that point but it was still hard.”
Despite the constant rumors, the poor play on the court, and the, now, fourth time he has been benched in the fourth quarter, Pau Gasol reported last night that he will not demand a trade from the Los Angeles Lakers. Gasol used the word “radical” when explaining if he would demand a trade.
Kobe Bryant is still Pau’s biggest supporter telling ESPN last night that “We have to figure that out,” Bryant said. “We need to go through him a lot, lot more. A lot, lot more. He needs more touches on the elbow, more touches on the post. He’s not a scorer type of a person, he’ll be the first to admit that, but he can make plays for others down there. He can control the game from down there, and we got to find a way to get him more activated.”
Through it all, Pau Gasol is still a Laker and as far as he is concerned, he will remain a Laker.
