Every day we’re taking one active NBA star with at least arguable Hall of Fame credentials and breaking down his chances of getting into the Springfield, Mass., hoops mecca. We’re looking at not just past accomplishments, but also how a player’s career realistically projects for the future. For a full explanation of the process, click here. Today’s candidate: Pau Gasol.
PAU GASOL (7th year, Grizzlies)
18.8 points, 8.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.8 blocks per game
Why: In the NBA, Gasol is a borderline All-Star and building block of his (albeit struggling) franchise, with a Rookie of the Year and a few playoff appearances on his resume. In the international game, he’s a certified superstar. He led Spain to a World Championship in 2006, taking tournament MVP honors, and before coming to the NBA he won an MVP and a championship in Spain’s top professional league. He eagerly suits up for Team Spain every summer, and keeps them ranked among the top teams in the world.
Why not: Not only has Gasol never been past the first round in the NBA playoffs, he’s never even won a game in three trips. With all the talent in the Western Conference at his position, All-Star nods will be hard to come by for Gasol, let alone any All-NBA selections, especially if his team continues to underachieve. He’s also got to overcome the “soft” label attached to his name, which is helped along by the fact that Gasol’s already had two seasons where he’s played fewer than 60 games.
Our call: OUT
The H.O.F. Watch archive
11/27 - Kevin Garnett
11/26 - Manu Ginobili
11/21 - Amare Stoudemire
11/20 - Rip Hamilton
11/19 - Baron Davis
11/16 - Shaquille O’Neal
11/15 - Steve Francis
11/14 - Ben Wallace
11/13 - Sam Cassell
11/12 - LeBron James
11/9 - Tim Duncan
11/8 - Steve Nash
11/7 - Yao Ming
11/6 - Gilbert Arenas
11/5 - Robert Horry
11/2 - Kobe Bryant
11/1 - Grant Hill
10/31 - Dirk Nowitzki
10/30 - Tony Parker
10/29 - Elton Brand
10/26 - Carmelo Anthony
10/25 - Vince Carter
10/24 - Penny Hardaway
10/23 - Alonzo Mourning
10/22 - Allen Iverson
10/19 - Dwyane Wade
10/18 - Chauncey Billups
10/17 - Stephon Marbury
10/16 - Jason Kidd
10/15 - Shawn Marion
10/12 - Ray Allen
10/11 - Chris Bosh
10/10 - Chris Webber
10/9 - Paul Pierce
10/5 - Jermaine O’Neal
10/4 - Gary Payton
10/3 - Tracy McGrady
Related posts:
November 28th, 2007 at 1:58 pm
Junio says:
out….really
first
November 28th, 2007 at 1:58 pm
fiyaman says:
nope too soft.. needs to stand out more..should be dominant but isnt
November 28th, 2007 at 2:19 pm
smity says:
I wasnt aware of there being a “soft” label attatched to Pau. he, nocioni (and maybe delfino) seem like the “unsoft-est” of the spanish/latino players (delfino and nocioni being from argentina and pau being from spain obviously) I can’t argue against an “out” decision though. 18 and 8 and almost 2 blocks surprises me though. its higher than i would have thought. I’d also be surprised if he manages to play (or if his body allows him to play) more than 10 years…i still think that had the bulls traded for the would have improved their team a lot.
November 28th, 2007 at 2:24 pm
Damon says:
Lol,
not bad, but not great either
he probably has no chance, the only way i see him in would be the gold medal in beijing next year and at least 1 or 2 rings, and he won’t get that done
November 28th, 2007 at 2:27 pm
Bron42 says:
Hes out..
hes slightly above average. and while I wouldnt say hes soft, hes never dominated or stood out minus that one year he got destroyed by the spurs in the playoffs. Hes a few teirs behind jermaine oneal.
November 28th, 2007 at 3:38 pm
AY says:
since pau gasol is being considered, when are we starting the “shareef adbur-rahim hof watch”? Afterall, he was the grizzlies cornerstone.
