The Lakers' rapturous Kobe-powered 121-101 win over the Raptors was no doubt fueled by the trade made for Pau Gasol -- aptly-named. With rock-steady veteran AND current season avgs. of 19 pts. and 9 rebounds, he is precisely the pow and gas the Lakers need to fill the void left by the injured absence of the newly-emergent Andrew Bynum.
I paid little attention to the Raptors game, knowing all along the Lakers would win, and enjoying the odd good news of a big-time trade overshadowing a winning road performance, one they really needed.
I'd never heard of Pau Gasol before. 7 ft. all-star center-forward, recently of the Memphis Grizzlies, by way of Barcelona.
Consensus is he has just the right numbers, he's still young, he's consistent, diverse, talented, with a good basketball IQ. And that he might actually give books to Phil Jackson, rather than automatically the other way around.
The Grizzlies get Kwame Brown and Crittenton and some of that 1st round/2nd round draft swapping, and whatnot. So Pau Gasol will play center till Bynum returns, then slide over to power forward. Wow, twin towers, cool.
The future just got a lot brighter for the Lakers Nation. Now we'll all be wearin' shades.
