2Cleva
10-08-2009, 02:58 PM
Ron Artest
2008-09 season: Artest turned 29 last year, and he clearly
lost a step at the offensive end. He shot a career high on
3s (39.9 percent) and still managed a career worst from the
field overall (40.1 percent), which means he really
struggled inside the arc. Artest's mark wasn't the worst in
the league (see Daequan Cook comment), but it was the worst
among players who shot often. Among players with at least
500 2-point attempts, only Baron Davis' 40.6 percent mark
came close to Artest's 40.1 percent.
The story within the story is Artest's declining ability to
get to the rim and finish. His shot attempts in the
immediate basket area declined by nearly a third, and he
converted only 45.1 percent of the ones he took -- an
appallingly poor number for a strong, 6-7 forward. Artest
had been in the mid-50s each of the previous four seasons,
so it's possible this was all a huge fluke. A decline in his
speed and leaping ability, however, appeared to be the more
proximate cause. The concomitant dip in his free throw
attempts supports that line of thinking.
Despite all the bricks, Artest offered value. He finished
eighth among shooting guards in rebound rate, 13th in steals
and helped as a shot creator on a team that desperately
needed one. Of course, his defense was a huge plus.
Scouting report: Artest is a fantastic defensive player,
with superhuman strength that allows him to check bigger
players and a blazing fast left hand that strips balls in
the wink of an eye. He has quick feet too and can bottle up
opponents at any position from 2 to 4. Artest struggles when
he has to chase opponents through screens, as his size
gives him trouble stopping, starting and changing directions
on the move. Nonetheless, he is one of the game's elite
wing defenders and did commendable work against Brandon Roy
and Kobe Bryant in last season's playoffs.
Offensively, Artest tends to get tunnel vision. He'll break
plays and go on his own or force up horrendous shots in
traffic. He's a good spot-up shooter and handles the ball
well for his size, and he destroys small defenders on
post-ups when paired in physical mismatches. However, he
seems to have lost some leaping ability and has trouble both
getting to the rim and finishing once he's there.
Of course, any discussion of Artest must include some
diagnosis of his mental state. He's had numerous meltdowns
and run-ins over the years, and while he comported himself
well on the court last season, stories have already leaked
out about his bizarre behavior off the floor.
2009-10 outlook: Artest signed a five-year deal with the
Lakers for the full midlevel exception. OK, everyone now: "A
five-year commitment to this guy? Are they even more insane
than Ron?"
Look back at the history of players in their late 20s and
early 30s signing for the full midlevel -- it's uglier than
Keith Richards after an all-night bender. Most nonstars
begin declining rapidly at Artest's age, so there's a huge
danger of the last two or three years of the deal becoming
total dead weight.
For most teams, such a contract makes no sense. But for the
Lakers, a different logic applies. First, their championship
window is right now so winning the bidding was more
important than paying for a couple of ugly years at the end
(which they almost certainly will). Second, the main
competition for Artest's services was Cleveland, whom they
may end up facing in the Finals, so L.A. killed two birds
with this one stone. Third, Artest is the one player in the
league who can match up physically with LeBron James, again
the Lakers' likely Finals opponent. And fourth, Artest is
good value in the short term at the midlevel.
Artest will start at small forward and serve as the Lakers'
primary wing defender. His offensive numbers are likely to
shift radically since he's now the fourth option, provided
he's aware of this fact. Reducing his role should help him,
however, because. Artest can make spot-up 3s and take
advantage of matchups. He won't be asked to make decisions
in pick-and-rolls as was the case in Houston, which is
better for everyone.
Additionally, he'll return to playing a pure 3 role so his
declining quickness will be less of an issue than it was as
a Rocket, where he mostly played shooting guard. For those
reasons, he'll be a valuable acquisition for as long as he
keeps his head on straight. There's the rub, of course -- it
might be a week, or it might be a decade. We just don't
know. L.A. can afford to take the risk, though.
Shannon Brown
2008-09 season: The unsung hero of the Lakers' championship,
Brown turned around the most important game of their season
(Game 5 against Denver) with an electrifying third-quarter
dunk. His arrival at midseason solidified the backup point
guard situation before it spiraled into a major problem.
