"How now, Pau?

These have been grueling days for Pau Gasol, sautéed in almost every possible media format, second-guessed for his surprisingly ineffective playoff opener against New Orleans and blamed for everything but the destruction of the Roman Empire.

So what did he offer after several minutes of probing questions from reporters Tuesday? A pleasantry.

"See you guys," he said, smiling. "Have a nice day."

It was a typical reaction from one of the NBA's kindest players, and it came after he publicly reassured many factions (himself, his teammates, Lakers fans) that he wouldn't be a pushover Wednesday in Game 2 of the best-of-seven series.

His eight-point, six-rebound effort in almost 38 minutes of Game 1 was underwhelmed only by his two-for-nine shooting in the Lakers' 109-100 loss to the Hornets.

Gasol now promises to play with "a sense of we're better than you and we're going to beat you.

"Search for contact and create that contact before they create it," he said. "Things like that will get me going."

The Lakers have downplayed Gasol's Game 1 performance, ping-ponging between "He Needed The Ball More Often" and "He Just Had An Off Day."

They definitely want to get him posted up closer to the basket, with fewer touches near the free-throw line.

His showing in Game 1 was perplexing because he had 23 points and 16 rebounds against the Hornets last month and 34 points and 10 rebounds against them in February.

"When he's aggressive, we're a much, much better team," Kobe Bryant said. "All he needs to do is just play like Pau. He didn't play like Pau in Game 1.""