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Sunday, June 24
Updated: June 25, 3:57 PM ET
Gasol ready to go on NBA adventure
By Jorge Ortiz
Special to ESPN.com
BARCELONA -- As the celebration of Barcelona's Spanish basketball league championship reached its apex Friday evening at city hall, finals MVP Pau
Gasol addressed the boisterous crowd below, after every one of his teammates
had spoken.
Amid chants of "MVP! MVP!" -- in English, no less -- Gasol said a few
kind words to the fans before teammate Nacho Rodriguez chimed in with the
question everyone wanted answered: "What about next year?"
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I've gotten myself ready and I'll do my best to overcome any obstacles. I feel very good about my chances. I'm very enthused about going to the NBA, so if it could be this year, I'd love that. ” |
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— Pau Gasol |
Gasol hesitated, smiled and responded, "No se."
Translation: "I don't know."
Give him points for honesty.
Gasol doesn't know how high he'll go in Wednesday's draft, which will go a long way toward determining whether he joins the NBA right away or
returns to his native Barcelona to play out the last year of his contract.
The latter move would spare him having to pay the lion's share of a $2.5
million buyout to the club.
NBA teams can only contribute $350,000 toward the buyout, so the size of Gasol's slotted rookie contract will play a key role in his decision.
Gasol's Chicago-based agent, Herb Rudoy, has mentioned the sixth spot in the
lottery as a low-water benchmark, while Gasol fends off questions with
comments such as, "I'd like to go as high as possible."
Given his meteoric rise, it's easy to understand why the 7-foot-1 forward would not put any limitations on his draft prospects. In just a few months
the 20-year-old Gasol (pronounced gas-ALL) has gone from a virtual unknown
stateside to a hot commodity.
Draft speculation has had him going as high as the third pick, and that was before he led the Spanish title series in scoring, rebounding and shot-blocking while guiding Barcelona to a sweep over Real Madrid. Even if that talk is just hot air, Gasol stands a good chance of becoming the highest-drafted player never bred on U.S. hoops, a distinction currently held by the Dallas Mavericks' Dirk Nowitzki, who was taken ninth in 1998.
Gasol's dizzying ascent has startled basketball observers and even some teammates, but he seems to handle it with the same aplomb he displays in breaking a halfcourt press.
"It's just a matter of development," he said in his first comments to the American media since opting to stay in the draft instead of pulling out by last Wednesday's deadline. "I don't have a set plan for my progress. I know things have gone pretty fast. Everything's gone well this year and I've improved a lot. I'd like to continue getting better and make the big jump to the NBA."
Gasol leapt out at NBA scouts and general managers this past season, only his second at the club level in the Spanish ACB League. He averaged
11.4 points and 5.2 rebounds in 23.9 minutes as a starter, then bumped up those figures to 17 points and 9 rebounds (plus 3 blocks a game) in the
finals.
The relatively modest numbers, however, don't tell the full story of why he has drawn such interest. Appreciating his game requires watching Gasol play, preferably in person, which NBA executives have been doing en masse the last couple of months.
Only then does his full range of abilities become evident. Whether he's spotting a cutter in the lane, lofting a soft 3-pointer, driving to his
left or leaving his man behind on the break, Gasol displays uncommon agility for a player his size, not to mention one with a 7-3 wingspan.
"He's a legitimate 7-footer who likes to play out on the floor facing the basket," said Warriors assistant general manager Gary Fitzsimmons, whose team holds the fifth and 14th picks in the draft. "He can handle and shoot the ball. He has skills, that's what intrigues NBA guys."
Those skills may become especially important with the new rules the NBA will implement next season. Not only does the legalization of zone defenses heighten the need for long-range bombers, but ball-handlers will be at a premium as well, as teams are expected to press more to exploit the new 8-second limit on bringing the ball upcourt.
Having a 7-footer with good court vision on the floor should come in handy in beating those defensive tactics.
The son of basketball-playing parents -- both dad Agustin and mother Marisa played through high school -- Gasol took up the game at 6 and grew up playing all five positions. He even manned the point until a growth spurt in his mid-teens sent him closer to the basket. But to this day he's more comfortable out on the wing.
"When I was 13 I had a coach who made me play the point, which helped me develop better court vision and a better technical knowledge of the
game," Gasol said. "I've always played outside, so (the floor game) has always come naturally to me."
Other facets of the game have not, like defense. At a slender 225 pounds, Gasol lacks the bulk to hold his own against NBA power forwards and
the quickness to keep up with small forwards. As with many European imports who grew up within the comforts of the zone, his defense -- shot-blocking
notwithstanding -- will be suspect unless he proves otherwise.
Fitzsimmons, for one, believes Gasol is a long ways away in that regard.
"There's no question he's not ready now," Fitzsimmons said. "He'd have a difficult time guarding people. He'd definitely struggle against
quicker guys. He hasn't had to play them."
Also, while Gasol shot 34.9 percent from the shorter international 3-point line (a shade over 20 feet) this past season, he hasn't shown the
pure outside stroke of a Nowitzki or Toni Kukoc, the players to whom he's most often compared.
"He'll need to get physically stronger and maybe improve his outside shot," said Rodriguez, a veteran guard who's a noted marksman. "He's got
everything else. I think Nowitzki shoots better from the perimeter, but Pau (pronounced pow) has more of an inside game. He's longer."
And until recently, very much of a long-shot to become only the second Spaniard to play in the NBA, following the late Fernando Martin's brief
stint with the Portland Trail Blazers in 1986-87. Gasol said he did not grow up dreaming of the NBA, and only started giving the league serious
consideration in the last several months, as his game took off.
Former Boston College standout Danya Abrams, a burly power forward who has played the last three years in Spain, said he didn't think much of
Gasol's NBA chances until this season. But after failing to contain Gasol by tenderizing him with physical play in an earlier playoff series, he's ready
to see his opponent cross the Atlantic.
Barcelona coach Aito Garcia, of course, is in no such hurry. But having furthered his basketball knowledge by attending coaching clinics in the United
States, Garcia knows Gasol's next logical step is the NBA. He has already accomplished enough in Spain in just a short while.
"His improvement in the last couple of years has been remarkable," Garcia said. "The reason for it is he's got great physical attributes -- though from an NBA standpoint he obviously needs to get stronger -- along with a great mind for the game."
That sagacity on the floor is often manifested in Gasol's deft passing, be it on a cross-court connection with a streaking teammate on the
break or on a kickout to an open shooter just beyond the arc.
"It's a gift," Gasol said of his court sense. "It's something you carry inside, not something you learn. You can develop it when you're young,
but it's mostly innate."
As he makes his first trip to the United States on Monday to attend the draft in person, Gasol's likely to ponder a number of questions about his basketball and personal
future. He still lives with his parents and two siblings -- a common practice among unmarried Spaniards well into their 20s -- so moving away from the
family home will require some adjusting. The same goes for the regular use of English, a language Gasol says he speaks fairly well.
Regardless of where he's chosen, not all the questions flooding Gasol's mind will be answered by Wednesday. But he seems to be looking ahead toward
the upcoming challenge, rather than glancing back at his past
accomplishments.
"I figure my first year will be very hard, a time of adjustment with a new team. I've never changed teams before," he said. "So I imagine it'll
be hard, but I've gotten myself ready and I'll do my best to overcome any obstacles.
"I feel very good about my chances. I'm very enthused about going to the NBA, so if it could be this year, I'd love that."
Jorge Ortiz is a staff writer for the San Francisco Chronicle currently on leave in Barcelona. He covered the NBA for five seasons.
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