KG is to us what Gasol is to the Lakers..

[Who]

Is Kobe Bryant that much more important to the Lakers than Pau Gasol?

[Mike-Dub]

Is Kobe Bryant that much more important to the Lakers than Pau Gasol?

One word answer... Yes... And I know you already knew that too. 

[Edgar]

Is Kobe Bryant that much more important to the Lakers than Pau Gasol?

yes

but you already know that dont you?

 

[Who]

If you took Kobe Bryant off the Lakers, what would their W-L record for a whole season be?

If you took Pau Gasol off the Lakers, what would their W-L be?

[gar]

KG / Pau Please - no comparision

[jdpapa3]

Yea, I think KG's importance to us fits somewhere between Pau and Kobe, and much closer to Kobe. KG and Kobe are top 50 guys of all time (probably 25) and you basically need someone like that to win a championship in this league (except for a few exceptions: Detroit in 04, Seattle w/DJ).

I think the Lakers would be under .500 with no Kobe. Heck, with no Pau they have struggled. They have gotten a few gift games this year that they shouldn't have won. Milwaukee missed 5 ft's in a row with under 2 mins to go and in OT, Kobe banked in a 3 vs Miami at home, and Sacto missed 2 ft's in a row, where one would have sealed it. Other teams have choked against them, while I am one baron Davis gamewinner away from lighting my couch on fire...

[moiso]

You can compare KG and Gasol individually and it's somewhat even, but the Lakers have Bynum and Odom, who can do some of the same things that Gasol does.  We don't have anyone who does the things KG does.

[Jon]

I think KG is more imporant to the Celtics than Gasol is to the Lakers.

I agree.  The OP's positive vibe is dead on; however, the only time that Gasol is even close to being on the same level as KG is when KG is less than 100%. 

In fact, I'd say that KG is to us what Kobe is to the Lakers.  Which is why it shouldn't be such a surprise to people that the Celtics weren't winning when KG is out.  The bigger surprise was that they did as well as they did last year when he was out. 

Also, let's keep in mind that the mindset this year is very much different than two years ago.  Two years ago it was win every game at all costs.  Now that attitude is "stay healthy for the playoffs."  Thus, it shouldn't come as a surprise to people that Paul, Ray, and the gang aren't playing every game like it's their last. 

[scoop]

Is Kobe Bryant that much more important to the Lakers than Pau Gasol?

Yes, but mostly because of the way their roster is constructed - they have a better fallback option for Gasol.

If you took Kobe Bryant off the Lakers, what would their W-L record for a whole season be?

If you took Pau Gasol off the Lakers, what would their W-L be?

Sans Gasol, about 48-50 wins.

Sans Kobe, probably about the same. But they'd be more permeable in the playoffs.

[Fafnir]

Is Kobe Bryant that much more important to the Lakers than Pau Gasol?

Yes, but mostly because of the way their roster is constructed - they have a better fallback option for Gasol.

If you took Kobe Bryant off the Lakers, what would their W-L record for a whole season be?

If you took Pau Gasol off the Lakers, what would their W-L be?

Sans Gasol, about 48-50 wins.

Sans Kobe, probably about the same. But they'd be more permeable in the playoffs.

Their three headed front court is a huge advantage. (really four as you could play Ron Ron at the 4 if you had to)

That's one of the reasons Rasheed is so important to the Celtics ability to match up with the Lakers.

[snively]

Is Kobe Bryant that much more important to the Lakers than Pau Gasol?

Yes, but mostly because of the way their roster is constructed - they have a better fallback option for Gasol.

If you took Kobe Bryant off the Lakers, what would their W-L record for a whole season be?

If you took Pau Gasol off the Lakers, what would their W-L be?

Sans Gasol, about 48-50 wins.

Sans Kobe, probably about the same. But they'd be more permeable in the playoffs.

Correct.  Take out Kobe and they have to start Shannon Brown, Sasha Vujacic or Luke Walton.  Suddenly that backcourt is a major weakness.

Take out Gasol and plug in Lamar Odom, and the starters barely miss a beat.

That doesn't mean Gasol is inferior to Kobe.  In fact, if I had to pick between them, I might take Gasol.  People forget how lukewarm the pre-Gasol Kobe teams were.  Kobe's pedigree still got them on TV, but they never made any real noise in the playoffs.

