At this point, Bulls' Gasol shocking even himself
To say Pau Gasol is in elite company right now is not quite accurate.
As of Thursday morning, the only player in the NBA averaging 20 points and 10 rebounds was New Orleans forward Anthony Davis.
But Gasol is real close. So is LaMarcus Aldridge, who visits the United Center with the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday.
Gasol is at 19.8 points and ranks second in the league with 12.2 rebounds per game, trailing only the Clippers' DeAndre Jordan. Gasol has averaged 14.9 rebounds over the last seven contests, which resulted in seven straight double-doubles.
Rarely does a new addition exceed expectations so quickly. But it's probably safe to say Gasol has been better than expected since joining the Bulls as a free agent this summer.
"A variety of factors, I guess," Gasol said Thursday when asked why it's worked so well. "The structure and complexion of the team - it's just a really nice fit for me and something I evaluated before I made my decision. Our system, the way we run things, our principles, how we want the ball to touch the paint and get to the post and operate from there. Being healthy as well is a factor that's important."
The 12.2 rebounds are a career-high for Gasol and he hasn't averaged 19.8 points since his last full season in Memphis, 2006-07.
It makes sense that his scoring would drop slightly once he joined Kobe Bryant with the Lakers. But his numbers taking a jump at age 34 is a surprise, even to Gasol.
"I didn't expect to have these kind of numbers," he said. "But I usually don't have expectations like that. I expected to come here and give it my best shot; work hard to be the best I could be on the floor and make this team better. Whatever comes with that, great.
"Ultimately, it's just to help this team be a championship team. If the numbers come with it, great."
Gasol is playing more than he did the past two years in Los Angeles, averaging 36 minutes per game. Whether he can keep that up all season remains to be seen, but part of the reason for the heavy workload is injuries to Taj Gibson and Joakim Noah. Those players have missed 11 games between them and Noah is not expected to play Friday against Portland because of a sprained right ankle.
"(Gasol's) certainly playing at an all-star level," coach Tom Thibodeau said. "I think there's maybe two or three guys that are 20-10 guys in the league right now. He's one of them. He plays to win. He's not a selfish guy at all. He's sometimes too unselfish. He's been great for us."
One aspect that hasn't been great so far is the Bulls' defense. They're near the top (sixth) in defensive field-goal percentage, but currently 13th in the league in points allowed.
With three practices this week, the Bulls have tried to get things back on track. It paid off in the second half of Wednesday's 105-80 win over Brooklyn. The Nets scored 29 points and shot 26 percent from the field after halftime.
Gasol is new at this, so he tried describing Thibodeau's defensive system.
It's nothing really weird or different. Just pay attention to detail, be active, communicate, be intense, be into the ball. Have more of an aggressive mindset defensively.
"We do have to be more consistent," Gasol said. "The principles always stay the same. They don't change. It's about us executing it and also the other team making tougher shots or making tougher plays and at the end of the game, hopefully, you wore them out enough that they miss those tough shots.
"That's kind of the development you want to see in a game."
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