Pau Thread: Surgery a success; now rehab & rest for 12 weeks

therealdeal · by **therealdeal** on Mon Jun 15, 2009 7:01 am

His defense wasn't good during the last half of these playoffs. It was great. It was amazing. I knew he could do better defensively, but I had no idea he could do that well. That was amazing.

C1utchman85 · by **C1utchman85** on Mon Jun 15, 2009 7:27 am

Pau Gastrong. yea i kno that was corny lol

Shdk · by **Shdk** on Mon Jun 15, 2009 7:38 am

Pau Gasol, however, is series MVP 1a. Not only was he extraordinarily efficient with the ball all series, but he also evolved to be nearly masterful on defense. For much of the decisive Game 5 the Magic simply couldn't finish around or over him -- even as he single-covered Dwight Howard much of the night. ESPN Stats and Information charted Gasol single-covering Howard on 38 possessions -- and Howard did not score from the field on any of them.

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-41-86/Nine-Things-to-Remember-About-the-2009-NBA-Finals.html?post=true

:bow:

nameant · by **nameant** on Mon Jun 15, 2009 7:46 am

^ Damn impressive, but not surprising. It was clear when watching that Dwight had a very tough time against Pau. His lack of offensive moves really exposed him in this series.

SignPippenNow · by **SignPippenNow** on Mon Jun 15, 2009 7:56 am

Oh the first time the Lakers struggle in a game next season someone will call him Gasoft. Count on it. Some posters have been ripped to pieces on LA boards for saying during season no way Bynum this year was better than Gasol. Said we were hating on Drew. Not at all, just stating what I thought was the obvious. Gasol is one of the best players in the NBA and should be treated like other Lakers now and not ripped and blamed for each loss.

chug o nomics · by **chug o nomics** on Mon Jun 15, 2009 8:31 am

GASTRONG

gill · by **gill** on Mon Jun 15, 2009 8:33 am

Pau's defense in these playoffs have been amazing! I still can't believe that the same guy everyone labelled "Gasoft!" stood toe-to-toe against "Superman"

And he's only getting started. I hope he continues this and brings us more titles!

Juronimo · by **Juronimo** on Mon Jun 15, 2009 8:46 am

Pau was incredible during this playoffs and I always thought the soft label was at worst unfair. His defense on Dwight Howard was incredible, he really got the job done on the defensive end.

khmrP · by **khmrP** on Mon Jun 15, 2009 8:49 am

Thank you Pau, great series.

revgen · by **revgen** on Mon Jun 15, 2009 4:01 pm

two0one7 wrote:Dwight did try to attack Pau, multiple times. Pau/ our doubles were smart about it. Pau either drew the charge, played great solid D on him, or we doubled and forced him to kick it out/take a tough shot.

I love Andrew but I'm not going to attribute that as to why Pau did well against Dwight. Pau deserves full credit.

I'm not discounting Pau, he did a good job on Howard, especially fronting him and poking the ball away and denying him the pass.

But when Howard had the ball deep in the post against Pau, he didn't bulldoze Pau like he did during the regular season. You make a good point about the doubles. That may have been it too.

TheOp · by **TheOp** on Mon Jun 15, 2009 4:47 pm

I think so, take a look at his numbers in the playoffs.

18.4 , 9.0
18.6 , 12.0
17.5, 12.3
18.6 , 9.2
18.3 , 10.8 , 2.0 (blocks), 58 % , 71 %

I think he can be in the same discussion as Tim Duncan, and Kevin Garnett right NOW. Both of those guys have more impressive careers, but right now I think Pau is just as good as either of them. There is not a PF or C in the league that can stop Pau, hes proven that he can defeat the elite big men like Howard and Duncan (last year). I think he is really undervalued of just how good he is, I know people like to play it off and just say Kobe did it by himself and didnt have much help, but Pau is an elite Power Forward. He is 3rd imo behind Duncan and KG, but everytime we play a team with an elite big man like Duncan or KG, the PF matchup is something I dont worry about.

GoldHammish · by **GoldHammish** on Mon Jun 15, 2009 4:50 pm

i've been telling my friends all season long that he's arguably the second best pf in the league today.

TT24 · by **TT24** on Mon Jun 15, 2009 4:51 pm

Yes he is.