Brown played far better in a Lakers uniform than at any
other point in his career, partly because he finally stopped
trying to create a shot every time he got the ball.
Relaxing enough to let the game come to him, he shot 52.2
percent with the Lakers and 47.3 percent overall. The
results are apparent looking at his stat line -- his usage
rate is way down but his assist ratio and TS percent are way
up. It took three years and four teams, but the light bulb
finally went on.
Scouting report: Brown is a good athlete but a tweener at
6-4. He doesn't handle the ball well enough to be a
full-time point guard, but he's a bit short for a shooting
guard. He also hadn't shot the ball well from outside until
the end of last season with the Lakers. Since he came into
the league with a rep as a shooter and played so
sporadically the previous two seasons, I'd bet on him
continuing to shoot in the mid-to-high 30s on 3s.
L.A.'s system caters to oversized point guards like Brown,
largely masking his weaknesses because Kobe Bryant does a
lot of the ballhandling and the guards don't have to do much
pick-and-roll. Instead, Brown spots up for jumpers and runs
out for transition finishes, two areas where he's proved
quite capable.
Defensively, Brown's size and quickness make him solid, if
unspectacular. His in-between size is something of an
impediment -- quick guards can give him problems and so can
bigger wings -- but the league is now littered with players
of Brown's size posing as "combo" guards and he matches up
well against them.
2009-10 outlook: Brown re-signed with the Lakers on a
two-year, $4.2 million deal and will be one part of the
Lakers' three-headed point guard solution. How much he plays
depends less on him and more on Derek Fisher and Jordan
Farmar; it was Fisher's late-season decline and Farmar's
baffling ineffectiveness that gave Brown the opening last
season. The most likely scenario puts him in a 15-minute
role off the bench, with the playing time varying wildly
depending on the matchup situations in any particular game.
Kobe Bryant
2008-09 season: He did it. Bryant had lots of help, of
course, but ultimately history will regard him much more
kindly because he was the best player on a championship
team, which couldn't be said about his first three rings.
For a player who absorbs criticism for being a
less-than-ideal teammate at times, it was particularly
important for his legacy.
His skill level didn't require such validation, of course.
Bryant ranked anywhere between second and fourth on any
fan's list of the all-time great shooting guards, depending
on which position you confer on Oscar Robertson and your
thoughts on Jerry West.
Interestingly, Bryant played more aggressively than he had
the previous season despite the strong supporting cast. He
didn't clock as many minutes because of the stacked roster,
but he averaged more points per minute and sharply cut his
turnover rate despite the league's second-highest usage
rate.
He didn't score more efficiently, however, and that was part
of the one negative story of the season. Bryant's free
throw rate turned sharply south, dropping to 6.9 per game
last season. While this is a ton for most players and still
ranked 11th among shooting guards on a per-attempt basis,
it's a sizable drop from the nine a game he earned the
previous season or the 10+ he had in the three campaigns
prior.
Bryant reduced the 3-pointer's importance to his shot mix, a
good decision since he's never been terribly potent from
distance (34.1 percent career, 35.1 percent last season).
Instead, half his attempts were inside shots -- his most in
five years -- and he made 53.8 percent of them. That data
contradicts the declining free throw numbers, but it appears
more of his shots were short-range jumpers rather than hard
drives to the cup. He logged nearly 50 percent more shots
from the "in-between" distance than he had a season earlier.
Scouting report: Bryant was an All-Defense first-team pick
for the fourth straight season, and while that may have been
generous, he's certainly among the better defenders at his
spot. This is particularly true late in games, when he tends
to buckle down, but he picks his spots and doesn't defend
at full bore for much of the game. His smarts and physical
skills get him by in the first three quarters, but he'll
lose track of players off the ball.
Offensively, he owns an amazingly diverse arsenal, but the
go-to move is the pull-up midrange jumper off the dribble.
He doesn't go to the basket as hard or as often as he used
to, but the threat of his drive remains potent enough to
clear space for his jumper, especially since his ball skills
rank among the best for a player his size. Bryant can
easily play point guard and ranked 18th among shooting
guards in pure point rating. Even his weakness, 3-point
shooting, isn't a weakness so much as an area where he's
merely average instead of among the league's best.
