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Pau Gasol Adds Another Trophy To His Case

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All summer we’ve been checking in with Pau Gasol’s progress as he suited up for his native Spain for the EuroBasket Tournament in Lithuania. The tournament is now over and Gasol is once again a champion, playing a crucial role in his home country’s victory in the title game over France.

Over at The Painted Area (a site worth your time for more than today’s link) Jay Aych sums up Pau Gasol’s tourney quite well:

Another international competition, another sterling tournament for Pau Gasol. Pau capped off a great EuroBasket with another sharp all-around performance vs. the French with 17 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and three blocks. Pau added a 3pt. make on Sunday to finish Euro ’11 shooting 7-for-11 on 3PA.

Pau finished EuroBasket third in points (20 ppg), third in FG pct. (54%), fourth in rebounds (8.3 rpg), third in blocks (1.7 bpg). Pretty much does this everytime he suits up for Spain. If there were any doubts about his enshrinement into the Naismith Hall of Fame, they should cease forever. (We covered Pau’s FIBA accomplishments after Spain’s 2009 Euro final win.)

Don’t agree with the MVP vote–Pau should have won over Juan Navarro. Pau was more of a factor of both sides of the floor, with an underrated impact defensively once again. Navarro was clutch in the knockout round for Spain, but was a little off at the start of the tourney while Pau was consistent throughout.

As we’ve been saying, a strong effort from Gasol serves as a reminder that he is one of the best players in the world and also gave him the opportunity to be the focal point of a team – something that will serve him well when he’s back stateside with the Lakers. If Pau can channel that strong play and carry it over into next season, the Lakers are already a better team than they were when they faced Dallas in last season’s playoffs.

Now, if only we had some progress on the negotiations that will ensure there is a next season…


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Comments

  5. Edwin Gueco says

    Is it because of Pau or about his teammates in Team Spain. If you try to analyze the Team Spain and our last year’s Lakers, ours don’t have the perimeter threat like the sharp shooting Spaniards. Kobe was indisposed last year and the reliable guys in the past were zero this time, may it be Fisher, Artest, Brown and LO a so-so player (don’t know whether he’s a slasher or streak shooter). Secondly, Team Germany is not the Dallas team, so KN has no help. Having said that, Pau deserves this glory but the onus of blame of a failed season has not yet been recovered until he can prove to be a great defender and a consistent scorer especially when game is on the line.

  6. Igor Avidon says

    Great for Pau, but this Lakers fan doesn’t care about Spain or FIBA trophies. The only trophies I care about are the ones that get placed in the Lakers’ trophy room. Here’s hoping Pau plays like this in the NBA.

  7. Cayucos Surfer says

    Agreed. That’s great for Pau and all, but i wish he had maybe given some more effort last May. I lost a lot of respect for that guy during the Dallas series, 13 ppg on 42% shooting in the playoffs for a player of his caliber? Weak, bro.

  9. barco says

    “Lakers don’t have the perimeter threat like the sharp shooting Spaniards” and the frontline is very hard (Marc Gasol, Serge Ibaka, Felipe Reyes)