[BballTim]

That doesn't mean Gasol is inferior to Kobe.  In fact, if I had to pick between them, I might take Gasol.  People forget how lukewarm the pre-Gasol Kobe teams were.  Kobe's pedigree still got them on TV, but they never made any real noise in the playoffs.

  Compared to the Gasol led Grizzlies?

[Witch-King]

That doesn't mean Gasol is inferior to Kobe.  In fact, if I had to pick between them, I might take Gasol.  People forget how lukewarm the pre-Gasol Kobe teams were.  Kobe's pedigree still got them on TV, but they never made any real noise in the playoffs.

  Compared to the Gasol led Grizzlies?

lol, the current Grizz have a better record than the bottom four seeds of the Eastern Conference, same with the Thunder and the Hornets 

[Who]

Is Kobe Bryant that much more important to the Lakers than Pau Gasol?

Yes, but mostly because of the way their roster is constructed - they have a better fallback option for Gasol.

If you took Kobe Bryant off the Lakers, what would their W-L record for a whole season be?

If you took Pau Gasol off the Lakers, what would their W-L be?

Sans Gasol, about 48-50 wins.

Sans Kobe, probably about the same. But they'd be more permeable in the playoffs.

Correct.  Take out Kobe and they have to start Shannon Brown, Sasha Vujacic or Luke Walton.  Suddenly that backcourt is a major weakness.

Take out Gasol and plug in Lamar Odom, and the starters barely miss a beat.

That doesn't mean Gasol is inferior to Kobe.  In fact, if I had to pick between them, I might take Gasol.  People forget how lukewarm the pre-Gasol Kobe teams were.  Kobe's pedigree still got them on TV, but they never made any real noise in the playoffs.

I thought that first of all too but then I thought -- Lamar Odom is playing 31.8 minutes a night already. So, he gets what, an extra five minutes? He's already playing big minutes regardless of Gasol's presence. No, most of those minutes are going to go elsewhere ...

Then in comes Josh Powell + DJ Mbenga to play big minutes (20-25mpg) off the bench in place of Odom.

I'm not sure that's much better than Vujacic starting and Shannon Brown playing the backup SG role.

[Who]

If you took Kobe Bryant off the Lakers, what would their W-L record for a whole season be?

If you took Pau Gasol off the Lakers, what would their W-L be?

The Lakers were playing at a 54-55 win pace with Bynum prior to acquiring Pau Gasol two years ago and were playing at a 53 win pace without Gasol this season. I think that's a fairly accurate indication of their talent level. I would consider them an outside contender (Atlanta) with that squad, but since the West is so weak at the top that means they'd still be right there.

Pau Gasol led Memphis to 45-50 wins for three straight years earlier in the decade. The next best players on those teams were (1) James Posey (2) Shane Battier (3) Mike Miller (4) Jason Williams and (5) Lorenzon Wright/Earl Watson. And on the final one of those teams it was an aging (1) Damon Stoudamire (2) Eddie Jones (3) Bobby Jackson and Batter/Miller.

I think the current Lakers team has a lot more help at the top end of their roster with Andrew Bynum, Lamar Odom and Ron Artest. By being able to keep their three man big man rotation and Artest, the Lakers should be able to remain an elite defensive team and an above average rebounding team. There are also a lot more touches to go around offensively (Kobe takes 22 shots versus 12/10 for Gasol/Bynum) so Bynum, Gasol and Odom will all be more engaged there. The Triangle offense does an excellent job of hiding flawed players like a Vujacic. With Gasol now the center of the offense, the ball movement continues to improve.

I think the Pau Gasol led team wins at least 55 games. When it comes to the postseason I think they'd be like the 1994 Bulls, a very good team but clearly not elite. Since, the rest of the West is the same, they'd be right in the mix but equal to most of the other semi-contenders (Dallas, Denver).

In the playoffs, I think the inside-outside threat of Kobe + Bynum is better than the inside-inside game of Gasol + Bynum. In the regular season, I think it's almost identical and possibly a marginal advantage for Gasol's team.

In the end, I'm not convinced there's a huge deal of separation between Kobe Bryant's and Pau Gasol's importance to the Lakers. They look to be pretty close in impact to me.