I guess I should have done more research with Dirk's stats from when he was the same age as Gasol. However one thing you can't deny is that Gasol is making more of an impact as a rookie than Dirk did. That might be a sign that Gasol could outshine Dirk in the next few years. At the very least he could match his output. To me, Gasol is a lot more athletic than Dirk. Dirk isn't really that fast. What makes him seem so fast, is that Dirk does have the ability to dribble the ball full court. But that doesn't mean he is really fast. Gasol is one of the best running big men in the NBA.
The real test for Gasol will come next year. Right now, not many people know a whole lot about him. If he is able to increase his numbers the way Dirk has after teams start throwing double, and triple teams at him then I will say that he will be as good as Dirk. He is a very good player, and will win Rookie of the Year but I'd like to see how he handles being the main person defenses focus on.
that's a hard comparison, but if i had to pick between them to wear a rocket's uni i would go with nowitzki only because he has more range. i'm gonna jump in the minority as well and say that i'd take stojakovic over either of them. he's not as versatile but it seems like he shoots 90%.
