2013-2014 Lakers in Review: Frontcourt

Note: All grades are handed out according to preseason expectations vs. actual production. 

Small Forward: Nick Young

17.9 PPG, 1.5 APG, 2.6 RPG, 2.5 WS, .067 WS/48 on 43.5% shooting and 38.6% shooting from deep. Grade: (B-)

At first, I didn't really know how to grade Nick Young, as I seem to remember him being better than he actually was. This was probably because the rest of the team was so terrible and I had such little expectations for the majority of the players involved (which is why a handful of players got a fairly high grade) that Swaggy P seemed better than he was.

The B- seems unfair to him because his production was better than a guy like Kendall Marshall, for example, but Young's preseason expectations were met and not really much else. His stats seem like they should net him at least a B, but most of those career bests are simply him playing more minutes. His shooting percentage was only slightly better than his career average and his defense remained non-existent, save for that game winning charge he took against the Pistons early in the season that earned him the nickname Swaggy D, if only for a few weeks. His high scoring was attributed to him taking more shots; he had the highest Per 36 average of shots taken for his career at 17.7. This isn't to say that he wasn't good, he had stretches where he was by far the best Laker player on the court, but those were quickly cancelled out with some very cold stretches as well. The one thing that really earned Young a B- and not a C+ was that he had a career high PER of 16, which was the highest among qualifying perimeter players on the Lakers.

Overall, Swaggy P did his job, which is to score, sometimes in the most infuriating way possible with contested, 20 foot jump shots early in the shot clock. Nonetheless, Swaggy gets a bit of an upgrade in his final grade because he was simply entertaining as hell.

Never change, Swaggy P.

Small Forward: Wesley Johnson

9.1 PPG, 1.6 APG, 4.4 RPG, 1.9 WS, .041 WS/48 on 42.5% shooting and 36.9% shooting from deep. Grade: (C+)

It's always hard to see such a highly touted prospect, like Johnson once was, completely flame out in such a fashion that he's taking league minimum contracts at age 25. Johnson was a low risk, potentially high reward signing last season. We didn't see much of the reward part, at least not on offense, because Johnson was exactly like Nick Young with his offensive production. Most of it was simply because of an increase in playing time. Unlike Young, he didn't see a big increase in Per 36 minute numbers one would normally see with a guy who saw a big increase in minutes from one year to another. It all just kind of stays the same, save for a few categories because of Mike D'Antoni's insistence on using Johnson as a power forward.

Johnson provided a major upgrade in the athleticism department and really came into his own as the corner three point shooting defensive specialist that the Lakers had him as last year. Johnson could barely create his own offense, relying mostly on late rotations and his athleticism to force himself to the rim, as well as fast breaks. He was basically your typical three point shooting, defensive specialist, except he didn't know his own limits offensively and his defense isn't good enough to make up for it, like it is with a guy like Bruce Bowen. Johnson was a solid enough player to have in the rotation, and was a pretty good defensive player but I expected at least marginal improvement offensively from the freakishly athletic 25 year old. As it is, his decision making hampered his grade, though I'm hopeful for some improvement from him with the addition of Byron Scott.

This really shouldn't even be possible

Small Forward: Xavier Henry

10 PPG, 1.2 APG, 2.7 RPG, 0.3 WS, .017 WS/48 on 41.7% shooting and 34.6% shooting from deep. Grade: (B-)

X-Man was had quite a few highlights last year, as well as a bunch of blunders that he hopes we could forget. He was another high draft choice that didn't pan out and the Lakers got the 22 year old from Belgium on a cheap, league minimum contract because, why not? It was a great signing at the time, and it's still a good signing, considering the production he had compared to the money he was getting. Henry was a nice part of the bench's offensive production, as his slashing ability was truly something to behold at times, sometimes reaching the paint despite team's basically gearing their defense for it.

