Gasol: The underrated superstar

[ambchang]

We keep hearing about it, that Gasol is a soft Euro who can't play in the tough and mean paint of the NBA, that he failed to win any playoff games before being shipped to the Lakers. While all of that may be partially true, there is no denying that he was largely responsible for winning the championships in 09 and 10.

He led the Lakers in WS, OWS AND DWS in the regular season in 09 and 10, and playoffs in 10.

He had the highest offensive ratings of all Lakers with 126 in 09 regular season AND 117 in the playoffs, the leading the team in offensive ratings again in 10 in both regular season AND playoffs (120 and 126, respectively), beating the 2nd best Laker by quite a margin in all four instances. To those who knows, it's no surprise that a very smart Phil Jackson utilized Gasol beautifully in the post to run the Lakers offense.

To sum it up, Gasol played a huge part, if not a dominant part, in the Lakers last two championships.

Kudos to this underrated superstar.

[Killakobe81]

Pau is highly skilled, a big part of 3 Finals appearances ...

But you lost me @ "superstar" ...

If that is the case, Chris Bosh is a borderline superstar tbh ...

All star? Absolutely but superstar?

[ambchang]

A player who can lead his team to back to back championship, including 3 straight finals appearances, is a superstar.

[hooperflash]

I thought he was overrated, tbh.

[hater]

he was as much anchor to that team as Duncan is to this spurs.

ppl upstairs call Duncan the real MVP not Parker, I disagree but they got a point. so calling Gasol the MVP in 09,10 is not crazy at all

[spurraider21]

Gasol was at his best when he was Center and the lakers allowed him to use his awesome post game. No shock his play declined as bynums role increased and pushed pau further from the basket

[Ginobilly]

he was as much anchor to that team as Duncan is to this spurs.

ppl upstairs call Duncan the real MVP not Parker, I disagree but they got a point. so calling Gasol the MVP in 09,10 is not crazy at all

+1
Gasol was the defensive anchor and post presence of those lakers teams. Very much like Duncan did in 99,03,05,07. Sure Kobe won finals mvp because he was chucking the ball more which led to averaging 7,8 more points than Gasol. Kobe,Bynum and Odom were his role players. Anybody who understands real basketball IQ and understanding of the game will tell you Gasol was the real MVP of those teams.

[Killakobe81]

Defensive anchor? In his prime PAu was a great rebounder and good at using his length to alter shots but defensive anchor? LOL Great post player still shows flashes of that ...but he did not lead anything.

Nice try though Im not buying this troll talk ... but Im bored ...

[Lincoln]

Defensive anchor? In his prime PAu was a great rebounder and good at using his length to alter shots but defensive anchor? LOL Great post player still shows flashes of that ...but he did not lead anything.

Nice try though Im not buying this troll talk ... but Im bored ...

Do you deny the lakers got extreme ref help in the 4th quarter of game 7 in the 2010 finals

[Killakobe81]

Do you deny the lakers got extreme ref help in the 4th quarter of game 7 in the 2010 finals

I dont believe in ref help ... only time I even thought it came in to play ...was when you guys got screwed in 2005. But I'll be honest I have never watched it again from start to finish. I only watch the end and the Artest press conference.

[Ginobilly]

Gasol was at his best when he was Center and the lakers allowed him to use his awesome post game. No shock his play declined as bynums role increased and pushed pau further from the basket

+10000000000000000000000000000000000000

The demise of the Lakers happened when they took Pau away from center and made him a powerfoward to Bynum being main offensive option in the post. why they went that way?? I have no idea! Lakers were successful when Bynum played a more limited role in the post offense.

if Phil ever gets ahold of the Lakers again, watch out!
Phil could make dwight and gasol work.
He will tell Howard to stfu and play a Noah/varejao/rodman type of role. Move Gasol back to the 5. make steve nash play a john paxon/steve kerr type of role(off the bench) tell kobe to stop chucking and play defense. Lobby to get a younger point, like a Jose Calderon(he will get a shit load of open 3 playing with dwight,gasol, and kobe if they played right.) Possibly challenge and beat the heat, because I don't think anybody is beating them this year unless Lebron or wade suffer season ending injuries.

