Pau Gasol says he prefers the European style of basketball

Is this really even surprising?

Pau Gasol, in an interview with French publication L’ Equipe (as seen on the Spanish ABC site, via Ball in Europe) said he prefers the style of basketball seen in Europe to what is played in the NBA

“I prefer the European game to the NBA because basketball is a team sport and more beautiful to watch when the players pass the ball or when the ball movement to create shooting situations.”

Here’s the thing — 30 NBA coaches agree with Gasol. Well, maybe 29, who knows what Mark Jackson is thinking. But at what point have you heard any NBA coach say, “what we need is more isolation basketball and guys standing around, I’m sick of all this off-the-ball movement.” It doesn’t happen because of the players, not the coaches.

Phil Jackson’s brilliance (in addition to getting a team to focus and ignore outside distractions) was getting star players to buy into a system that required selflessness. The triangle was about spacing and ball movement, and Jackson got guys like Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal to buy in. Or at least buy in enough to make it work. At its heart, the triangle offense was more European in style than what most NBA teams run.

And Gasol is right, when the Lakers really ran the triangle the basketball was a thing of beauty.