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The Importance of Pau

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  • The Importance of Pau

    In the past, it wasSounds like the Grizzlies are it wasn't always certain who was the leader, the engine of the Grizzlies. The three past coaches put forth a philosophy of trying to overwhelming the competition with their intense defense and 10-man rotation. Gasol was always their leading scorer, but never really looked at as someone that would lead them. Not until this year did Gasol really turn up his game, averaging career highs in points, rebounds, assists, and blocks. Gasol was rewarded with an all-star selection in the forward-heavy West (which included Elton Brand, Kevin Garnett, Shawn Marion, Tim Duncan, Dirk Nowitzki, Carmelo Anthony, Rashard Lewis etc)... now Gasol is being relied on to jumpstart the Grizz in the playoffs. Will Pau ever be as important to the Grizzlies as he is to Spain's national team?

    From the AP/San Francisco Chronicle: Link to article

    Grizzlies Need Gasol to Get Rolling Early
    By JAIME ARON, AP Sports Writer
    Tuesday, April 25, 2006



    (04-25) 15:24 PDT DALLAS (AP) -- Pau Gasol came out shooting, hitting a 14-foot jumper on Memphis' first possession. He nailed a 15-footer soon after, then had a dunk, all of it coming before the Grizzlies went on an 11-2 scoring run.

    Problem was, this was the third quarter, not the first. And Gasol had gone the entire first two quarters without a basket.

    The rally Gasol finally started was only enough to get Memphis within a point of Dallas in Game 1 of their first-round series. The Mavericks eventually won it 103-93, leaving the Grizzlies in need of a better start from their best player in Game 2 on Wednesday night.

    Gasol knows it, too.

    "I've got to be a little more aggressive, bring it from the beginning," said Gasol, who still ended up leading Memphis with 24 points. "We can't afford to have a first half like we did the first game."

    The Grizzlies had only six rebounds at halftime, while the Mavericks had 24. Half of them came on offense, giving Dallas a bunch of extra shots and leading to a whopping 60 points against a team that allowed a league-low 88.5 for the entire game in the regular season.

    Gasol was 0-for-5 in the first half, his only points coming on three free throws. He was so out of whack that he didn't even take a shot in the second quarter.

    His meager effort was magnified because Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki already had 19 of his 31 points at halftime, many coming while covered by Gasol.

    "Obviously I'd like to get myself going earlier on, like Dirk did, making his jump shot, getting yourself in a rhythm, confidence and comfortable in the game," Gasol said. "I have to be aggressive, try to be a little more selfish shooting the ball from the get-go."

    As poorly as Gasol and the Grizzlies played those first two quarters, they were down by only nine.

    "So it's a consolation?" Memphis coach Mike Fratello said, smirking. "I should feel better?"

    Fratello spent Monday and Tuesday getting back to basics, reminding players to do things like, "Turn, find the body, block out, get your arms out." He also went over the importance of pressuring passers and cleaning up the sloppiness that led to 19 turnovers — and 28 points off turnovers, many coming on uncontested plays.

    As in any playoff series, both teams will make adjustments for Game 2.

    Fratello could do something as simple as getting Gasol the ball behind more screens. He also could shake up his rotation, perhaps letting forward Hakim Warrick log some time against Nowitzki. Warrick did pretty well against Nowitzki in the only game the Grizzlies beat the Mavs this season, but he wasn't used in the opener.

    Dallas coach Avery Johnson also is vowing changes against Gasol, despite the success of his Game 1 strategy.

    "We just know that we can't give him the same look," said Johnson, who won the league's coach of the year award Tuesday. "He's just too crafty. We've just got to keep mixing up on him, just try meet him early and keep a body on him as much as possible.

    "When you don't do those things, obviously from what he showed in the second half, he can get away from you."

    The Mavericks also were far from perfect in the opener. Devin Harris failed to score in his return from a long injury absence and Josh Howard had an off night because of fouls, a back injury or both.

    Still, Dallas has a chance to win their first two playoff games a year after opening the playoffs with two home losses.

