Author Topic: Amare Stoudemire: "Pau Gasol is Soft."  (Read 18784 times)

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Re: Amare Stoudemire: "Pau Gasol is Soft."
« Reply #45 on: April 04, 2011, 10:30:28 AM »

Offline ManUp

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I don't think it's Ironic at all. Amare isn't soft, atleast not by my definition. IMO, whether or not your soft depends on your ability to handle phsyical play offensively and defensively. While Amare isn't a hard nosed defender or tenacious rebounder he plays a very physical game on the offensive end. Your not going to intimidate Amare by trying to push him around he'll play through it and might actually get mad and do better. Gasol is a better rebounder and defender, but he's not a physical player. BTW, Gasol despite being soft is probably a better player than Amare.
« Last Edit: April 04, 2011, 10:36:51 AM by ManUp »

Re: Amare Stoudemire: "Pau Gasol is Soft."
« Reply #46 on: April 04, 2011, 10:34:49 AM »

Offline myteamisbetterthanyours

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and do u guys even remember last years finals (when the only time he seemed to do well was when a much shorter glen davis was guarding him, not to mention that his best game that series was COINCIDENTALLY the one that Perkins missed)?
You surely jest. Or really haven't watched the finals carefully. Gasol posted a 23 and 14 in the first game of the finals, then proceeded to kill us with regularity (3 more 20+ point games, 4 more 12+ rebound games). That's before we even introduce the 6-block game (and the total of 18 swats for the series) into the picture. Or the 26 assists. Or the 5 double-doubles.

Actually you're wrong about the first stat.. in game 1 of the finals he scored 19 points.. on 6-16 shooting (not very good)... he did have 18 boards which hurts my argument.. but remember he did this against an AILING KG (which is a very important factor) and an undersized Glen Davis..........

He had the 6 blocks in game 2 (a game in which KG only took 5 shots and davis took 13)... How hard is it to block glen davis 6 times? i could probably do that.. especially with a wingspan like gasols....  Gasol was a minus 12 in this game btw....

He had a terrible Game 3 by his standards only scoring 13 points and allowing KG to have his best game of the series.. the big ticket got PAU for 25 points...

He only had 6 boards in Game 4. and 4 turnovers, (did have 21 pts tho). and he allowed a very undersized Glen Davis to explode for 18 points...

He only had 12 points in Game 5.

Game 6 was probably his best overall game going for 17 pts, 13 rebs, 9 assists, 3 blocks and a steal... this was the game Perkins got injured and only played 7 minutes..... coincidence? i think not...

and Game 7... With no Perkins to bully him around... he grabbed 9 off rebounds......

So in conclusion... the only reason Pau Gasol (Probably the most polished offensive PF in the world) did fairly well in last years finals, was because KG was hurt, Big Baby is short, Rasheed is lazy, shelden williams sucks, and Perkins was out game 6 and 7 (in which pau had two very strong (unsoft-like) games).

Now if you compare these stats to the 08 finals (in which the C's boasted a HEALTHY KG, an angry Perkins, James Posey, PJ Brown, Leon POW (lol) and Glen Davis) you'll find that Pau Gasol's play was soft in that series... but im too lazy to do all that analyzing right now.
So you gave us a full breakdown of the Finals. Incorrect, at that (the 6-16 shooting, 19-point, 18-rebound effort came in game 7, not game 1). Thank you for that, we really needed it.

As for the "only conclusion" -- the only evident conclusion from what I read is that you think Pau Gasol is soft, and whatever happened in last year's finals, it will be attributed to ailing Kevin Garnett, undersized Glen Davis, and injured Kendrick Perkins.

But the simple fact of life remains that Pau Gasol, in those finals, looked nothing like Pau Gasol circa 2008.

woops you're right about game 1.. hahaha that f's my whole shhh up... whatever dude... he went for 23 and 14.. but that doesnt matter... i only had one conclusion btw... and you were right about it.. (did i have to breakdown last years finals to explain it? probably not, but u brought up stats so i felt obligated) anyway, my point was, Pau only did well in last years finals because we had a depleted frontline... Pau's f'n soft in my opinion (and in the opinion of many other ppl (even nba players))..  lets see him try to do what he did last year against J.O., a healthy shaq (basketball lords willing), a healthy, motivated KG, and Big Baby...

