Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse is hoping center Marc Gasol can be more of a focal point on offense for the team as the season progresses, according to a report from Michael Grange of Sportsnet.
Gasol has struggled to find a rhythm through the early stages of this campaign. In fact, the Spanish-born big man hasn't recorded more than 10 points in a game, and he's yet to break the 50 percent mark from the field.
Through his first six game of the season, Gasol has racked up averages of 6.3 points on 31.7 percent shooting (36.8 percent from beyond the arc), 7.5 rebounds, and 2.2 assists in 25.8 minutes per outing.
Those numbers are clearly low, especially for a player of Gasol's caliber.
Gasol, now 34 years of age, logged 34 minutes in Sunday night's 115-105 loss to Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks, scoring just 10 points on 4-of-12 shooting (2-of-6 from downtown). He did, however, bring down 12 rebounds.
Following the loss, Nurse noted that he would like to get the ball to Gasol more as the season progresses.
“Well, [the Bucks] play a style where [Milwaukee centre Robin Lopez] chases the ball a lot so [Gasol] had a lot of opportunities,” Nurse said via Sportsnet. “Both on rolls [to the rim] and short rolls and pops so I think it was more opportunity.”
“But yeah, we want him to be a focal-point offense scorer at some point this year.”
Gasol, who's earning $26.5 million in the final year of his contract, will need to play better. It's not clear what sort of plans Nurse has for the seven-footer, but it's clear that he wants to be more involved.
The Raptors fell to 4-2 on the young season with Sunday's loss. They'll be back in action on Wednesday night, as they're scheduled to serve as hosts to the Sacramento Kings. Tip-off inside Scotiabank Arena is set for 7:30 p.m. ET.
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