Penetrating the defense wasn't a problem for Xavier, the problem came immediately after, as he would sometimes put up some major clunkers in heavy traffic, or simply turn the ball over. It's the major reason his shooting percentage is as low as it is, despite getting to the rim so often. It's also why he averaged more turnovers than assists this year. Poor decision making is not something you want to see out of a guy that was your starting point guard at one time because of injuries and Pringles. And then, in typical Lakers fashion, Henry himself succumbed to injury and missed half of the season. If not for injury, his grade may have been a tad bit higher. I'm hopeful Henry can develop even further; he's still a very young 23 years old and he did manage to develop an outside shot last season. He was a fun player to watch and his athleticism made things exciting on the offensive end of the ball. Hopefully, he can stay on the court next year.

Bah Gawd! He's killed him!

Small Forward: Shawne Williams

5.6 PPG, 0.8 APG, 4.6 RPG, 0.7 WS, .045 WS/48 on 38% shooting and 32.6% shooting from deep. Grade: (F)

There was nothing more frustrating last year than watching Mke D'Antoni continue to give Shawne Williams minutes at both power forward and small forward, despite the fact that he can't really shoot, or pass the ball or dribble the ball and his best quality, his defense, isn't anything eye popping either. And he gave him 20.9 minutes per game, which is still somehow more than what Jordan Hill got last season because Pringles.

I understand we didn't have the depth last year to flat out not play anybody, but playing three centers at the same time would have been about equally as useful as Williams was in the rotation last year. He was as inefficient as they come, yet he kept on taking shots as if he was a shooter who was merely on a cold streak. When the defense leaves you all alone and it still takes you 5.3 shots per game to get to 5.6 points per game, you need to stop. Immediately. If he could have gotten anything worse than an F, he would have if not for his okay defense and the fact that he was no longer on my TV after February. Good riddance.

Power Forward: Ryan Kelly

8.0 PPG, 1.6 APG, 3.7 RPG, 2.2 WS, .081 WS/48 on 42.3% shooting and 33.8% shooting from deep. Grade: (B-)

I bet not a lot of Lakers fans knew who Ryan Kelly was before the Lakers took him in the 2nd round of last year's NBA draft. Kelly didn't see any regular playing time until after the Christmas day game against the Miami Heat. What we saw was a surprisingly solid power forward who could stretch the floor well enough but wasn't a massive liability defensively, and helped provide some semblance of size (something the 6'7'' Wesley Johnson never could, despite the athleticism).

I don't think anybody expected anything out of Kelly, so his B- is inflated simply on the fact that he was a second rounder with no expectations whatsoever. He was still a solid part of the rotation and could be a nice piece to have going forward with his three point shooting ability from the four slot. You can't really ask for much more out of a second round rookie.

Power Forward: Jordan Hill

9.7 PPG, 0.8 APG, 7.4 RPG, 4.4 WS, .141 WS/48 on 54.9% shooting and 68.5% from the free throw line. Grade: (A-)

There is not enough praise that I can give to Jordan Hill. I spent most of the season praising him and asking myself why Mike D'Antoni refused to play him more than 20 minutes per game, especially considering that Hill was tied with Pau Gasol as the team leaders in PER (19.3), he is easily the leader on the team in WS/48 with .141. The second highest WS/48 on the team is Jodie Meeks' .084, which is also under the league average of .100. The only reason Hill is second on the team in total Win Shares is because he only plays 20 minutes a game, which is just a shame. I would have loved to see how many Win Shares Hill could have been worth if he played 30+ minutes a game.

I'm hoping Hill and Scott don't have the same relationship that Hill and D'Antoni had all through his career because that would mean more frustration for Lakers fans who want to put out the best possible team. I'm not saying he should get immediate starter minutes (though he might be our starting center next year), I'm only asking for more than 27 minutes a game for him, because his production is too good to continue to ignore. Hill isn't without weaknesses, however, as he can't consistently create his own offense, but that didn't really matter, as nobody would have confused Hill for a guy like Dwight Howard or DeMarcus Cousins. Hill can clean the glass like no other, and most of his points come off of offensive rebounds and easy baskets around the rim. His main problem last season was foul trouble, as he would have averaged 4.1 fouls per 36 minutes.