Re: Amare Stoudemire: "Pau Gasol is Soft."
« Reply #47 on: April 04, 2011, 10:52:24 AM »

Offline myteamisbetterthanyours

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Hey btw... I registered for this forum just to call Pau soft lol... i usually just come here to read the articles and comments... but for people to think that Pau isnt soft is just ridiculous to me... Being soft doesnt make u a bad player.. you can be a great soft player.... He just really is soft.. And his rebounding and block averages are misleading... he is a VERY long player.. which is a big asset to have in the game of basketball.. He still gets bullied on the block by bigger players... and when was the last time u seen Pau ferociously dunk on someone his size? never... Amare, although not as skilled as Gasol... is not soft... He will dunk on ur face.. and sexually assault ur grandma on the way down.. Pau aint doing that. Oh and also... SOMEONE HIT ME WIT MY FIRST TOMMY POINT FOR CALLIN PAU SOFT!! I KNOW ONE OF YA'LL IS FEELIN' ME ON THIS!
« Last Edit: April 04, 2011, 10:58:02 AM by myteamisbetterthanyours »

Re: Amare Stoudemire: "Pau Gasol is Soft."
« Reply #48 on: April 04, 2011, 10:58:31 AM »

Offline Finkelskyhook

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Andrew Bynum said this on twitter

Quote
The NBA is a weird place! How can a man that plays 0 defense call a 2 time champion soft?

Nicely done, Bynum.

+1

Re: Amare Stoudemire: "Pau Gasol is Soft."
« Reply #49 on: April 04, 2011, 11:13:38 AM »

Offline footey

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Gasol used to be soft, but not since he won his first championship. Since then, he has shown a lot of toughness; Kobe has really helped him in this regard a great deal. By the way, not dunking over someone else is not the definition of soft. If it was, Larry Bird was the softest player in the NBA.

Re: Amare Stoudemire: "Pau Gasol is Soft."
« Reply #50 on: April 04, 2011, 11:20:37 AM »

Offline Marcus13

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He is soft....but he's wet too

Re: Amare Stoudemire: "Pau Gasol is Soft."
« Reply #51 on: April 04, 2011, 11:31:26 AM »

Offline moiso

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Amare is soft on one side of the court and super tough on the other.  Gasol is consistent on both sides of the court.  A little soft, but a great player nontheless.  Definitely not on Howard's level though.

Re: Amare Stoudemire: "Pau Gasol is Soft."
« Reply #52 on: April 04, 2011, 11:45:50 AM »

Offline Moranis

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Do people not actually remember 2008?  Pau Gasol was by far the Lakers best player in that series and was playing center virtually the entire series to boot.  He destroyed Perkins in the head to head matchup and in game 6 when Perkins was out KG had by far his worst game of the series (and it isn't a conincidence).  Gasol is not soft.  He anchored one of the best defenses in the NBA in Memphis for a number of years when he was surrounded by crap and he went to LA and immediately elevated the play of Odom and Bynum just by playing with them.  If you swapped Bosh and Gasol, the Lakers aren't winning championships as Bosh is soft.  Gasol is not.

Here is Pau's 2008 Finals

Game 1 - 15/8/4/1/1/1 54.5% (p/r/a/b/s/t)
Game 2 - 17/10/4/0/1/1 66.7%
Game 3 - 9/12/2/0/0/3 33.3% (Lakers won this game)
Game 4 - 17/10/2/0/0/3 46.2%
Game 5 - 19/13/6/2/1/0 60.0% (Lakers won this game - No Perkins, KG's worst game of the series with Pau on him much of the game)
Game 6 - 11/8/2/0/0/5 57.1% (the Lakers whole team mailed this one in, but he was still the best player)

And let's not kid ourselves here.  If Bynum is healthy and Gasol is on KG the whole time, Boston isn't winning that series.  L.A. is. 
2023 Historical Draft - Brooklyn Nets - 9th pick

Bigs - Pau, Amar'e, Issel, McGinnis, Roundfield
Wings - Dantley, Bowen, J. Jackson
Guards - Cheeks, Petrovic, Buse, Rip

Re: Amare Stoudemire: "Pau Gasol is Soft."
« Reply #53 on: April 04, 2011, 11:58:38 AM »

Offline BballTim

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And let's not kid ourselves here.  If Bynum is healthy and Gasol is on KG the whole time, Boston isn't winning that series.  L.A. is. 

  If Rondo hadn't sprained his ankle in game three Boston would likely have swept them.


