2012-2013 Lakers in Review #4: Darius Morris

Much like at Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness, Hack-a-Shaq will have end of the year reviews.

Same rules apply as grades are handed out according to pre-season expectations vs. actual production. 


Point Guard: Darius Morris

4.0 PPG, 1.6 APG, 1.2 RPG, 0.2 WS, .016 WS/48 on 38.8% shooting and 36.4% shooting from three point range. Grade: D+

2012-2013 in brief: A second round draft choice the year before, Morris was slated to be a prospect, learning from guards Steve Nash and Kobe Bryant. Forced into playing time by a massive amount of injuries, Morris played bad offensively, but well defensively. 

2014 status: 1 year left on his contract, earning 962K with a team option for two seasons. 


******



At first glance, it looks like Darius Morris had an awful season, shooting under 40% and only averaging 1.6 assists per game; pretty lackluster stuff for a young and promising point guard. But here is where offensive stats don't tell the full story, as Darius Morris had a lot more value on the defensive side of the ball than the offensive side. 

Having only played 48 games (and started 17 of those) it's tough to write too much about the Lakers' top point guard prospect. Despite having a pretty rough season, he was still a major improvement over last season, in which he registered a negative WS/48 (-0.045), a negative total Win Share (-0.2) and had an offensive rating (an estimate of how many points are produced per 100 possessions) of only 84. He managed to up all of those totals over the previous season, bumping his offensive rating up by 12 points to 96. There was some good improvement seen out of him, but some bad habits persisted. 

His tendency to over dribble the ball severely limited offensive possessions and ended up turning them into "Hero Ball" possessions instead of looking for a high percentage shot. Morris frequently would shoot early in the possession, leaving nobody to get the potential offensive rebound, basically costing the Lakers a turnover due to the lost possession. On fast breaks, Morris would get tunnel vision and aim to finish the play himself instead of passing it for an easier look, often resulting in a missed shot or an offensive foul on Morris. Defensively, Morris would often crowd his defensive assignment, even when he shouldn't, and get burned off the dribble (this was noticeable in Earl Clark as well. More than this later). His passing was average and could improve significantly working with Steve Nash. 

Let's hope this never happens again. 

Morris also had a few positives this season as well. His dribble penetration was vastly improved, as getting to the paint was something he did pretty frequently. He would sometimes try to get to fancy with his passes (sometimes leading to a very nice assists, other times leading to a turnover), but displayed improved vision in the paint and increased awareness of the defense around him. His three point shot improved to the point of him taking nearly 4 three point shot attempts per game, making 36% of them. His defense at the point guard position was above average, using his superior 6'4'', 190 pound frame to muscle smaller opponents out of the lane and contest shots against bigger opponents. 

In short: Morris has a lot of potential and showed improvement over last season. If he could get rid of some bad habits, he could become a solid two-guard in the mold of Monta Ellis. 

2012-2013 Lakers in Review #3: Chris Duhon is Still Terrible!

Much like at Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness, Hack-a-Shaq will have end of the year reviews.

Same rules apply as grades are handed out according to pre-season expectations vs. actual production. 


Point Guard: Chris Duhon

2.9 PPG, 2.9 APG, 1.5 RPG, 1.0 WS, .056 WS/48 on 38% shooting and 36% shooting from three point range. Grade: F

2012-2013 in brief: A throw-in player in the massive 4-team trade that sent Andrew Bynum packing and brought an injured Dwight Howard to the Lakers, Duhon was just as bad with the Lakers as he was in Orlando, receiving playing time thanks to injuries to Steve Nash and Steve Blake.  

2014 status: 1 year left on his contract, earning 3.75 million with 1.5 million guaranteed if waived by June 30th, 2013. 

******

There isn't much to say about Chris Duhon. He was awful everywhere he went save for the team that drafted him (Chicago Bulls). This year was no different, as he frequently got burned defensively and didn't bother making up for it offensively, often times making an awful decision in the process, be it a bad pass that led to a turnover or a bad shot attempt.

