HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS – With so much attention in this conference semifinal round of the playoffs on the Celtics and Heat, we’d be remiss in our duties as purveyors of all things NBA basketball if we didn’t try to at least shine a light on another showdown with global implications.
Mavericks All-Star Dirk Nowitzki and his Lakers counterpart Pau Gasol are set to wage an international battle at power forward that should serve as a dream matchup for basketball lovers all over the world.
It’s a dealer’s choice of a matchup in that both Nowitzki and Gasol might very well set the parameters of this series. Kobe Bryant‘s always first and foremost in any series the Lakers are involved in, but this time the featured matchup is no doubt this battle of the NBA’s two most accomplished Europeans superstars.
Even Bryant recognizes as much, as he did to The Los Angeles Times when detailing the challenges both players will face in dealing with each other:
“It’s a big challenge for Pau,” Bryant said. “It’s different than guarding anybody else that he’s played. Dirk can post up, can face up, can handle and obviously he shoots the three ball. It’s a big challenge defensively.
“But it’s a challenge for Dirk down at the other end as well. You’re not going to find another guy in the league like Pau that can shoot with both hands, and post up and face up as well. It’s a very interesting matchup.”
Interesting doesn’t do this matchup justice.
We’re talking about arguably the most skilled technicians at the power forward position in basketball, Nowitzki from outside in and Gasol from inside out.
They met before, much earlier in their careers when Gasol was still in Memphis and Nowitzki and the Mavericks were still making their climb up to elite status in the league.
The stakes have obviously been raised. So much more is on the line this time around. The winner of this conference semifinal series will take a wealth of experience into the conference finals against either Oklahoma City or Memphis.
But we’ll worry about all that later.
For the next 10 days or so, we’re just going to enjoy watching Nowitzki and Gasol go at it on the big stage.
i doubt that these 2 will guard each other that much through out the course of the series. if they do that’ll b a fun match up
I’ll take Dirk over Pau. Dirk is much harder to defend, he’s a 7 footer that shoots the 3. Pau is good too, but Dirk wins this match-up hands down.
No.
yes
yes
indeed..
Pau will own Dirk because his length forces Dirk to drive then Bynum will block or alter the shot.
bakit pag aari ba ni pau si dirk?
actually, youre exactly wrong. Pau doesnt have length down town or even in the mid range. if dirk drives, then he’ll get blocked, but even then with his long arms it would be hard.
what you will see is Odom on him outside/mid range, forcing him to drive and then youll see gasol or bynum on him.
its really an Odom/Dirk matchup, and a Tyso/Pau+Bynum matchup.
Then youll have marion on Kobe, and Terry on fisher, switching Kidd to kobe or artest or something.
They did have some very interesting match ups outside the NBA before. When Germany played Spain in the World or European championships, that’s the match up you want to look out for.
either of them can handle the other fairly easy on offense and neither of them can guard the other on defense. i think LA will use some kind of box-one or other zone type defense and not play straight man to man against dallas. still MAVS ftw!
@gary
yeah – just like LeMarcus Aldridge with his length “owned” Dirk – right?
for your info: LMA is a much better Dirk defender than Gasol is
Exactly Gary, Dirk and that jump shot cannot be stopped. He will shoot and score over a bigger or smaller guy. Plus no one will force Dirk to drive except Dirk. He settles for that jumper almost everytime- because he chooses to and because it cannot be stopped. He is like Kobe in that respect- that fallaway is unstoppable. I have to ask have you ever watched him play? Either a Laker fan or a Mav/Dirk hater
I don’t care for the Lakers. Din’t realize Dirk had haters and yeah I watch plently ball. It’s just and opinion…
sorry, dirk is much better shooter than kobe, bryant is only a 45% career shooter
but LA always put odom on dirk, and that takes away most of dirk’s moves, dirk cannot dribble off against odom and his length will make dirk work hard for his jump shots and fade aways.. odom can keep up with his feet against dirk that’s why that’s dirk’s worst match up..
a pillow fight at ‘power’ forward.