    "It's not even so much 2-0 for us, it's just trying to play this game like there's no tomorrow," Johnson said. "When we do that, we seem to play better, we seem to play more focused, and that's the only way you can play against Memphis."

    Grizzlies fans would really be singing the blues if their team comes home for Game 3 down 0-2. Memphis already is 0-9 in its playoff history; another loss would leave the club halfway to a third straight sweep.

    "Don't give up on us," guard Bobby Jackson said. "We just didn't rebound the ball well, which has been hurting us all year, and the turnovers. If we can stay between 12 and 13 turnovers, we'll be fine."
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  • #2
    good article. I really hate the way the season ended. I went to game 4 and was right behind the bench. I was practically in tears the whole time. Next season will be different!! GO GRIZZLIES!!

    Comment


    • #3
      i truly agree on the importance of gasol in every team he plays, but i dont think he is more important in the national team of spain than in memphis. Last year in eurobasket , Spain without him reached semifinals and was eliminated by Germany with a shot of Nowitki in the last 2 secs, and in all the competition, spain made the best basketball of all teams.

      But anyway, the importance both in memphis and in Spain is truly unquestionable, and more after this season, his best season ever, as you said.
      I KISS BASKET

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by Neozyrus
        ...spain made the best basketball of all teams.
        Well, this only happened in the game vs Serbia. And then... We almost lost vs Letonia, lost vs Israel, won Croatia the way we remember, lost vs Germany and complete disaster vs France.

        Ok, we reached semifinals but... that couldn't be the best bball in the EC

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by Manatax
          Well, this only happened in the game vs Serbia. And then... We almost lost vs Letonia, lost vs Israel, won Croatia the way we remember, lost vs Germany and complete disaster vs France.

          Ok, we reached semifinals but... that couldn't be the best bball in the EC
          i watched almost all the games of the tounament, and i didnt see any single team play better that Spain.

          Anyway you are completely right aboutl the game against France
          I KISS BASKET

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          • #6
            Originally posted by Neozyrus
            i watched almost all the games of the tounament, and i didnt see any single team play better that Spain.

            Anyway you are completely right aboutl the game against France
            I think that you mean that if Spain had played the bball they showed vs Serbia, they could have won any team. With this I agree. But the following games they didn't

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            • #7
              Obviuously the game against Serbia was astonishing, probably the one of the bests of all the eurobasket, but except the game against Israel (in wich Spain went to the game absolutely asleep, a very spanish tradition in these tournaments), against Latvia Spain played really great in attack, it is just that it didnt play so well in defense, and the same happened with Croatia (in both games spain did more that 100 points, even in ine of then i think that it did 120!). With germany Spain played quite well, the only difference in that game was one, which name begins with "N" and ends with "owitki".
              So in general terms i really think that in the tounament the best basketball was made by Spain, maybe with Greece (a total defensive basketball, but hey, thats also part of the game), and lithuania (although people expected a little big more of them).
              If you look at the rest of the selections, yo cant say that any of them played in the entire tournament better than Spain, thats for sure.
              I KISS BASKET

              Comment


              • #8
                Pesquera's guilty

                I saw Germany-Spain in last EC and I don't understand a thing of that match:

                How the spanish, who are better than germans altough Nowitzki, doing a good second quarter fell down?
                I have a theory: Pesquera's player changes. You cannot break a team doing that. Aito Garcia Reneses is a wizard with rotations, but Mr. Pesquera showed us that he had no idea.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by Pachangueitor
                  I saw Germany-Spain in last EC and I don't understand a thing of that match:

                  How the spanish, who are better than germans altough Nowitzki, doing a good second quarter fell down?
                  I have a theory: Pesquera's player changes. You cannot break a team doing that. Aito Garcia Reneses is a wizard with rotations, but Mr. Pesquera showed us that he had no idea.
                  Of course, Aito is a winner, has won the best coach of acb last year, one more for his collection , and pesquera is just a normal-acceptable coach.

                  Although all that, i dont completely disagree with the movements of pesquera in games (remember the game against serbia? )
                  I KISS BASKET

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