Gasol has been a huge surprise i thought he would be good but not so fast. i thought Nowitzki was far better but look at the numbers in there rookie years 1st year Nowitzki (20 years old) 8/3 1st year Gasol (21 years old) 17/9 2nd year Nowitzki (21 years old)17/7 2nd year Gasol ?????????? most european players took a lot longer to get to that level in the nba, these two are special.
Nowitzki by far...i don't think there is any argument here...i would personally take Stojakovic over the both of them although I might be part of the minority in that decision.
What Nowitski does should be illegal...shooting, driving, ball handling...Dude can play all five positions on the court if he wanted...
I don't know, but the international players are getting a lot of respect from me. They could put together one hell of a team.
Maybe next all-star Saturday they could have a sort of mini all-star game. Except, it could be like the one the NHL has. N.America vs. World. Look at the line-ups: World PG-Steve Nash SG-Peja Stojakovic SF-Pau Gasol PF-Dirk Nowitzki C-Dikembe Mutombo N.America PG-Jason Kidd SG-Kobe Bryant SF-Kevin Garnett PF-Tim Duncan C-Shaquille O'Neal Could they win?
Actually Dirk was 19 in his rookie year. He also only played 1 year of semi-pro basketball in a weak German league. Gasol played 4-5 years in a very competative Pro League. I would say it's fair to compare Gasol at 21 to Dirk at 21 though. When all is said and done, I think Dirk will be the better player. Dirk is more athletic, and has better handles, and he has better range. Gasol is better at playing close to the basket. Once Gasol fills out he would be a more natural 4.
After seeing what Gasol can do now, I would say Gasol. He already has better defense, is longer, and seems a little quicker on his feet. Gasol has slightly worse handles, and a less range on his shot. But both of those things can be learned.
If we're talking North America, shouldn't Steve Nash, a Canadian, be with the other North Americans? And if we're just talking USA vs. the World, should Tim Duncan be on the World side? Then we'd have: World 1 Nash 2 Stojakovic 3 Gasol 4 Nowitzki 5 Duncan vs USA 1 Kidd 2 Bryant 3 Garnett 4 Webber? 5 O'Neal As for Gasol vs. Nowitzki, I think there are 2 reasons Gasol's having a better rookie season: (1) Dallas then still had better players than Memphis now, so they relied on their rookie less, and, (2) more importantly, Gasol is more polished from years of professional ball than Nowitzki was. I said in the offseason that I thought Battier or Gasol would win ROY simply because they were coming in with the most experience. Gasol will get better than he is now, but he won't see the same year-over-year improvement Nowitzki did.
Personally i think Nowitzki will be better, kinda hard to say since Gasol is still a rookie, and Nowitzki has the better shot. I haven't seen to much of Gasol outside game. But speaking of European players did you guys see Peja try to dunk of Duncan, of course he got rejected but it was go to see him take it to the whole agressively
No brainer------Dirk Diggler is AWESOME! He probably is one of the top 15 players in the game already. I would literally kill to have him on our team.
I´m very susrprise of Gasol this year for two reasons: - He is making a very good season and he will be ROY without any doubt. -And the other think that I am surprise is that Gasol do not shot out of the zone (I think he need time for this) ...last year he had a very shot, probably the best from a 4-5 of the Acb (Spanish league) and maybe better than some shoters...last year he shown us his ability with the ball (always he catched a rebound he pick the ball, like a 1), a good shot of out of zone, and a lot of things that he has not shown in NBA...but I think is question of time. - I read in a post that Gasol has played 4 o 5 years in a competitive league, this is false he has played only last year in the principal team the rest he played very little or in the LEB league is the "second league". Dirk and Gasol are two players very very similars is very difficult to say who is going to be better...if you can see the match Germany-Spain for the third position of the european of Turkey you can see the thinks I tell you before...and you can see La Bomba Navarro in action too....
Tough question. I think Nowitzki will end up being the better player, but not by a whole lot. Dirk seems to be a bit more athletic and has a better touch with more range. But it will certainly be fun to see those 2 go at it over the next decade or so. Another reason why the NBA is about to (as Jamie Foxx would say) 'BLOWUPTUATE' over the next decade or so.
Gasol is the first Euro I've seen in a while who seems very at home in the paint. But Dirk has more skilled I believe and his shooting/handle is nuts for a guy his size.
I think Dirk is the better player, because he can play at so many positions. Gasol is having a great year for a rookie, but it is difficult to do it again next year. If he plays better next year, than he could become a better player than Nowitzki.
Gasol will be better. I would rather have a PF, who can play inside, than a PF who only is comfortable shooting jumpers. Gasol at age 20 or 21, is better than Dirk at the same age. Moreover, when Gasol adds more pounds, he will be even more effective inside. Nowitzki has yet to play any defense at all, nor has he developed any noticable post-up moves. Gasol is also a very good shot blocker.
Nowitzki has yet to play any defense at all, nor has he developed any noticable post-up moves. I suggest you watch Nowizki now and then to see that he posts up at least 5-10 times a game and is deadly.
These are their stats when each was at 21 years old. Points Per Game: Gasol 17.5 - Dirk 17.5 Turn Overs Per Game: Gasol 2.65 - Dirk 1.72 Blocks Per Game: Gasol 2.27 - Dirk .83 Steals Per Game: Gasol .54 - Dirk .77 Assists Per Game: Gasol 2.2 - Dirk 2.5 Rebounds Per Game: Gasol 8.9 - Dirk 6.5 Free Throw %: Gasol .687 - Dirk .830 3 Point %: Gasol .200 - Dirk .379 Field Goal %: Gasol .522 - Dirk .461 Minutes Per Game: Gasol 37.3 - Dirk 35.8 Seems to me that they are fairly even. Gasol does play closer to the basket in most cases so his rebounds, blocks, and FG% are slightly higher but Dirk's FT%, and 3PT% are higher not to mention that he had more assists per game, and few turnovers. Overall though I would say that at age 21 they are fairly even.