People play basketball the way they want. Dirk and Pau are good at their own respect and the way they play, which people call “soft” is the one they are comfortable and effective with. You can’t blame them for mismatches sometimes cause thats the way it works. No two players are the same in the NBA. Maybe “finesse” would be a better word to describe them. Pau’s versatility under the basket and at mid-range and Dirk’s point producing powerhouse of an offense are nowhere near “soft” or “finesse” playing. They just have strengths (no pun or irony intended) and weaknesses like anyone else.
lol i catch your drift man
What type of officiating was that during the Boston-Miami game? Do the refs have money on the game? I will admit that Boston missed too many shots and didn’t do good on rebounding. But they were cheated,if the refs want Miami to make it to the championships,make them work for it and don’t give it to them. The last tech on Pierce was BS,had to get him out to help Lebron. They have to go to Boston next,looking forward to it.
just a desperate moves for Pierce.. sorry he gets the worst of it..lol
Why should or would the refs make Miami work for it IF they wanted them to win? Don’t know what’s dumber that statement or the theory. FYI, they are in Miami next game lol, Miami in 5.
@HeatWave- Really? Heat in 5? Who do you think they’re facing, the 76ers again? So they won one game on their home court, while that’s good for them and deserves recognition, that hardly means they’re gonna mop the floor with Boston. Or did you already forget that Boston lost the first AND third game to Cleveland (which was then the #1 seed in the NBA with a better record than this year’s Miami Heat) only to beat them in 6? I’m not saying it’ll happen again and Miami may well end up winning the series but it’d be a huge mistake to underestimate Boston.
Miami has home court advantage.. which means they don’t go to Boston next, they stay in Miami for Game 2, then Boston for Games 3 & 4. Get your facts straight
I would trade Pau for Dirk today, no questions asked. The Lakers will not play a Zone D. Gasol gets Dirk in the post and the block with help from Bynum, and if Dirk stretches to the perimeter, they will bother him with active hands. The Lakers will settle for 10+ ft jump shots from dirk all night . Odom will take Dirk a lot when he comes in for Bynum because he is more mobile than Pau. The last meeting of the season should be indicative of this series. I’m looking at a 4-1 series to the Lakers, with the Maverics winning game 4 on Sudnay. The Lakers are going to Bully Dallas.
i think Dirk will be a monster in this series proving all doubts, no one can stop him.. And i will not be surprise to see GRIZZ and MAVZ in the conference final.. this year is full of upset dude….peace!
Don’t base playoffs on series games. NO just went six games with LA after being swept in the season. Spurs and Magic knocked out the playoffs(who saw that coming). Thunder and Boston getting rude awakenings, but yeah LA will most likely take the series. Still it’s like Dirk said “the west is wide open”.
FINAL Prediction:
Grizz VS. Hawks …..Watch!!
@ Johannes: Spain defended Dirk with undersized player (can’t remember which one) close to his body leaving him no space to maneuver
Youmean smaller players like batum and and gerald wallace? That worked out great.
Spain could defend him because Germany has no talent on the roster other than Dirk. The thing about this matchup is that there is no real matchup. Dirk may guard Pau, but Pau will not guard Dirk over a long period of the game. Plus Pau is a very important player for LA, but the Mavs live an die with Dirk. Pau couldn´t win a single game in the playoffs without Kobe.
either kobe can not win without gasol
mavs will win the series if they can contain bynum from getting rebounds and post ups..kobe will always scores!no one can defend him in the league..but mavs have strong bench than lakers..its also the battle of the benches..but GO MAVS!
if nobody can not defend kobe , why he only shoots 45% in his career and even less in playoff time, something here do not add up.I know his fame is bigger than his stats, that has a name OVERRATED
im a dallas fan, dallas will miss butler’s services. no doubt 2 best forwards in basketball, nba or international wise…for their teams to win, both will have to contribute tangibles and intangibles. this will be a good series, lakers have huge advantage in match ups.
bynum vs chandler and haywood…..2 against 1 but i still believe bynum has the edge
pau vs dirk …. each will not guard each other thoughout the series, both have strenghts and weaknesses….draw
brown, fisher, blake vs kidd, terry, barea, beaubois…dallas will edge lakers in these guard match-ups
kobe, barnes vs marion, stevenson…..they cant stop kobe, they can only slow him down..even if barnes will join marion and stevenson they cant stop kobe…..edge for the lakers
odom will have huge advantage against any other dallas forwards….peja cant guard him….edge lakers
peja vs artest in the small forward….astest will run wild in this series, his size, strength and skills will destroy other dallas small forwards….dallas need him….butler’s absence will be magnified in this series
i give my mavs 25% of winning the series
heat vs lakers will be a dream championship.
i know lakers fans will hate it, they will rather pray bulls will win the east
Laker fan here. But i will take Dirk anytime on offense. But Gasol since became a Laker has improved his defense. But they cross each other out. The real issue is how the Mavs will defend Kobe..Marion is the best defender but that will leave Artest with Terry? Kidd? Rudy B? JJ Barea?
