Pau Gasol became the first foreign player ever to win Rookie of the Year Wednesday. He won't be the last.
Gasol's play this year stunned even the most optimistic observers. Scouts and GM's who saw him play in Spain last year knew he had the skills and physical tools to dominate someday -- the key there being someday.
The NBA was supposed to be too physical, too fast and too rigorous for the skinny 19-year-old 7-footer. The book on Gasol was that he'd be thrown around in the paint, forced to shoot outside jumpers, get abused on the defensive end and that eventually he'd break down under the strain of an 82-game season.
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