CaCHooKa Man · by **CaCHooKa Man** on Mon Jun 15, 2009 4:55 pm

even before the playoffs i think he was widely considered as a top 5 PF in the league already. after the playoffs he passed dirk for 3rd behind tim duncan and KG. he may even be 2nd now since KG got injured. like JVG or mark jackson said in last nights game, pau is one of the most skilled players at his position and has pretty much the complete package at PF.

Ryder Havasu · by **Ryder Havasu** on Mon Jun 15, 2009 5:08 pm

CaCHooKa Man wrote:even before the playoffs i think he was widely considered as a top 5 PF in the league already. after the playoffs he passed dirk for 3rd behind tim duncan and KG. he may even be 2nd now since KG got injured. like JVG or mark jackson said in last nights game, pau is one of the most skilled players at his position and has pretty much the complete package at PF.

This!

thisbjgz · by **thisbjgz** on Mon Jun 15, 2009 5:16 pm

if he wins 1 or 2 more with Kobe, he will be consider HoF'er imo.

so yes, ELITE.

Alcindor · by **Alcindor** on Mon Jun 15, 2009 5:18 pm

Behind KG and Duncan but not as far as I would have thought 2 years ago

Weezy · by **Weezy** on Mon Jun 15, 2009 5:47 pm

I already thought he was an elite PF in this league, but after the championship I don't think there is any doubt about it. Very few big guys in this league can score as easily as he can, have as many moves, can pass and handle the ball on the run, he's just an amazing player.

hulkst3r · by **hulkst3r** on Mon Jun 15, 2009 5:50 pm

Elite PF? Yes
Ahead of KG and Duncan? NO
Duncan and KG are franchise players..you can build a team around them and be competitive for championships. However that can't really be said about Gasol. With Gasol as the best player on the team, it'll probably be just a first or second round contender as shown when he was in Memphis (swept out of first round every year in playoffs).

kray28 · by **kray28** on Mon Jun 15, 2009 6:00 pm

TT24 wrote:Yes he is.

png247 · by **png247** on Mon Jun 15, 2009 6:11 pm

not better than TD or KG yet. but he's in the top tier.

OgLaker101 · by **OgLaker101** on Mon Jun 15, 2009 6:13 pm

Pau is a legitimate All-star. I was having this discussion with a friend, IMO...he's leaps and bounds better then Dwight.

bystander · by **bystander** on Mon Jun 15, 2009 6:27 pm

That data about Game 5 made me horny

nice stats apañero

EQualizer · by **EQualizer** on Mon Jun 15, 2009 6:31 pm

in my opinion pau has always been an elite PF

he just got stuck in memphis so no one ever watched him play, and his playoff teams got swept so people just assumed he was a softy

but from the get go, this guy was a beast, he won rookie of the year, and has always performed at the same level against the likes of KG/Duncan, especially when he was the #1 on the team in memphis and the defensive anchor, he was a much better shot blocker in memphis than he's shown to be in LA probably due to his role on the teams

Ras Algethi · by **Ras Algethi** on Thu Nov 19, 2009 11:07 pm

24/13 on his first game back. :bow:

Pau Thread: Surgery a success; now rehab & rest for 12 weeks

Re: Pau Gasol's defense

Re: Pau Gasol's defense

Re: Pau Gasol's defense

Re: Pau Gasol's defense

Re: Pau Gasol's defense

Re: Pau Gasol's defense

Re: Pau Gasol's defense

Re: Pau Gasol's defense

Re: Pau Gasol's defense

Re: Pau Gasol appreciation post!!!

Pau Gasol - elite PF?

Re: Pau Gasol - elite PF?

Re: Pau Gasol - elite PF?

Re: Pau Gasol - elite PF?

Re: Pau Gasol - elite PF?

Re: Pau Gasol - elite PF?

Re: Pau Gasol - elite PF?

Re: Pau Gasol - elite PF?

Re: Pau Gasol - elite PF?

Re: Pau Gasol - elite PF?

Re: Pau Gasol - elite PF?

Re: Pau Gasol - elite PF?

Re: Pau Gasol's defense

Re: Pau Gasol - elite PF?

Re: Pau Gasol appreciation post!!!

Who is online