Re: Amare Stoudemire: "Pau Gasol is Soft."
« Reply #54 on: April 04, 2011, 12:09:23 PM »

Offline myteamisbetterthanyours

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Umm... Larry Bird is a soft player also... Hes mentally tough... but hes physically soft........ you guys are trying to relate softness to actual basketball ability... You can be soft and be a great player...... no one said softness makes u a terrible player..... and winning a championship doesnt take away from your softness... ur either soft or ur not... but it has nothing to do with your ability to play good basketball. SOMEONE HIT ME WIT MY FIRST TP. PLEASE. JESUS SHUTTLESWORTH... CAN A BROTHER GET SOME LOVE

Re: Amare Stoudemire: "Pau Gasol is Soft."
« Reply #55 on: April 04, 2011, 12:14:34 PM »

Offline moiso

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Umm... Larry Bird is a soft player also... Hes mentally tough... but hes physically soft........ you guys are trying to relate softness to actual basketball ability... You can be soft and be a great player...... no one said softness makes u a terrible player..... and winning a championship doesnt take away from your softness... ur either soft or ur not... but it has nothing to do with your ability to play good basketball. SOMEONE HIT ME WIT MY FIRST TP. PLEASE. JESUS SHUTTLESWORTH... CAN A BROTHER GET SOME LOVE
Bird wasn't physically soft.  He was a tough player mentally and physically.  Bird was a banger under the rim.

Re: Amare Stoudemire: "Pau Gasol is Soft."
« Reply #56 on: April 04, 2011, 12:19:06 PM »

Offline BballTim

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Umm... Larry Bird is a soft player also... Hes mentally tough... but hes physically soft........ you guys are trying to relate softness to actual basketball ability... You can be soft and be a great player...... no one said softness makes u a terrible player..... and winning a championship doesnt take away from your softness... ur either soft or ur not... but it has nothing to do with your ability to play good basketball. SOMEONE HIT ME WIT MY FIRST TP. PLEASE. JESUS SHUTTLESWORTH... CAN A BROTHER GET SOME LOVE

  Haha. I'm guessing you never actually saw him play.


Re: Amare Stoudemire: "Pau Gasol is Soft."
« Reply #57 on: April 04, 2011, 12:20:31 PM »

Offline myteamisbetterthanyours

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Umm... Larry Bird is a soft player also... Hes mentally tough... but hes physically soft........ you guys are trying to relate softness to actual basketball ability... You can be soft and be a great player...... no one said softness makes u a terrible player..... and winning a championship doesnt take away from your softness... ur either soft or ur not... but it has nothing to do with your ability to play good basketball. SOMEONE HIT ME WIT MY FIRST TP. PLEASE. JESUS SHUTTLESWORTH... CAN A BROTHER GET SOME LOVE
Bird wasn't physically soft.  He was a tough player mentally and physically.  Bird was a banger under the rim.

I wouldnt exactly call Larry Bird a banger..... To his credit, he was mentally tough, and probably had the biggest heart in the NBA at the time, but to call him a banger isnt very accurate... Dominique Wilkins... was a banger... he was physically tough... mentally tough? probably not so much... but his physicallity was what made him a tough player.. Larry Bird and Dominique are trying to box each other out for a rebound.. whos gonna PHYSICALLY win that battle?

Re: Amare Stoudemire: "Pau Gasol is Soft."
« Reply #58 on: April 04, 2011, 12:25:36 PM »

Offline moiso

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Umm... Larry Bird is a soft player also... Hes mentally tough... but hes physically soft........ you guys are trying to relate softness to actual basketball ability... You can be soft and be a great player...... no one said softness makes u a terrible player..... and winning a championship doesnt take away from your softness... ur either soft or ur not... but it has nothing to do with your ability to play good basketball. SOMEONE HIT ME WIT MY FIRST TP. PLEASE. JESUS SHUTTLESWORTH... CAN A BROTHER GET SOME LOVE
Bird wasn't physically soft.  He was a tough player mentally and physically.  Bird was a banger under the rim.

I wouldnt exactly call Larry Bird a banger..... To his credit, he was mentally tough, and probably had the biggest heart in the NBA at the time, but to call him a banger isnt very accurate... Dominique Wilkins... was a banger... he was physically tough... mentally tough? probably not so much... but his physicallity was what made him a tough player.. Larry Bird and Dominique are trying to box each other out for a rebound.. whos gonna PHYSICALLY win that battle?
Bird.  He was a much better rebounder than Wilkins.  Look at the numbers.  You really don't have much of an argument.

Re: Amare Stoudemire: "Pau Gasol is Soft."
« Reply #59 on: April 04, 2011, 12:27:23 PM »

Offline moiso

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And Bird rebounded Kevin Love style- lots of pushing and scrapping for position before going for the ball.  That's definitely not the soft way of rebounding.