2009-10 outlook: First, the bad news: Declines in free throw
rate are a fairly ominous canary in the coal mine, and
Bryant is 31 with a lot of mileage on his legs. For that
reason, I don't think he'll match last season's numbers.
Having said that, I wouldn't expect a precipitous decline
either. Bryant keeps himself in fantastic shape, has had few
knee problems, and has already shown he has the smarts to
adjust his game to whatever new realities his body deals
him. Additionally, the Lakers should be able to manage his
minutes very carefully and reduce the regular-season wear
and tear. That, in fact, may be a bigger drain on his
numbers than age -- if he plays only 34 minutes a game, his
averages will drop no matter how well he plays.
Bryant is eligible to sign an extension with the Lakers that
would keep him in uniform for at least three more years.
The alternative is that he could opt out of his deal and
choose unrestricted free agency next summer. Nobody expects
the latter outcome, especially after he led L.A. to the
title.
Andrew Bynum
2008-09 season: It was déjà vu for Bynum. Once again he
looked great in the first half of the season before a knee
injury slowed him down, and while the Lakers rolled through
the postseason, he struggled to regain his early season
form.
But those who watched him only in the playoffs left with too
pessimistic a viewpoint, because his overall body of work
was very impressive for a 21-year-old center. Bynum
demonstrated that his prior season's performance was no
fluke, averaging nearly a point every two minutes while
shooting 56 percent from the floor. He also rebounded
solidly, ranked in the top quarter of centers in blocks per
minute, and for a young big man, he impressed with his
ability to defend without fouling.
Scouting report: Opponents have a tough time matching up
against Bynum because he's huge at 7-1 but has soft hands
and a nice touch around the basket. Plus, he's a good passer
out of double-teams. Additionally, teaming him with Pau
Gasol provides another advantage since Bynum often finds
himself covered by the lesser of the opponent's two post
defenders. The Lakers made a concerted effort to feed Bynum
the ball in the middle when he was in the game, as his usage
rate nearly equaled Gasol's.
Bynum emerged as a massive defensive force early in the
season, using his size and shot-blocking ability to protect
the paint, but he didn't move nearly as well in the playoffs
and struggled as a result. He has trouble maintaining his
intensity, but his sheer size makes him a tremendous
defender in the basket area. Like most big centers, he finds
pick-and-roll defense troublesome away from the bucket, but
the trade-off is more than worth it.
2009-10 outlook: Despite his struggles in the postseason, my
projection system likes Bynum this season. Actually, it
REALLY likes him, projecting him to lead the Lakers in PER,
several percentage points ahead of that guy in jersey No.
24. Young centers with offensive skills often make
tremendous strides in their early 20s, and no one would be
shocked if Bynum became the next one to do so.
For Bynum, however, the operative question is not "how well"
but "how often." He's a 285-pound center whose knees broke
down midway through two straight seasons. If he's this
brittle in his early 20s, what's he going to be like when
he's older?
That's why the Lakers have to make a concerted effort to
manage the pounding on Bynum's knees, both by keeping him at
the lighter end of his weight range and by carefully
monitoring the time -- both in games and in practices --
that his knees absorb the strain of carrying such a huge
frame. He's clearly an All-Star-caliber talent from the
quads up, so the only question is whether the knees will
allow him to put 82 games of such quality into one calendar
year.
Jordan Farmar
2008-09 season: One of the biggest disappointments in the
Lakers' championship season was Farmar's unexpected
regression. Thought by many to be the heir apparent to Derek
Fisher at the point, he struggled on both sides of the ball
and by the playoffs had lost most of his playing time to
Shannon Brown. While Farmar's athleticism remained a factor
-- he finished in the top dozen point guards in both blocks
and steals per minute -- he was an empty trip waiting to
happen with the ball.
Farmar finished 59th in pure point rating, which was an
inexcusable performance for a small, quick guard on a team
with this many weapons around him, but he struggled even as
a scoring guard. He made only 39.1 percent from the floor,
and his foul shooting (58.4 percent) has become absolutely
indefensible.
Overall he ranked 62nd out of the league's 69 point guards
in TS percent and finished with a PER in single digits. For
a healthy 22-year-old who posted a 15.29 PER a season
earlier, it was an epic crash -- narrowly missing out on the
league's largest decline (see chart).
