Maybe Pau Gasol just got lucky? Maybe his incredible peripheral vision didn’t spot Jimmy Butler cutting behind him, without his defender in the area. It’s possible he just tipped the ball backwards hoping for the best, since he knew he couldn’t comfortably corral the pass.
https://twitter.com/ZacharyBD/status/653242107360997376
If this were almost any other big, then that would be the safest assumption. Yet this is Gasol, one of the best passing big men in the game today, blessed with splendid vision and the creativity necessary to move the ball in ways other players wouldn’t dare attempt. He puts the perfect amount of touch on the ball – just a casual flick — with enough force behind it to float perfectly into Butler’s waiting arms. Easy layup.
This is the sort of play you can have on loop all day and never get tired of watching. It’s the beauty of basketball, personified. It’s what makes Gasol such an all-around threat on the offensive end.
If Fred Hoiberg can figure out how to properly utilize Joakim Noah and Gasol together, the Bulls will have one of the best interior passing attacks in the league. They didn’t quite click last year, thanks in no small part to Noah’s consistent health problems and spacing issues in Tom Thibodeau’s set-piece-heavy offense. Now that Joakim’s looking healthy, and the Bulls feature a more free-flowing offense, the duo could flourish in the frontcourt.