Hill's Per 36 minute numbers were outstanding, as he would have had a slash line of 16.7 points per game, 12.8 rebounds per game and 1.3 assists per game. Those 12.8 rebounds would have been third in the league, ahead of Kevin Love, Dwight Howard and DeMarcus Cousins. Clearly, Hill should have gotten more minutes, and one of the reasons I'm excited about Byron Scott is the possibility of Hill getting starter minutes in the rotation.

Center: Pau Gasol

17.4 PPG, 3.4 APG, 9.7 RPG, 3.0 WS, .076 WS/48 on 48% shooting and 28.6% shooting from deep. Grade: (C+)

I kind of feel bad for how much scrutiny Pau Gasol was under in his final few seasons in Los Angeles. Here's a guy who was one of the league's top offensive options at power forward, and left it all on the court, just to have fans clamor for management to trade him. I can definitely see why he chose to leave. Gasol wasn't exactly himself last year, relative to other seasons. He put up some solid numbers; 17.4 points per game and 9.7 rebounds per game is very, very good. He remains one of the best passing big men in the league today (Side note: the pairing of Gasol and Joakim Noah should be lots of fun). Gasol's problem may have very well been a product of D'Antoni, because the team still played primarily through the perimeter, despite the fact that Pau was easily the team's best available player.

Pau was never really put into the best position to succeed, and it showed in his efficiency; this was the only year as a part of the Lakers, that Pau had a PER of under 20 (not counting last year, for obvious reasons). Gasol also had a WS/48 of under .100 for the first time in his 14 year career. Gasol was still a pretty good, productive player. Unfortunately for his grade, I sincerely thought he was going to be at least a little bit better. Either way, thank you Pau. You will forever be a Laker great.

Center: Chris Kaman

10.4 PPG, 1.5 APG, 5.9 RPG, 0.5 WS, .036 WS/48 on 50.9% shooting and 76.5% from the free throw line. Grade: (F)

I'm sad and disappointed that Chris Kaman didn't really work out with the team. Whether that was a product of Pringles or not is up to you, but he never really got it going when he did play. He was a solid, if unspectacular player on offense, but his defense this year was a bit painful to watch, as he was frequently slow on his rotations and sometimes even got beat on the glass by much smaller players. Kaman spent most of his time playing garbage minutes and laying down on the bench. So much time, in fact, that I can't think of a single memorable moment for him, save for the bench moment. When the best thing you did in a whole season was lay down on the bench because the team barely had enough players to use, it's safe to say you didn't have a good year.

This will always be hilarious.

Center Robert Sacre.

5.4 PPG, 0.8 APG, 3.9 RPG, 1.4 WS, .061 WS/48 on 47.7% shooting and 68.1% from the free throw line. Grade: (C+)

Last year, I had 0 hopes for Robert Sacre. He was drafted in the second round after his four years at Gonzaga. Really, the only thing he had going for him was his size, as he was a true 7 footer. He had a pretty surprising season last year. He wasn't good, by any definition, but he was definitely a guy who could come in and play 10 minutes a game to give your center a breather. And, you know what? Sacre continues to be surprisingly competent. Aside from his amazing cheer leading abilities from the bench, Sacre provides legitimate value as a back up center, with solid passing skills and a nice jump shot from 15 feet out. He's not adept at scoring (that 47.7% shooting is not good at all for a big man), but he will work hard for your team night in and night out. You can't really ask for much more out of a second round pick. The past two seasons, the Lakers have made the most out of their 2nd round picks, which gives me hope for Jordan Clarkson, whom the Lakers picked in the 2nd round during this years' NBA draft.

All in all, it was a pretty bad season. We had a lot of very unproven talent that produced way beyond what we could have reasonably expected, which attributed to guys who got such high grades, despite the team finishing with a 27-55 record.

2013-2014 Lakers in Review: Backcourt

Note: All grades are handed out according to preseason expectations vs. actual production. 