In his 46 games played this season, Duhon's impact was seen on the offensive and defensive side of the ball, barely getting a .056 WS/48, well below the league average of .100 WS/48. He could do very little right in his 18 minutes per game, not even Free Throws, which apparently aren't so "free" for Duhon, since he had a worse percentage (46.2%) from the "charity" stripe than notable Hack-a-Shaq victim Dwight Howard (49.2%). Let me remind you that Duhon is a point guard and not a physically dominant center with hands that are too big for his own good. A point guard, everybody. 

Why is Chris so happy? He found a legal way to steal money.

Simply stated, nothing went right for Duhon this past season, only getting playing time because of semi-serious injuries to fellow Point Guards Steve Nash and Steve Blake. Yeah, Duhon had his moments, like a string of three pointers made in a row, or a nice pass between a couple of defenders. But for every nice play Duhon made, he made two boneheaded ones to make up for it; this not counting his lackluster defensive play, which largely contributed to the Lakers' falling way behind, really early. 

But, of course, Duhon had to play as the injury bug haunted the Lakers (it has since been passed on to the Dodgers). After everyone thought Nash, Blake, Jodie Meeks and Kobe Bryant would be healthy enough to man the two guard positions for the rest of the year, all four of them ended up going down with an injury in the final stretch of the season, leaving the Lakers to try to fend off the San Antonio Spurs with Duhon, Darius Morris and...D-League MVP Andrew Goudelock, who only played one regular season game for a total of 6 minutes, accumulating nothing but one rebound. 

But at least Goudelock and Morris really stepped up in the playoffs, both of them averaging double digits in points scored per game. Somehow, Chris Duhon managed to get worse in the post season, despite playing 34 minutes per game. 


And yet, somehow, Duhon might actually still be in a Laker uniform next season, with Mitch Kupchak likely to be paranoid about injuries (rightfully so), Duhon seems to be entrenched on the bench, at least until Kobe, Meeks and the Steve's prove to be healthy. 

2012-2013 Lakers in Review #2: Blake's Road to Redemption

Much like at Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness, Hack-a-Shaq will have end of the year reviews. Same rules apply as grades are handed out according to pre-season expectations vs. actual production. 


Point Guard: Steve Blake

7.3 PPG, 3.8 APG, 2.9 RPG, 2.4 WS, .097 WS/48 on 42% shooting and 42% shooting from three point range. Grade: B+

2012-2013 in brief: Coming off one of his least productive seasons, Steve Blake was not exactly a fan favorite after missing a go-ahead basket against the Thunder in the playoffs the year before. Fell to injury soon after taking over the starting role for injured Steve Nash. Had one of his most productive seasons in his career upon return before ending the season injured. 

2014 status: 1 year left on his contract, earning 4 million. 

******

Oh Steve Blake. Why does the common Laker fan dislike you so much? I would have to guess it is because of apparent lack of production since making your way over from Portland, where you would bury the Lakers with three pointers game in and game out. Or missing a wide open go-ahead three pointer during the 2012 playoffs against the Oklahoma City Thunder which resulted in death threats to Blake and his wife on twitter. Laker fans seem to love to hate Blake, as misplaced and misguided as it is, though a lack of production in his two seasons with Los Angeles has put the spot light and blame firmly on him. 



But you know what? He had a great season for the Lakers, never looking out of place (except for when he was in street clothes) and shooting the lights out from three point range. It didn't matter which one of the three headed coaching monster was in the big chair, Blake produced consistently and was a key component in Los Angeles making the playoffs. 

When in the Princeton Offense with LA's first head coach of the season, Mike Brown, Blake was cool, composed and helped the team learn an unfamiliar offense, running it to near perfection as he averaged over 4 assists per game off the bench under Mike Brown. After Brown was canned, Bernie Bickerstaff was named head coach until they could sort the mess out. Blake only played two games under Bernie before going down with an abdominal injury that required surgery, leaving the Lakers with the thoroughly awful duo of Chris Duhon and Darius Morris manning the point guard position for quite some time; Blake didn't make his return until the end of January (missing most of November, all of December and most of January) and by that time, the Lakers had already dug themselves into a sizable hole. 

