Did Kobe just called Gasol soft?

[apc]

I found this quote from Kobe on the Lakers Blog:
"When I'm out there being aggressive and doing my thing, he needs to follow suit and just be just as aggressive which is hard for him because it's kind of against his nature. But I think tonight was a good step," Bryant said.

[indeedproceed]

actually the real quote is was more hilarious than that.

Turns out Bryant beat him to the punch, approaching Gasol in private sometime between the Celtics loss and the Lakers' 114-106 overtime win over the Houston Rockets on Tuesday to implore the Lakers big man to play like him and shoot more.

"When I'm out there being aggressive and doing my thing, he needs to follow suit and just be just as aggressive which is hard for him because it's kind of against his nature. But I think tonight was a good step," Bryant said.

"Even when he was in Memphis and he was the go-to guy, he was always very nice. Very white swan. I need him to be black swan."

[Fafnir]

Wow, so many strange photoshops come to mind. Come on internet make it happen.

[Who]

Not the first time Kobe has called Gasol soft.

[wdleehi]

Can someone help me, but is there a swan that is not a swan? 



It would make more sense if he wanted him to play like an eagle, or a vulture.  At this point, an angry ostrich would be an improvement.

[Roy H.]

Not the first time Kobe has called Gasol soft.

Which generally coincides with Gasol calling Kobe a ball hog.

The thing is, Pau went a long way toward dispelling the "soft" rumors last year in the playoffs, when he dominated against everyone (including the Celtics). 

Also, I think there's a difference between "soft" and "not aggressive".  Kobe is the type of guy who will "aggressively" take shots until he "shoots the team out of the game", as his coach likes to say.  Gasol, on the other hand, plays a more controlled game, and rarely has terrible shooting nights.

[fairweatherfan]

Can someone help me, but is there a swan that is not a swan? 



It would make more sense if he wanted him to play like an eagle, or a vulture.  At this point, an angry ostrich would be an improvement.

[Edgar]

Its not actually  a swan

[indeedproceed]

[Roy H.]

I thought he was the white one?

[apc]

[GreenFaith1819]

Not the first time Kobe has called Gasol soft.

Which generally coincides with Gasol calling Kobe a ball hog.

The thing is, Pau went a long way toward dispelling the "soft" rumors last year in the playoffs, when he dominated against everyone (including the Celtics). 

Also, I think there's a difference between "soft" and "not aggressive".  Kobe is the type of guy who will "aggressively" take shots until he "shoots the team out of the game", as his coach likes to say.  Gasol, on the other hand, plays a more controlled game, and rarely has terrible shooting nights.

I agree (TP).

Gasol, to me, did in fact dispel these "Soft" rumors during his finals play.

It is funny to me how Kobe can craftily deflect criticisms away from his own shortcomings (which are certainly there and evident), to his teammates.

Kobe - if you hadn't jacked up those shots trying to show up Shaq, and instead ran the offense through Gasol - the game would probably have been closer, but still an LA loss.

Gasol can turn into Bruce Banner for all I care, but he is not going to affect future Celtics-Lakers contests anymore, no matter how agressive he may play - because we have ourKG (and Perk), back.

Even as I take off my Green-tinted glasses for a sec, I just don't see LA beating Boston in a series this time, provided we stay healthy.

LA can make all the adjustments they want, whether they be personnel-wise or psychological. Because we have a healthy KG (and Perk) now, Gasol's production, even if it is more than what he showed us last sunday, will not be enough.

[Tayo]

It isn't surprising to see that Kobe Bryant is asking more of his teammates after Sunday's game seeing as it seemed like Bryant carried the Los Angeles Lakers offensively. The Lakers big 3, consisting of Bryant, Pau Gasol and then either Lamar Odom or Ron Artest collectively would have not matched-up well against the Celtics' Big 3 were it not for Kobe Bryant, who speaking of which looked like he was on a different team out there.

41 points (16-29 fgs), 3 of 5 from beyond the arc, 6 of 7 from the line but zero assists tells me that the Lakers probably weren't working well as a team on the offensive side of the basketball court.

Though Paul Pierce had 32 points and Ray Allen scored 21 the Boston Celtics may still need to upgrade their team/help defense if the Los Angeles Lakers' offense continues to run through Kobe  despite the fact that they did well gaurding the rest of the Lakers in that game. If Kobe Bryant plays that well by himself and still loses I guess he can blame his teammates somewhat... lols.

[barefacedmonk]

[fairweatherfan]

What's up with all this Laker discontent anyway?  Don't they know they're #1 in the Hollinger rankings?