Archive for the 'Pau Gasol' Category

Pau Gasol: Exit Interview

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on June 16, 2009
in Pau Gasol
. Closed

blog_090616paugasolWhile Pau Gasol’s mastery of offense was evident throughout his All-Star 2008-09 campaign, and his entire career, for that matter, it may have been his growth on the defensive side of the ball from L.A.’s 2008 Finals loss to Boston and 2009’s victory over Orlando that made the ultimate difference.

For the season, he averaged 18.9 points, 9.6 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.0 blocks on 56.7 percent from the field and 78.1 percent from the line in 81 games at 37 minutes per. In the playoffs, Gasol scored 18.3 points with 10.8 boards, 2.5 assists, 0.83 steals and 1.96 blocks on 58 percent from the field and 71.4 from the line while playing 40.5 minutes per contest.

Here are some highlights from his exit interview:

- To start: “I feel great. When I got here, it was a complete shock … Everything happened extremely fast. I was able to deliver very well throughout the playoffs and help my team conquer the championship. It’s been a beautiful year.”

- Gasol acknowledged that the big difference between last season and this was his focus on getting stronger, pushed along by L.A.’s staff, that clearly played off in the playoff run to the championship as his defense and paint presence picked up considerably.

- Gasol’s next three answers came in Espanol, as is sometimes the case depending on the reporters … Yeah, not sure what he said.

- On Phil Jackson: “I think he would like to come back. I really want him, I wish and hope that he comes back. He’s such a big part of our team and our success. I don’t know if he gets enough credit for what he does. He’s such a great person, not just a coach, he’s just a great guy to be coached by. I respect him so much, appreciate who he is and what he’s about extremely. It’s a true pleasure and honor to be coached by him so I really hope he can coach us again for as long as he wants, can or (will be allowed) by.” In other words, Gasol loves Phil.

- Finally, Gasol acknowledged how hard it was to repeat, citing how L.A.’s hunger from losing last season drove them throughout this campaign, but he suggested that if the team’s able to keep it’s key players and coaches, he felt good about its chances: “We have an amazing group and we’ll definitely go for it again.”

Pau Gasol Audio: Saturday

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on May 16, 2009
in Pau Gasol, Podcast and Practice News
. Closed

Pau Gasol explained his team’s excitement heading into Game 7, talked about the importance of helping Andrew Bynum get off to good starts and expressed clearly his desire to bring a maximum physical effort to the game.

 
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Pau & Jordan on Numb3rs Tonight

Published
by
Ty Nowell
on March 13, 2009
in Jordan Farmar, Miscellaneous and Pau Gasol
. Closed


Lakers Pau Gasol and Jordan Farmar will be special guest stars on tonight’s episode of CBS’s Numb3rs (10pm ET/PT).

The pair of NBA stars come to the rescue and help the “Cal Sci” basketball team in their time of need.

The Numb3rs website has some behind-the-scenes footage (you can also watch full episodes there) for ya.

Let’s hope the whole thing goes better than this… just kidding Luke.

Gasol Named Player of the Month

Published
by
Ty Nowell
on March 2, 2009
in Around the NBA and Pau Gasol
. Closed

After helping the Lakers to an impressive 11-2 record, and pulling down back-to-back player of the week honors, Pau Gasol was officially named the Western Conference Player of the Month for February.

Gasol averaged 20.9 points on .586 shooting and 10.9 rebounds.

Check out the Press Release here.

Gasol Earns Second Straight P.O.W. Honors

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on February 23, 2009
in Around the NBA and Pau Gasol
. Closed

What we didn’t talk about with Pau Gasol in our extended interview was how L.A.’s center/power forward won his second consecutive Western Conference Player of the Week award.

In joining Kobe Bryant with two such accolades this season, Gasol led the Lakers to a 4-0 record last week while averaging 20.3 points on 63.5 percent shooting, grabbing 10.8 rebounds, tossing 6.5 assists while blocking one shot per game. Pau’s terrific week was highlighted by his third career triple-double when he scored 12 points with 13 rebounds and 10 assists in three quarters of L.A.’s 96-83 win over Atlanta on Feb. 17.

