Lakers-Jazz: Will Pau Gasol and Jordan Farmar Return In Time For Game Four?

The Lakers have some good news and some bad news.

First the good news: Trevor Ariza may yet return for the Lakers' playoff with the Utah Jazz. 

After getting a negative opinion on his broken foot, followed by a somewhat positive one, former UCLA standout Ariza is seeking a third opinion. The tie-breaker will determine whether or not he sees any action against the Jazz. 
The Lakers are holding their collective breath.

Now the bad news.

It is unknown whether Pau Gasol and Jordan Farmar will return to the team in time for Game 4 in the Lakers Western Conference semifinal series.

What's that?  You didn't know they were gone?

Oh, yes, both were missing in action Friday night.  Actually, Farmar has been missing for some time now — ever since the Western Conference Playoffs began, to be exact.

Gasol disappeared somewhere between the plane flight from Los Angeles and the team bus to Energy Solutions Arena in Salt Lake City.

What's that?  The tall, lanky guy with disheveled hair wearing a Number 16 jersey Friday night?  No, that wasn't the real Pau Gasol.  That was an impostor.

Yes, it's true that Gasol is not your typical, tough in the paint, shove guys around NBA center.  It is just as true that he is a heady, finesse player.

The real Pau Gasol knows you can't stand around glaring at the officials for not giving you a call while the other team moves the ball down the court.  The real Gasol knows that's not fair to his teammates, who have to play four-on-five until he has finished his glaring to no avail.

The real Gasol is also smart enough to know you cannot hold the ball out like you're serving an entree at a fancy restaurant.  The Jazz are like a bunch of hungry day laborers who will snatch that tray right out of your hands and gobble down the grub, tray and all.

No, that must have been some waiter Kobe Bryant found at a Spanish restaurant and brought along to stand in for the missing Lakers center.

Surely the real Gasol has figured out by now that he is playing for the Los Angeles Lakers and no longer for the Memphis Grizzlies.  The Lakers are a team that up until Friday night, when Gasol disappeared, had won six playoff games in a row. 

Even in their dismal playoff appearances over the past two years, the Lakers managed to win a few games, unlike Memphis, which has lost twelve straight playoff contests. The Grizzlies weren't even close to making the postseason this year. 

No, the real Gasol is so intelligent that he has deduced that it is simply no use to groan wildly when you go up for contested shots or stare down the officials when you are certain you should have gotten a call.  The real Gasol knows much better than that.

He understands that this is the NBA, and a professional basketball player in the NBA is expected to play through that.  He has realized by now that the officials will only label you as a whiner.  And Pau Gasol is a winner, not a whiner.

I'm sure Phil Jackson has his scouts out looking for the real Gasol.  He's hard to miss.  Hopefully, they will find him by game time.

As for Jordan Farmar, it's not so much that he is missing but rather that he is lost.  It's as though he were suffering from amnesia.  He's forgotten who he really is.  He has been so mesmerized by the buzz about Chris Paul and Deron Williams that he actually thinks he is an All-Star point guard, instead of the role player that the Lakers sorely miss.

He has forgotten that it's not his job to drive into the lane against two twin towers and try to force a layup that gets easily swatted.  He has forgotten that he is supposed to pass the ball off to the open man.  He has forgotten that he is not Sasha Vujacic. 

Farmar has forgotten that he is not supposed to shoot a three-pointer when there are still 18 seconds left on the shot clock.  He has forgotten that he is supposed to move the ball around.  But most of all, he has forgotten how to play defense.

I don't know what it's going to take — maybe a good therapist or a witch doctor.

Maybe somebody in the locker room needs to dump a bucket of ice-cold water over his head and shout, "Wake up!"

Whatever it takes, the Lakers are on the clock and waiting...waiting...waiting...