And switching the two, you'd say the same thing. If Pau was switched with Bosh, than Bosh would be mroe important to LA's success than Pau would be to Miami's. Besides which, I think both will be extremely important to their squads, because to win championships in the NBA, generally, you have to have solid inside presence to go along with play-makers in the backcourt. The Heat are not championship contenders without Bosh. The Lakers aren't without Gasol.
chris bosh has more talent, but pau gasol is the better post player. however, bosh now has lebron and wade on his team so he will see more 1-on-1 defense and maybe his post offense will be even better. defensively is where pau is much better than bosh. pau was HUGE in the past playoff runs. i didn't know he can block shots like he did and just protecting the paint in general. bosh has the potential to be better than pau if he improves his post offense + his defense. but for now, pau is the better player.
It's funny how winning will change a person's reputation. Gasol was considered soft just a couple of years ago. Now he's got more "heart" than Bosh. If the Heat win a couple of championships and Bosh plays well, everyone will be talking about Bosh the same way.
gasol > bosh that's for sure. i like gasol better cause he can and is willing to play center as well.
I'll give you that, I just think that Gasol is the better player. I see Bosh as the third player option where as Gasol second behind Kobe.
Yep...I think Gasol is better, too, for a lot of the reasons many have mentioned here, including myself. More efficient (though not necessarily prolific offensive) player, better defender, can slide into center position, more playoff experience. But I also think it is fairly close. Bosh is a better rebounder, equally competent offensively, equally competent passer, does block some shots, etc. On the Lakers, I think Bosh would also be the second option. On the Heat, I think Gasol would also be the third option. I think the Heat would be slightly better with Gasol (than with Bosh), though, for the reasons mentioned above - primarily improved defense.
That's the same thing people said about Gasol when he carried a crappy team to the playoffs three years in a row but failed to win a single game. Three Finals appearances later, he's widely regarded as the best big man in the game. He didn't get any better.
What made the Lakers a better team??? the addition of Gasol. Without him Lakers would be 0-3 in the finals.
You're right, he didn't get better. But he was already one of the best in the game, and players like Duncan, Garnett and Brand have gotten worse and Yao's been injured. That's why he's considered the best big man in the game. The "soft" label was probably always unfair, and largely due to the fact that he was European and people didn't see him play because his team was bad-to-mediocre. Also because he was more of a face-up player in Memphis, while in the triangle offense he's more of a post player.
Without him, the Lakers would NOT make the finals. Maybe once, and even that is being generous. Gasol is a really intelligent basketball player. His offensive rebounds and putbacks is at an elite level, and it's painful to watch.
I'm not sure why you're quoting me here. I understand that Gasol has turned the Lakers into a championship team. Without him, they would probably be 0-3 in the first round the last three years.
I think he did toughen up a lot in Lakers. He was still soft in his first finals, 2 years later, against the same team, he looked so much better out there.
it helped that KG declined markedly. KG of 2 years ago would still outplay the lakers and the celtics would have won. but pau won his matchup v. kg definitively in this past finals and dominated the interior defensively.
Well that year it was his first time out the post-season, but after playing with the Black Mamba - the passion/heart/will to win translated to him and now he's a two time champion looking for #3
Well you know Gasol is 4 years older, so maybe when Bosh is 35 and Gasol is 39 Bosh might be better. But Gasol is 1.5x better than Bosh because he can play inside/outside and mid-range as well. I'm not sure Bosh even has a post move aside from dunks. Considering Pau's game relies more on skill than athletic ability, I'm pretty sure Gasol will be the better player until he's 35.
