Pau knows his place is in the low post, and he nails himself there accordingly. He's a good finisher in the post with his hook shots from either hand left or right and that causes a lot of problems for his defenders, he has great and at times excelllent footwork that resembles to players like Hakeem, ZO D Robinson etc, he has a few good postup moves and he can get to the foul line and he can hit his foul shots. Pau's offense is complete for a big man. Pau is a willing and extremely capable passer from the post, and he compliments this with high post and hi face up games. Offensively, he's about as complete as you'll find in the NBA big men today. AND one major thing that a lot of big men lack today is that he has a pretty nice 15 footer shot that is very hard to defend.
BUT When it comes to defense Pau seriouslly sucks and he is slow not too slow but slow and he gets man handled by stronger centers. I dont know if its me but I believe he has become a lot slower than he used to be before his injuries. I personally think his defense sucks. He does have size and has good shot blocking ability but he hardly uses it. I believe he has a very limited defense and his help defense isnt that great specially with Bynum on the court. One of the things I hate about his D is that he doesn't slide over too well.
Whats odd is that he kills the offensive rebounds, but on defense he is very average and he lacks the heart and effort when it comes to defensive rebounding. I think despite being one of the game's best offensive rebounders, he lacks it on the other end. I think thats where he is being labeled as SOFT.
He has been speaking out about his limited touches and having to be the second option but how about trying to play some better D for crying out loud. Me personally dont think Pau will change, he has been in the league too long and if he felt that his softness was a problem then I think by now he would've adapated and would've changed his game but if he hasnt done that yet then I dobut me or anyone else will see a big change in the near future.
Is Phil right? Or are we expecting too much out of Pau?
http://basketball.realgm.com/src_wireta ... nd_sickly/
Lakers forward Pau Gasol has struggled in the team's last two defeats, something that hasn't been lost on coach Phil Jackson.
"I really don't like to talk about that aspect of a person's game ... other than the fact that he's been weak and sickly," Jackson said Friday night.
Gasol, who is averaging 17.0 points and 11.1 rebounds this season, averaged 10.5 points and 7.5 rebounds in the two losses.
When asked to elaborate, Jackson said that Gasol has been feeling "under the weather" and he will have to monitor the All-Star's playing time.
"I'll start to work the bench a little more and see if I can't spell some minutes for these guys," Jackson said.
