Pivot Points: Minus Pau Gasol, Lakers Post Game Stuck In Neutral

For anyone that ever questioned the value of Pau Gasol, the play of the Los Angeles Lakers is making the answer painfully obvious. In his absence, the team has suffered mightily on both ends of the floor. Their latest display against the Houston Rockets highlighted their various post troubles, and made his return paramount to returning to their oiled-machine-like ways. That's not to say that center Andrew Bynum hasn't performed admirably in his absence, but the team's play in the paint has lacked the fluidity that Gasol provides. Although Bynum has risen to the challenge by averaging more than 20 points and 10 rebounds per game, the Lakers are in need of Gasol's knowledge of the triangle offense and superior instincts on defense. While Bynum did have a game-high 17 rebounds against the Rockets, the Lakers were still out-rebounded by the much smaller Houston team. L.A. was one of the best rebounding teams in the league with Gasol. They are average without him. It's not like Pau is a banger ... (link)