Here’s a rundown of Gasol’s four games between Tuesday, Feb. 17 and Sunday, Feb. 22:

Feb. 17 vs. Atlanta: Put up his first triple-double as a Laker with 12 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists in a 96-83 win over the Hawks.
Feb. 18 @ Golden State: Registered 24 points, 13 boards and five dimes in a 129-121 win over the Warriors.
Feb. 20 vs. New Orleans: Contributed 20 points, 12 rebounds and six assists in L.A.’s 115-111 OT win against the Hornets.
Feb. 22 @ Minnesota: Scored 25 points, grabbed five rebounds, dished five assists and blocked two shots as the Lakers defeated the Timberwolves 111-108.

Among the players Gasol narrowly beat out was Lamar Odom, who was fantastic himself in averaging 18.5 points on 54.9 percent shooting, 14.5 rebounds, 3.25 assists, 1.25 steals and 1.25 blocks.

Over in the Eastern Conference, Dwight Howard took home the honor by averaging 25.5 points, 15.0 rebounds and 4.3 blocks while leading the Magic to a 3-1 week.

Frosted Flakes, Medicine and Penelope Cruz

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on February 23, 2009
in Features and Pau Gasol
. Closed

Whether you’re talking about food, basketball, medicine or what have you, Lakers forward Pau Gasol generally has something interesting to offer.

We caught up with the 2008-09 All-Star in his hotel room – while he was waiting for some pasta with marinara sauce (entrée No. 1), grilled chicken breast with mashed potatoes (entrée No. 2), a coke (he had plenty of water at shootaround) and a banana (for dessert) – to see what was on his mind:

MT: Let’s begin with a no-nonsense question. What’s your favorite cereal?
Gasol: Frosted Flakes. That’s easy. Also, Corn Flakes … with sugar. I guess that’s basically Frosted Flakes, but I started eating them when I was very young in Spain.

To read the rest of the interview, head right here on Lakers.com.

Pau Records First Triple-Double as a Laker

Published
by
Lakers.com
on February 17, 2009
in In-Game and Pau Gasol
. Closed

Pau GasolAt halftime, Pau Gasol had eight points, eight boards and five assists, but was a central player in the third quarter run by getting to 10 points, 12 boards and 10 assists at the 4:10 mark. His 10th dime came on a 25-foot triple from Bryant, his second of the quarter, to put L.A. up 75-52.

This is Pau’s third career triple-double and his first as a member of the Lakers.

Gasol had his first career triple-double with 21 points, 12 boards and 12 assists on March 8, 2006 at Seattle, and his second on January 24, 2007 at Utah, when Pau recorded his second triple-double as a Grizzly with 17 points, 13 rebounds, and 12 assists.

2009 All-Star Game: Running Diary

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on February 15, 2009
in All-Star 2009, Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol
. Closed

2009 Western Conference All-StarsHere’s what we’re covering in today’s All-Star game:

1) Interesting moments for Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol
2) Noticeable nuggets involving Phil Jackson and his Lakers assistant coaches
3) The MVP race, particularly my and Ty’s MVP Draft.

That’ll just about do it. Here are the starters:

Lakers: Oops. Habit. Western Conference: Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant, Amare Stoudemire, Tim Duncan and Yao Ming
Eastern Conference: Allen Iverson, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, Kevin Garnett and Dwight Howard

Kobe BryantFirst Quarter
12:00 Intros: Kobe was the last player announced among the All-Stars, which drew primarily cheers with a few boos from Suns fans (Spurs Duncan and Tony Parker were booed as well). Equally solid: Since I missed “Oh Canada” when we were in Toronto, I was pretty happy to hear Grant Hill’s wife belt it out like Celine Dion (with a special French/English mix). Impressive. Is it unpatriotic to like Canada’s version more than the U.S. National Anthem? Jordin Sparks (American Idol winner from Arizona) was pretty solid, to be fair.

11:40 Even though it was over Kobe, I’m liking the D-Wade pull-up from three. Good start for my top MVP pick. Ty’s No. 1 selection (LeBron) followed with a layup after Kobe’s missed triple for a 5-0 East lead.

