As I watched a blowout disguise itself as a close game Wednesday night, I couldn’t help but be drawn to the job that Pau Gasol was doing all over the floor.
Two years ago when the Los Angeles Lakers traded Marc Gasol, something called a Kwame Brown that people claim was once the number one pick of the NBA Draft, and a first round pick to the Memphis Grizzlies for Pau Gasol, people were infuriated at the fact that the Lakers could be given such a heist of talent. It’s almost like the Memphis Grizzlies had been cultivating this prized crop and the Lakers swooped in to harvest when nobody was looking. Some of called for a conspiracy while others just thought it was Chris Wallace doing Chris Wallace type things.
The uproar was sort of weird because even though Pau Gasol was clearly a talented All-Star capable of getting a defunct franchise into the playoffs most years, it wasn’t like the Spaniard was one of the top players in the NBA. Perhaps, we all knew something that none of us actually recognized yet. Putting Pau Gasol second fiddle to someone like Kobe Bryant is like telling MacGyver to screw the dental floss, flashlight and Pop Rocks and just handing him over Batman’s utility belt.
Now that Phil Jackson and Kobe have been able to integrate Gasol into the system all while winning a championship and letting him earn some true playoff chops, we’re all starting to see the fallout of this trade. Pau Gasol has simply become the best big man in the game today.
Yes, there are plenty of cases to be had for Dwight Howard, Kevin Garnett, Dirk Nowitzki, Tim Duncan, and of course Johan Petro (insert Matt Moore joke about Greg Oden here too while you’re at it). And all of those guys are really good. Dirk is a wiz on the offensive end of the floor. KG and Duncan still have a lot left in the tank as they adapt to injuries and old age. Dwight Howard is getting better all the time while filling the role as best defensive big man in the league. But Pau Gasol has the ability to truly dominate in the playoffs game after game after game.
After a very solid 21-point performance in Game One, Gasol came out in Game Two and decided to put a hurting on Amare Stoudemire and company. Even with defensive stalwarts like Dwight Howard and Kevin Garnett trying to defend him, I don’t think there’s any real way to stop Gasol on offense. He’s simply too good and has too many weapons at his disposal. So put him in front of someone like Channing Frye or Amare Stoudemire and he’s going to feast on human flesh like Hannibal Lecter.
He’s constantly showing new parts of his repertoire as a sort of tease of the dominance he could exude if he had to carry a team every night in the Association:
He can turn around over his left shoulder and shoot a should-be impossible fadeaway for any other big man on the planet like he did in the middle of the first quarter against the Suns.
He can flash to the middle of a zone, catch a quick pass in the paint and instantly toss up a little runner before the defense can react like he did towards the end of the first quarter before Robin Lopez could react.
He can turn over his left shoulder and put up the right-handed hook in the middle of the paint or he can go over his right shoulder after drop-stepping to the baseline and shooting a left hook that is impossible to block.
He catches the ball in traffic on lobs over the top when he’s being fronted and keeps the ball high to make a layup opportunity extremely easy for him.
And he moves so well without the ball that he’s like a big man version of Richard Hamilton.
In the fourth quarter against the Suns in Game Two, he utilized pretty much every weapon he owns. He scored 14 points in a game in which the Suns had come roaring back in the third quarter to tie it going into the fourth quarter. He made five of his seven shots in the period and four of his six free throw attempts. The only times he was stopped in the period were on a missed jumper just below the free throw line and a left-handed hook shot away from a double team in which it looked like he got fouled by Amare.
I can’t think of a more perfect big man to have on just about any team with his ability to score from all over, defend with great length inside, rebound at a high rate and move the ball around the halfcourt like a point guard. Unfortunately for the Suns, they have to face him and they don’t have an answer for him.
