Los Angeles Lakers: Grading Each Player’s Performance in 2012-13
Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard have had a shaky first season together in L.A. (Photo by Scott Mecum/Flickr.com)
According to an NBA.com report, Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant probably has torn Achilles. I’m a bit of an optimist and say the Lakers’ season is hanging by a thread. Realistically though, their season is down the drain and they’ll miss the playoffs.
But that’s one for another day. In the meantime let’s review each player’s 2012 -13 season performance.
Kobe Bryant – A+
Whatever Bryant has been doing this season is definitely working. He’s been kicking Father Time’s butt all up and down the court and hasn’t shown signs of slowing down yet just yet.
Even at 34 years old, The Mamba has been as lethal as ever, currently third among the NBA scoring leaders with 27.3 points per game. Yet he’s still playing facilitator with six assists per game, The highest among shooting guards and matching his highest average during his illustrious career.
To top it all off, in his 17th NBA season, Kobe is playing A LOT of basketball. Averaging 38.6 minutes a game, which is second in the league, including a spell of at least 40 minutes in his last six contests during the Lakers’ search of a playoff berth.
However, that may come back to bite the Lakers after he hobbled straight to the changing room after a foot injury–reportedly a torn Achilles.
Dwight Howard – B+
When Dwight Howard joined the L.A. Lakers from Orlando last offseason, many envisioned Shaq and Kobe 2.0 and were ready to crown them Western Conference champions right there and then.
Problem is, Superman 2.0 (you sensing a theme yet?) didn’t get the memo and stumbled out of the blocks and the chemistry with Bryant never really developed. The public rifts with between the teammates didn’t help things either.
After the All-Star break though, he began to show flashes of his old self increasing his rebounding and points output to 13.5 reboundsand nearly 18 points per game.
Despite this being a down year by his standards, Howard is still producing pretty good numbers as he is first in rebounds, second in field-goal shooting and fifth in blocks.
Nonetheless, he really needs to improve his 49 percent free-throw shooting to prevent the Hack-a-Dwight tactic teams have deployed against the Lakers late in games.
Pau Gasol – C/C+
Injuries have also been a big issue for Gasol this season. He’s missed a total of 33 games but let’s be honest, he hasn’t exactly been dominant awhile now.
He’s been the Lakers third offensive option over the past the couple of years with Kobe and Andrew Bynum as No. 1 and No. 2. Unfortunately, the addition of Steve Nash created a bit of a tug-of-war for the spot and his scoring has plummeted to a career-low 13.5 ppg.
Nonetheless, even with this year’s decline, Gasol is still a willing and capable passer and Dwight Howard has been the primary beneficiary in their high-low combo.
Steve Nash – C
This season has been a nightmare for Steve Nash. Injuries have had him in street clothes at games so many times that I started to think he was one of the many celebrities at Laker games.
Nash is fourth all-time in assists so you would expect him to be on the ball most, if not all, of the time but that hasn’t been the case. If anything he’s been a passenger and spot-up shooter in coach Mike D’Antoni’s offense with Bryant playing the role of primary distributor.
In his 17th NBA season, the Canadian is averaging the second-lowest point total (12.7), lowest assists total (6.7) and third-lowest usage rate since the 1999-00 season when he was back in Dallas.
On the up side, his shooting is still great–50 percent from the floor, 44 percent from 3-point range and 92 percent from the free-throw line.
World Peace is yet another key name for the injury list, but he’s also another that’s been in decline.
Is Metta World Peace is still a premier defender? (Photo Credit: Bridget Samuels, Flickr.com)
The controversial one is not the player he once was offensively, but he is still pretty productive. In fact, his 12.5 ppg this season is his highest average as a Laker, which is a bonus considering his primary job is to be a nuisance for the other team’s best perimeter player.
He is strong, physical and, boy, is he tough, coming back just two weeks after a surgical procedure to repair a tear in his meniscus. Then again, putting him on Stephen Curry when his legs aren’t 100 percent may not have been the best thing to do in the crucial win over the Golden State Warriors on Friday, April 12.
He may not be the lock-down defender he once was, but you’re damned sure going to have to fight for every bucket.
Antawn Jamison – D+
Jamison has been a good and productive player throughout his career and maybe this season is when Father Time finally catches up with the 36-year-old.
After averaging 17.2 ppg with Cleveland last season, the 15-year veteran is recording career lows in points (9.2), rebounds (4.8) and minutes (21.4). Then again you could argue that is to be expected as players get older.
Though I’m not entirely convinced it’s all on him.
His first–and probably last–season as a Laker has been a mixed bag for Jamison. He didn’t exactly fly out of the gates, but then again neither did the rest of the team. Then he put together a couple of good games, including 33 points and 12 rebounds in a performance against Denver.
Then L.A. reverted back to their poor selves and Jamison had a string of six DNP–coach’s decisions. For which, according to Jamison, there was no explanation for by Coach D’Antoni, further adding to the drama in the Lakers narrative.
Earl Clark – C-
Clark filled in nicely when the Lakers where most desperate in the absence of pretty much all their big men.
Now, he’s offers L.A. variety when coming off the bench because at 6’10”, he’s long enough to play as a stretch 4 but he’s also athletic enough to play against small forwards.
An extra bonus for the Lakers is that he’s shown he can hit 3s from time to time, shooting 34 percent from beyond the arc. The astonishing thing is that this year alone, he’s made more 3s than he’s ever made or attempted in his previous three years in the NBA.
Steve Blake – D+
Steve Blake plays the Steve Kerr role as the guard who simply creates space by getting open and hitting shots from 3. He’s been doing that decently well, shooting 42 percent from deep.
Still, the Lakers’ bench needed more than that from their backup point guard because their bench has been simply terrible.
He was, however, also a big part of the Lakers’ big win over Golden State, hitting two free throws in crunch time.
Jodie Meeks – F
Meeks was brought in as a cheap shooter to spread the court and create space for the superstars in the middle.
To some extent, he’s actually done that but he’s hardly been a standout, shooting just 36 percent from deep. Considering that shooting is his primary job, that’s not particularly impressive.
Chris Duhon –D
Chris Duhon took his chances decently well, when given the chance at minutes this season. When playing at least 30 minutes, Duhon had at least five assists in five of the nine games.
He’s also struggled with injury bug like any other Laker this year, but he hasn’t done anything special to warrant a higher grade.