When Pau Gasol was first traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, everyone, including myself, was filled with joy. We now had a big man that could play big, could create his own shot with his repatoir of moves in the post, and could collect rebounds.

Pau Gasol has been great for the Lakers….on the offensive side, and to further that, when he plays against a physical defender, he cant even really do that much. His numbers in this years playoffs have been somewhat decieving. Besides his first game against the Denver Nuggets and his 18 point 10 rebound performance in one game against Utah, he has seemingly not done much in these playoffs. He isnt even converting on his freethrows, which was one of the key components to his game. But enough about offense, compared to most centers in the leauge, Pau’s offense is exceptional and I am not one to complain.

The real problem is Pau Gasol’s defense, or lack there of. Sure Andrew Bynum didnt have the offensive one on one skills that Gasol has, but he made up for that with his superb defense. If you have been watching Gasol this playoff season, you have seen some of the worst defense ever. He doesnt rotate, box out to get rebounds, and by the time he makes it to the other end of the floor the other team has already scored. Ever heard of transition defense Pau? Apparently not.

You might ask yourslef, “Well, why is one person so important? There are still 4 other guys who play good defense…” To answer that, the Lakers play a “help-style” defense. When they guard their man, they are set up so that they are below the plane and in between their man and the man dribbling the ball. This works because if you get beaten off the dribble, you will have someone “ROTATING” over and “HELPING” you out.

Pau Gasol is extremely late on his rotation’s simply because he is lazy. So what is happening? The other offensive man is getting a wide open layup, and if he misses, an offensive rebound occurs because Pau is late coming to the box.

Simply put, the Lakers can score with the best of them…but defense wins championships. The Lakers will only go as far as their defense goes, and right now, the defense is dependent upon Pau Gasol’s willingness to work hard and move his feet.