Chandler and Bynum = x
Dirk and Pau = x
Marion and Artest = x
Terry? Kidd? Stevenson? Barea? = KObe = adv. Lakers
Kidd and Fsher = x
Bench:
LA = LO, Barnes, Blake, Brown
Mavs = Haywood, Terry, Barea, Beuobois
Adv. Lakers
Lakers will sweep them.
kidd vs fisher advantage mavs
mavs in 6
mavs will win if chandler plays big. kobe must be the best player. but mavs must pay attention to his supporting cast and make them play loose.
The battle of Finesse. Two of the most unique Power Forwards ive seen.
But Dirk is a Lone Star. Pau has Kobe. And in case you didnt know. Dirk is 1 out of 4 players in NBA history to average 25 ppg 10rpg in the course of his career but never he has been credited. I know why, Cause he’s that good. I give this one to Dirk.
magaling mgaling magaling…magaling si pau gasol…si dirk wag na naten isipen dahil napanaginipan ko kanina magkakaron sya ng ankle sprain both ankles…tas madislocate shoulder nya…panalo l.a wag na kayo pumalag..walang inglesan dito tagalog lang kase simpleng mamamayan lang…ingles ay pang mayaman lang
dun ka nga nba philippines. hahaha
@francisco. Well if you call dirk a better shooter than kobe. I see your point to that but think about a 7 footer. he obviously has the advantage up in the post just laying it in because that is what big men do.. live in the post. whereas a guard has to shoot jumpers most of the time because of the clogged paint by the big men. Iono its just my opinion
Dirk does not play like a 7 footer, he shoots like a guard, even at the free throw line he has better stats than kobe
well little franky, dirk still sucks…why???? cause he is on the mavs team…u can say what if, what if, but it all remains the same…Dallas will never win a championship cause they first have to go through the Lakers…sorry lil guy, dirk plays like a forward…he is a forward and plays like a forward…he is slow and lanky..kind of walks like your mom on a saturday night…..u can compare him to kobe all u want…it doesnt change the fact that in order to get a ring, u got to go through LA…and frankly….i dont see dallas winning this match up… why, u ask??? there are to many disadvantages for ur mavs… and dallas fans bite…. Lakers!!! live or die……U want some??? come n get it!!!!
Pau won’t be gaurding dirk very much I dont’ think.. He simply cannot gaurd dirk on the perimiter.. that would actually be a joke. I’d say we’ll see more of Matt Barnes (it worked out ok for Golden State in ’07) or RonRon on Dirk. Dirk however, will have no choice but to check Gasol on D because Chandler/Haywood will be tied up with Bynum.. A lot of people think Dirk is useless on D but I think that reputation came from early in his career and he has really improved dramatically in that regard over the years.
Bottom line though, in a head to head match-up Nowitzki is by far the better player and the advantage is definitly to the Mavs when comparing those particular players… not that LA doesn’t have advantages of their own.. Cannot wait for this series!!!
PLAYER ADVANTAGE: DIRK
TEAM ADVANTAGE: LAKERS!!!
Gasol changed the lakers, he is the reason why they have won 2 championships, i take Pau, purely because of the fact that he has won championships
Again it is all about the mental toughness of the Mavericks if they want to win the series. Kobe is always hard to defend and I’m sure Marion will be guarding him all through out the series but of course there will be a help defense. Another good match up to watch is Odom vs. Nowitzki, Kidd vs. Fisher, and Bynum vs. Chadler. Brown is a huge factor for the Lakers because no Mavs’ players can match his athleticism and also Artest is a big factor.