Scouting report: Farmar is one of the league's more athletic
point guards, as he possesses an explosive vertical leap
and a speedy first step. He's a good outside shooter too,
especially off the catch, but his judgment as a point guard
needs a lot of work. Too often he forces shots early in the
clock, and when he puts the ball on the floor, he struggles
to find the open man. He scores at a steady clip when the
shots are falling, but last season they weren't.
Defensively, Farmar performed admirably and was much
improved from a season earlier, becoming the Lakers' go-to
guy against the quick point guards who bedeviled Fisher and
Brown. Farmar is a good athlete who is quick to the ball and
his leaping ability helps him contest shots even against
taller players. He has to get stronger and dial up his
intensity and consistency, but he's good already and could
get quite a bit better.
2009-10 outlook: On paper, Farmar enters the season as a
quasi-backup who will split minutes with Brown behind
Fisher. In reality, much depends on which Farmar shows up.
The guy from 2008-09 is unlikely to play much, but he has
the talent to perform much, much better, and had shown it in
the 2007-08 campaign. If he plays like that again, he'll
blow past Brown and Fisher into the starting job by
midseason, because he's clearly the most gifted of the
three. He just hasn't determined how to translate his gifts
into consistent offensive success yet.
Derek Fisher
2008-09 season: Fisher hit arguably the biggest shot of the
year for L.A., nailing the game-tying 3 at the end of
regulation in Game 4 of the Finals that drove a stake
through the Magic. It was a nice recovery from a horrid
first three rounds of the playoffs, where he shot 35.6
percent and had Lakers fans wondering aloud why he wasn't
replaced.
That said, Fisher definitely started showing his age at 34.
He lost nearly four points off his 40-minute scoring average
and prevailed in his annual competition with Luke Ridnour
to see who could be the league's worst shooter in the basket
area. Fisher made only 37 percent of his tries at the rim,
the lowest mark of any player with at least 100 attempts.
Mostly though, he stayed out of the way and tried not to
screw up. Fisher had the fourth-lowest usage rate among
point guards but the second-best turnover rate. And despite
the poor finishing, he had a decent TS percent because he
was so good from midrange. Fisher made 49.7 percent of his
long 2s, the third-best mark in the league (see Jameer
Nelson comment) and hit another 44.1 percent on in-between
shots.
Scouting report: Fisher is one of the strongest guards in
the league, and that enables him to cover bigger players
without any trouble. He can also switch onto wing players
and push them away from the rim with his power, and he uses
his might to shrug off defenders on the dribble and go up
for his jumper. Fisher's D has slipped on the perimeter,
however, and against quick guards he rarely stays close
enough to make his muscle a factor.
Offensively, Fisher's biggest limitation is that he can't
jump at all anymore. This hinders him greatly finishing at
the basket, and it's also why he posted one of the worst
rebound rates in basketball last season. A left-hander, he
loves to pull up off the dribble in transition for long
jumpers -- that's the shot he made in Orlando, for instance.
Otherwise, he rarely seeks to penetrate, instead moving the
ball and spotting up on the weak side.
2009-10 outlook: Fisher will begin the season as the Lakers'
starting point guard, but whether he ends in that position
is open to speculation. He's 34 but doesn't rely on speed or
athleticism. All he does is shoot jumpers and rely on his
muscle on defense, so those shouldn't be affected much by
age.
The big worry is whether he can defend the position
adequately enough, especially as opponents tend to employ
more small, quick guards. He'll have a role regardless, but
with three point guards on hand of roughly equal capability,
it may end up being a smaller one than a season ago.
Pau Gasol
2008-09 season: This generation's gold standard for rip-off
trades, Gasol arrived from Memphis in exchange for a sack of
potatoes and provided the final piece of L.A.'s
championship puzzle. He shook off the maddening efforts of
his teammates to play keepaway from him by going to the
boards for the ball, snaring a career-high 3.1 offensive
rebounds per game, and shooting a career-high 56.7 percent
from the floor thanks to all the putbacks.
Combined with his passing and ballhandling skills, Gasol's
improvement on the boards helped him deliver one of the most
efficient offensive seasons in basketball. Gasol jumped to
seventh among centers in TS percent with an outstanding 61.7
mark and ranked third at the position in pure point rating.
