who would you rather have, Dirk or Pau?

[Eman5805]

Re: who would you rather have, Dirk or Pau?

Wait

So you think Marc>Pau>Dirk?

Some of you Hornet fans are something else

That's not what I said. I said I'd prefer (perfer actually, hooray for bad speeling!) Marc over both of them. I would also prefer Marc Gasol over Tim Duncan. Doesn't mean I think he's better than Mr. Fundamental.

[OGKing]

Re: who would you rather have, Dirk or Pau?

I'd take pau over dirk any day.

[ParisB]

Re: who would you rather have, Dirk or Pau?

Its a tough choice because they bring different things to the table, but I would go with Pau pretty easily. Dirk is all offense and that's it. His shooting prowess is his only strength, but he also gives up a lot and is soft.

Speaking of soft and secondary banana, I think Pau still has a wrongful stigma attached to him by people who think of him from the Memphis days or his first year with LA when winning was new and he was all alone battling with Boston's bigs. He has REALLY toughened up since and is essentially the premier power forward in the NBA. He has become a defensive prescence as well, and don't forget how badly he outplayed D Howard in the Finals on both ends. He has also battled and won against all the quality bigs in the West for 3 years in a row.

As for comparing stats and rebounds? Cmon man that's a joke. Gasol is an elite rebounder. The Lakers as a team are a great rebounding team and Gasol leads them with 11rpg. That says a lot especially since Odom, Bynum, Artest, and Kobe are all battling for the same rebounds. Dirk's offense is considered better because long shots are impressive but 20 points is 20 points and Pau does it as the second option to Kobe.

As for his offensive skill, if you think he's an inside player only then you don't watch basketball. His biggest strength is his versatility and ability to dominate the block and the high post. He's abidextrious down low, can drill the 18 footer with the best of them, and pass like a guard and put the ball on the floor like no other 7 footer.

His overall basketball IQ and skillset are world class and one of a kind. We have seen the best of Dirk and he is what he is, but Pau continues to refine his game.

Inside-out combo is always more valuable from a duo or from a player. Pau's all around skill and versatility as a player gives him the edge over Dirk.

[stateprop]

Re: who would you rather have, Dirk or Pau?

I would take DIrk, imagine if Dirk was traded to the lakers omg, Their defense might dip a bit but having dirk would make them so much dangerous than having pau. Inside/outside, and yes dirk do post up not alot but when he does he is dangerous. Imagine teams have to guard both Kobe and Dirk on the same team would give opposing coaches headaches. And dirk is way more clutch than pau gasol in final minutes.

Coming down to final minutes with Kobe and Dirk omg bro other team would crap in their pants figuring out who is going to get the ball. Because it can go either way, with pau everybody know kobe is going to get the ball because pau will be down low while dirk will be running around looking for a jumpshot. And dirk is dangerous 3pt i mean deadly, he might tone it down but when hes open that boy will make you pay.

[Bornindamecca]

Re: who would you rather have, Dirk or Pau?

Pau. Hes a better interior player, rebounder and defender. Also a better passer. With Kobe you don't need another elite scorer.

[JBH3]

Re: who would you rather have, Dirk or Pau?

You can show me stats all you want, but on the hardwood there is no way Dirk is touching Pau's rebounding. There is a clear edge, Pau definitely toughed up. I don't care why Pau is a better rebounder, just that he is.

Unfortunately Ex... for the sake of objectivity... stats were created. There's no point in discussing anything with you if you just want to toss out the most tangible factual tools at our disposal.

Rebounding is huge when you play the PF or C. That's what wins in the playoffs. Defense and rebounding. Don't care about careers at all in this discussion, we're talking about right now. Dirk still hasn't really 'toughened' up in either defense nor rebounding.

Which is why you need to do a little statistical analysis:

Dirk Reg. Season RPGs Career: 8.5 rpg
Pau Reg. Season RPGs Career: 9.0 rpg

Dirk Playoff RPGs Career: 10.9 rpg
Pau Playoff RPGs Career: 9.8 rpg

Dirk's rebounds per game in the playoffs improve by nearly 2.5 more/gm. Pau barely increases his production in the playoffs. One year of Gasol producing a double digit per game avg in rebounds hardly makes him the better rebounder. Bynum was injured so there were more to go around, and Dallas got Brenda Haywood/Tuff Juice so Dirk's boards were going to dip.

