Winning Game 5 at Staples Center and forcing the NBA Finals to finish in Boston might yet wind up being a step forward for the Lakers.
Consider what Pau Gasol said Thursday: "I'm definitely going to keep these feelings, because it wasn't pleasant to see all the Boston fans go crazy on us after the game and hitting the bus and all that crap. It's just something I'm going to keep in mind all year long until we get there again."
Gasol spent four-plus post-trade months being celebrated on the shoulders of Lakers fans before things went sour in the two weeks of the NBA Finals. He has heard whispers before that he is a soft player, but he was firm Thursday in declaring that the two weeks against Boston don't represent all that the Lakers were.
"I don't think a soft team could get to the Finals, period,"
Gasol said. "I think that's a good way to put it. And if somebody thinks otherwise, I think you should check yourself, because it's a fact."
Gasol said he doesn't pay much attention to outside commentary.
"You play a good game and you're the king of the world,"
he said. "You don't play a good game, then all of a sudden you're soft and you didn't play well and it's your fault."
Gasol, like Kobe Bryant, will have a taxing summer by following the Lakers' long playoff run with training for the Olympics. Despite limited down time because of the Spanish national team's schedule, Gasol said he will work with his trainer to add upper-body strength — in addition to rehabilitating lingering ankle and back problems.
Gasol also said if the Lakers had home-court advantage against Boston, the whole tenor of the series would have been different.
"At home, you could tell we played more physical and we dominated more,"
he said. "It wasn't a factor even. Nobody mentioned it."
CONTRACT UPDATES
Power forward Ronny Turiaf and shooting guard Sasha Vujacic are restricted free agents, and the Lakers are expected to wait and see what those players can attract before deciding whether to match offers.
Turiaf acknowledged there is "definitely a logjam"
at his position next season. He is more certain about wanting to return than the budget-conscious Lakers are about bringing him back.
"Until the Lakers tell me that they don't want me to be part of the organization, then that's when I'm going to start thinking about going somewhere else,"
Turiaf said.
Vujacic is more likely to return but said Thursday: "It's going to be the team that's going to need me and want me the most."
Small forward Trevor Ariza isn't opting out of the last year of his contract ($3.1 million) and would like to add 10 pounds this summer while improving his ball-handling and shooting. Center Chris Mihm won't opt out of his final year ($2.5 million) and said about his sore foot's improvement the past month: "I really started to find my old explosion and the old style I played with two years ago."
