Missing Marc Gasol Made Us Realize Just How Wonderful A Player He Really Is

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The Memphis Grizzlies narrowly avoided disaster this summer when they were able to lure Mike Conley back with the richest contract in NBA history. It helped that just a year prior, free agent big man Marc Gasol wasted no time re-signing with his incumbent team on a long-term deal to try and keep the Grit-n-Grind squad intact for a few more title runs.

But Gasol’s broken foot — and a slew of other untimely injuries to rotation players — threatened to derail the whole endeavor this summer. Fortunately, loyalty won out, and the most beloved incarnation in Grizzlies lore will be back at (relative) full strength next season to try and prove they can still make some noise in the postseason — as they have so many times in recent years — despite an on-court style that looks increasingly archaic in the run-and-gun era.

A fully-recovered Gasol is absolutely critical, and even that carries its own uncertainties given the nature of his injury. A similar type of fracture to the navicular bone ended Yao Ming’s career prematurely. It’s also the same injury that’s cost Joel Embiid his first two NBA seasons and comes with more complications for players of larger stature.

It’s something Gasol and team doctors will have to monitor closely in the coming season, but for now, word is that Gasol has been cleared to play at the start of training camp later this month, according to Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal:

The 7-footer suffered the injury in February and subsequently missed playing for his native Spain in the Rio Olympics. However, Gasol recently returned to Memphis for strength and conditioning. Gasol is also playing pickup games, according to sources with knowledge of his progress. The Griz took a cautious approach to Gasol’s rehabilitation and are upbeat about his return to form on the basketball court, according to the sources.

There are no excuses in the NBA, and the Grizzlies will need him to get back to that elite level that made him one of the best centers on the planet in recent years.

With the way the NBA has been trending the past few seasons, it’s easy to forget just how good Gasol is at his peak. There obviously isn’t a better example than his stellar Defensive Player of the Year season in 2012-2013 when he anchored not only the league’s stingiest defense, but established himself as the best passing center in the game.

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The Grizzlies finished that season with a franchise-best 56 wins and made their inaugural run to the Western Conference Finals, where they unfortunately met the eventual champion Spurs, who promptly squashed their title hopes in a clean sweep. Gasol averaged 17.2 points, 8.5 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and 2.2 blocks per game during that postseason and was far and away the Grizzlies’ best player. He followed that up with an equally impressive start to the 2013-2014 season before an injury sidelined him for 22 straight games and nearly torpedoed the team’s entire season.

But Gasol’s run as one of the NBA’s best bigs has run somewhat counter to the small-ball trend now dominating the league. Conventional wisdom says that modern frontcourt players need to be quicker, more athletic, and able to stretch opposing defenses all the way out to the three-point line. Gasol isn’t necessarily any of those things.

So how does he still manage to thrive? Well, it starts with his defense, which is subtly brilliant rather than spectacularly impressive. The earthbound Gasol isn’t generating highlights by swatting shots into the 10th row like human Pogo sticks Hassan Whiteside and DeAndre Jordan. He’s more disciplined than either of those guys, along with various other high-profile rim protectors in the NBA.

He uses his savvy court awareness to anticipate breakdowns before they occur and time his rotations and recoveries perfectly. He’s also one of the better pick-and-roll defenders in the league, relying on his instincts to know exactly when and how hard to hedge on the ball handler while still being able to get back into position.

On offense, he’s a reliable threat on the block, and out to the 20-foot range efficiency toadies loathe. He has a nice soft touch on that mid-range jumper, solid footwork and post moves, and is an excellent passer out of the double team.

He’s still perhaps the best passing big man in the game today.

In the midst of the three-point revolution, it’s easy to forget that there is a whole other set of basketball skills that translate to success. Gasol is a testament to that, and how LaMarcus Aldridge fits into the Spurs’ current schemes is a great comparison.

In a league that is increasingly homogeneous, Gasol and the Grizzlies have always been subversive in their attachment to old-school, grind-it-down hoops. But they’ll also eventually have to evolve. They took steps toward that last season by bringing Zach Randolph off the bench, which ended up paying tremendous dividends. Now, they’ve added a better perimeter threat in Chandler Parsons.

It’ll be up to new head coach David Fizdale to figure it out with the current roster, but there is still plenty of room in this league for a player like Marc Gasol to dominate, as long as he can stay healthy.

(The Commercial Appeal)

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