Why is Pau a defensive juggernaut in the East?

[Mr. Jabbar]

When Pau played in the West he was known as a bad defender who was softer than a marshmallow.

so true.

[dhsilv]

I always thought the Pau is soft was about him not demanding the ball and not being a big body who'd bang in the post. Defensively he's always been well above average. He's strong, has great hands/reflexes, and has remained relatively mobile for a 7 footer.

[buddha]

Pau is a solid defender, he'd be great if he had more effort. playing on the Bulls alot of his problems are masked much like Boozer's were, the difference is Pau has height to disrupt lanes and make blocks.

If the Lakers had Roy Hibbert next to Pau with a good wing defender like Ariza nobody would notice Pau's faults in L.A.

[dhsilv]

Pau is a solid defender, he'd be great if he had more effort. playing on the Bulls alot of his problems are masked much like Boozer's were, the difference is Pau has height to disrupt lanes and make blocks.

If the Lakers had Roy Hibbert next to Pau with a good wing defender like Ariza nobody would notice Pau's faults in L.A.

He was a really good defender for LA...i'ts like people don't watch the games...

[Nick Young]

He was a really good defender for LA...i'ts like people don't watch the games...

Andrew Bynum had his back, and Odom was close to 7 feet dominating the boards to cover up Pau sucking at rebounding.

Whenever Bynum was injured, or defense would turn to crap.

[dhsilv]

Andrew Bynum had his back, and Odom was close to 7 feet dominating the boards to cover up Pau sucking at rebounding.

Whenever Bynum was injured, or defense would turn to crap.

Gasol's defensive metrics are too strong for that belief to be valid and much better than Bynum's.

Perhaps you're more focused on the fact that when the Lakers had Odom, Bynum AND Gasol they had an all time great defense and without having essentially 3 7 footers on the floor they feel back to normal nba?

All the on off data strongly indicates Gasol was better and bynum missed an absurd amount of games so if he was causing all this greatness he'd have the better numbers.

[Magic 32]

But yeah, it's no coincidence that Lakers became a top defensive team in 2008 (with Bynum injured for most of the season might I add!) as opposed to being one of the worst defensive teams in 2007 just after adding Pau.

[ShaqTwizzle]

Gasol was the best defender on the 2peat Laker's and he was an excellent all around defender with no obvious weaknesses on that end.

He was one of the best rim-protectors in the league averaging 2+ bpg and his ability to consistently alter shots around the basket and provide a deterring presence was the biggest part of the Laker's defense anchor.

His m2m defense was also excellent.
He bulked up when he joined the Lakers and his defense against various bigs in their 08-10 runs was excellent. He helped or was primarily responsible for the poor offensive performance of many bigs they faced from Duncan in 08 to Boozer to Dwight in the 2009 Finals.
[COLOR="Red"]Dwight against Cleveland (2009 ECF) :[/COLOR] 26 / 2.8-apg on 65%FG
[COLOR="Red"]Dwight against Lakers (2009 Finals) :[/COLOR] 15.4 / 2.4-apg on 48%FG
--
Duncan VS LAL (2008) : 22-ppg on 43%FG / 46%TS
Boozer VS LAL (2010) : 15-ppg on 46%TS

Pau's rotational and PnR defense was also excellent back then as before his athletic decline he had excellent mobility/quickness and BBIQ on that end.

Ignore the trolling or delusional Kobe stans who will push any blatantly false agenda in an effort to make Kobe look better.
Gasol was never soft and he was a good defender before his physical decline.

Gasol has declined physically since 2010 and obviously no longer has good mobility or quickness which is why he is no longer a good PnR or rotational defender and which is why quicker bigs (like Griffin) can abuse him at times in 1v1 matchups.
That shouldn't be used as an excuse to downgrade Prime let alone Peak Gasol who was an excellent defender and the main anchor & most valuable piece of the 2peat Laker's defense.

That is all.