Lassen: Gasol isn't playing soft ball

¹²³ · Jun 8, 2009

I count 4 Odom threads in the first page and 0 ones dedicated to Gasol. He is just brilliant this year.

LOS ANGELES — Since last year’s NBA Finals, Pau Gasol has been driven by criticism, leveled by the only critic that really matters.

Himself.

“I think I’m hardest on myself than anybody,” he said. “I really criticize myself when I fall short. And last year, I felt like I fell short at the end. I ran out of strength, I ran out of energy, and I couldn’t deliver the way I wanted to.”

And so, for 12 months, he’s worked to ensure it didn’t happen again, becoming a weight-room devotee for the first time in his career, and coupling that with a better understanding of what it means, and takes, to be in the Finals.

If this year’s series is, as it were, a finals exam on what Gasol has learned and done over the past year, he’s doing a pretty good job of answering his self-criticism — as well as that thrown his way from the outside world.

Sunday, in Game 2 of the Finals, Gasol scored 24 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, more than held his own in prolonged stretches defending Dwight Howard and delivered the knockout blow in overtime as the Lakers slipped past Orlando 101-96 to seize command of the championship series.

“He’s not physically a compact, muscular player,” said coach Phil Jackson. “He weights 265 pounds, so he’s obviously not a lightweight. But his ability to tip the ball, to get angles, to play his length on people is very striking, and I thought he did a great job tonight.”

Statistically, Gasol and Howard were pretty much a wash; the Orlando center had more rebounds (16) and fewer points (17). Based on the reputation Gasol was labeled with in last year’s playoffs — as a soft player, unable to stand up to physical play inside Lakers fans might well have quaked at the thought of Gasol going head to head with Howard for long periods in this series.

But Gasol, who is smart as well as skilled, remembered last year’s issues against Boston and addressed them.

“I think I improved physically to be able to hold my ground better,” said Gasol. “I worked hard for it all year long and continue working to show I can be effective against bigger guys.

“So far, so good, but I’m looking forward to continuing to do my work.”

And, while he’s aware of that soft label, he also agrees with the idea that it attaches itself most quickly to European players, probably because they don’t play the way Americans expect big men to play — which is to say with bull-in-a-china-shop physicality. That’s not what Gasol is. It never will be.

“It tends to be that way, I think,” Gasol said, “because a guy has a set of skills and is more of a finesse player, then he’s labeled as a soft player.

“I’m not bothered by it because I know I’m a competitor, I’m a winner, and I’ve competed for my whole career, and nobody has given me anything.”

That finesse showed up in the one area where Gasol did have a huge edge over Howard, which is to say ballhandling. Howard had seven turnovers. Gasol had none, and his ability to handle the ball was never more appreciated than when he took a bounce pass from Kobe Bryant for a 3-point play with 1:14 left in overtime, leading to a layup and free throw that pushed the Lakers’ lead to 97-91. It was their biggest lead in the second half and OT, and it proved to be enough to secure the win.

Gasol scored seven of the Lakers’ points in overtime, but those three were the biggest, a finesse play from a finesse player.

“His hand-eye coordination is remarkable for someone that size,” noted Lamar Odom, who had his own big impact with 19 points, eight rebounds, three blocks and two assists. “He never drops the ball. He’s great at catching and delivering really quick, keeping the basketball high.

“He’s one of the best players I’ve ever played with.”

Gasol and Bryant have developed the ability to play off each other, which is what the two most talented players on a team should and must do. It showed on that overtime play, as it has throughout the Lakers drive to their current position.

Their collaboration didn’t come as easy on this night as it has on some others, but eventually, it did come.

“I thought they were struggling during the ballgame,” said Jackson. “They kept communicating. They finally found a way at the end of the game to come through with some of those plays.”

Bryant agreed.

“Their whole defense is cocked toward me and Pau,” said Bryant, “so we’re in constant dialogue that we can see, adjustments that we can make on the fly, and we’ve kind of been trying to time that up the right way the whole game. It just didn’t work out for us, and at the right time, it did.”

Things are working out pretty well for Gasol at this point, and people are starting to notice.

If it continues for two more Lakers wins, he’ll bury that “soft” label for good and replace it with one he’ll wear happily and without dispute.

Champion.
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Mamba · Jun 8, 2009

He's been pretty consistent all year. Took awhile for him to man up in the Denver and Houston series, but he eventually did.

He has been solid in the Finals, too.

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Lassen: Gasol isn't playing soft ball

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