Geoff Calkins of the Memphis Commercial-Appeal says the Grizzlies' Pau Gasol is a genuine phenomenon.

The Grizz' web site gets the fifth most traffic of all team sites.  And a lot of the posts on message boards are in Spanish.  (RealGM's board has a few Spanish posters, but fortunately they post in English.)

The Grizzlies are holding off on Gasol's bobblehead night while the excitement builds.  Meanwhile, they haven't been able to get any Gasol sweaters and are getting desperate.

The Grizz had been watching Gasol for the past two years, and wanted him desperately.  Picking sixth, they knew they wouldn't be able to get him.  So they traded away their best player to move up in the draft and get him with the third pick.  His January numbers of 20.7 points, 9.7 rebounds and 2.9 blocks are all-star numbers.  That seems to be the direction Gasol is heading.

In the related piece, Ron Tillery talks about how Shane Battier is the rookie center of attention this weekend.  The NBA chose him to announce the rookie game participants.  And take away the Spanish reporters, he's even with Pau Gasol for the most interview requests.