Pau Gasol Needs Coaches To Be An All Star
By KURT HELIN
Updated 7:11 AM PST, Fri, Jan 9, 2009
Kobe Bryant thinks Pau Gasol is an All Star, and not just because he dropped 37 and 18 on Golden State last night.
"He's an All-Star, he's an All-Star," Bryant said. "He's one of the best players in the world, period. I expect (those kind of games) from him."
NBA fans however, tend to be a couple years behind reality when they vote. That, or they don’t like players going for the Serpico look.
The latest update in the NBA All Star voting is out, and Gasol is the sixth in the Western Conference in forward vote getting. And he is nearly 300,000 votes out of second place and getting to start.
The start will go to Tim Duncan (can’t argue that one) and either Amare Stoudemire or Carmelo Anthony if you ask the fans. Although, since Anthony is out with a broken hand for the next month, don’t look for him in Phoenix.
But who is voting for Ron Artest (fourth) and Dirk Nowitzki (fifth) ahead of Gasol? People who buy the ridiculous media mantra that Gasol is soft, probably. Fortunately, coaches who have had to face the Lakers out West — and it is the coaches that vote in the reserves — have seen what Gasol has done first hand. How he has figured out the spaces in the triangle, how he has thrived in the power forward spot where he is not asked to bang with Shaq and Yao.
And they’ve seen how Gasol has torched their teams.
Kobe is right, Gasol is an All Star. If Ron Artest goes to ahead of him, well, maybe we need a real-life Serpico to clean up this mess.
Copyright NBC Local Media
First Published: Jan 8, 2009 6:19 PM PST
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