Point Guard: Steve Nash

6.8 PPG, 5.7 APG, 1.9 RPG, 0.1 WS, .017 WS/48 on 38.3% shooting and 33.3% shooting from deep. Grade: (Inc.)

Remember when we were excited about trading for Steve Nash during that amazing 2012 off season (that led to that frustrating 2013 season)? It feels like such a long time ago that Nash was stealing MVP trophies from Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and young LeBron James, while easily being top-2 in offensive production out of a point guard, his only competition being Chris Paul. Those days are long past us, as Nash can't even stay on the court anymore, let alone control a team's offense. 

Nash looked extremely bad this season, being one of the worst players on the roster for the 15 games that he played. This was emphasized, as he constantly had the ball on offense, and teams were constantly pushing their offense through him on defense. Nash's value has always been on the offensive side of the ball, but this past season, he had absolutely no value, as he could never get it going. To be fair to him, I don't think Nash is worthless (though he's certainly not worth the 9.7 million he is getting this year), but he cannot play the same style he used to prior to being traded. His value no longer lies in running an offense to perfection; the best he can be now is a spot up shooter that helps spread the floor and a guy who can bring the ball up without having any incidents. I'm assuming he can even play, because he was hurt all year long, with some serious leg strength problems. The only reason I'm hopeful that he can still be a good enough shooter is because he was a terrible shooter because he couldn't get enough lift under his legs.

It's difficult seeing such a great player decline so hard.

Point Guard: Steve Blake

9.5 PPG, 7.6 APG, 3.8 RPG, 0.8 WS, .041 WS/48 on 37.8% shooting and 39.7% shooting from deep (w/LAL). Grade: (B)

Good, old, reliable Steve Blake. I was sad to see him go because he was always a player who played hard on both sides of the ball. He was also the Lakers only reliable defensive player at point guard, so trading him became a problem. Blake was a steady presence on a crappy team, and really helped get everybody involved in the offense, which was incredibly helpful for guys like Wesley Johnson, who struggle to create their own shots.

Blake was never a spectacular player, but he at least tried to make the Lakers watchable last year. For as much heat that he got the past few seasons because of lackluster performance, he really made up for it in his last two seasons in Los Angeles. I do wish him well with Portland (except when he plays the Lakers). He might not be a guy we'll remember in 5 years, but at least we'll always have that game winner over Dwight Howard. #VinoBlanco

Pictured at the free throw line: All of Steve Nash's 0.1 Win Shares in one convenient GIF.

Point Guard: Jordan Farmar

10.1 PPG, 4.9 APG, 2.5 RPG, 0.7 WS, .039 WS/48 on 41.5% shooting and 43.8% shooting from deep. Grade: (B+)

At first, I felt a B+ was too high for Farmar, who barely qualified to even receive a grade, as he only played 41 games. But, then I remembered what he was doing in the NBA last season, which was nothing because he was playing in Turkey at the time. It looks like he never left, because he had a very similar season in his previous NBA season with the-then New Jersey Nets.

I don't think anybody thought Farmar would come in, fresh from non-NBA competition, and have such a big impact on the game. It certainly caught me by surprise, as he was driving past guys with ease, and making them pay later in the game for sagging off of him. He was a big reason why the bench was one of the best in the league early on, and they kept on chugging even after Farmar went down with injured hamstrings. It was nice having him around again, but he will be a nightmare to contain now that he plays on the Clippers and their three point heavy lineup because he showed notable improvement in the passing area. He averaged 7.9 APG per 36 minutes played, which is the highest of his NBA career. A solid season from a guy I didn't really expect to produce that much.

Point Guard: Kendall Marshall

8.0 PPG, 8.8 APG, 2.9 RPG, 0.9 WS, .029 WS/48 on 40.6% shooting and 39.9% shooting from deep. Grade: (A+)

If there was a surprising, emerging player on the Lakers last year (basically half of the team was) that deserves huge praise, it's Kendall Marshall. After being a lottery pick in the 2012 NBA Draft, he played pretty badly with the Phoenix Suns for his rookie season. So bad, in fact, that the Suns parted ways with the young point guard after one season. He was traded to the Washington Wizards as part of a package deal that sent Marcin Gortat to the Wizards before being cut three days later and finding himself in the D-League, with out an NBA team to call his own. The Lakers scooped him up a few months later, and suddenly we had a legit, distributing point guard on the roster.

