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NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION MEDIA CONFERENCE

July 30, 2015

Pau Gasol

Q. I wanted to ask you a couple of questions about EuroBasket and then NBA. EuroBasket, Tony Parker said this week that it's like France's time, now, to take its place as top European team. Do you really think they're a favorite?
PAU GASOL: I think they are. I think they won the last European Basket. They play at home the final part of the championship, so I think they should be considered the favorite team.

Q. I know it's always the same question, but what do you guys need in Chicago to actually beat LeBron James' Cavs?
PAU GASOL: Well, I mean, our goal is to try to be the best team, not just to beat one team. Obviously they're the Eastern Conference champions from last year, but our goal is just to try to be as strong as we can be to win hopefully the title at the end of the year. We have to prepare and have a great regular season from beginning to the end. We have to make a quick transition with our new coach and the new philosophy that he might, that he will implement, so all those things are going to play into how we're going to be next season.

Q. I was wondering if you had talked to or met Fred Hoiberg at all, and have you gotten any indication if your role might change, especially given the fact that you're playing with Joakim Noah, didn't seem ideal and it seems likely to change in some respect?
PAU GASOL: Well, we have talked on the phone and we have exchanged messages, so we've been in communication since he signed with the team. We look forward to continuing to talk and communicate so we can be ready for when training camp starts to be on the same page and start working on how we can help the team adjust quicker to the new philosophy and his system.
I don't know exactly how much my role will change, if at all. I mean, I'm sure that there's going to be some adjustments and some changes, but I don't know to what extent they will affect me individually.

Q. In the middle of the year we asked Luol Deng about [Tom] Thibodeau and he said if the Bulls were to move on, he thought the organization would take a step back. You've seen your share of coaching changes. Were you disappointed? Were you okay with the move? I mean, obviously you're just an employee there, but at the same time it does affect you guys and affect your immediate future. Are you happy with the change, or was it kind of disappointing?
PAU GASOL: Well, it's always a difficult time and a hard time when you see a coach released or let go from his duties, especially after Tom had invested a lot of years in the team. But at the same time, you understand why it happened and the organization had to make a decision, and it was a difficult one, but we're all trying to, at the end of the day, give the team a better chance to win the championship and improve. That comes from the top. The players have really nothing to do with it, and you accept those type of situations, and you try to make the best out of them. And from that point on, we're going to try to work hard to fulfill our goals and be a better team next season. That's all we can do.

Q. You recently had a birthday; I notice you're playing for EuroBasket next month or in September. I think [Nikola] Mirotic is playing, too. How do you think that will affect you coming into the current season? Obviously it's important to play, but so close to the beginning of the season.
PAU GASOL: Yeah, I mean, there's always an upside and a downside to playing internationally. I feel it's always you get into camp and into preseason in much better shape and much better basketball rhythm and condition, and it's just‑‑ I don't know, how you approach games and how do you feel about them. If you're excited and energized about playing with your national team and you're excited and energized to play with your NBA team, it should be a positive thing. It's just how you take it.
At the same time I feel like Niko and I playing in summer, I think it'll develop our relationship on and off the court, and it will be another positive to carry on and transfer to our team in Chicago.

Q. I know your foundation has done quite a bit of work in Africa. How many times have you traveled to that continent personally, and what's it going to be like playing this game on Saturday?
PAU GASOL: It's, it's my sixth time in the continent, and I'm really excited about this game, about the work that is being done here, the effort, the NBA, the NBPA, players, coaches, everybody is putting a lot of effort into giving children a better chance and giving these children here an opportunity to receive an education, to be able to access sports and physical activity and develop healthy habits and to have a healthy life, or a healthier life. So I'm just excited to be a part of it, and it's a historical game for the NBA, for the game itself, and for the continent of Africa.

