My favorite part about this is how you wrote "right now" at the end. Gasol's numbers the last 4 games: 17 points, 20 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 steal, 1 block 16 points, 20 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, 1 block 10 points, 16 rebounds, 2 assists, 0 steals, 2 blocks 26 points, 22 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 4 blocks "Right now"
Either way. Duncan, Nowitzki, and Gasol (in some order) are my top 3 for players officially listed as PFs.
Well everyone is entitled to their opinion. Duncan - Agree Dirk- So so Gasol - No You still have guys like K.G, Dwight Howard ( He is no damn Center im sorry ), and Amare. So top 5 maybe but top 3 no way thats too high
This is a good question, I think both sides have something that other one doesn't. I'd even propose throwing in Chuck Hayes vs. Andrew Bynum. That's another good one, I'll touch on. - Gasol and Odom are by far more talented and skilled than Landry and Scola, while also being much taller and physically gifted. And are most likely a better matchup against most NBA teams, especially when you have players, like Kobe and Andrew Bynum as their surrounding pieces. - Landry and Scola have way more heart, aggressiveness, resilience, and tenacity. There both hustle players and will do dirty work on the court, fight for tough rebounds or tough points, especially in the paint. I still question Gasol and Odom on whether they make the Lakers front line soft as cotton. They don't keep players off the board as well as they should and I've never seen the Lakers really shut down the paint unless it is being packed in by a zone. I think the Lakers wouldn't struggle as much to put teams away, if they had Landry and Scola. - Which is why I think you are more likely to see Scola and Landry succeed against teams tougher or more physical defenses in a series, and sometimes more talented teams. I don't know what is exactly, but probably for the reasons I just said. I think Odom and Gasol can be underwhelming in the playoffs or in certain matchups, a good bit of the time. While, I mainly see Scola and Landry overachieve no matter who they play. Maybe that is more expectation. But, I do think those two along with scrubish bench is why LA doesn't put teams away faster. I am almost certain, if they are the two best players on the team and put on a much weaker team. I firmly believe that such a team would struggle to make the playoffs unless it had a good coach. I believe if the Rockets were at full strength last year in the playoffs (with Yao and Mutombo), they would've beaten the Lakers in 5 or 6 game and possibly swept the Nuggets. If Scola and Landry (with Brooks/Hayes/Battier) made things so tough for LA inside, could you imagine what Yao and Mutombo would've did against them being in their. Our frontline would almost make them look like somewhat inferior, it would've been even more nightmarish for their fans and team than it could've been this past playoffs. - I believe Scola and Landry are overall slightly better (team/one on one) defenders than Odom and Gasol, together. It's only because of effort though. I think Gasol and Odom can present more trouble, because of height, but our Rockets are little more committed to defense. Which permeates consistency. It's funny, because I think both teams are almost comparable in post defense (when healthy), yet one team is missing their star center. People often ridicule and mock Yao for not being able to strike fear into and saying he doesn't deter way guards, yet Bynum and Gasol together aren't much better and possibly much worse at deterring ambitious wing players away from the basket.
Odom and Gasol are both nutless and gutless Mentally Weak Players IMO Without Kobe as the main horse . . .they would wilt under ANY kind of pressure I respect HEART and Scola/Landry have that in Spades Rocket River
Wow.. Ok ok who would you rather have? Budinger or that dude called Kobe, i am going with Budinger because i am a complete moron!
Skillwise,Gasol/Odom are superior. I admit Pau has proven to be stronger than I thought. His offensive skills are undisputed,his defense/rebounding has improved. Playing with the best player in the world does make things much easier,but Pau is a very valuable piece for them. Odom,lot of talent but not in the game most of the time. That's what separates him from Landry and Luis. I would still nevertheless go ahead and choose Gasol/Odom and try to get another defensive minded backup center to complement the frontcourt. I would retain Chuck at all costs in this scenario too.
I get the "NO HEART" thing with Odom but Gasol??? The Lakers didn't become the "LAKERS" till Gasol came on board and Kobe was no better then TMAC till Gasol was traded for. Gasol has made two straight NBA finals and won a title...No Heart??? I am as much a homer as anyone but still realistic
This is kind of like the Kobe vs. Lowry poll. I really like our guys and despise the Lakers. I especially hate Gasol's smug demeanor. But if you want me to be honest, I'd have to say Gasol/Odom over Scola/Landry by a mile.
You guys seriously don't understand how much of a versatile big man gasol is...in adelman's system...its scary.
I could see that, but I'll still take Duncan. Everyone says Duncan is down, but if you check his PER is better than Bosh's every year, including this one. And I have to give Duncan extra points for the defense, intangibles, experience, leadership, etc.
I've got reservations about most any metric. But an argument can be made in Duncan's favor (or, at the least, they are even) in terms of the box score. And then, looking beyond the box score, I just think Duncan does more to help you win. At least right now.
Gasol and Odom. Head to Head matchups can be misleading but Scolandry doesnt really match up good against "Gasodom"
