Amidst all the attention on Derrick Rose, Pau Gasol has flown under the radar. The 34-year-old Spanish Forward/Center gets over-looked due to all the D Rose analysis, over-analysis and meta-analysis. Here’s Turner Sports Reggie Miller on Rose needing to be aggressive now that he’s back:
“I want to see Derrick be more aggressive and trust that body, and blow by [Goran] Dragic. Right now he’s just settling for outside shots. At times he’s going to be winded, the rhythm’s not there but I want to see that burst.”
That’s a perfect example of Chicago Bulls topic one for every pundit now that it’s playoff time. How about some Pau?
Miller on the Bulls’ passing ability: “They’ve always been one of those great passing teams, and the reason being is their ‘bigs’ are so good in [Joakim] Noah and Pau Gasol.”
Okay that’s more like it. Gasol averaged a career high in rebounding (11.8) to go along with his career high 54 double doubles. It’s especially impressive when you consider that he’s 34. Pau Gasol is the oldest player to lead the NBA in double doubles since 2010-11. His 18.5 scoring average is his highest PPG since 2010-11. Indeed he’s aging like a fine wine.
When asked about his double doubles record, Gasol joked “not that I look at it or anything,” before adding:
“it’s nice, individually I’m happy that I’ve been playing at this level and accomplishing things that I haven’t done in the past, so it’s pretty remarkable and I just want to continue to work.”
As we get into the playoffs (preview of the first round series versus Milwaukee here), the game becomes more half court and less transition. You need a true post threat in your half court sets to succeed during postseason play. The Bulls were in a very tightly contested race down the stretch to get the Eastern Conference’s #3 seed.
“Every game is a test, especially when you’re so close to it, and fighting for a spot,” Pau Gasol said as the season wrapped up.
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and writes The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with Fox Sports Digital. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes to the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. He also appears regularly on numerous sports talk radio stations all across the country.
Follow him on Twitter (@paulmbanks)