Toughness. The ingredient the Lakers lacked, and the one the Celtics had. It was one of the main problems for the Lakers in their 2008 NBA Finals defeat. All year, if the Lakers were to improve, it would start with getting tougher, both mentally and physically.
At the center of the “softness” criticism was Laker forward Pau Gasol. After being outworked and simply outplayed by Kevin Garnett in the 2008 Finals, he shouldered much of the blame for the Celtics interior dominance.
At the start of the playoffs, Kobe Bryant was telling people that his team was tougher. Just before this year’s Finals against the Orlando Magic, Kobe again declared his team is now tougher, pointing out their series with Utah, Houston, and Denver were physical matchups.
Through the first three games of the Finals, the Lakers showed no more toughness than they did last year. No toughness was needed in game 1, as Kobe Bryant dominated from the floor and the Lakers won convincingly.
Game 2 seemed more like escape than victory for Los Angeles as Magic rookie shooting guard Courtney Lee missed two layups with under a minute remaining in regulation.
And in game 3, the Lakers bowed to the Magic’s record shooting night, and were crippled by a poor all-around performance by Kobe Bryant.
Game 4 started similar to game 3 with the Magic in the lead most of the game. But the Lakers showed poise and determination to come back and take several leads throughout the fourth quarter.
After a clutch 3 point shot by Derek Fisher tied the game with seconds remaining, the game went into overtime, and the Lakers were given new life and a chance to put a stranglehold on the series.
Gasol, who played a decent game, was in a bit of foul trouble having 4 fouls in the 4th quarter and into the OT.
Gasol is a skilled player. You know what you are going to get from him statistically. He has a fundamentally sound offensive game and is a decent defender. But he is not a guy who will bang with the brutes in the paint and be aggressive.
With the Magic’s small roster, Gasol is usually guarded by the smaller and lesser sized Rashard Lewis. Dwight Howard rarely guards Pau and vice versa.
Pau frequently complains about each and every foul call, and flops and wails his body in hopes of getting every call to go his way. Players like Kevin Garnett and Dwight Howard do not flail and flop after every play that involves heavy contact.
At the end of the overtime session, Gasol was jumping up for a meaningless dunk and was shoved in the back by Orlando guard Mikael Pietrus, made the dunk and was fouled. Then, immediately after, Gasol goes after Pietrus and talks trash and tries to act tough.
Getting in someone’s face and talking trash over a meaningless dunk in game that is already over is not being tough. It is just embarrassing. When Gasol dunks and gets a basket and a foul in someone’s face for the lead I will be impressed, but not when your basket just prolongs the inevitable victory.
While Pau’s play in this year’s playoffs has been solid. He is not any tougher than he has ever been. Winning does not make you tougher. Pau must continue to show the world he can go toe-to-toe with guys like Dwight Howard, and quit complaining often, if he is to become tough.