The crack in the relationship of LA Lakers forward Pau Gasol and coach Mike D'Antoni has become bigger as the two-time NBA champion recenlty expressed disappointment on his reduced role in the team's offense. His coach, however, has a simple reply to that --'play harder.'
"The biggest thing is, everybody, to a man, we've just got to play harder and worry about things less," D'Antoni told ESPN. com before the team faced the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday night.
Asked to comment on Gasol's demand to be played more in the post, D'Antoni said: "That's one thing. If they just don't want to do it that way, then you have to accept it or not. But there's no reason to not play hard."
The former bench tactician of the Knicks and Suns said that in the Lakers system, the big men are encouraged to roll hard or get the ball inside in every play. He further stressed that the more energy that the Lakers big men bring to the game, the more likely they'll get the ball.
In Gasol's case, D'Antoni said the Lakers veteran prefers to pop out for a jump shot instead of rolling to the hopp. "I guess that's what he wants to do," D'Antoni said. "He does well doing it, but he knows our preference is to dive and post up."
Considered as being an innovator on offense, D'Antoni offered an advice to his disgruntled player. "Basketball has changed, and the way the game is played has changed," D'Antoni said. "We have a system that works and most of the time we run that system. Again, we spend 90 percent of the time talking about offense when our problem is defense and our problem is toughness, and that's where we got to get to. Sometimes we don't play hard enough, and if we get that, you know what? The other stuff works out. It's amazing how it works out."
Gasol, a two-time champion with the Lakers, is having one of the worst seasons of his career with 14.4 points a game on 41.7 percent field goal shooting.
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