Dirk Nowitzki is a basketball genius he will find ways to score…Im sure Lakers will have tough defense on him but dont forget he has average 10+ free throw attempts vs Portland every game.The problem now of Dallas is how to match Bynum. Haywood must show his very best in this series, this will be a test how tough he is . I remember De Sagana Diop during 2006 season where he gave his best play in his career defensing Tim Duncan he’s the reason why Dallas reach WCF..
Dirk is the captain of the team and gasol is just the helper of kobe. dirk’s jumper is so hard to block and when he is one on one with other PF, he is so hard to defend and when he goes to the FT line, he is so clutch and leads the mavs to a championship. while gasol is a good defender and hits a 18-20 foot jumper, but when dirk hits at least 2-3 consecutive shots made, he can win the match up, SO, Dirk Nowitzki wins
nowitzki has never won a championship, gasol has 2
Looking forward to this. This will be the series which tells you once and for all whether the Lakers are true contenders this year, because the Mavs aren’t going to be slouches. They got a lot out of that series with Portland, and now that that 24 point meltdown in Game 4 is behind them I think they’re going to be focused for the remainder of their games. The Lakers were slumping towards the end of the regular season, and that series against New Orleans didn’t entirely convince me they’re back. If they get through the Mavs, irrespective of how many games it takes, I think the Lakers are the real deal to take the West. I’m thinking the Mavs in six.
@vincent: Actually, Rodrigue Beaubois can match Brown’s athleticism. Problem is, he’s injured. So you’re probably right.
Dirk vs Pau… that’s interesting considering how the both are bad defensively but can be monsters on the offensive end. Marion vs Artest… battle of the defensive masterminds, looking forward to it. Stevenson vs Kobe.. an offensive juggernaut facing a physical defender, not a bad match-up at all. Chandler vs Bynum.. Battle of the two best centers in the West, athleticism vs power, i’ll watch out for this. Kidd vs Fisher… battle of the old guns, can’t wait to see who runs out of juice first. Terry, Haywood, Stojakovic, and Beaubois vs Barnes, Blake, Odom, and Brown… battle of the two best benches in the league, whew I can’t wait for this series to start.
I’d take Mavericks over Lakers in six if Butler was present. But since he’s not, the Mavs’ chances are not that high. Lakers in seven.
if chandler plays big, dallas would win the series. go mavs!
pau is soft, but come one dirk is way softer. i take pau gasol , he is a bette post up player. and a better defender and robounder than dirk
What a retard. the fact that your spelling is that horrible says it all, you have no idea what your talking about. Dirk cant be defended he will own pau
Dirk likes to choke, Pau is soft but he will never choke
They look like brothers! HAHA
My guess is that Lamar Odom will come and defend Dirk most of the time. Lamar is a verstaile player, like Dirk.
i think the lakers will win based on the fact that they have home court in the series
the mavs will have to pull something huge out at staples to have any chance in this series even though i’m a mavs fan
and like most people have said, without butler, the mavs offense is just a little thin considering the lakers size in the front court. hopefully he’ll be right to come back if the series stretches to 5-7 games
hopefully the lakers stay asleep and play like they did in the early stages of the hornets series
as for dirk and pau, dirk is better offensively but pau is better defensively, but i’d still take dirk in the clutch situations
the only genuine edge the mavs possess is the beach, which will have to fire if they want to have any chance of taking the series
I saw Gasol struggling in the first round but not Nowitzki. The most interesting match up of the series will be Chandler vs Bynum. Whoever gets the edge on the rebounds wins the series. Most of the players neutralize each other. Only the Lakers have obviously the edge at the 2 guard and the Mavs at the 4. Will be way more interesting than Miami-Boston. Whoever wins this series wins the championship, IMO.
Dallas Fan here, dallas is good this year cause of the coach…Avery Johnson was a retard…i doubt dallas would be able to defend koby and bynum though. losing Butler was a bad decision for them i think, Butler and Marrion could pretty much do the defense…dirk and terry could do the offense. sigh still hoping they win though.
I do think that Lamar will be defending Dirk most of the time, he is more versatile and those long
arms will bother Dirk a lot, Nowitzki will get his points, that’s obvious, but he will work a lot to get them, plus, shooting fade away jumpshots you have more probabilities of miss, and having two 7 footers on the paint waiting for those rebounds, i give the edge to the Lakers.
you will see this lineup on the floor sometime: Fisher-Bryant-Odom-Gasol-Bynum
book it!
