Portland Trail Blazers: Robin Lopez Has Become A Top Role Player
What is a role player? While all NBA players have clearly defined roles, for example star player, starter or scorer, not all players are role players. A lot of people take the term a bit as a derogatory term, as if calling a player a role player is an insult to them.
Sometimes, role players are unfairly thought of as inferior to their star counterparts, whether that’s justified or not. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth.
The best definition of the term “role player” is a player who is willing to do the dirty work to help his team win. Role players aren’t superstars; they won’t be scoring 25 points a game, they won’t be the focal point of the team and they certainly won’t get game planned for them.
However, role players are just as important to a team as the star player is. Teams need players who are willing to set hard screens and grab tough rebounds. Teams need players who are ready and able to play defense against the league’s top players. Teams need players who go out every night to annoy the other team by playing as hard as he possibly can.
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All of that perfectly describes Robin Lopez. The Portland Trail Blazers are powered by Damian Lillard and LaMarcus Aldridge, with 3-point shots from just about everybody else. But while everybody is focused on the stars, Robin Lopez goes unnoticed as one of the league’s top role players.
For the Blazers, that’s perfectly OK, as Lopez continues to produce at a high level.
Robin Lopez had a stellar year last year and he has picked up exactly where he left off. Sure, his 11.6 points and eight rebounds per game don’t look all that impressive, but it’s a lot more than just raw numbers. Lopez is an incredible offensive rebounding force for the Blazers.
Through the first five games, Lopez has averaged 4.2 offensive rebounds per game, which is ranked fourth in the NBA. His knack for the glass has helped keep the Blazers offense efficient and has helped put pressure on the other team to finish defensive stands, which is easier said than done against Portland.
But it’s not just rebounding. Lopez knows what he can and can’t do. As a result, his 11.6 points come on an efficient 52.1 percent from the field. His advanced metrics back up the notion that Lopez is much better than given credit for. Here’s a quick look at his advanced stats for this year:
| Season | PER | TS% | ORB% | TRB% | BLK% | OWS | DWS | WS | WS/48 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014-15 | 20.6 | .553 | 16.7 | 15.2 | 4.6 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.6 | .204 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 11/7/2014.
Those numbers look very, very good. All of his numbers aren’t ranked as high as they should be on the NBA’s leaderboards. A lot of players are benefiting from insane advanced numbers due to the small sample size to start the year. Those will come down eventually.
That doesn’t mean his numbers aren’t impressive. His 20.6 Player Efficiency Rating (PER) is ranked second on the team, behind LaMarcus Aldridge. He is third on the team in total Win Shares (WS) with 0.6 and he is fourth on the team in Win Shares per 48 Minutes (WS/48) with a very high .204.
He is by far the leader in Offensive Rebound Percentage (ORB%) among players on the team who have played more than 20 minutes. In fact, his offensive rebound percentage is so good, it’s ranked fourth in the NBA. Clearly, Lopez is doing something right.
Robin Lopez will never be considered a star player. He is, and will always be, a role player. However, that is definitely not a bad thing, especially since Lopez has ascended to the top of his field in the past two seasons. Hopefully, Lopez can keep the magic running for the Portland Trail Blazers through out the season.