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. 

Steve Blake Has Stepped Up in Steve Nash's Absence

I’m sure everyone knew Steve Blake was going to be an important role player off of the bench for Los Angeles; what with Steve Nash never having played more than 32 minutes a game in his career. And with Nash out for what looks like a week (although other reports have said a month), Blake was going to be instrumental in L.A’s plans to start off well this season. Blake has been underwhelming in his first two seasons with the team compared to how well he was doing with in his stint with Portland.

With Mike Brown and assistant Eddie Jordan implementing the Princeton Offense this summer, it looked like Blake was going to have to work hard, or risk losing his job to Darius Morris or Chris Duhon. So far, Blake has not disappointed. In just 4 games this season, Blake has managed to equal his Offensive Win Share from last season, recording a good 0.2 to start the season. He had 0.2 OWS in 53 games last year, which was one of the lowest in the league for players that participated in 50+ games. At this pace, Blake will finish with a tremendous 4 OWS in 82 games. His offensive rating (an estimate of points produced by the team per 100 possessions when the player is on the court) is a sky high 119. His true shooting percentage (a tool used to measure shooting efficiency taking into account 2-point field goals, 3-point field goals and free throws) is a ridiculously high 62.2%.

The Princeton Offense clearly agrees with Blake, as he keeps the offense running smoothly and efficiently around star players Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard. While his PER rating is a below average 12 (mainly because he’s shooting 43.8% in total field goal percentage), it’s still much higher than the past two seasons in Los Angeles, which were 7.5 and 8.5 respectively. Blake has been everything the Lakers have needed at the point guard position, more so than All-Star Steve Nash has been so far this year, as he really seems to be working hard to keep his job. It is a very small sample size, but he has been one of the only players off the bench to actually do his job. If Blake can continue this pace this season, the Lakers have a chance to go far into the playoffs. 

In unrelated news, Steve Blake was fined 25,000 dollars by the league for some...lets go with colorful language directed at a fan during last Friday's game against the Clippers.

Why the Lakers shouldn’t pursue veteran Derek Fisher

With the recent news of former Laker point guard Derek Fisher being eligible to sign once again with Los Angeles; many fans within the Lakers’ community have been vocal about bringing back the former captain for one more season. Most of those fans believe Fisher could help the team, describing him with words like “leadership” and “veteran presence”.

I’ve always been a big Derek Fisher fan. He’s had so many moments that will go down in Laker history (Like this. Or this. And this.) and he was a key part to five championship Laker squads. When the Lakers traded him during the season, I was disappointed to see him go, however I understood why the front office decided to part ways when they did. Fisher was always one of the “glue” guys; he brought stability and leadership to the locker room and was one of the only players that Kobe Bryant could see eye to eye on.

Here’s the problem with bringing him back: He’s declined far too much to be a suitable back up. Steve Nash is the team’s new starting point guard, and at 38 years of age, he’s not getting any younger. Mike Brown will likely limit Nash’s minutes from 30 to 35 per game to help keep him fresh for the playoffs (a similar strategy is run by the Spurs’ Gregg Popovich). For Mike Brown to be able to do this though, he will need an adequate back up at the position. The other two point guards on the roster are Steve Blake and Chris Duhon.

Here’s the comparison between the three:

 

We can see that the numbers are about even. Except that Fisher accomplished this while playing near starter minutes for the Lakers; the per 36 minutes of playtime numbers favor Steve Blake in just about every category. Fisher’s OWS (Offensive Win Shares) this season was -0.2. Steve Blake’s was 0.2. I know, not much of an improvement, however the Lakers can’t afford to downgrade at any position coming off the bench.

Fisher has been notoriously bad on defense for at least three seasons now. His DWS (the same as OWS except with defense) was 0.2; Steve Blake’s was 0.8. Fisher has almost declined to the point of no longer belonging in the NBA. His WS/48 was 0.010 (average is 0.100). He’s no longer a good option for a team that needs an adequate back up and is stacked with veteran voices for the locker room.

I like Derek Fisher. He’s the creator of many classic Laker moments, but he’s over-the-hill and, at this point, would cause more harm than good for Los Angeles.