Fadeaway_J wrote:flaco wrote:Pau Gasol is so underrated in our games. I realize Center is the most important defensive position, but it's not like he was a traffic cone or something. He was a decent post up defender and a serviceable rim protector. He didn't have the lateral quicks to defend the perimeter (which is why I'd never use him at PF), but the same goes for the vast majority of bigs. In a vacuum, I consider him a better player than his brother who's a regular in our games.
Love Pau, but the fact that he's best at the 5 is what hurts him. I agree that he's the better player, but his brother is the better defender which is the premium skill for that position, and also has some prime seasons where he's a quality floor spacer which is also valuable. Pau falls within that nebulous region where he's average or below defensively for a 5 (especially compared to most of his counterparts in these games), but not quite at the level offensively where people are willing to take the risk anyway. I've had some success with him over the last couple of years, but it very much depends on the pool and the matchups.
Yeah, can't argue with any of that. It's a shame cause he's relatively cheap as well. I'd happily pay 13 FGA for an All-NBA 2nd/3rd teamer who was the 2nd best player on 2 championship teams (imo, should have won Finals MVP in 2010). If only he had developed a 3pt shot a bit earlier in his career. I bet he would have seen more burn in our games despite his average D.