Between Kobe and Lamar they are going to finish the Mavs.The Mavs have nobody to stop these two guns.
LAKERS in five.
I go for Pau Gasol and Lakers will win 4-0. Mavs winning offense concentrated too much on point production of Dirk. That can not be the case when you play with the LAKERS. They are defensive monster team augmented by reach, height and brilliant trappers and spreading defense. If their offense explodes, the LALAKERS are unstoppable.
Mavericks like rotating the ball so it isn’t like Dirk is their main scorer. They can score with Tyson, Marion, Terry etc…
any time dirk has an off night marion and kidd have no problem picking up the slack
well, differrent player with different team….offensively Dirk is better than Pau.. defensively Pau is way better than dirk… but Pau has better teamates than dirk…….and…………… thats the story of the game…^ ^
LakerS lose’ mavs win in series game 7. .thunder win’ memphis lose in series of game 6 . . Miami win” boston lose in series of game 4. . Bulls win” atlanta lose at series of game 6. .
hmm.. I think we’re gonna see a lot of Ron Artest/Matt Barnes and even Lamar on Dirk. I don’t see much Pau on Dirk that much. Dirk is a great perimeter player that’s why. He’s ability off the dribble can kill Gasol. And on the other end as well, I doubt we’ll see Dirk on Gasol much since he’s an average defender. With Pau, you need great patience, obedience and a mentality to bring him down to earth at times, he’s that great. But whenever you have all of those, it’s really gonna make things hard for Pau as we all witnessed in the First Round. I expect Pau to keep taking those 18 foot Jumpshots and make them and also, I know he’ll be a lot more aggressive knowing that punting Chandler and Haywood in foul trouble could smell disaster for the Mavs.
I’m looking forward to Grizz and Lakers in WCF.
Marc Gasol is good. And he’s a whole lot stronger and tougher than Pau. Pau is a weakling.
Matchups:
Mike Conley vs. Fisher = Fisher wins this
Obviously Kobe gonna have the advantage over whoever guards him.
But it’s gonna be a battle of the bigs, and Randolph vs. Pau Gasol is a HUGE Memphis advantage. Marc Gasol vs. Bynum, I’d give Bynum the slight nod over Gasol but Bynum better watch out because Marc is a toughie. I’d say that this would be the battle of the two best big man combos in the league: Bynum-Pau, and Z-Bo-Marc.
That’ll be fun to watch!
But as far as Dirk vs. Pau, Dirk has a HUGE advantage becaue Pau simply isn’t strong at all and doesn’t have the range of Dirk.
how about the other match up, lamar vs marion? advantage = matrix!
The Lakers = Mental Toughness
The Mavs = ¿¿¿¿????
Lakers Will Win…..it doesn’t matter who wins that math up between “Gasoft” and Jerk Nowitzki…
This is dirks time to show that he belongs in the elite player group like the kobe. This serious he is going to be amazing.
Ok. A Lakers fan said that the Lakers should win because they won the regular season vs the Mavs. Good news because that means the Heat is going to beat the Lakers. It doesn’t matter who comes out of the West. The Heat is unstoppable.
because dallas went 2-0 against them.
dirk nowitzki will always have my love.
i don’t need a lot of reason to think about, you just mention his name, then no more arguments for me…
i know the lakers are an experiencde team, they are tough, they are physical, they play like champions, and yes they are champions.
but the mavs look calm now, and i really hope they win.. he has worked so hard all his career, he deserves a time.. i hope the time is now.. he’s got a heart of a champion.. he deserves to be…
mas all the way..
good luck lakers, you are going to need it.
Sekou….Boston – Miami is THE series and the article is on Dirk Gasol?? really?!! not even Memphis shocking the world right now!? (lie and say yall not shocked.) Imean Miami and Boston just played an intense game 1 playoff game and the talk is about 2 of the softest power forwards in the league ( good match up tho) … maybe the OUTCOME…got nobody wanting to blog huh??… lol i get it. Oh and please stop with the ” they cheated for miami” … the call on pierce was BS and lebron didnt need help RAY ALLEN did! game 2 is gonna bring the best out of boston because they are the toughest team with the toughest coach. and boston will get games ( not sure wheather is 2,3 or 4) but when boston wins the miami haters will be back bloging and back talking how they cant close etc etc…. Dirk – Gasol… we can save that for when they start.
pau-dirk, kind of even…
i really love dirk, but i respect very much a guy like pau that could easily average 20/10 (he is not that far…) but has a team first mentality despite being an all-star
two rings in the last three years, three nba finals… (gasol era) and people still complaining… surprising
Dirk nowitzki would struggle with a faster defender on him
Like Ebanks Or Barnes..