Marshall started off really hot, as he averaged 12 PPG and 11.5 APG in his first month with the team. These numbers, predictably, dropped, but he was still distributing the ball well. He actually finished 2nd in assists per game (yes, really), tied with Ty Lawson and John Wall, behind Chris Paul. Marshall had become somewhat of a burden when it came to scoring, as he could only take open three point shots and couldn't create any sort of offense to speak of. Nonetheless, his assist numbers were eye popping for a guy who so blatantly discarded by the NBA a few short months before that.

He was placed on waivers last month, and the Milwaukee Bucks happily picked him up. Here's hoping he continues his run of success after being given a second chance.

Shooting Guard: Kobe Bryant

13.8 PPG, 6.3 APG, 4.3 RPG, -0.4 WS, -0.097 WS/48 on 42.5% shooting and 18.8% shooting from deep. Grade: (Inc.)

This past year was rough for Vino. After having an incredible 2012, he tore his Achilles tendon trying to carry his team to the playoffs. He went through his recovery period, watching his team play horribly without him before finally being cleared to play. Everybody was excited, and we got an (expected) sloppy Kobe Bryant before he broke a bone in his knee during the third quarter in a game against the Memphis Grizzlies. Kobe, being the insane person that he is, returned to play the fourth quarter and helped elevate the Lakers over the Grizzlies with a huge three pointer down the stretch. It was all for naught, as we found out the next day that Kobe had been seriously injured, and was expected to miss 6 weeks.

Except, those 6 weeks turned into the whole year because the bone wasn't healing well at all. It's clear that Kobe's age is finally catching up to him. He is now 100% healthy, but I doubt he is even close to being in game shape. It might be a while until we see Vintage Kobe again, if at all. For now, we can be hopeful that he will be back for the majority of next season.

Shooting Guard: Jodie Meeks

15.7 PPG, 1.8 APG, 2.5 RPG, 4.5 WS, .084 WS/48 on 46.3% shooting and 40.1% shooting from deep. Grade: (A)

And now we get to one of the bright spots on this train wreck of a team. Meeks was at his absolute best last year, averaging a career high in points, assists, rebounds and steals, while shooting a career high from the field and three point range. Meeks was one of the few players who stayed off of the disabled list, as he played 77 games, starting in 70.

Meeks is a very streaky player, but he seemed to improve on this last year, as he was able to cut down on his cold streaks because his decision making was notably improved, often times passing up a few shots he would have normally taken to make the extra pass, or to drive into the lane. His defense was average, as it usually is, but his offense was vastly improved. There is a reason why he went from 1.5 million this year to 6.3 million next year, as he starts his new 3 year, 19 million dollar contract with the Detroit Pistons. That reason wasn't because the Pistons are desperate for any and all three point shooters (they are), but because he was so good last year. It's a shame the Lakers didn't keep him because he would really helped the bench this upcoming year.

Shooting Guard: MarShon Brooks

6.4 PPG, 1.2 APG, 1.7 RPG, 0.3 WS, .072 WS/48 on 48.9% shooting and 57.1% shooting from deep. (w/LAL) Grade: (Inc.)

MarShon Brooks was acquired in the Steve Blake trade from the Golden State Warriors and... there's not really much else to say about him. He had a very promising rookie season in 2011-2012 with the Nets, but hasn't done anything since. Teams weren't really seeing any potential, evidenced by Brooks playing on 3 different teams this past season (Boston, Golden State and Los Angeles).

He is still a free agent, and nobody really has any interest, except for the Indiana Pacers, due to the aftermath of the Paul George injury. A very forgettable player and this might be the last we'll see of him in the league.

