Marc Gasol, who was once known as “man boobs,” is arguably going to be the best center in the upcoming NBA post-season. Gasol was an All-Star this season for the third time in his career and is currently posting career highs in points per game (19.6), three-point attempts per game (3.6), and three-point percentage (.387) as well. He’s also posting a career high in assists at 4.6 per game.
Gasol and the Grizzlies have the seventh seed locked up, and the Spurs have the second seed locked up which means they’ll face each other in the first round of the playoffs. This is their second season in a row where they’ve met in the first round, although last season it was more like the Memphis Teacup Yorkie’s vs the San Antonio Spurs due to all the injuries Memphis had. Gasol was one of the injured players last year, but thankfully, he’s healthy for the playoffs this year (don’t worry I knocked on wood).
So, with Gasol being ready to go this time around, what should we expect from him? A lot of buckets, dimes, and really bad brother vs brother Twitter jokes as this is the first time Marc will face his brother Pau Gasol in a playoff series. Marc really should be taking Pau’s lunch money in this matchup because Pau’s defense in recent years has looked a lot like Ethan Suplee’s defense in American History X.
Yes, Ethan Suplee is the fat guy who makes no attempt to get back on defense after his team scores.
I already mentioned Marc’s career numbers in averages but he’s also posting a career high in usage rate at 26.4, assist percentage at 24.7, and his second highest career number in PER at 20.3. It’s safe to say that at 32 years old, Marc might be having the best season of his career.
He may be the most valuable player to the Grizzlies as he currently leads them in usage rate and is a part of their nine most frequently used lineups for the season.
In his first game against the Spurs this season, Marc Gasol scored 15 points and grabbed eight boards as the Grizzlies won 89-74 at home. The two teams met again a little more than a month later and the Grizzlies were home again. Gasol scored 16 points, had seven assists and five rebounds in this match-up. The two teams met again less than a week later but this time the game was in San Antonio. Gasol got a double-double in this one with thirteen points and ten boards in a 97-90 loss. The two teams met for the last time about two weeks later and they saved the best for last as the game went into overtime where the Spurs eventually prevailed, 89-85. In this game, Gasol picked up 11 points, seven assists, and six rebounds.
Gasol has mainly just been himself against the Spurs this season. He never really exploded in a game or completely fell off either. He’s also shown throughout his career that his post-season performance is usually very similar to his regular season performance. His per 36 numbers for the 2010-11 season were 13.2ppg, 7.9rpg, 1.9bpg and 2.8apg. In the 2011 post-season, his per 36 numbers were 13.5ppg, 10.1rpg, 1.9bpg and 2.0apg. For the 2011-12 regular season, Gasol’s per 36 numbers were 14.5ppg, 8.8rpg, 1.8bpg and 3.1apg. For the 2012 post-season, his per 36 numbers were 14.6ppg, 6.5rpg, 1.8bpg and 3apg. This trend continues for the 2012-13 season where his regular season per 36 numbers were 14.5ppg, 8rpg, 1.8bpg and 4.1apg.
The story doesn’t change for the next three post-seasons in Gasol’s career. So, expect Marc Gasol to be Marc Gasol. Now I know that may sound boring, but let’s not forget some of the dope highlights he’s had this season.
Gasol’s confidence behind the three point line an be a real factor in the first round matchup. If gasol can walk into shots like this, he will be a hard thing to stop.
Realistically, he should demonstrate some constraint on this possession and show he values the basketball and a good shot. Instead, he does the opposite, and as soon as he touches the ball he steps right into a three and cashes it.
In the previous clip, Gasol gets doubled by Demare Carroll and Jonas Valanciunas. He gets himself out of this double-team by using brute force. I want to point out that Gasol was up against one player who’s nickname is junkyard dog and another player who is 7’0” and 255lbs. Most players, when faced with this scenario, would probably just pass out of it. But most players aren’t Gasol, who instead determined that Carroll is a Beverly Hills Chihuahua, and not a junkyard dog. And that a playful elbow to a human being that resembles Godzilla would be enough to get him out of the way.
The last highlight is an incredible overhead assist Gasol had against the Magic.
I really want Marc Gasol to do this in the first quarter of game one so Pau Gasol feels he has to top it and then the whole series turns into an anything you can do I can do better match between the Gasol bros.
There’s nothing wrong with Marc Gasol being Marc Gasol in this series. This may seem like one of the more ‘boring’ playoff matchups, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be worth the watch. Both these teams can put on a show and they both have players who can create a highlight one way or the other.
Even so, Gasol will surely do some spectacular things but it probably won’t be enough to get the grit ‘n’ grind Grizzlies past the San Antonio Spurs. The next Gasol family will dinner will consist of Marc saying, “I busted you up,” and Pau saying, “but did you win though?” in some form of Spanish.
