Pau Gasol Should've Been the Finals MVP in 2009-10

[Big#50]

Another agenda thread If I ever saw one....

Pau was great and Lakers won thats all that counts. Pau getting back to that level is all I care about when the season starts.

Hope so. I think he wont recover though. He seems really fragile. Kobe is only getting older and slower. He becomes more of a liability defensively next season if there is one. I believe this Lakers team is done winning rings. Excited to see how they respond though.

[Jacks3]

I was honestly surprised that Kobe still won the finals mvp for this reason:

Before Game 7 everybody had him as MVP even if the Lakers lost. Now, there's all this revisionist history based on 1 game where Pau also played like shit.

The second half he took less shots, and the Lakers made an amazing comeback. It was like the whole series hinged on Kobe's ability to step out of the spotlight.

Step out of the spot-light? 23/15/3/2 with 15 FTA is stepping out?

Did you miss the 4th quarter? 10 pts/61% TS and big play after big play.

lol @ stepping out of the spot-light.

It felt really strange for me, to see the guy who almost destroyed it all for having too much faith in himself, receive the mvp trophy.

Hmm. Yeaa, it's strange to see the guy who was easily the best player for the entire series receive it. 29/8/4/2/1/53% TS/26 PER. Shocking.

[Nero Tulip]

Of course Gasol should've been MVP.

Bryant could've been the MVP if the Celtics won though, because in all honesty the Lakers were much better when he was not on the court. He got utterly exposed and I don't understand how people who watched these games can still think he's good.

Kobe is a regular season star, but at the highest level he's a liability.

[RazorBaLade]

newsflash: kobe shooting 3s alone brings his efficiency closer to gasol and absolutely destroys the argument because the numbers are better by kobe anyways but when you realize the true efficiency its just not that close.

[Simple Jack]

v.s. Thunder ... Lakers best player? Kobe. His defense on Westbrook won the series.

v.s. Jazz ... Lakers best player? Kobe. Easily. No justification needed.

v.s. Suns ... Lakers best player? Kobe. Easily. No justification needed.

v.s. Celtics ... Lakers best player? Could make a case for either, but Kobe being the best player for 3 of the 4 series, you have to give it to him.

Gasol was the best player in the Thunder series. The other ones were clearly Kobe though IMO.

[RobertdeMeijer]

Before Game 7 everybody had him as MVP even if the Lakers lost. Now, there's all this revisionist history based on 1 game where Pau also played like shit.



Step out of the spot-light? 23/15/3/2 with 15 FTA is stepping out?

Did you miss the 4th quarter? 10 pts/61% TS and big play after big play.

lol @ stepping out of the spot-light.


Hmm. Yeaa, it's strange to see the guy who was easily the best player for the entire series receive it. 29/8/4/2/1/53% TS/26 PER. Shocking.

Those are some interesting statistics. I guess my memory is warped, because I remember seeing Kobe missing alot of shots (and Fisher and Artest making big shots) more than him making ten crucial points in the fourth quarter. Ugh, I watched the game way past my bedtime (EU timezone)

Which site provides true shooting percentage for playoff series, I could use that. Thanks for the heads up!

[Samurai Swoosh]

Scottie Pippen should've gotten Finals MVP from 96-98. Mike had bad Finals performances during the 2nd 3peat.

1996? Rodman
1997? Easily Jordan
1998? REALLY Easily Jordan.

You clearly don't know what you're talking about.

Pippen played injured through the whole 1997 playoffs, and the 1998 NBA Finals

[Unstoppabull]

Even haters know deep down that the Lakers is still Kobe's team
He is definitely better than Gasol.
Ban this moron already

[Axe]

Interesting.

[BigKobeFan]

2011

[Ne 1]

No, Kobe rightfully won. Gasol played well in L.A., but was awful on the road that series and clearly got outplayed by KG in Boston. I also recall a game we lost where Big Baby Davis was shitting on Pau.

Kobe haters just harp on his FG% in Game 7 as if it’s the end all thing but forgot Kobe's brilliance through 6 games--30/6/5/2/56% TS.

Not to mention how clutch Kobe was in that Game 7 in the 4th quarter: 10 pts/61% TS/4 Reb/2 Ast. Had a hand in nearly every single point by the Lakers in the last 7-8 minutes. Hit 7/8 free throws in the 4th quarter, grabbed 15 boards as a guard, played great D and hit a jumper with 3 minutes left to put the Lakers up 6 and the Celtics struggled to get back in the game after he hit that shot. The truth is nobody on either team had a particularly good shooting performance during that game for their position. It was a great defensive battle, and the reason we won in the end was because of the team play, rebounding, and clutch plays.

[SouBeachTalents]

No, Kobe rightfully won. Gasol played well in L.A., but was awful on the road that series and clearly got outplayed by KG in Boston.

Kobe haters just harp on his FG% in Game 7 as if it’s the end all thing but forgot Kobe's brilliance through 6 games--30/6/5/2/56% TS.

Not to mention how clutch he was in that Game 7 in the 4th quarter: 10 pts/61% TS/4 Reb/2 Ast. Had a hand in nearly every single point by the Lakers in the last 7-8 minutes. Hit 7/8 free throws in the 4th quarter, grabbed 15 boards as a guard, played great D and hit a jumper with 3 minutes left to put the Lakers up 6 and the Celtics struggled to get back in the game after he hit that shot. The truth is nobody on either team had a particularly good shooting performance during that game for their position. It was a great defensive battle, and the reason we won in the end was because of the team play, rebounding, and clutch plays.

He hit a jumper to put them up 4 with 5:20 left, and the Celtics were still in the game until the final seconds. I usually don't nitpick stuff like that, but I was amazed how you got every detail of that wrong

[Ne 1]

Here’s what the Celtics coaches had to say regarding Game 7: "Despite Kobe struggling shooting the ball, he was instrumental on the glass in a low-scoring game where every possession was key and held Ray to 3 for 14 shooting" - Doc Rivers

"I thought in Game 7 [of the 2010 NBA Finals], what gets lost on people, Boston was badly out rebounded, and he [Kobe Bryant] didn't have a particularly good shooting night, but he had a great rebounding night and that probably was the difference of the game." - Tom Thibodeau

[Axe]

Don't forget that boston was outrebounded after kendrick perkins was sidelined for the rest of the series in game 6.

[Kawhi_Why_Not]

He was putting up 20/11 with 2 blocks. The triangle offense and Phil pretty much turned him into prime Tim Duncan