Shooting Guard: Kent Bazemore

13.1 PPG, 3.1 APG, 3.3 RPG, 0.4 WS, .029 WS/48 on 45.1% shooting and 37.1% shooting from deep. (w/LAL) Grade: (Inc.)

The other player who came in the Steve Blake trade, Bazemore was surprisingly productive for the few games that he played with the Lakers. Unfortunately for him, he tore a tendon in his foot (because this team was cursed) that ended his season in early April. That's very unfortunate timing for him, as nobody is looking to sign a guy who just had a pretty serious injury close to the end of last season. Hopefully, if he gets healthy, the Lakers will look in his direction, should they need bench help, because he really did look like an NBA caliber player last year.

Shooting Guard: Manny Harris

8.1 PPG, 1.2 APG, 3.8 RPG, 0.0 WS, .002 WS/48 on 42% shooting and 35% shooting from deep. Grade: (Inc.)

The amount of Incomplete players on this list is baffling. There were so many injuries, I'm forced to review guys like Brooks and Manny Harris for the few games they played filling in because of injuries. Manny Harris wasn't good in the small amount of time he played. That's pretty much all I can say about him.

Part two, coming soon!

2012-2013 Lakers in Review #7: Metta World Peace

Taken from the 09-10 season, before
everyone hated Dwight Howard

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. 


Small Forward/Power Forward: Metta World Peace

12.4 PPG, 1.5 APG, 5.0 RPG, 3.0 WS, .086 WS/48 on 40.3% shooting and 34.2% shooting from three point range. Grade: C+


2012-2013 in brief: World Peace was coming off of two bad seasons in a row and was an obvious candidate to receive the Lakers' Amnesty clause. He had his best offensive output since the 2009-2010 NBA season when he was on the Houston Rockets.

2014 status: One year left on his contract, is owed 7.7 million for his contract year. 


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Metta World Peace is an interesting case, to say the least. A fan favorite because of his eccentric, to say the least, behavior over his long career. His time in Los Angeles alone includes:

* Changing his name from Ron Artest to Metta World Peace (Ironic because he is possibly the most violent player of the modern NBA era).  

* Tossing former Laker Trevor Ariza's shoe into the media section of the court.

*Thanking his psychiatrist after the Lakers won the 2010 NBA Finals.

*Making a rap song titled "Champions" after the Lakers won the 2010 NBA Finals. 

*Going on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" wearing nothing but his boxer briefs. 

*Elbowing then Oklahoma City Thunder guard James Harden in the head while celebrating a dunk. 

*Getting surgery on his left knee that was supposed to sideline him for 6 weeks; he ended up missing 12 days (this is the same injury ended OKC's Russell Westbrook's season).

It's safe to say that Metta is the oddball of the Laker family and that's perfectly fine if it doesn't affect on court production. It certainly didn't this past season, as he put up the best numbers he's had in his time with Los Angeles. 

Always known for his excellent defense, World Peace has declined on the perimeter thanks to a combination of old age and gaining muscle weight throughout the last two seasons (which has made World Peace a decent low post defender capable of giving the Lakers minutes at the power forward position). While World Peace is no longer an All-NBA defensive player, his offensive production was a nice surprise from last year. 

World Peace is possibly the streakiest player in the NBA; never afraid to shoot, he sometimes pushes his team over the top with hot 3 point shooting and other times, keeps the team back while jacking up missed shot after missed shot. That said, his offense was something the Lakers sorely needed this season thanks to injury; World Peace, for the most part, delivered. A 34.2% FG percentage from three point range is not bad at all; the only problem was World Peace would keep shooting, even if other players were in better position to score, or he was missing a bunch of shots, or it was heavily contested, or.. well you get the point. World Peace's shoot first, pass later mentality was something the Lakers had to live with, and it often wouldn't work out so well, evidenced by his very inefficient 40.3% from the floor. At the very least, Metta found ways of putting the ball into the bucket, being 3rd on the Lakers in total points scores with 929 and 5th in points per game with 12.4.

