Spain Olympic Basketball Team: Who Is More Valuable, Pau or Marc Gasol?

Any time two brothers play a sport at an elite level, there's bound to be a bit of a sibling rivalry. This is especially true when the siblings are on the same Olympic basketball team. 

Pau Gasol and Marc Gasol are both crucial pieces of the Spanish hoops machine, but Pau is significantly more valuable than his younger brother.

That should be apparent enough simply by looking at the box scores. 

Against China, the opening game of the group stage for the Spaniards, Pau made nine of his 15 shots from the field for 21 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, recorded four assists and stole the ball once. 

Meanwhile, Marc struggled in his debut to the tune of five points, two rebounds, five assists and a steal in only seven minutes fewer than his brother. 

The story repeated itself against Australia. 

While Marc had 12 points, seven rebounds and two assists, Pau put up 20 points, four rebounds and two assists. 

Of course, there's more to it than just the raw numbers, even if the older brother blows the younger one out of the water in that department. 

Pau also fills a more valuable role for the Spanish team, thanks primarily to his versatility and unique blend of basketball skills. Sure, he can bang around in the post, but he's so much more than a low-block scorer. 

During each of the the team's games thus far, Pau has ventured out behind the three-point line and connected on one of his two looks from downtown. By doing so, the Los Angeles Laker is not only providing his team with a scoring boost, but he's also spacing out the offense and allowing Rudy Fernandez and Jose Calderon to penetrate with greater ease. 

Then there's the passing. Both Spanish big men are quite adept for their size at finding either a cutter or an open man, but Pau is just a little bit better. According to 82games.com, Pau had a passing rating of 5.0 last season while Marc had a 4.8 for the Memphis Grizzlies.  

The passing ability allows the Spanish team to put the ball in Pau's hands more often and let the offense flow through him, much like the Lakers might be doing with the Princeton offense. 

For all of these reasons, it's clear that Pau is the more crucial player to Spain's medal dreams. While Marc's two-way play and size is vital, Pau's versatility and offensive prowess is more valuable.