Upon return, Blake had to adjust to a whole new system with head coach Mike D'Antoni taking over the reigns for the Lakers. Steve did a wonderful job manning the point guard slot under D'Antoni, keeping turnovers and mistakes down to a minimum, while occasionally having a big game scattered around his normal above average games. All this, without mentioning his substantially better defense than Steve Nash, as he was frequently called upon to play heavier minutes against teams with good point guards and try to make their offensive lives miserable. It worked, with a few notable exceptions (Russell Westbrook), while not giving up much offense at all, thanks to Blake's outside stroke and Nash's non-existence within the pick and roll (and Princeton) offense. It was fairly smooth sailing for Blake and the Lakers after his return; for one thing, it meant substantially less playing time for both Duhon and Morris, a more dynamic offense for the bench unit, improving the bench substantially (some of this can be credited to Earl Clark, his review will come later), ultimately helping the Lakers to a 26-12 record since his return. 

And, of course, the unthinkable happened when Kobe Bryant went down with a serious Achilles injury, leaving the last three minutes of a pivotal game vs. the Golden State Warriors and two more important games vs. the San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets up to the Kobe-less Lakers. It seemed the Lakers were destined to miss the playoffs altogether, if not for Steve Blake's heroics, coming up big to end the final three minutes vs. Golden State, surprising nearly everybody by scoring like his fallen teammate and leader in the last two games. During those final three games, Blake averaged 20.3 PPG, 5.3 APG and 5 RPG, while hounding Steph Curry, Tony Parker and Jeremy Lin into having below average games against a team they normally destroy with dribble penetration, thus ensuring the Lakers get post-season basketball. 

Ultimately, Blake had a big impact on Lakers' basketball, providing a calming presence and quality play in substitution for Steve Nash, either off the bench or starting in place of him (Blake finished with 13 starts on the year). Much like Nash, Blake shot the ball exceptionally well, placing 7th on the Lakers' highest shooting percentage from three point land for a season. In short, Steve Blake redeemed himself for his disappointing seasons with the Lakers and missing the biggest shot of his life, while earning his final season of his contract with the Lakers. 

And in typical 2013 Lakers (and Dodgers) fashion, Blake went down with a hamstring injury, dooming the Lakers for good against the Spurs, ending the surprisingly good season for Blake as it began: on the injury reserved list. 

2012-2013 Lakers in Review #1: That's (Not) A Nice Piece of Nash

We saw a lot of this from Steve Nash

Much like at Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness, Hack-a-Shaq will have end of the year reviews. Same rules apply as grades are handed out according to pre-season expectations vs actual production. 

Point Guard: Steve Nash

12.7 PPG, 6.7 APG, 2.8 RPG, 4.3 WS, .127 WS/48 on 49.7% shooting and 43% from 3 point range. Grade: D

2012-2013 in brief: Future Hall of Famer and still considered one of the best point guards in the league, Nash was acquired by the Lakers in a sign and trade deal with the Phoenix Suns. Had one of the most disappointing seasons for a Star player in recent memory.

2014 status: Still has 2 years left on his contract, earning an average of 9.5 million a year.

*****

Remember how excited we were when ESPN reported the Lakers trading draft picks for the future Hall of Fame point guard Steve Nash? I certainly do; it was one of the many reasons I finally started my own basketball blog. The expectations for the Lakers immediately went from playoff team to championship contenders. I would like to say that, at some point, Nash lived up to expectations. I simply can't. The season didn't start off well for Nash and the Lakers, falling to the Dallas Mavericks in the first game of the year. Everything just went downhill from here for Nash.

