Quote:
Originally Posted by Zen653
28 players currently have a higher rebounding average than Pau Gasol.
NBA.com:
36 players currently have a higher scoring average than Pau Gasol.
NBA - Statistics by Category - Yahoo! Sports
9 players currently have a higher rebounding average AND a higher scoring average. So if you're looking at a player by his combined scoring/rebounding numbers, then Gasol is 10th best in the league, which barely puts him in the top third. While that's still very good, I don't think it's championship-level good. Gasol makes a great complementary player but he doesn't lift a team to championship-caliber status. During his 5 full seasons with the Grizzlies, he never got them out of the first round of the playoffs.
CBS Sportsline ranks Gasol as the 32nd best player (statistically) in the NBA:
NBA Basketball Player Rankings - CBSSports.com
Then again, rankings don't always translate into success. The only team with two players in the top 10 is Denver (Iverson at #4, Anthony at #7.) The only teams with players in the top 20 are Denver, Orlando (Howard at #3, Turkoglu at #20), Washington (Butler at #5, Jamison at #11) and Utah (Boozer at #13, Williams at #19.) The highest ranking Spur is Tim Duncan at #21, the highest ranking Celtic is Paul Pierce at #30 and the highest ranking Piston is Chauncey Billups at #49. |
he's not being asked to carry the lakers. he's being asked to be a secondary star, ala ginobili/parker.
his PER (hollinger rating) was 9th in the league OVERALL last year. he's been over 20 every year after his rookie season. he's a good passing big man. and the key is he doesn't have to do anything great for la. kobe is there to score and control the offense. bynum is an excellent rebounding and defending big man. and odom will be a strong rebounder from the 3 spot. gasol will be a complimentary player, albeit a very good one. and he is the best post scorer they have.