November 28th, 2007 at 3:43 pm
Myrie in NY says:
AY-
remember when the Grizz cornerstone was Big Country Reeves?…hehehaha
November 28th, 2007 at 3:51 pm
Gregg says:
OMG BIG COUNTRY. That was a decent team back then with Dickerson and Bibby, but they had no forwards. And their bench was weak sauce.
November 28th, 2007 at 4:10 pm
Marcel says:
He needs to get traded to Chicago or a team out East and do some damage…until then, NO!
November 28th, 2007 at 4:18 pm
Myrie in NY says:
Pau Gasol is out. hasn’t really done much in the big leagues to go to Hall or even get mention.
Dime—yall need to stop this “soft” label on the Euro and Int’l players. yall only seem to give them the ’soft’ label. This dude stop being ’soft’ when he jammed on KG and the Minny Wolves whole frontline back in 2003. Look it up.
November 28th, 2007 at 4:23 pm
Myrie in NY says:
Gregg–
It’s messed up the Grizz forwards didn’t work out. They drafted Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Roy Rodgers in ‘96 I think. And then Felipe Lopez in ‘98.
November 28th, 2007 at 5:27 pm
Myrie in NY says:
Side Note to the Dime crew:
All Star selections for Pau Gasol should not be too hard. KG, ZBo and Rashard Lewis have gone east. Elton Brand is on the shelf and since some dumb asses at the NBAs higharchy decided to list the greatest PF of all time as a center (yall are a joke)….Pau Gasol should earn his way back in the mix.
November 28th, 2007 at 5:48 pm
smity says:
I thought duncan was moved back to the pf position on the ballot
November 28th, 2007 at 6:03 pm
Damon says:
yes he was, because hes tim duncan and he HAS to start,even though he isn’t playing that well, only Boozer would be more deserving to start right now.( you could argue for dirk and melo also)
November 28th, 2007 at 9:31 pm
Bron42 says:
so because gasol dunked in 2003 hes not soft? I don’t think hes soft but that wasn’t a good way to prove hes not myrie..plus dime called carter soft and hes not a euro. Plus, 90% of the euros who came to the nba have been soft minus maybe nocioni and flops mcgee manu.
November 29th, 2007 at 12:30 am
Big10 says:
Just as surely as Garnett was a lock to be IN yesterday, Pau Gasol is OUT, OUT, OUT!
Gasol is a good player with good skills, but nothing really special about his game.
November 29th, 2007 at 7:18 am
reezzzy says:
You said it yourself, Dime, he’s a bordeline All Star.If he isn’t in the All-Star game consistently, how can he be in the Hall Of Famer? And not just the unknowing fans but also the coaches didn’t choose him.
Are you running out of candidates and just take any good but not great players? Who’s next… Joe Johnson, Caron Butler, Richard Jefferson, Carlos Boozer?
November 29th, 2007 at 8:32 am
Ben says:
Pau isn’t quite there yet. He has a little more to prove. As far as comparing him to Manu, don’t. Manu’s international resume is impressive (so is Pau’s), but Manu also has NBA championship rings, which Pau doesn’t have. (at least not yet…)
November 29th, 2007 at 8:42 am
flopsmcgee says:
Ben,
The only reason you can’t compare Pau and Manu is because Pau has legit basketball skills, and Manu just flops and drops. Put Pau beside Tim Duncan, and he’d have the same amount of rings Manu has, if not more. Put Manu with the teams Pau has had and he’d have the same, if not less rings than Pau has now.
All comparisons aside, Pau is OUT. He’s a good player, definitely better than average, but he’s not a superstar by any means.
November 29th, 2007 at 9:21 am
doc says:
in the spanish hall maybe.
November 29th, 2007 at 9:25 am
djKianoosh says:
Pau isn’t even close to Ginobili in terms of international accomplishments. It just doesn’t stack up. Manu has twice the chips and twice the accolades internationally. Pau is nice, but definitely not HoF. he hasn’t made any waves in the playoffs. and that’s where you make your name. He needs to get traded and put in a better market with better players around him. he’s a poor man’s jermaine o’neal.
