<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'></p> <div class="bi">Iavaroni Wants Gasol In Mix</div> <div> <span style="font-style: italic">Nov 14</span> - Under the past three coaches (Tony Barone Sr. included), the Griz were an early transition, post-up team. That meant Pau Gasol and Hakim Warrick would run into the lane and set up on the block for an entry pass.</p> </p> "That's a little different from what we've tried to do," Marc Iavaroni said. "We've tried to keep the middle open. After they run to the rim, they get out and we have an open offense so that guards could drive and find (the bigs). There's more spacing.</p> </p> "But in trying to establish the style, we have to make sure we don't forget about Pau. He's an All Star. He's a guy who creates you a lot of points because of his unselfishness and his individual scoring skills." -- <font color="#000000">Memphis Commercial-Appeal</font></p></div></div>
</p> Iavaroni is killing Gasol's game. Yeah, he's playing more passively on defense, but that's because of how frustrated he gets on offense. The Grizzlies were a very successful team when they were running the offense through Pau. Last season they may have finished with the league's worst record, but that was due mainly to the fact that Pau was sidelined for the first half of the season and then they started to tank for Oden, not a lack of talent per say. Their system wasn't necessarily broken, so I don't see why Iavaroni's trying to fix it. They need to trade Pau if they want to win, and vice versa for Pau if he wants to be a focal point again, because this new system is just unproductive for both parties.</p>