By enlisting in the Eurobasket tournament, Pau Gasol’s hope is that he’ll lead the Spanish National Team to victory, qualifying them for the 2012 Olympics in London.
Turns out Gasol has also been exorcizing some basketball demons in the process.
It’s hard to pin-point exactly what went wrong during the playoffs for Gasol. He started off the season as the team’s most valuable player, fell off slightly, at least in terms of overall consistency, and had a, to put it nicely, less-than-stellar post season. Maybe it was the extra playing time he was incurring as a direct result of Andrew Bynum not being ready to start the 2010-11 season. Maybe it was the extra pressure that was placed upon him as an indirect result of Kobe’s off-season knee surgery.
With Gasol, we all (rather begrudgingly) know where he stands in physicality. He got tossed around from all angles during the playoffs — first by the New Orleans Hornets, then by the Dallas Mavericks and finally by Phil Jackson himself.
You’d be lying to yourself if you thought Gasol was just going to do a 180-degree turn and be a physical aggressor on the court. That’s just not his style of play. The thing that was missing was the one thing that sets him apart from some of the other top tier power forwards in the league. His mental game just wasn’t there. The headiest player in basketball just couldn’t overcome the mental fatigue that had been bogging him down during the playoffs.
That’s what was perhaps most frustrating for Gasol and the Lakers. All the tools and skills were there, but he didn’t look sharp and just wasn’t out-smarting his opponents on offense.
Next: Gasol’s mental game failed him, he can use the summer to find some clarity
Don’t underestimate the mental aspect of basketball, and if we’re being fair, the entire Lakers squad and not just Gasol, had issues with coming to the court mentally focused 100-percent of the time throughout the season and most notably in the playoffs.
Unfortunately for Gasol, he took most of the brunt of Laker fans’ anger. His 13.1 point average on 42-percent shooting was just too minuscule a stat line for fans who booed him mercilessly at Staples Center during the series with Dallas. For the guy who had been a big part of the reason why the Lakers hoisted up championship banners 15 and 16, Gasol deserved better than a chorus of jeers from the peanut gallery.
If the Lakers extended off-season doesn’t enable fans to get over the Lakers’ early playoff exit, if anything it may help heal Gasol’s ailing bravado.
That is of course assuming there was ever anything wrong to begin with. In the meantime, what we’re seeing from Gasol’s game on the international stage is the same old thing that elevated the Lakers to championship status in 2009 and 2010 — fundamentally sound basketball.
Twenty-nine points against Poland, 20 against Portugal, 21 versus Great Britain, 17 against Lithuania, 19 points and seven rebounds in a victory against Germany featuring Dirk Nowitzki and most recently 26 points versus Serbia on 82-percent shooting.
So what does this all mean for Gasol’s production for the Lakers next season? Not a thing. Different players, different rules, whole different ball game when it comes to the NBA, but at least Gasol is gaining confidence and hopefully this will help him find some kind of mental clarity to start the regular season. The Lakers are going to need him if they plan on continuing to be a Western Conference contender. This can serve is a small stepping stone in his recovery from the Lakers failed 2011 championship run.
The only way Gasol’s quest to inflate his ego can be derailed is if he gets injured during the tournament. He suffered a mild ankle sprain and sat out a game, just as a precaution. According to reports, the ankle is doing just fine and if that wasn’t enough to ease the minds of Laker fans, he did tweet a picture of his ankle soaked in an ice bath while holding a thumbs up sign. It’s no MRI, but we can’t blame Gasol for lacking the social media prowess of Arian Foster.
Everyone has their own plans to stay conditioned during the off-season and hopefully temporary lockout period. Kobe Bryant makes surprise appearances at pro-am pickup games. Derek Fisher’s trying to ensure we all get our basketball fix next season. Metta World Peace (wait, is that official?) puts on his dancing shoes. Luke Walton’s working on his three-point shooting while assisting the Memphis Tigers coaching staff. Lamar Odom is keeping quiet and everyone else falls somewhere in between.
For Gasol, participating in the Eurobasket tournament should boost his confidence as well as keep him in basketball shape and fans should see a reminder of the player we all know Gasol to be.
It’s a win-win.