Pau Gasol: A living Eurobasket legend

2017-08-30T19:14:00+00:00 2017-09-18T12:56:00+00:00.

Aris Barkas

30/Aug/17 19:14

Eurohoops.net

Soft? Not anymore. Top scorer in the History of Eurobasket? Not just yet. Legend? There is no doubt! This is Pau Gasol.

Βy John Rammas / irammas@eurohoops.net

Yes, his brother is on top of our Top20 list and he is third, but Don Pau is one of a kind. Some players don’t need introductions and a perfect example is Pau Gasol, especially in regards to Eurobasket Tournaments. Three gold medals (2009, 2011 & 2015), two silver  (2003 & 2007) and one bronze (2001), two-time MVP  (2009 & 2015) and three-time leading scorer of the tournament (2003,2009 & 2015) and he’s not even done!

Besides contending in Cluj-Napoca and most likely Istanbul, the 37-year-old (6/7/80) center of the San Antonio Spurs will have the chance to become the all-time leading scorer in Eurobasket final-phase history.

Since, 31/8/01 and a win over Slovenia (61-85) in Ankara, where he scored 12 points (5/9 2p., 0/4 3p., 2/2ft.) until 20/9/15 and the final against Lithuania (80-63) in Lille, where he had 25 points (8/17 2p ., 1/1 3p., 6/8ft.), he is only 61 points away from passing Tony Parker who is first on the list.

EUROBASKET – POINTS

PLAYER (COUNTRY)

POINTS (TOTAL)

APPEARENCES

POINTS (avg)

Tony Parker (France)

1.104

68

16,2

Dirk Nowitzki (Germany)

1.052

49

21,4

Pau Gasol (Spain)

1.044

50

20,5

Nikos Galis (Greece)

1.030

33

31,2

Camil Brabenec

948

62

15,3

Not bad for a player who aside from all he’s achieved during his illustrious career, in terms of club success (NBA Champion with the Los Angeles Lakers 2009 & 2010) as well as national team success (gold medal in the 2006 World Cup, two-time silver medalist in 2008 & 2012 Olympics as well as a bronze in 2016) has been criticized for being soft, an argument he put an end to with his performances in the latest Eurobasket.

It was then, in 2015, when he “carried” his team to the title by averaging 25,5 points, 8,8 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.3 steals, 2,3 blocks and 1.2 turnovers while playing 30 minutes per game and winning the MVP for the second time, an achievement that only a few have accomplished.

 

EUROBASKET – MVP

PLAYER (COUNTRY)

TIMES

YEAR

Pau Gasol (Spain)

2

2009, 2015

Krezmir Kozic (Yugoslavia)

2

1971, 1975

EUROBASKET – TOP SCORER

PLAYER (COUNTRY)

TIMES

YEAR

Nikos Galis (Greece)

4

1983, 1987, 1989, 1991

Pau Gasol (Spain)

3

2003, 2009, 2015

Dirk Nowitzki (Germany)

3

2001, 2005, 2007

Radivoj Korac (Yugoslavia)

3

1959, 1961, 1963

Tony Parker (France)

2

2011, 2013

Mieczyslaw Mlynarski (Poland)

2

1979, 1981

Atanas Golomeev  (Bulgaria)

2

1973, 1975

Giorgos Kolokuthas (Greece)

2

1967, 1969

 

The list of achievements is pretty impressive but it could have been even bigger if he wasn’t absent due to injury in 2015 (4th place) and 2013 (bronze-medal). That might be the case for many others but he knows that theories differ from actions. And in terms of actions, he is one of the best and he will look to repeat that in his final Eurobasket in order to solidify his myth because that is what legends do…

 PAU GASOL @ EUROBASKET

PTS

RBS

ASS

ST.

BLKS.

TO

MINS.

20,9

8,3

1,7

0,6

2

2

28′

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