[da ThRONe]

Re: who would you rather have, Dirk or Pau?

Not that I'm saying Pau is better than Dirk ,but this thread just goes to show just how underrated Pau is.

[ex carrabba fan]

Re: who would you rather have, Dirk or Pau?

JB come on man, you're not convincing anyone of anything with those stats. And again, nobody gives a hoot about career numbers. We're talking about today.

During the playoffs we all know what's up concerning the rebounding front.

[JBH3]

Re: who would you rather have, Dirk or Pau?

JB come on man, you're not convincing anyone of anything with those stats. And again, nobody gives a hoot about career numbers. We're talking about today.

During the playoffs we all know what's up concerning the rebounding front.

Well the polled vote here is 58% in favor of Dirk...soooo....

Today? So you expect Pau to average another dub-dub when he's done so only once in a 9yr career?

Nobody gives a hoot about career numbers? When did those not matter? When they don't suit Ex's argument?

During the playoffs eh? Ok... Last year's playoff numbers. Who would you rather have? A or B?

A:
<TABLE class=playerInfoGridPlayerInfoBorders cellSpacing=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=gSGSectionTitleStatsPlayerGrid vAlign=top align=middle colSpan=2>2010 Playoffs Statistics </TD></TR><TR align=middle><TD class=gSGRowEven>PPG</TD><TD class=gSGRowEven>19.6 </TD></TR><TR align=middle><TD class=gSGRowOdd>RPG</TD><TD class=gSGRowOdd>11.1 </TD></TR><TR align=middle><TD class=gSGRowEven>APG</TD><TD class=gSGRowEven>3.5 </TD></TR><TR align=middle><TD class=gSGRowOdd>SPG</TD><TD class=gSGRowOdd>0.4 </TD></TR><TR align=middle><TD class=gSGRowEven>BPG</TD><TD class=gSGRowEven>2.1 </TD></TR><TR align=middle><TD class=gSGRowOdd>FG%</TD><TD class=gSGRowOdd>0.539 </TD></TR><TR align=middle><TD class=gSGRowEven>FT%</TD><TD class=gSGRowEven>0.759 </TD></TR><TR align=middle><TD class=gSGRowOdd>3P%</TD><TD class=gSGRowOdd>0.000 </TD></TR><TR align=middle><TD class=gSGRowEven>MPG</TD><TD class=gSGRowEven>39.7 </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
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B:

<TABLE class=playerInfoGridPlayerInfoBorders cellSpacing=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=gSGSectionTitleStatsPlayerGrid vAlign=top align=middle colSpan=2>2010 Playoffs Statistics </TD></TR><TR align=middle><TD class=gSGRowEven>PPG</TD><TD class=gSGRowEven>26.7 </TD></TR><TR align=middle><TD class=gSGRowOdd>RPG</TD><TD class=gSGRowOdd>8.2 </TD></TR><TR align=middle><TD class=gSGRowEven>APG</TD><TD class=gSGRowEven>3.0 </TD></TR><TR align=middle><TD class=gSGRowOdd>SPG</TD><TD class=gSGRowOdd>0.8 </TD></TR><TR align=middle><TD class=gSGRowEven>BPG</TD><TD class=gSGRowEven>0.7 </TD></TR><TR align=middle><TD class=gSGRowOdd>FG%</TD><TD class=gSGRowOdd>0.547 </TD></TR><TR align=middle><TD class=gSGRowEven>FT%</TD><TD class=gSGRowEven>0.952 </TD></TR><TR align=middle><TD class=gSGRowOdd>3P%</TD><TD class=gSGRowOdd>0.571 </TD></TR><TR align=middle><TD class=gSGRowEven>MPG</TD><TD class=gSGRowEven>38.8</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

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[ex carrabba fan]

Re: who would you rather have, Dirk or Pau?

What do the poll numbers have to do with who's a better rebounder?

What I expect is for Pau to continue to show he's more than a marginally better rebounder than Dirk is on either side of the floor.

