With six new players and five significant subtractions from the roster, it looks like the team is taking the shape Mike Fratello wants. After Hubie retired last year, Czar had to take over midstream. In his first few games coaching, Memphis really started featuring Pau Gasol, and he was dominating opponents before going down with plantar fasciitis.
Check out these numbers from Fratello's first game coaching:
Dec 03 vs. PHI - 39 min, 34 points (12-19 FG, 10-11 FT) 15 rebounds (5 off) 2 assists 3 blocks
He averaged 20.3 ppg in December after Frat took over with 8.5 rpg. Slightly above normal. He averaged 21.7 ppg and 7.2 rpg before really starting to feel the effects of the injury, which he was obviously playing through at the start of the calendar year.
Those aren't
too gaudy of numbers over a stretch of time, but had he averaged them from the start of the year (and Memphis didn't get off to a crummy start), Pau would have been an All-Star. There was a stretch in early-January and late-December where Gasol was unstoppable offensively.
On Dec. 27, he put up 24 points on Elton Brand (9-13 FG). Dec. 29, he did another 24 on Raef LaFrentz (6-13 FG, 12-13 FT). On New Year's, he put up 23 points on the Wolves, primarily guarded by Kevin Garnett, on 9-10 shooting. The next game, he dumped 25 on Carlos Boozer (9-15 FG). He put up 29 points in the first half against the Pacers on Jan. 11 against O'Neal.
He didn't score more against Indiana, because he was effectively frozen out by a shot-happy Jason Williams and Bonzi Wells in the second half, and this was one of the Grizzlies' main on-court problem last season, neck-and-neck with lousy rebounding. We had too many players who thought they were offensive juggernauts.
Those players have been phased out and replaced by similarly-skilled but more mature teammates. I can't even count how many times last year where I'd see Williams or Bonzi or James Posey or Earl Watson launch up an idiotic shot from the outside when Pau had been killing in the post all game. Even Stro had fallen in love with his jumpshot. None of these guys were team players last season, and it's probably because alot of them were in potential contract years. Someone should tell Lorenzen to stop shooting too, because he was just as bad as the others (and now, as it turns out, that was probably because he was looking for more money this offseason, too).
Damon Stoudamire has never been known as a pass-first guy, but he had more assists last season than JWill on a team with far less options and a lesser PF. Bobby Jackson isn't a point guard, so I'm not expecting him to feed the post, but he's at least a professional and can actually shoot the ball. Eddie Jones shouldn't need to dominate the ball like Wells did to fill his role, and he's seen in his career the benefits of having a dominant low-post threat (Shaq, a prime Zo) and how to utilize them.
With more team-oriented players and a full offseason of rest (not returning overseas to play more), I can see Pau performing like he did in December and January consistently for the entire season. Also, with no Stromile wasting minutes on the court this year, he'll get around a career-high 38-39 mpg.
For 2005/06, I predict:
38 mpg, 23 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 3 apg, 0.6 spg, 2 bpg on 52 FG% and an All-Star bid.