But that wasn't a big deal, it's one game after all. So, Nash took the court the next night vs. rookie Damian Lillard. Not only did Nash get completely destroyed on the defensive end, to the tune of 23 points and 11 assists to a rookie in his first career game. To make matters worse, he also ended up with a non-displaced fracture in his left leg and from there, set the pace for the Lakers as nearly everybody had a stint on the DL.

That injury was originally supposed to sideline Nash for a week or so; he ended up 7 weeks watching hopelessly from the bench. And injury wasn't his only problem. Nash had declined in quickness and speed; his defense was as bad as ever, frequently giving up large amounts of points to opposing players, simply being a defensive liability that forced the Lakers to run and gun more than they needed to on the offensive end. Later in the season, it forced Kobe Bryant to take up Nash's defensive responsibilities as well. This put more strain on the older core of the team that featured a 34 year old Kobe Bryant, 32 year old Pau Gasol, 36 year old Antawn Jamison and, well, you get the point.

I honestly didn't expect anything different from him defensively, this is one of the very few star players to ever have a negative DWS rating for a whole season and is largely known as an awful defensive player, barely able to stay with his own shadow, much less the increasingly speedier point guards of the league, so, basically, Nash performed just slightly below expectations on the defensive end; he is simply atrocious defensively. I do give him credit for trying, night in and night out.

The real reason he got a D from me is because he wasn't the same Steve Nash offensively. His pick and rolls with Dwight Howard were underwhelming, at best. More of his passes were off target, he didn't make the offensive side of the ball easier for this teammates, at least not as frequently as before, while making the defensive side harder for everyone. His assist to turnover ratio was down to 2.6 this season, compared to 3.0 or higher in other seasons. He never had any sort control over the offense when Bryant was on the court (that could blamed on Bryant or Mike D'Antoni).

In short: He didn't take the ball handling load off of Bryant's back. Half way through the year, D'Antoni gave up on running Nash pick and rolls, opting instead to have Bryant do it and have Nash spot up to space the floor. Now, Nash did have tremendous value in this aspect, finishing with the second highest 3 point percentage for one season (43.8%) in Laker history, right behind Vladimir Radmanovic and ahead of Sasha Vujacic and Byron Scott and he would have led the Lakers in all time free throw percentage for one season if he would have shot enough of them at 92% for the year (part Dodger owner Magic Johnson holds the number one and two spots at 91.1% and 90.6% respectively) and Nash did just barely miss the 50-40-90 Club by 0.3%; had he made it, it would have been an unheard of 5th time making the club.

But the Lakers did not trade for a spot up shooter; they traded for one of the best point guards the Game has ever seen and instead got a player who only played 50 games and had a major decrease in assists per game and overall impact on the offensive side of the ball, all while paying him a bit more than 9 million a year.

Nash did have a strong second half, however, averaging 14.7 PPG and 5.9 APG after the All-Star break, before, once again, going down with injury against the Sacramento Kings that sidelined him for the final 8 games of the season before forcing himself to play during the start of the playoffs. Ultimately, the Lakers went 20-8 after the All-Star break, including an incredibly entertaining overtime win against the Houston Rockets on the final game of the season to earn the 7th seed in the West. During the 9 game stretch without Nash (this includes the Kings game, as he only played 1 minute before heading to the locker room), the Lakers went 8-1, showing exactly how much impact Nash ultimately had on the team, which was admittedly, little. The reasons the Lakers won and lost games last year had little to do with Steve Nash and more to do with Dwight Howard's health, Kobe Bryant's offense and team defense, which go hand in hand with Howard's health.

That said, he did not have a bad season by any stretch, scoring at a decent rate for a player on the same team as Bryant, Howard and Gasol. Nash did not have his expected season, however, which is the reason for the D rating. Nash did help the Lakers down the stretch with his shooting, helping the Lakers into the 7th seed of the Western Conference, ultimately to lose in 4 games to the San Antonio Spurs, where he played injured and aggravated an existing hip and hamstring injury, mercifully ending a disappointing season for both Nash and the team.