[Ginobilly]

Defensive anchor? In his prime PAu was a great rebounder and good at using his length to alter shots but defensive anchor? LOL Great post player still shows flashes of that ...but he did not lead anything.

Nice try though Im not buying this troll talk ... but Im bored ...

yeah! He was like their only true reliable option on both ends of the floor in 09/10. Bynum played a poor man's David Robinson(and that's stretching it) 03 role in those 09/10 tittle teams. gasol was the duncan and kobe was nothing more a chuck happy version of parker/ginobili when he won those finals mvps which should of gone to gasol.

[ambchang]

Gasol actually led the Lakers in defensive win share in 09 and 10 regular season and playoffs.

It may be a stretch to call him the defensive anchor as he wasn't that much better than the next Laker in DWS, and he never led the Lakers in defensive rating, but he was most definitely a very important part of the Lakers defense.

As for Lincoln's comment, I am surprised the 10 Game 7 didn't get as much, or even more press, than 02 Game 6. The stakes were higher, the calls were just as blatant, and communication channels have increased with twitter, smart phones and the such. That game, along with 02 Game 6, and 00 Game 7, were hilarious in terms of FTA disparity between the two teams, and in all three instances, they were Laker elimination games, with Lakers coming back in the 4th quarter, with most of the FTA disparity coming in the fourth. People complain about the 07 Spurs-Suns series, but you do not see FTA disparity anywhere close to those three Laker games, and it was clear as the sun that Suns did break a rule that has been in place for a decade, and consistently enforced through the years.

The only other team that has ever enjoyed that level of FT disparity in an important playoff game was the Heat in 06, and that was more a Stern finger to Cuban than favouring the Heat.

I continue to watch the game, because I appreciate the absolutely breath-taking athletic ability of the players, but I have given up about caring about the outcome of the game a long time ago.

[HI-FI]

+1
Gasol was the defensive anchor and post presence of those lakers teams. Very much like Duncan did in 99,03,05,07. Sure Kobe won finals mvp because he was chucking the ball more which led to averaging 7,8 more points than Gasol. Kobe,Bynum and Odom were his role players. Anybody who understands real basketball IQ and understanding of the game will tell you Gasol was the real MVP of those teams.

spot on. prime Shaq was like prime Duncan, they were the reason those teams were so dominant (well Stern deserves honorable MVP vote for 2002). Duncan was a little more like Gasol in 2007, with Parker getting the Kobe-esque Finals MVP. I understand why both him and Kobe received their MVPs, but neither would even be there without their big men still doing the dirty work and being the anchor.

everyone, outside of Kobe's cult, knows that Gasol was the reason they went to the finals 3 times in a row upon his arrival. That's an insane catalyst. But unfortunately Laker fans have been suffering from a MJ-penis envy since the 90s, so they'd rather let their poor man's imitation of him get all the hype.

amchang is pretty ruthless with his truth bombs. nigga ventures down here once in awhile to point out the lies and myths, and does some great work in the process.

[Killakobe81]

The fail in this thread is comical, Reggie and Kevin Harlan pretty much trolled you guys last night.

I could almost predict that amb or someone else would post this stuff after the praise they showered on Kobe last night.

Please proceed ... underrate Kobe overrate Pau at least you are balancing out Kobe fanbois that do the opposite ...

[DMC]

Que Dale: Pau never won a playoff game before Kobe took him in.

[DMC]

Pau's strength was his ability to catch and finish at the rim without bringing the ball down. Few can do that, fewer can do it well, and almost none can do it as well as he did.

[Floyd Pacquiao]

^ what happened to your monkey ball avatar

[LkrFan]

We keep hearing about it, that Gasol is a soft Euro who can't play in the tough and mean paint of the NBA, that he failed to win any playoff games before being shipped to the Lakers. While all of that may be partially true, there is no denying that he was largely responsible for winning the championships in 09 and 10.

