| How Sweep It Is Authored by Jeff Stotts - May 2, 2006 - 9:46 pm
Drafting an international player in the NBA draft is kind of like agreeing to a blind date. More often than not you open the door and find out you are escorting your second cousin for the evening (i.e. Nikoloz Tskitishvili, Zarko Cabarkapa) but occasionally the date ends up being a gorgeous individual that makes you count your lucky stars (see Yao Ming, Manu Ginobili).
Until a week ago it was safe to say that both the Dallas Mavericks and Memphis Grizzlies had both gotten lucky and found themselves with the latter. However after Dirk Nowitzki’s Mavs swept the Pau Gasol-led Grizzlies it seems like the difference between Dirk and Pau may be more like the difference between a supermodel and the cute girl next door. You would be proud to have either one but only one is going to take you to a higher level.
Gasol has had a banner season and is the face of the Grizzlies franchise, which seems to fit him and his scraggly appearance perfectly. Gasol played in his first All-Star Game and led Memphis to the #5 spot in a competitive Western conference. Furthermore the Grizzlies went in to the playoffs winners of 8 of the last nine games, a far contrast to the last two years when Memphis limped into the playoffs. Unfortunately as Darrell Armstrong so eloquently put it, “"They fell into something they didn't want to fall into – and it was the Mavericks.” More importantly they fell into the path of a German bomber by the name of Nowitzki.
Dirk, fresh off a season in which he was a serious MVP contender, has his Mavericks playing quite possibly their best basketball at the right time. Nowitzki averaged 31 points in the franchise’s first four game sweep and broke the hearts of Memphis fan everywhere still gasping for their first taste of playoff success. While Gasol was limited by inconsistency and failed to find the same success that he had experienced in the regular season, Nowitzki’s elevated his game and in the process exercised the demons of last season’s playoff performance. Nowitzki and the Mavs seems to have adopted the personality of their head coach, Coach of the Year Avery Johnson, and are playing disciplined and more importantly defensive minded basketball. Now Memphis is 0-12 in the playoffs and the Mavericks have time to nurse their nagging injuries and await the winner of the Sacramento/San Antonio series.
Gasol and Nowitzki are international players that have taken drastically different routes through the NBA. While both can be considered success stories, Nowitzki is the leader of a team with championship aspirations while Gasol remains the best player on an above average team. While Dallas fans look forward to what awaits them this year, Memphis fans have to settle for knowing there’s always next year. Of course they should take comfort in the fact that when their franchise answered the door it was Gasol behind it and not Tskitishvili. |