I feel like Kobe is saving something for this years finals. I haven’t seen Kobe explode into the lane all year like he did in game 3 after playing new orleans, in game he was sluggish..
Kobe may be “disrespected” that the media is talking about dirk and pau,and bynum. watch out dallas
Dirk over Gasol!!!! But the Lakers gonna win the Game
I think Dirk has a slight advantage over Pau one on one, but Pau has a much better supporting cast and ultimately the math will favor the Lakers.
Well this is going to be a interesting series but I think that Dirk will get his 25 to 30 over gasol or odom a game either way, no matter who is guarding him. The real wonder in this series is the bench, the Dallas bench is a lot deeper then the Lakers. The bench is really the key components in this series because you know Kobe and Gasol will be big and Dirk and Terry will be big but who else can attack and make key offensive and defensive plays? Who else can make big shots? The Lakers will hurt Dallas inside with Bynum and Gasol but don’t do well against the zone defense and the Mavs run the zone defense a lot. And also the Mavs shoot the ball from the perimeter which the Lakers don’t guard vary well and the Mavs will hurt the Lakers with there transition game. I think Mavericks in 6
well….to answer this dirk or pau question: imagine u are the lakers and could choose between the two of them…who do you pick?
….question answered.
Pau is soft and has the tendency to sometimes disappear, I’d take Nowitzki over him any day.
(I was surprised to see how tough his brother Marc is however, he gave Kendrick Perkinhs quite a pounding in game 1.)
*Perkins
Im still laughing at people saying Pau is not tough. I think Dwight Howard can say thats not true. Not only he is tough he is no doubt the most smart and talented pure PF in the league. Nowitzki is a 0 defender. Whenever he matches up with a decent PF he ight score 25 ppg but his counterpart will go for more or less the same points. So no win there. Lakers in 5, 4-1.
You can cover your eyes and laugh as much as you want. Dirk 0 defender? In response to your comment on Dirk allowing 25 and scoring 25, last time Dirk & Pau met in the playoffs were 2006. Dirk averaged 31.3ppg in the 4-game series, while Pau had 20.3ppg. In other words, Dirk allowed 20 while Pau allowed 31. Not to mention Dirk’s other offensive ability, including 50-40-90 FG-3P-FT ratio. Gasol is simply not a match for Dirk.
March Madness in April! Someone stated “Grizz vs Hawks”…..Watch? I brought in Kentucky to win, but lost in Final Four. Not bad. Okay Dallas its you’re move.
In Game 1 of 2011 western conference semi-final in Dallas Mavericks vs. Los Angeles Lakers, games decisive seconds was disappointing. As Neutral spectator, was very dissatisfied with officiating in final quarter. Pau Gasol reaching for the ball when no one had clear possession was not a foul. Then following play to watch Jason Kidd arm check Kobe Bryant at midcourt to not blow whistle wasn’t fair. In same play Dirk Nowitzki rake Kobe across right arm when man was about to attack basket, along with smack from Jason Kidd to still not call the foul was immoral. The play when Jason quotes on quote stopped Kobe Bryant first of all he had his hands on Kobe’s hips on the handoff he pushed Kobe in to the floor Gasol loses the ball when Kobe was pushed by Jason Kidd still no call. I find the favoritism of the referees unacceptable, and if there wasn’t any biased the games 4th quarter was a simply pathetic showing for a game to have referee instead players decide the game. If those fouls were called I’m sure there would have been overtime and referee can have time to redeem themselves. Not to take anything from the Maverick players or Fans but they should say thank you to the referee but for anybody else. I think referees owe us basketball fans and apology for the game the calls were blown in last 3 minutes. Announcer can’t speak out against these referees in fear of being fined but NBA fan can say almost anything they want. At end day fan put money in their pockets and these referees need to clean up their act or this rising Basketball game will be soon declining.