He led the Lakers in WS, OWS AND DWS in the regular season in 09 and 10, and playoffs in 10.

He had the highest offensive ratings of all Lakers with 126 in 09 regular season AND 117 in the playoffs, the leading the team in offensive ratings again in 10 in both regular season AND playoffs (120 and 126, respectively), beating the 2nd best Laker by quite a margin in all four instances. To those who knows, it's no surprise that a very smart Phil Jackson utilized Gasol beautifully in the post to run the Lakers offense.

To sum it up, Gasol played a huge part, if not a dominant part, in the Lakers last two championships.

Kudos to this underrated superstar.
I'm curious. What were your thoughts of him when he was 0-12 in the playoffs? :downspin:

[fevertrees]

Should have his jersey retired if he gets ring #3 with the Lakers

[Killakobe81]

Pau's strength was his ability to catch and finish at the rim without bringing the ball down. Few can do that, fewer can do it well, and almost none can do it as well as he did.

Cant deny he does do that better than anyone since maybe Kevin McHale and maybe even better ...great point. Just curious do you coach or play hoops? That is something coaches and smart players notice. IF Pau had MChales offensive aggressiveness, Pau woulda been a borderline superstar ...

[hater]

I'm curious. What were your thoughts of him when he was 0-12 in the playoffs? :downspin:

he was on a shitty team. IN LA he was surrounded with great role players in Odom, Bynum, Kobe.

[LkrFan]

he was on a shitty team. IN LA he was surrounded with great role players in Odom, Bynum, Kobe.
:lol

[DMC]

Cant deny he does do that better than anyone since maybe Kevin McHale and maybe even better ...great point. Just curious do you coach or play hoops? That is something coaches and smart players notice. IF Pau had MChales offensive aggressiveness, Pau woulda been a borderline superstar ...

Are you kidding? I have like 3 different players on NBA2K13.

I think Tiago Splitter should learn to do that. He's ok with the moves in the post, but quite often those aren't needed if you can put the ball in the hoop without bringing it down, since the defense doesn't have time to recover from the pass inside.

[HI-FI]

I'm curious. What were your thoughts of him when he was 0-12 in the playoffs? :downspin:
if Kobe is supposedly the best player of the past decade, your guys' MJ, why couldn't he get past the first round without all Star bigs? i can't remember other first options having this problem....it was like he was revealing himself to be like Tracy McGrady or something....

[ambchang]

I'm curious. What were your thoughts of him when he was 0-12 in the playoffs? :downspin:

Always thought he was underrated. Not his fault that the west was stacked and his most reliable sidekick was mike miller

[LkrFan]

Always thought he was underrated. Not his fault that the west was stacked and his most reliable sidekick was mike miller
Oh no you didn't. Mike Miller was better than inconsistent ass 2005-2007 LO (he miraculously played better when Pau arrived). Lakers next best players? Smush Paker, Chris Mihm, D George, Kwame MF'n Brown. Rudy T as coach... Yet you fucks hold it against Kobe for not getting past the Suns - and Pau gets a pass for being on a shitty team? GTFO with that double standard bullshit son. :lol

[LkrFan]

if Kobe is supposedly the best player of the past decade, your guys' MJ, why couldn't he get past the first round without all Star bigs? i can't remember other first options having this problem....it was like he was revealing himself to be like Tracy McGrady or something....
See post response to ambchang. TD never went to war with such shitty teammates and he always had Pop. :nope

[ambchang]

Oh no you didn't. Mike Miller was better than inconsistent ass 2005-2007 LO (he miraculously played better when Pau arrived). Lakers next best players? Smush Paker, Chris Mihm, D George, Kwame MF'n Brown. Rudy T as coach... Yet you fucks hold it against Kobe for not getting past the Suns - and Pau gets a pass for being on a shitty team? GTFO with that double standard bullshit son. :lol

Did pau miss the playoffs w mike miller. And did Lamar odom changed his name to smush Parker?