This made it all the more baffling why he didn't get more
touches -- unbelievably, his usage rate was scarcely better
than that of Jordan Farmar, Andrew Bynum or Josh Powell. Had
Gasol not grabbed so many second shots for himself, his
usage rate would have been lower.
He was particularly good on "in-between" shots -- not at the
basket, but inside 10-12 feet. This is the most difficult
spot on the floor, with most players shooting in the
mid-to-high 30s from this range, but Gasol is so long and
skilled that he hit 48.8 percent, placing him third in the
league (see chart).
Again, one can only wonder how much more damage he could
have done from that distance with more touches.
Gasol has never been known as a physical force, but he did
manage to keep himself on the court. He committed only 2.29
fouls per 40 minutes, the league's lowest rate among
centers.
Scouting report: Gasol possesses rare skill for his size.
Although he's 7 feet with long arms, he's quick and converts
shots around the basket with either hand. He's also able to
get post position by making quick cuts despite his lack of
strength and operates effectively as either a scorer or
passer once he's there.
Gasol shoots decently from midrange too, making over 40
percent on long 2s for the fourth straight season which,
combined with his passing ability, makes him very adept
operating from the high post. Additionally, he runs the
floor well and frequently beats opposing big men down the
court for dunks.
Defensively, Gasol contests shots well thanks to his length
and comfortably checks perimeter 4s away from the basket.
He's also quick enough to defend pick-and-rolls, but his
lack of strength makes him a liability closer to the basket
area. Therefore, he's better defending as a 4 than as a 5,
which is another of the several hundred ways the trade from
Memphis to L.A. helped him: Andrew Bynum's presence limits
Gasol's minutes at center.
2009-10 outlook: Gasol's rock-solid, year-to-year
consistency translates into a predictably narrow range for
his numbers this season. He'll average 20 points and 10
boards per 40 minutes while shooting in the mid-50s, with
his minutes being the biggest variable. L.A.'s strength
could prove to be his statistical detriment, because if
Bynum stays healthy, Gasol is highly unlikely to match last
season's average of 37 minutes per game. If so, that will
drag his scoring and rebounding averages down to the 18 and
8 range, but it won't prevent him from making another
All-Star team.
Lamar Odom
2008-09 season: Odom's willingness to come off the bench and
move permanently to the frontcourt became an underrated key
to the Lakers' title run. Those moves didn't exactly play
into his best interests as a rising free agent, but they
turned the Lakers' frontcourt into a much more potent force.
The Lakers fed him more touches as a reserve (note the rise
in usage rate) and had he not shot bricks from the free
throw line (a career-worst 62.3 percent), he would have
significantly improved his PER from a season earlier.
Odom continues to be a strong playmaker, ranking fifth among
power forwards in assist ratio and 13th in pure point
rating. But he's also underrated pulling off the "big guy"
stuff -- he landed 12th among power forwards in defensive
rebound rate and ninth in blocks per minute. He's continues
to be a middling outside shooter (37.8 percent on 2s outside
the immediate basket area, 32 percent on 3s) but
contributes so much in other ways that he retains tremendous
value.
Scouting report: The left-handed Odom is a tough matchup for
opposing big men because of his ability to handle the ball
and play away from the basket. Opponents lay off him because
he's not a great shooter, and smart ones overplay his left
hand since that's where he goes 90 percent of the time.
Nonetheless, he has a big quickness edge against most
frontcourt players and frequently creates help situations
that lead to buckets for others.
Odom doesn't have the thickest build, but he has become an
impressive rebounder and at 6-10 can use his size to post up
smaller opponents when the opportunity arises. Defensively
he's done a solid job as well, though his intensity has
peaks and valleys and physical frontcourt players can give
him problems around the basket.
2009-10 outlook: After much drama and hand-wringing, Odom
returned to the Lakers on a four-year, $32 million deal with
the fourth year only partially guaranteed. This provides
outstanding value for L.A., as Odom has been extremely
consistent at a minor-star level over the past half decade
and likely would have reaped bigger rewards in free agency
had he been more willing to relocate.