9:08 Kobe hit his first of three shots, a pull-up in the lane over KG’s outstretched hands. I guess he’s not scared to shoot today, which makes sense because the West has such a huge starting lineup. In other words, Kobe’s the only guy that creates his own shot willingly from the perimeter.

8:22 So Kobe needs a bit of time to warm up … he just missed his fourth of five shots, this time from three. No worries for Lakers fans, because it’s better he miss now than vs. Atlanta on Tuesday.

7:22 AI tried to match Corey Maggette’s record for steps taken before dribbling, but only got to five.

6:57 Huge two-handed dunk off a pretty Paul set up from Bryant.

5:44 The first timeout of the game saw the East up 21-10, which really isn’t surprising considering the frontcourt matchups: Howard’s got Yao in this kind of game, Duncan and KG cancel out, and LeBron’s not even close with Stoudemire. This should even out soon though…

… The timeout allowed Phil to put Shaq in with Kobe for the first time.

4:37 If they’re not going to cover Kobe, he’ll keep shooting - this time a completely wide-open three, which he dropped to go 4-of-9 for a game-high nine points. Meanwhile, Jackson kept Kobe on the floor with Shaq, Chauncey Billups, Brandon Roy and Dirk Nowitzki.

3:40 Kobe again. Ty says he’s hungry because he didn’t play much at all last year (finger). He’s got 11.

2:56 We’ve been talking all day about how small the East team is, which became clear when Rashard Lewis tried to guard Shaq (foul). The West has taken advantage by scoring every point of the last few minutes…

1:56 …Finally, a 19-0 West run was halted by a Rashard Lewis three, one he had in the bank from his final-round performance of the three-point shootout. It’s just odd to have a massive run here, because it’s not like the West completely locked down on D or anything.

1:21 Another of my MVP top three, Tony Parker, scored four points with a dime in his first minute. Let’s keep that going, France.

0:29.0 Checking in for Shaq, Gasol immediately dunked, grabbed a defensive rebound and missed a baby hook in the lane. Nonetheless, the Western size caught up to the East, who went up 20-8 only to be outscored 24-7 (they didn’t score from the 5:52 mark until 1:56 remained).
Continue reading ‘2009 All-Star Game: Running Diary’

Gasol Named Western Player of the Week

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on February 9, 2009
in Around the NBA, Features and Pau Gasol
. Closed

Pau GasolThanks to a terrific individual week in which his team also happened to go 4-0 with wins over the two best teams in the Eastern Conference, Pau Gasol earned Western Conference Player of the Week honors, joining Kobe Bryant (twice) in receiving the award this season.

Gasol, after moving to center in place of the injured Andrew Bynum, averaged 26.0 points on 67.6 percent shooting and ranked third in the NBA with 13.8 boards per contest.

He was terrific when it counted both in an OT win at Boston and the win that snapped Cleveland’s 23-0 home record three nights later, helping the Lakers return from their trip with a 6-0 record to post the league’s best record at 41-9.

We took a closer look into Gasol’s fantastic play of late by detailing his numbers in the last five games since Bynum went down, and trying to describe how he’s done it with the help of some video from Luke Walton.

You can read it by clicking here.

Calderon Talks Spain, Pau

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on February 4, 2009
in Around the NBA, Pau Gasol, Podcast and Pre-Game
. Closed

Pau Gasol/Jose CalderonPrior to L.A.’s 7 p.m. tip in Toronto on Wednesday night, I was an American talking to a Spaniard in Canada.

Raptors point guard Jose Calderson, one of Pau Gasol’s closest friends and Spanish National Team cohort, gave us a few minutes to talk about Pau’s game, the growth of Spanish hoops and what his taller countryman is like off the court.

Calderon, who happens to be one of the league’s nicest guys, has struggled to overcome a hamstring injury that first bothered him in the Olympics, even keeping him out of the gold medal game against the U.S. Yet and still, he’s averaging 13.3 points, 8.6 assists, 3.2 boards and nearly a steal a game.

Here’s what he had to say about Gasol:

 
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