Q. Can you compare what you've seen in your career arc in Europe in terms of the development and the inroads of basketball over there to where things might be just from what you understand, even with the small glimpse of Africa in your past visits there?
PAU GASOL: Well, I think definitely basketball is continuing to grow internationally. It has grown a lot in Europe and has developed a lot. A lot of players continue to come out and be ready to play in the best league with the best players in the world, and now obviously Africa is a continent with huge potential and many different levels. It has a lot of struggles, but it's worth investing the time and the effort and the energy to give this country and this continent a chance, and I think a lot of players are coming out and obviously have come out already, but there's potential that a lot more younger players can come out and be ready and become great basketball players and have an opportunity to have a great life for themselves and their families.

Q. Back to last season a little bit, for you looking back on it now with some time, what do you think was the biggest problem with the team? It just seemed like sometimes things‑‑ you guys looked great and sometimes stuff just didn't click. Was it the disconnect sometimes with kind of the outside things, with the coach, with the front office? Was it just the way you guys fit together? Why do you think the season ended early?
PAU GASOL: It's hard to pinpoint the specific reasons. There was definitely an inconsistency throughout the year. We were kind of a very up‑and‑down team even though we finished third in the conference. We still had a lot of, I think, games that we just weren't ready to play, just too many games we gave away against teams that we were supposed to beat and we were a better team overall. And at the end of the day, we paid the price, I guess lack of sense of urgency and giving importance to those moments during the regular season, because at the end I think we played at a pretty high level in the postseason. We fell short at the end. I think having the home‑court advantage is a big deal when teams are so close to each other. But it's hard, and definitely there's I'm sure multiple factors why we were inconsistent. But hopefully we'll learn from that and we'll understand how important it is to be sharp throughout the season, how important it is each and every game during the regular season and what difference does that make at the end of the year.

Q. Obviously Derrick Rose isn't the most vocal leader. A lot of guys talk about his support through his actions and everything else. Do you feel going into your second year it's time for you to have a bigger voice than you did last year and maybe help these guys understand that there is a small window and it could close quickly and guys have to understand that and not take this thing for granted?
PAU GASOL: For sure. I mean, I don't know if it's just me. I think each individual on the team‑‑ we have a lot of good players, and each and every one has to understand that factor exactly that you just mentioned. The window is very small. You just never know when it's going to close. You just know it's going to close fast. You just don't know exactly when. So you do have to take advantage of each opportunity that comes along, and we have a great opportunity. We have a very strong team. There's very few changes made as far as our roster and our players, so we can build on what we had going on last year, so we have all the tools to be a much stronger team than we were and learn from our mistakes from last year. But we all have to understand that. Me personally, I will try to do my job as far as the leadership role within the team, and now that I've been through already a season with the guys. But each individual has to understand the sense of accountability and responsibility within the team.

Q. A lot of us think that Fred Hoiberg is going to come in and play a more offensive style, maybe more pace, higher scoring. Do you think that's the case, and if so, how do you think this group of players will fit into that style?
PAU GASOL: Well, I mean, I think offense wasn't really too much of an issue last year. I think we have to understand that we have a lot of talent offensively, and we have to utilize our weapons and play a little‑‑ with better flow offensively, and I think with Fred we're going to have more freedom to play in transition and explode our abilities as individuals and as a team.
But as long as we understand that defense is what wins championships and what makes the difference, we don't neglect that side of the game, which is critical, we should be fine. We can work on our offense all we want, but defense is going to make the difference in how we're going to beat other teams.

Q. Do you see yourself starting, and do you also see yourself playing‑‑ I think you led the team in minutes played. Do you see that occurring again?
PAU GASOL: Well, I of course‑‑ I mean, it's not that I see myself starting. I'm going to work and earn that. I don't take anything for granted no matter how well I played or how great of a player I think I am. You have to prove yourself at practice. You have to earn your minutes. You can't take anything for granted. But at the same time I'm not expecting to play the most minutes on the team maybe like I did last year. I didn't average the most minutes because I think Jimmy [Butler] averaged the most, but I expect to have a substantial role, as I always have in my career, and be a key part of our team.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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