POW!
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POW!
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POW!
pau gets a lot of crap for being soft. i have to say, it's way too exaggerated. his defense is really under-rated. his length is a big plus, and he has great defensive instincts (as in he knows when the opponent is ball faking and where he's trying to go, and he can read offenses well). what hurts him is his athleticism. he is second only to ilgauskas in the slowness dept. this also affects his rebounding, which i will admit is not great. but his defense is very underrated. so, imo, pau is not soft, he's semi-soft.
Warspite:
Prince + filler for Kobe Bryant
To be honest the way Prince has played and with Kobes injury/age/mileage Im not sure I would do that deal either. Still Prince is more important and he wins the head to head battles with Kobe.
Prince + filler for Kobe Bryant
To be honest the way Prince has played and with Kobes injury/age/mileage Im not sure I would do that deal either. Still Prince is more important and he wins the head to head battles with Kobe.
- milesfides
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- Location: Brooklyn, NY
Pau just doesn't have a strong base. He relies primarily on his length, good footwork, and a very soft touch.
This means he's not a banger, he can't pound his way into the post. He also doesn't get great position. He also can't play through contact.
This makes him a soft big man.
That's another reason why he's not a good rebounder. Because he can't box out, he can't fight other players for the ball. He's also not a good leaper, he's not explosive, so that hurts his rebounding.
What else makes him soft? To me, how he can get discouraged. A few bad calls, a few missed shots, and he won't even look to attack the basket. Kicks it right back out all the time.
He also throws up some weak stuff from time to time. Doesn't finish hard to the basket.
Sometimes he just looks scared.
True, he can block shots on defense, but he's not an intimidator. He doesn't discourage defenses from attacking the basket. His blocks are sneaky because nobody expects it. The downside is that opponents forget about it as well, and continue to do their thing. I think his lack of rebounding and his physique make him smaller than he is. He doesn't take up as much space as he should, and that takes away from his becoming an imposing defender.
That being said, there's fire in him. I love the way he backed down KG and dunked on him. He needs to stoke that fire.
But he's playing out of position, and he's trying to change his game to suit our needs. He's not a pound-it-in center, he's a high post forward. We need him to be Bynum, we need him to be Shaq, and it's just not his game, but he's trying.
The refs aren't helping him, that's for sure.
I still love his soft, whiny ass, because we all knew about Gasol's game before we got him. He's a finesse forward who can still get nasty at times, throwing down surprising facials. Also, without him, we wouldn't have been able to get this far. He's still perfect for the team as the weakside forward when Bynum returns, so I don't necessarily want to demand a change in Gasol's game or character.
Not that it's likely, anyways. Gasol isn't going to gain 30 pounds of muscle and become a back-to-the-basket force. He's not going to get explosive.
He is who he is, and I for one am thankful of his 14 and 10 that he's giving us this series. Kwame Brown could only dream about those numbers. Gasol's trying hard, playing good defense on KG, and I'm not taking any of that for granted. That he can't be Shaq against the Celtics, I don't hold it against him.
He can play better, sure, he can play tougher, sure, but he's trying and still doing some good things for us.
This means he's not a banger, he can't pound his way into the post. He also doesn't get great position. He also can't play through contact.
This makes him a soft big man.
That's another reason why he's not a good rebounder. Because he can't box out, he can't fight other players for the ball. He's also not a good leaper, he's not explosive, so that hurts his rebounding.
What else makes him soft? To me, how he can get discouraged. A few bad calls, a few missed shots, and he won't even look to attack the basket. Kicks it right back out all the time.
He also throws up some weak stuff from time to time. Doesn't finish hard to the basket.
Sometimes he just looks scared.
True, he can block shots on defense, but he's not an intimidator. He doesn't discourage defenses from attacking the basket. His blocks are sneaky because nobody expects it. The downside is that opponents forget about it as well, and continue to do their thing. I think his lack of rebounding and his physique make him smaller than he is. He doesn't take up as much space as he should, and that takes away from his becoming an imposing defender.
That being said, there's fire in him. I love the way he backed down KG and dunked on him. He needs to stoke that fire.
But he's playing out of position, and he's trying to change his game to suit our needs. He's not a pound-it-in center, he's a high post forward. We need him to be Bynum, we need him to be Shaq, and it's just not his game, but he's trying.
The refs aren't helping him, that's for sure.
I still love his soft, whiny ass, because we all knew about Gasol's game before we got him. He's a finesse forward who can still get nasty at times, throwing down surprising facials. Also, without him, we wouldn't have been able to get this far. He's still perfect for the team as the weakside forward when Bynum returns, so I don't necessarily want to demand a change in Gasol's game or character.
Not that it's likely, anyways. Gasol isn't going to gain 30 pounds of muscle and become a back-to-the-basket force. He's not going to get explosive.
He is who he is, and I for one am thankful of his 14 and 10 that he's giving us this series. Kwame Brown could only dream about those numbers. Gasol's trying hard, playing good defense on KG, and I'm not taking any of that for granted. That he can't be Shaq against the Celtics, I don't hold it against him.
He can play better, sure, he can play tougher, sure, but he's trying and still doing some good things for us.
“OH! Caruso parachutes in! You cannot stop him - you can only hope to contain him!” -Kevin Harlan, LAL-GSW 4/4/19