Pau Gasol's playoff performance

[Airness_ACB]

First of all, I've got to say that this post is not really of mine, I've seen it in ACB's forums, but I post it here, since it's quite interesting IMO.

Basically, it's all about Pau Gasol's suposed softness, and it shows that he's a more than decent defender when he wants. The guy just posted the stats of all of Pau Gasol's opponents in these playoffs, and compared them to their stats in the regular season. Take an special look at the FG%:

- Marcus Camby in playoffs: 3,3 pts, 13,3 rbs, 3,0 ast, 3,0 Blk and 24% in FG.
- Camby in Regular Season: 9,1 pts, 13,1 rbs, 3,3 ast, 3,6 Blk y 45% in FG.

- Carlos Boozer in playoffs against LAL: 16,8 pts, 9,2 rbs, 3,2 ast, 0 Blk and 42% FG.
-Carlos Boozer in Regular Season: 21,1 pts, 10,4 rbs, 2,9 ast, 0,5 Blk and 55% FG.

- Tim Duncan in playoffs against LAL: 22,4 pts, 14,2 rbs, 4,8 ast, 2,0 Blk and 43% FG.
- Tim Duncan in Regular Season: 19,3 pts, 11,3 rbs, 2,8 ast, 2,0 Blk and 50% FG.

- Kevin Garnett in playoffs against LAL: 17,7 pts, 13,0 rbs, 3,7 ast, 1,3 Blk and 39% FG.
- Kevin Garnett in Regular Season: 20,4 pts, 11,2 rbs, 4,4 ast, 1,2 Blk and 54 % FG.


The only player who has been successful in these playoffs against Gasol is Tim Duncan, who even dropped his FG% to 43%, which is no good for a big man and looks even worser for a PF as amazing as he is. Maybe Pau Gasol is not the toughest guy in the world, but neither as soft as many people says.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I think the guy deserves some respect, as he has demonstrated that he can contribute even when things aren't working for him on offense.

[the7boss]

As I said in the original post, he can do a lot better, especially in offense, but his playoffs aren't bad at all.

Although, I expect him to step up in Game 4 playing like he did in GM 2.

[Kobay]

He's doin solid but he can't just contest shot as big man, he has to finish it off with a rebound or else all that effort on defense will go to waste.

[RJM]

Agreed. Lowered stats mean nothing if the defender has no testicles. We need him to show up on the Offensive end as well. We need 19-9 Pau, not decent defense/poor testicular-deficient Pau.

[KobeFan]

I think the disparity in sample size is going to skew these numbers quite a bit.

Plus the numbers are dependent on factors outside of Gasol's or his opponents' control.

IE: Maybe Odom's length and the lakers rotating defense have played as big a factor in suppressing these field goal percentages?

Maybe these players just had a few bad games coincidently?

Either way it's hard to say with such small sample to judge from.

[JordansBulls]

Gasol is a stud and holding down the paint.

[LaL25]

Gasol is doing pretty damn good considering the Lakers got him at midseason and had to learn the triangle offense at that point. He learned quickly considering some players can't grasp it at all, and he has had to adjust to different (i.e. higher) demands than what he's been used to. He has obviously never gone this deep in the playoffs, so all that said, he's doing well and he will probably be better next season.

Having said that, he was really weak in game 3, he's gotta assert himself more.

[HarlemHeat37]

LOL Gasol is ass..

Duncan wasn't double-teamed for the 1st 3 quarters of game 1, which was the only time he wasn't double-teamed in the entire series until game 5..he dominated game 1, and the only game he struggled in was the final game..the Lakers had no reason to single cover Duncan, since nobody else was doing anything productive..

Boozer has been ass since the 2nd half of the season..Camby sucks..

KG is the only one that Gasol has done a GREAT job on, and that's partly due to Garnett's shot selection..

his offense is mostly fabricated from Kobe..Kobe is by far the best player in the world right now, because his supporting cast can't do anything at an all-star level without him..I have no idea how Gasol averaged 20 in Memphis, because he hasn't looked like that at all in these playoffs..most of his points seem to come off finishes off rebounds or Kobe passes..same with Odom..

he passes and finishes well though, no denying that..

[celticfan42487]

so the affect is players playing against Gasol on average have lower PPG and lower FG% but higher RPG?

Is that a fair trade?

[LakerFanMan]

Gasol has had a pretty solid playoffs until this series. This past game was terrible. I've never seen him just stand there more on D then I did in game 3. Game 2 was his best game in my opinion, he just didn't get the ball enough. However, 1 and 3 were pretty bad. I'd much rather have Turiaf on KG then Gasol. Turiaf did a great job on KG in game 3.

[Rasheeed!!!]

all that's negated by Gasols softness around the hoop. He's got to be more assertive and look to punk his man on every move.

[Kweli]

Everytime Gasol gets the ball on offense he looks like he is going to **** his pants then looks around for someone else to bail him out. His defense isn't great but its not bad either. Where his softness is hurting him most is on the offensive end where Kobe could use his help the most.

[cdcastellon1]

as spaniard, i see him pretty tired to be honest, 82 games + whole the playoffs coming also from European championship last summer.... He needs rest soon imo, he is not quick atm.

[360]

Gasol is doing pretty damn good considering the Lakers got him at midseason and had to learn the triangle offense at that point. He learned quickly considering some players can't grasp it at all, and he has had to adjust to different (i.e. higher) demands than what he's been used to. He has obviously never gone this deep in the playoffs, so all that said, he's doing well and he will probably be better next season.

Having said that, he was really weak in game 3, he's gotta assert himself more.

Pau went from being the franchise player to being the second or third option. How are the demands higher?

I do agree that he has done a wonderful job fitting in though.

[Ballings7]

Gasol's been below-average and at times soft, in the finals so far, but playoffs collectively has been relatively good.

[Milan24]

I am alittle disappointed in Gasol to be honest. I know guys like Duncan and KG are better players but they are making him look like JV center. Really frustrating and discouraging to watch.

[PhD Griz]

i've seen Pau play more than 99% of the people on RealGM (hey there just aren't many griz fans, you know)

what you saw from Pau in game 3, was the Pau us griz fans know and loathe....

actually, he can get worse....

he dissapears in big games.....he is invsible in 4th quarters...

his FT% drops dramatically in 4th quarters...he once double clutched a FT against Dallas in the playoffs....

he pisses his pants and the sight of a double team and can't pass the ball fast enough...

he is weak going to the basket 75% of the time (last night you all saw his drive in the lane that got stripped)

the word "flailing" is synomonous with Pau.....Pau flails about while stonger guys just take the ball from him....

my favorite Pau move is when he catches the ball....waits for the double team....jab step....no double team comes....jab, jab, jab some more....pump fake, jab, jab, jab....then turns it over...

he did that a few times on Dec 26th against the Hornets (i sat courtside) and by the end of the night the few fans actually at the Griz game was booing him b/c of it......google "I sat courtside pau booed" and you'll find my blog post about it on a prominent Griz blog....

ok, here is the url: http://3shadesofblue.blogspot.com/2007/ ... tside.html

oh ya....i almost forgot about the check for blood, he loves to do when someone like tyson chandler blocks him or takes the ball from him.....

don't get me wrong, Pau is a good NBA player....

but he isn't a MAX guy and not someone any team should make their franchise, goto player.....i know from 5 years of experience....

[eatyourchildren]

Obviously Kobe is riding Pau on the way to an eventual championship. At least that's what everyone said in the MVP thread a while back.