World Peace's season was similar to that of Jodie Meeks; inconsistency from the perimeter combined with some awful decisions with the ball leading to a below average WS/48. And inconsistent is the perfect word to describe World Peace last year, as he was sometimes brilliant in his decision making and play making, while other times making awful, rookie mistakes. 

World Peace was one of the few Lakers to play 75 or more games this past season, so while he was incredibly inconsistent, at the very least, World Peace provided some stability in the rotation while he was healthy enough to play and he put up better-than-expected numbers. With some fine tuning to his shoot first mentality, World Peace can become a much better role player for the Lakers.

I expected a massive decline out of World Peace this season, age combined with some awful previous seasons had me believing World Peace's career was coming to a close. Overall, World Peace was a pleasant surprise in a season full of unpleasant ones. Let's just hope he can keep it together for next year. 

2012-2013 Lakers in Review #6: Jodie Meeks

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. 


Shooting Guard: Jodie Meeks

7.9 PPG, 0.9 APG, 2.2 RPG, 3.0 WS, .085 WS/48 on 38.7% shooting and 35.7% shooting from three point range. Grade: D+


2012-2013 in brief: Meeks was a decent enough role player for Philadelphia, until he was benched in time for the playoffs. Coming over to Los Angeles, he was expected to stretch the floor for Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol. He did that well enough, but only that, as he only shot 38.7%, and (much like the rest of the Lakers) ended the year on the disabled list. 

2014 status: One year left on his contract, earning only 1.5 million. 


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There isn't much to write about one dimensional players, and rest assured, Jodie is only a three point shooter. Meeks was at times brilliant, and at other times frustrating; thus is the nature of the three point shooter. 

Meeks, for the most part, did his job this past season, making a good enough percentage from the beyond the arc to help stretch out double teams in the post. 35.7% from deep is not a bad percentage at all. The problem with Meeks was everything else; he was a below average ball handler, frequently dribbling himself into trouble. He was a bad passer, averaging 0.9 assists to 0.7 turnovers per game. His Player Efficiency Rating was the lowest of his career since his rookie season at 11.4 (league average is 15). 

He had an awful shooting percentage just about anywhere else that wasn't from deep, as he made only 44% of his two point shot attempts (38.7% total). While he did provide some speed on the break, he would frequently make bad decisions like trying to outrun everybody on his way to a heavily contested layup. And while he at least tried to play defense, he was pretty bad in that aspect too, having no defensive fundamentals to speak of and frequently getting blown by on the way to a dunk or layup. It's no wonder his WS/48 dropped from last season (he was an above average .120 last season). 

At least Meeks was still a top free throw shooter, shooting 89.6% from the charity stripe, making him one of the more reliable bench players to have in the game in the final 5 minutes, certainly more reliable down the stretch than players like Metta World Peace.

Overall, Meeks was your classic three point shooter. He has a nice stroke from beyond the arc, but frequently makes bad decisions with the ball, limiting him to just three point shooting. His Basketball I.Q. definitely needs some work before he can try to develop into a better player. So while Meeks has value offensively, it's offset by his bad defense and decision making. He is one of the few players in which I am indifferent upon his return next season. 

I can't really criticize Meeks too much, since he basically did what the Lakers paid him (very little, I might add) to do. He doesn't get a C because I at least expect an average role player; his PER and WS/48 indicate a below average player.

Of course, you know Meeks is a Laker when he ends the year injured. He hurt his ankle in the first round of the playoffs against the Finals bound San Antonio Spurs, leaving the Lakers with Darius Morris and Andrew Goudelock as starting guards. Yeah. 

See you next year, Jodie. 

2012-2013 Lakers in Review #5: Kobe Bryant's Return to Form

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. 


Shooting Guard: Kobe Bryant

27.3 PPG, 6.0 APG, 5.6 RPG, 10.9 WS, .174 WS/48 on 46.3% shooting and 32.4% shooting from three point range. Grade: A+

2012-2013 in brief: Coming off of one of his most inefficient seasons of his career, Kobe Bryant was excepted to rest a lot more this year with a stacked team, and his offensive load was expected to be greatly diminished with Steve Nash on the roster. He ended up carrying the offense for most of the year, having one of his finest seasons yet, until it ended with a serious trip to the DL. 