Career numbers don't matter because I'm assuming we're talking about the players they are today. Pau has shown to improve his rebounding/defensive toughness while Dirk really hasn't, plain and simple. So if you use career stats to back your argument that there isn't really a better "rebounder" in this discussion it paints a misleading picture.

[dossier]

Re: who would you rather have, Dirk or Pau?

Well the polled vote here is 58% in favor of Dirk...soooo....

Today? So you expect Pau to average another dub-dub when he's done so only once in a 9yr career?

Nobody gives a hoot about career numbers? When did those not matter? When they don't suit Ex's argument?

During the playoffs eh? Ok... Last year's playoff numbers. Who would you rather have? A or B?



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its pretty obvious who is who. with those numbers and numbers alone I would still take dirk

[jeebs9]

Re: who would you rather have, Dirk or Pau?

They're both soft...lol jk

Probably take Dirk...And thats coming from a defensive mind guy. I usually would pick Pau asap. But how many players can stop or even guard Dirk? He's a SF in a 7' body. With the jumper of a Steve Nash. Yes he doesn't rebound like a 7 footer should. But man that offensive game can't be denyed...lol

[ex carrabba fan]

Re: who would you rather have, Dirk or Pau?

They're both soft...lol jk

Probably take Dirk...And thats coming from a defensive mind guy. I usually would pick Pau asap. But how many players can stop or even guard Dirk? He's a SF in a 7' body. With the jumper of a Steve Nash. Yes he doesn't rebound like a 7 footer should. But man that offensive game can't be denyed...lol

Come on, he's been stopped. By PG's/SG's nonetheless. DWest punked the crap out of him.

If you're a defensive minded guy and you pick Dirk I don't know what to tell you haha

BTW those stats that were posted from last year's playoffs don't confirm anything that hasn't been said already.

Dirk is probably a "better" player than Pau, so yeap the stats are going to show that.

Rebounding and defense is why I would rather have Pau than Dirk, which is what the topic is asking.

[JBH3]

Re: who would you rather have, Dirk or Pau?

What do the poll numbers have to do with who's a better rebounder?

What I expect is for Pau to continue to show he's more than a marginally better rebounder than Dirk is on either side of the floor.

Career numbers don't matter because I'm assuming we're talking about the players they are today. Pau has shown to improve his rebounding/defensive toughness while Dirk really hasn't, plain and simple. So if you use career stats to back your argument that there isn't really a better "rebounder" in this discussion it paints a misleading picture.

I'm not concerned w/ whose the better rebounder. I'm arguing that there is really nothing Pau clearly accels in over Dirk. That the result of taking Pau Gasol is nothing more than a vote of favortism given the team he plays for, and maybe because you like his music...

Anyone who analyzes data understands mean, median, mode. Assuming Gasol will produce at another 11 rpg clip for a 2nd consecutive year, when for his career he's a 9.0/rpg player, is NOT a sufficient forecast. Unless there's some objective analysis that can be used to suit your argument (we can't measure defensive toughness), then I would say that Gasol is a .5 a board better rebounder than Nowitzki is -- which is nothing.

You wanted to add that Gasol makes some giant leap over Dirk once playoff time hits, but that -- at least by a 2010 playoff production standpoint -- is unfounded. BTW, you still didn't tell me what numbers you'd rather have (A or B's).

Lastly, is what Gasol brings to the table from a defensive toughness/rebounding perspective enough to outweigh EVERYTHING that Dirk brings to the table? I don't think it is. I'd rather have the pts and the efficiency from all facets of offense over the 1 more block and couple boards Gasol is going to give me.

[ex carrabba fan]

Re: who would you rather have, Dirk or Pau?

JB you're really reading into my comments incorrectly. Like 100%.

I don't really even feel like responding to your last post because most of it is just so off from what my point has been throughout the thread.

Just refer to all of my posts because my piece has been said on this topic.

If I have 1 superstar player and I had to pair him with either Dirk or Pau-- you know who I'm rolling with, and it has nothing to do with favortism

You know I'm the first to say something negative about a Laker. That was such a copout man don't do that ahahah.

Last reiterated point: playoff basketball is inside presence/defense. I'm not questioning if Dirk has raised his level of play and production during the post season. It's the fact that Pau can go inside. That was the point.