This season, he raised his averages to 9.2 points, 2.1 assists, 5.1 rebounds, and 1.7 steals per game. His PER has improved from 15.83 to 17.66 and now ranks 10th among small forwards in pure point rating.
This combination should be the Lakers starting lineup. It is their strongest unit producing +70 and 72.7 percent winning percentage in the 82games.com rating vs. the +57 and 48.0 percent winning percentage for their current starting lineup.
But why Jackson in not putting this combination on floor to start the games? Because he feels this unit is just a minor upgrade from the lineup that was routed by the Celtics in the NBA Finals last season. Admittedly, Ariza in place of Radmanovic is a minor upgrade.
So he's really is trying to get Gasol and Bynum play together. He's very strategic-minded. If he succeed, the Twin Tower of Gasol and Bynum would be very formidable, indeed.
Jackson is trying to develop Bynum to be a defensive-minded center while Gasol, an unstoppable offensive power forward. But the problem is, the two are not getting it yet. They are taking away scoring opportunities from each other.
Pau Gasol's scoring dipped from 18.8 points per game on 58.9 percent shooting last season as a Laker to 17.6 points at 54.8 percent shooting this season. Andrew Bynum's 13.1 points on 63.6 percent shooting last year also went south with 12.6 points on 53.7 percent shooting this season.
In fairness to Gasol and Bynum, they are very good at center position. They combined to make the Lakers the third-best in that position in terms of PER difference. The best in that category is Dwight Howard's Magic. No wonder they couldn't beat Orlando.
The second-best in that category is Cleveland. And they would be playing them tonight. Watch their performance.
Gasol ranked sixth among power forwards in the league in efficiency rating at 21.77 PER. But he only plays around 50 percent of the time at that position, the other half being played by Odom. Half of the time, Gasol is playing center, which is where he's more effective.
He produces +162 net points in the 82games.com rating with net48 of 12.7 with 75 win% as a center. As a power forward, he's only +76 with net48 of just 5.5 and 50 win percentage.
In contrast, Odom, playing at power forward, is +303 with net48 of 16.5 and 85 win percentage. Andrew Bynum is +183 with net48 of 8.2 and 66 win percentage.
These stats are quite complicated but it clearly shows that Odom and Gasol should be given more playing time at their natural position—that is at power forward and at center, respectively.
I'm not suggesting that Gasol and Bynum split the 48 minutes available playing time for one position. They are both too good to be playing just 24 minutes each. Sure, play Pau some minutes at forward but reduce it a bit to give more time for Lamar to be more effective.
This is it for now. Again, feel free to comment and suggest other awards for their other worthy performances.
Note: This article originally appeared in my blogspot.
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