November 29th, 2007 at 9:55 am
ian says:
flopsmcgee… when are you people going to stop being retards about putting a player in different situations and playing the what if game
manu has more basketball than paul
has more accomplishments and btw that finals 05 against detroit i rather have manu than pau
manu and duncan are way better than pau and duncan
pau is soft and hes a freakin loser not the garnett/webber type but worse
not even a single playoff win in 12 games
if you traded jordan for richmond jordan wouldnt have any rings? maybe who cares he won where he was
should stars say no wait trade me away from my excellent team so i can be alone in a bad one
please
just shut up
every championship team has more than one good player and there are always losers that put up good numbers and cant win no matter what like webber and then kg if he doesnt do anything in boston.
November 29th, 2007 at 10:48 am
hatinonmanu says:
One thing you can give Manu props for, he has the most retardedly loyal fans in the world. They got his back 110% at all times regardless of small inconviences like facts and logic.
Manu can score some baskets, he can draw some fouls and trick a few refs into making a few bad calls (not like that is hard) and he is unselfish and will give up his personal stats to help the team (admirable with all the players out there like Starbury). Don’t mistake this one fact though, you could take any decent role player with his skillset and plug him directly into the Spurs team and they wouldn’t even notice (they’d save money by not paying a team of medics with gurneys to be on standby).
I have seen people comparing Manu to LeBron, Tmac and Kobe. Get off the drugs, he in no way can be compared to legit superstars. He isn’t one, he won’t be one, and never could be one. It would be like comparing Pavel Podkolzin with Shaq because they are both centers and both pretty big.
Basically, yeah, Manu is decent…about Andres Nocioni decent (Nocioni could replace Manu on the Spurs, and probably do better), if you think he is anything more, get on a 12 Step program of some sort.
November 29th, 2007 at 3:11 pm
Dr. Grizz says:
As probably be the only Grizzlies Fan on here i can say without a doubt Gasol is out. Not only is he out he truely is “soft”. In Memphis his unofficial name is twinkie because he’s so soft. I’ve watched almost every one of his games since he was drafted and though he has improved much since his rookie year, he has yet to take that next step to be a true franchise player. Sure he makes more money than anyone else on the team, but when the game is on the line its always Mike Miller or Gay with the ball. Its embarrasing to watch Pau get regularly brutalized by other non-allstar PF like Zach Randolph, Josh Smith, Al Harrington, Okafur. If i were the GM i’d pack his bags and put him on a plane to Chicago or Atlanta in a trade for Nocioni, Noah & Gordon or Smith, M. Williams, & S. Williams
November 29th, 2007 at 6:43 pm
Ian says:
hatinonmanu LOL go watch a game
November 29th, 2007 at 6:49 pm
Ian says:
thats a part a anticle on manu
Usually secondary players on championship teams become somewhat overrated. Ginobili is the glaring exception to that rule. He’s perceived as a nice, solid, complementary player because he averages 16.5 points a game and comes off the bench and plays in a small city. Guess again: This guy’s a superstar. If he played in a bigger market or played more minutes, it would become more apparent just how good Ginobili is, and what a travesty it was that he neither made the All-Star team nor won the Sixth Man award.
Ginobili ranked ninth in the NBA in Player Efficiency Rating last season. Not ninth among shooting guards or ninth among internationals — I mean ninth out of everyone in the universe, right behind Kevin Garnett and just ahead of Carlos Boozer. He ranked ahead of five players — Boozer, Gilbert Arenas, Steve Nash, Tracy McGrady, and Chris Bosh — who finished in the top 10 in the MVP voting.
December 4th, 2007 at 4:01 pm
Sacto J says:
Gasol would have to strap up them testicles and play ball like a big boy here in America. His Spain teams blah blah blah. International ball is (now) important, but you still have to prove yourself to some degree in the NBA if that’s where you play the majority of your game. Gasol has failed to do that consistently, year in and out, and then cries to be traded. I would have sent his crying ass packing over the summer. A good inside presence, but not a guy that’s going to determine the outcome of a game without help. Hell no…….