2014 status: 1 year left on his contract, earning a massive 30.4 million. 


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It just seems like Father Time will never catch up to Kobe. After last season's awfully inefficient season, in which he shot his lowest shooting percentage since his rookie season, it looked like it was going to be all down hill for Kobe at this advanced stage of his career. 

And yet, here we are, talking about what an amazing season Bryant had, completely carrying the team to the playoffs despite defensive struggles from just about everybody and the offense not clicking until late in the year. 

The team started off as a train wreck, losing 4 of the first 5 games under Mike Brown, the final game at Utah producing a great moment in Death Stare history. Bryant was his normal, dominant self, averaging 27.2 PPG, 3.2 APG, 5 RPG while shooting an astronomical 55.9% from the floor. During this stretch, the Lakers averaged 97.2 PPG while allowing 98.8 points; clearly, defense was the problem and Bryant was one of the central issues, playing lazy, gambling defense and being late on rotations, sometimes not rotating at all. That's not to say this is all Bryant's fault, as everybody was playing atrocious defense during this stretch, but Bryant played a part in it. 

And Bryant continued his dominant offensive display, averaging 27.2 points per game, 5.6 assists per game and 5.3 rebounds per game for the whole month of November, yet the Lakers' record was 7-9 at the end of the month. At this point, the Lakers had a major problem with turnovers, leading the league in that category, while playing bad defense. What more could they get from Bryant? He was already doing what 99% of NBA players can't do and the Lakers were still under .500. 

And then Bryant decided to turn the notch up from 10 to 11 for December, completely destroying his defensive assignments, averaging a ridiculous 33.7 points per game, 4.6 assists per game and 5.5 rebounds per game for the whole month of December. It still wasn't working for the team, as they went 7-7 in the month, with a total record of 14-16 at the start of the New Year. This was the month Bryant became the youngest player to ever score 30,000 points. There is very little more one player could do for a team, as Bryant was carrying them, but it still wasn't enough. This month gave me deja-vu to the 2006-2007 Lakers, in which Bryant averaged 35.4 points per game (highest PPG total since Michael Jordan's 37.1 PPG in 1986-1987 season; since 1970, it's the second highest PPG total). Something had to change for the Lakers, starting with turnovers and defense. 

Kobe was very aggressive this season; we saw a lot of this.

Nothing changed in the month of January, as the Lakers started the month with a six game losing streak and were at 2-10 record with major amounts of injuries piling up before something did change. Bryant's scoring diminished a bit, averaging 24.4 points per game for the month, but he starting being a play-maker, not just a dominant scorer. During the 2-10 cold spell, Bryant averaged 4.25 assists. The Lakers then proceeded to win 3 out of 4 to end the month not on Bryant's scoring, but on his passing and playmaking abilities as he averaged a cool 16.5 points per game and an incredible 12 assists per game. The Lakers ended the month 5-11, but with hope for the rest of the season. 

February was entirely different for the Lakers as they cut down on turnovers, played better defense and played better team ball, largely due to Bryant as he averaged 7.3 assists per game for the whole month to go along with his 26.5 points per game total. The Lakers clicked well and ended the month with a 9-4 record, fulling gearing up to make a run at the playoffs. 

Bryant's amazing play didn't end in February as he closed out the final two months of the year putting up some incredible numbers to help power the Lakers to a 20-9 record after the All-Star Break, as Bryant continued putting up 7.5 assists per game to along with his 29.3 points per game down the stretch, playing 41 minutes or more per game during the final 7 games he played (4 times playing all 48 minutes). This would, of course, lead to the achilles injury that Bryant suffered against the Golden State Warriors, ending one of the best individual seasons' Lakers' fans have seen from possibly the greatest Laker of all time. 

In some positive news, Bryant is out of his cast and crutches and is walking. He is eyeing a return during the opener in October. 

#Walking. #crutchesoff
— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) June 4, 2013

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.