[LkrFan]

Did pau miss the playoffs w mike miller. And did Lamar odom changed his name to smush Parker?
Are you that stupid? The Lakers tanked to get Bynum. Just how you guys tanked to get Duncan. You have nary room tbh. :lol

[TheCultOfPersonality]

I thought he was overrated, tbh.
Underrated in Memphis and overrated in Los Angeles.

[HarlemHeat37]

There's absolutely no argument for Gasol being overrated in LA..

He barely receives any credit in playing a massive role on a team that won back-to-back titles, yet he receives most of the blame for any Laker failures..

[whitemamba]

Spur fan is so bi polar about pau its hilarious...

[Kulo]

In 2010, he was easily the MVP in the Finals series verse us. Yet all Kome homers give him no credit.

[Arcadian]

Agreed. Pau was a top 10 NBA player from about 2006-2011. In his early Memphis years, I thought he would grow into a top 3 player. It didn't quite happen, but he did lead two teams to a championship.

...And all the while, faggot Laker fans didn't appreciate what they had. :lol Morons

[Thread]

He never won a single playoff game till Kobe took him in.

[ambchang]

Are you that stupid? The Lakers tanked to get Bynum. Just how you guys tanked to get Duncan. You have nary room tbh. :lol

Now you are changing the target, first you said it was because Kobe had horrible teammates, now you said they were just tanking. But why would they tank with chucky playing 41 minutes a game? If they were to tank, shouldn't they have break his legs and sit him out or something? Why would chucky go along with the plan? I thought he was some kind of super competitor who was "obsessed" about winning a ring without Shaq.

And who in the world tanks for Bynum? Glassknees was a project, and nobody tanks for a project with potential. Besides, teams don't tank to get out of the playoffs in order to have a very remote chance of landing a high pick, they tank from having more of a chance to get a high pick, usually in the top 1, because other than 84 and 03, there hasn't been a draft in history of the league where anything less than a #1 is worth a tank job.

BTW, forgot about Caron Butler. Laker fans needing Spurs fans to tell them about his/her team's history :lol.

[ambchang]

Why are we suddenly talking about Kobe? This thread was meant to celebrate the greatness of the leader of a b2b championship winning team. Nobody talks about McHale when celebrating the greatness of Bird, and nobody talks about Pippen when celebrating the greatness of Jordan.

Could we stick to the subject please?

[Latarian Milton]

dude couldn't win even a single game in the playoffs playing as the #1 of his team. you can call him a superstar but you must be aware that he's not the same level as duncan and dirk, and maybe not even as good as paul pierce. pau being a superstar in NBA is like the miz calling himself superstar in WWE tbh, you can take it as a joke but no one thinks he's really as good as randy orton or big daddy show

[DMC]

Pau is not a superstar in talent nor popularity, but he's a solid big man with soft hands and Thread should be getting a bit of pre-ooze just by thinking about it.

[Thread]

Pau is not a superstar in talent nor popularity, but he's a solid big man with soft hands and Thread should be getting a bit of pre-ooze just by thinking about it.

I druther have DUNCAN with his corduroys down on his ankles.

[Thread]

Why are we suddenly talking about Kobe?

Because of this:::

Kobe: 5

the tired old shit bag Duncan: 4

[DMC]

I druther have DUNCAN with his corduroys down on his ankles.

You'd need Popsicle sticks and tape to splint your withered beef jerky of a cock into something that could even remotely penetrate a 7' man's gaping anus.

[Thread]

You'd need Popsicle sticks and tape to splint your withered beef jerky of a cock into something that could even remotely penetrate a 7' man's gaping anus.

I'm game if he is. "DUNCAN? Pappy is here, sweet-cheeks."

[DMC]

I'm game if he is. "DUNCAN? Pappy is here, sweet-cheeks."

I'm sure he's got better options than you have though, and he's not looking at the bleak post season weeks you will be.

[Thread]

I'm sure he's got better options than you have though, and he's not looking at the bleak post season weeks you will be.

At O & 45 he's nary choice.

[DMC]

You cannot even get a date to show, how you gonna get your stick wet?

[Thread]

You cannot even get a date to show, how you gonna get your stick wet?

He's playing hard to get. I'm used to that.