"Marc killed us," said , Oher's father and a Briarcrest assistant at the time.

But as dominant as Gasol was in his former life at Lausanne, those who knew him then appreciate the difference between what he was and what he has become. He is no longer the rolly-poly 7-footer who, rather than venture inside the paint, chose to hoist 22-footers. No longer the jumbo-size novelty act who was imported from Spain by mere circumstance. And above all, no longer known simply as Pau 's little brother.

If Memphis is the sort of blue-collar, hard-scrabble city where grit matters more than polish, then there is something appealing about the strange story of Marc Gasol , who is as much revered here as his brother is now reviled. One month into the NBA season, he has emerged as one of the top rookies in the league, averaging 12 points on 58-percent shooting and 7.3 rebounds for the Grizzlies, who play at San Antonio tonight .

"He's a lottery pick," said Tuohy, the Grizzlies' television analyst, "and the Grizzlies didn't have to use a lottery pick to get him."

Gasol, 23, took the long road back to Memphis, spending five years in Spain before Grizzlies general manager Chris Wallace brokered the deal in February that secured his rights from the Lakers in exchange for his brother, whose relationship with the city had frayed. Marc Gasol signed in July.

"I just wanted to play," he said. "And I knew I could help this team."

He landed at Lausanne in 2001 because his family had moved to Germantown to provide a support system for Pau, a rookie with the Grizzlies. But from the time he arrived, he spoke openly with Jason Peters, then the coach at Lausanne, about his own goal of reaching the NBA. Peters could tell that Gasol was gifted, a 7-footer with guard skills he had developed as a youngster in Spain.

Those who saw him at Lausanne might have been struck by his willingness - no, his eagerness - to drift outside and launch 3-pointers. There were games when he almost seemed allergic to the lane. Was he soft? Avoiding contact? Not at all, according to Peters. This was all by design, a grand scheme.

"He was so dominant inside just because he was so big," Peters said. "So we thought it would be great for the development of his game to pop out to the perimeter and look for opportunities to shoot. Because he was such an adept shooter."

As a junior, he averaged 24.5 points, 11.9 rebounds and 5.6 blocks. These were monster numbers, to be sure, but he left some opponents less than mesmerized by his abilities. He bore more than a slight resemblance to a parade float, checking in at somewhere around 320 pounds, way more beef than brawn.

"He was much chubbier than he is now," said Brian Trautschold, a senior at Tennessee who matched up against Gasol as a 6-foot power forward at St. Benedict. "He was a great shooter, that's the main thing I remember about him. He would just stand at the top of the key and shoot 3s. But he would jog down the court real slow. And to be totally honest, I never would have pegged him as a starting center for an NBA team."

His assessment that Gasol looked as if his "feet were stuck in cement" was echoed by former St. Benedict teammate John Nollner, who said Gasol got "maybe 12 inches off the floor" whenever he jumped. But his size created issues for defenders.

"We had a guy named Jake Bennett who guarded him quite a bit," Nollner said. "He was 6-5, and he did a decent job. But Gasol must have outweighed him by about 120 pounds. It was like there were two of him out there."

Some of what he did out there might have been unorthodox, but it was effective. As a senior, he averaged 26.2 points, 13.1 rebounds and 5.9 blocks.

"There were a lot of skeptics who said he wasn't athletic enough, said he wouldn't fit into an up-and-down game," Peters said. "But he knew his better days were ahead of him. I never really gathered that he got frustrated with that."

Around the gym, his teammates and coaches had taken to calling him the "Big Burrito." Gasol had a sense of humor about it. He once came over to the bench during the middle of a game and, draping an arm around his coach, said, "Hey, Little Nacho ..."

He was the type of kid who would show up for practice wearing knee-high socks and his shorts inside-out. The type of kid who, when asked by a reporter if he had a girlfriend, would respond: "Girlfriends." He was big and funny and charming and charismatic.

The Big Burrito's big dilemma was whether to play college Basketball or return to Spain, where he could develop as a pro. After meeting with John Calipari , he considered playing at the University of Memphis. But he had gained some insight from watching his brother go through the process and felt that Europe, where he could focus his energy on getting into shape and honing an NBA-ready game, was his best option. Gasol said Calipari was tough to turn down.

"But I just had a feeling I had to go back," Gasol said. "I wasn't in shape. And I knew that in Spain, I would feel better and I would play longer."

Peters recalled the day he and his wife drove Gasol to the airport for his flight home to Spain. Gasol had spent a lot of time at their house, and there was a low ceiling fan in the living room. They always worried he would hit his head, and it became a sort of running joke: "Watch out, Marc!" So that last afternoon, as Peters and his wife waited in the car, Gasol went back inside to use the bathroom. He emerged a few minutes later, his face bloodied.

"We thought we were going to pass out," Peters said. "It turned out that he'd squeezed ketchup all over his forehead."

His development was unique in the sense that he was not some child prodigy, Wallace said. Even at Lausanne, he was never considered a can't-miss prospect - even among the college coaches who watched him. So there was an element of the unknown when he left for Spain. What would become of him? Most scouts considered him overweight and were convinced he played out of position for a man-child his size. The Big Burrito was packed with too much cheese.

But something clicked in Spain. He trimmed down, dropping 50 pounds. He got tougher and stronger playing against older and wiser opponents. That goal he had talked about with Peters? That mission to join his older brother in the NBA? The idea gripped him like barbed wire. He was motivated.

Playing for five seasons in the Spanish ACB League, first with FC Barcelona and then with CB Girona , the perimeter-oriented wanderer now planted himself in the paint. Each year, his body morphed and his stats ballooned. As a 18-year-old rookie in 2003, he averaged 1.2 points and 1.5 rebounds. Last season, he was named the ACB's Most Valuable Player after averaging 16.2 points on 65.3-percent shooting, 8.3 rebounds and 1.8 blocks.

The Lakers held his NBA rights after drafting him in 2007 with the 48th pick overall, but Wallace continued to monitor his progress: He was beginning to formulate a deal in his head. So while the University of Memphis headed to San Antonio for the Final Four last April, Wallace flew to Girona to watch Gasol play in person. He met with Gasol and his family, then traveled to Italy to watch him play twice more.

"It solidified everything I'd seen on tape, that he could play in our league," Wallace said. "And not just have a jersey and a roster spot. He could play."

If one moment confirmed that the Grizzlies had made a wise investment, it was Gasol's rugged play during Spain's gold-medal game against the United States during the Olympics in August. Gasol was on the court during the late stages of Spain's close loss.

"It showed you the sort of trust the coach had in him," Wallace said, "to be playing with the game on the line."

With the Grizzlies, Marc has been everything fans came to believe Pau was not: tough and fearless, undaunted by contact.

Big brother may have ended his 6 1/2 - year Grizzlies career as the franchise leader in virtually every major category. But in just a handful of games, little brother has redefined what it means to be a Gasol in Memphis.

- Scott Cacciola: 529-2773

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Grizzlies vs. Spurs

When, where : 7:30 p.m. today, AT&T Center, San Antonio

TV, radio : SportSouth, WRBO-FM (103.5)