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blogabull
The Bulls All-Star is one in name only and the Bulls would have been better if they'd not signed him.
Pau Gasol was selected as an All Star starter by the fans. This is, honestly, a joke. Pau Gasol is the Bulls fourth best big man. Yes, fourth best. Behind Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson, and even rookie Nikola Mirotic. The idea that Gasol was somehow one of the best big men in the entire Eastern Conference is ridiculous. At first glance, it's easy to see why Pau has received this recognition. Pau is averaging 18 points, 12 rebounds, nearly 3 assists, and over 2 blocks in his roughly 35 minutes per game. Those certainly seem like All Star numbers. However, it's pretty likely that no one is putting up emptier stats than Pau Gasol is this season.
Offensively, the Bulls routinely force-feed Gasol isolations on the block, allowing him to post-up while everyone else mostly stands around watching him, not cutting, not moving, nothing, just watching. Pau goes to work down low and if he has a mismatch, he scores with relative ease. Put someone with some defensive skill in the post on Pau, though, and he is almost entirely neutralized. This has happened over and over this season. It happened recently against the Heat in Miami, as Gasol (along with Taj Gibson) was dominated inside by Hassan Whiteside, scoring just 13 points on 16 shots. In the Bulls' last game against the Cavs, with the defensively stout Timofey Mozgov as his primary matchup, Gasol went 4 of 14 from the field and scored just 11 points. In the Bulls' last game against the Washington Wizards' beastly frontcourt Gasol went 4 of 11 from the field and scored just 13 points in 33 minutes. Simply put, too often, Gasol's offense, the place where he actually provides some value, disappears when confronted with a tough matchup. Sure, put Pau on the floor with a depleted Bucks front line and he might drop 46, but against legitimate post defense, Pau does not shine the way a 7 footer with his size and skill should. He gets bullied.
Defensively, Gasol is an absolute trainwreck. Despite his heavy rebound totals, Gasol almost never boxes out anyone. His rebounding totals are primarily the result of his being around the rim for the vast majority of the game and catching whatever misses come off in his immediate vicinity. Pau's gaudy block totals result similarly. Gasol hardly ever leaves the immediate basket area to get out help contain penetration or to properly help rotate. Instead, Gasol hovers near the basket and, due to his height and reach, blocks a few shots here and there at the basket. Sure, there is some value in blocking those shots, but mostly Gasol hurts the defense in the same ways that Carlos Boozer once did (poor rotations, slow feet), without the value that Boozer provided in boxing people out and / or securing defensive rebounds.
The rest @ http://www.blogabull.com/2015/1/31/7...-was-a-mistake
Yaaaa shoulda kept the Booz
Dumb article is dumb. The Bulls weren't going to make it out of the East, regardless if they had Pau or not. He makes them better offensively. They'll still lose to the Hawks and/or Cavs in the playoffs.
Dubs/Grizz/Spurs vs Cavs for the 2015 Championship. Likely the Dubs, if I had to guess right now.
Yeah right, he has been their best player. I agree with Batmanu as well, they would still lose to those teams he mentions above (Probably the Cavs, maybe the Hawks). Bulls are a good team and he made them better, he is alot better than Boozer.
How can anyone be this stupid pau is playing great
For a team that once prided themselves on great defense, Pau kind of singlehandedly transformed them into a very average defensive team.
And he just doesn't work well paired with Noah.
Prolly a lakerfan, tbh... Wouldn't be surprised if Bynumite has a side gig writing blogs...
Pau is doing okay... Cleveland trading Wiggins for Love looks worse
This would imply Boozer is a better defender than Gasol
The team is now centered on Offense. No longer walks the ball up and down the court. Rose storms across half court and takes ill advised shots. It will all work itself out in the Playoffs when the team is healthy and legs full strength. Unlike the past 2 seasons.
By the way where is this fear of the Cavs coming from? I would bet against them even cracking the ECF.
Bulls healthy in the playoffs? We will see man
what kind of ty article is this.
I've actually heard some of this stuff mentioned in the article from a couple other writers including Zach Lowe. Not entirely dismissive of it. They're more offensively talented than any other Thibs team but are a mediocre defensive at best despite several of their big minute player being above average to average defenders.
Signing Gasol wasn't a mistake and he still is an upgrade over Boozer but the team as a whole has been playing really inconsistent basketball.
MVPau getting thrown under the bus per par.
I was Skeptical about Wiggins, but he's having a great year
Drafting Gangbanger was the real mistake, tbh. Could have had Alphabrook... in fact, they could have even snagged Dragic in the second round.
Pau has been good this year but credible writers like Zack Lowe have questioned the validity of the numbers he has put up are they "haters" or throwing him under the bus? ARe these type of articles only valid when they are dismissing rotator cuff? Lowe uses stats but also does a great job of backing up what he writes with gameplay footage. Pau has been Better on offense (than last 3 years with Lakers) but his defense is just as bad as it was here at the end ...
Please don't talk about MVPau he is so classy ...
All that being said Pau s on Booze. And at that price was a steal for the bulls who should be grateful.
Last edited by Killakobe81; 02-02-2015 at 09:04 AM.
I'll just leave this here
^Another reason why DRtg is a poor statistic.
the cleveland trade looked bad from the get go.
Wins Produced:
Pau 7.87
Rose -1.13
WP/48
Pau .233
Rose -0.47
Yeah Pau is the problem for sure.
It seems like Pau is dominating every statistic on the team
"Yeah but I saw his feet and they weren't moving, or something. Made up or obscure stats. Ditka."
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