Ode to Pau Gasol: The Game A Switch Flipped
Pau Gasol became the first Memphis Grizzlies player to be inducted into the Hall-of-Fame. I look back at a game that shifted the energy around Pau and signaled his arrival.
This column includes excerpts from Ron Higgins’ “Tales from the Memphis Grizzlies” book (2006).
Over the weekend, Pau Gasol joined the Hall of Fame with a class of players that helped define the NBA during this century — Dirk Nowitzki, Dwyane Wade, Tony Parker, among others. In the process, he became the first player from the Memphis Grizzlies to be inducted into the Hall of Fame (no, I’m not going to count Allen Iverson).
It’s so fitting Pau Gasol is the first Grizzly to achieve this honor.
The first All-Star in franchise history. The star that led the Grizzlies to their first-ever postseason appearances to progress from their pre-Memphis past. The cornerstone to help NBA basketball arrive in Memphis, Tennessee. The face of the franchise that walked, so the cornerstones and squads of “Grit ‘n’ Grind” and “GrzNxtGen” could run.
In remembering Pau Gasol’s Grizzlies tenure, my mind gravitates to the 2005-06 season. There have been these calls for Gasol to become more aggressive — whether it was local media, the fans, the coaching staff, his teammates, or himself.
I’m trying to be more mature about my game, trying to be even more aggressive,” Gasol said.
I need to be more dominant and a force,” Gasol said. “I need to be more selfish. I think I am the guy that everybody counts on.”
Gasol even made a visible shift in his aggressive approach — going from a clean-cut babyface youngster, to growing a scruffy beard with wild curls associated with it. Real ones remember the Pau Gasol paper beard giveaway.
“The beard gave Pau a change of attitude,” Griz center Lorenzen Wright said. “It makes him look tougher.
This new-look Pau Gasol ended up taking a leap in the 2005-06 season, en rout to his first All-Star appearance. He took command of a Grizzlies team — that already shape-shifted its roster to acquire more veterans — and had a resounding impact on winning basketball. His tone-setting command felt most evident on November 26th, 2005.
The Memphis Grizzlies mauled the Mavericks 112-92, and Pau Gasol utterly dominated them with a dazzling stat-line of 36 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 blocks — still the only 35-15-5-2 game in franchise history. On a night where Dirk Nowitzki — a measuring-stick power forward for Gasol — was on the other side, it was Pau Gasol that was the absolute best player on the floor.
In his first bucket, Gasol called for the ball with Nowitzki defending with front positioning. He had the opening upon the entry pass, as any form of rim protection would’ve come from help defense. Once he receives the pass, Gasol doesn’t take the clean look for granted, and flushes it home.
Another tone-setting type play, Gasol orchestrates a DHO from the top of the key, then immediately curls to the opposite low block for the post-up. He sizes up Dampier then methodically gets to his spot in the center of the paint for the easy rising jumper.
A big component of Gasol’s dominant performance was his ability to draw fouls to get to the line. He attempted 13 free throws this night — a huge facet of his game at the time (averaged a career-best 7.7 free throws per game in the 2005-06 season). He attacked the defense with the proper aggression — driving not to seek the contact, but to power through it. As a result, several of these drives were converted into and-1’s, because he sought to apply pressure on the defense with his force.
Aggression and force don’t always come in the form of embracing contact. It’s also about making quick decisions. A common concept in basketball is “0.5-second decision-making” — half a second to dribble, pass, or shoot. A lot of times it could lead to cracks in the defense to generate an advantage for a scoring opportunity.
Gasol picked apart the Mavericks’ defense by making quick decisions off the catch with an “attack” mindset as a driver or shooter, en route to scoring or free throw chances. He would also add a nice jab step to cause a misstep on the closeout.
Gasol — for better or worse — was a methodical post player, often times holding the ball to dissect the defense and exploit his matchup upon his next move. Sometimes it led to a defensive stop, and plenty of times, he got exactly what he wanted.
It’s such a shame we never got to see much of the two-man game between Pau Gasol and Damon Stoudamire, as the point guard tore his patella before the calendar year 2006. Both players showed a lot of prowess in the pick-and-roll, as Gasol expressed similar aggression when attacking the defense as a roll-man.
This highlight just encompasses ruthless aggression. His offensive rebound then slam looked like some Nerf hoop type stuff.
That game felt like the switch from Pau Gasol, one signaling his rise from promising rising star to a bonafide All-Star — laying the foundation for his Hall of Fame career. A dominant performance against another (technically, future at the time) Hall-of-Fame power forward and a Western Conference powerhouse certainly adds a boost. Everything from his new look and his attack mentality was evidence he was looking to shed any sort of “soft” label he had, and to be aggressive for his team to have a good shot at winning each night.
The Pau Gasol era could’ve been remembered better, as it was met with notoriety — and maybe, some misunderstanding. His finesse was mistaken for softness. The methodical elements of his post game was seen as holding the ball too long. He was good enough to be an All-Star but wasn’t considered good enough to build a contender around. There isn’t postseason success associated with his time in Memphis like the stars of Grit ‘n’ Grind, as they went 0-12 from 2004-2006 — although ran into a gauntlet of a defending champion San Antonio Spurs, 62-win Phoenix Suns, and a 60-win Dallas Mavericks (who represented the West in the Finals that year).
With all that said, it was an absolute shame the Grizzlies didn’t get to experience Pau Gasol at his prime. It sucks that his greatness often times felt under-appreciated. At the same time, it was an absolute thrill to see Gasol grow and succeed at the highest level, alongside one of the greatest players to play the game in Kobe Bryant, on his way to basketball immortality — from team and individual standpoints.
Witnessing Gasol’s growth and success was such a cool part of my basketball-watching experience in my childhood, particularly in that 2005-06 season. The physical and mental transformation into one of the most dominant post players in the league led to a special run with 6 All-Star bids, 4 All-NBA teams, and 2 NBA championships.
And I can’t help but think that his aggressive excellence on a November night in Dallas in 2005 served as the switch to ignite that run.
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