Instead he'll fill the same role he did a season ago,
playing 25-30 minutes a night as the Lakers' primary
frontcourt reserve and moving into a starting role should
Andrew Bynum's knee give way again. He should shoot better
from the line than he did last season and seems to have
conceded little to age even though he turns 30 this year. If
Bynum stays healthy, then Odom will barely scratch double
figures, but that's hardly an indication of how much value
he adds to this team.
Sasha Vujacic
2008-09 season: Those of you who read this space a year ago
knew not to take Vujacic's career year at face value, so the
rebound in his numbers last season didn't come as a huge
shock. While he certainly can shoot it -- the guy made seven
straight free throws with his eyes closed in front of
reporters during the Finals -- he fell back to a more mortal
36.3 percent from 3-point range last season. Since Vujacic
rarely got to the rim -- even most of his 2s were jumpers --
it pulled his shooting percentage down to 38.7 percent.
Only six shooting guards fared worse.
Despite his uncharacteristically shoddy shooting, Vujacic
yielded value. Because 3s comprised so many of his shots,
his TS percent was solid, and he had no other negatives.
Vujacic ranked third among shooting guards in turnover rate
and a surprising 15th in assist ratio, nearly doubling the
latter mark from a season earlier. He also ranked second at
his position in steals per minute, with the only drawback
the rampant fouling that accompanied it (4.76 personals per
40 minutes, third among shooting guards). During his rare
free throw attempts, he succeeded, making 92.1 percent from
the stripe. I have it on good authority that he kept his
eyes open during the games.
Scouting report: Vujacic doesn't move well laterally, but
he's a feisty defender who competes and does a good job
overall. It helps that at 6-7 he's long for a guard and can
challenge shots or play an extra half-step off most ball
handlers. He lacks muscle and physical mismatches down low
bedevil him, but L.A. rarely assigns him to cover players
who can expose that weakness.
Offensively, he's strictly a catch-and-shoot guy with a
line-drive release, though he's been too willing to pull the
trigger at times. He'll occasionally shoot off one dribble
in a pick-and-roll, but he rarely penetrates into the paint.
For the most part, as soon as he puts the ball on the
floor, he looks to pass rather than to score. The exception
is during transition when he's all but guaranteed to fling a
pull-up J from 20 feet. He handles the ball well enough to
be an emergency point guard, and for a guy with a rep as a
gunner, he posts solid assist rates.
2009-10 outlook: Though he's played fairly well the past two
seasons Vujacic has averaged only 17 minutes a game over
the two campaigns. His playing time should be scarce again
this season, as the Lakers already have a shooting guard who
seems to be working out pretty well. As a result, don't
expect much to change for Vujacic. He'll shoot in the high
30s on 3s and he won't turn the ball over, both of which
make him a valuable reserve. But on this roster, he has no
shot at moving up to a more prominent role.
Luke Walton
2008-09 season: It was another tough season for Walton, as
Trevor Ariza usurped his starting gig at small forward, and
Walton's scoring and shooting rates plummeted. He retains
one phenomenal skill, however: Among forwards, he's one of
the best passers in history. Walton once again led all
forwards in assist ratio with an astounding 30.6 (meaning
nearly a third of the possessions he used ended with an
assist). A lot of point guards don't earn marks this high,
including all three of the ones on his own team.
Walton forced some passes and had a high turnover rate, so
he had to settle for second at his position in pure point
rating, but his passing ability is even more amazing when
you consider he's not a gifted penetrator. He just has
superior court vision.
It's vitally important to his survival because of his
limitations as a scorer. Even on the few shots he created,
Walton wasn't very accurate. He shot 29.2 percent on 3s and
made less than half his inside shots, and his TS percent
ranked 53rd out of 63 small forwards.
Scouting report: Walton is a combo forward who can post up
when matched against small wing players but moves out to the
perimeter against bigger matchups. From either spot his
advanced passing ability makes him a good set-up man, but he
has trouble scoring on his own. His favorite ploy is to
post up against 3s on the left block, and opponents almost
never double him there out of respect for his passing
ability. He's not as effective spotting up on the perimeter,
and on drives to the rim he lacks the explosion to finish
at the rim.
Walton is an underrated defensive player who has the size to
bang with power forwards and the dexterity to check most
3s. He's an enthusiastic help-side defender who scaled back
his gambling quite a bit last season -- that's why his rate
of steals went down. He fouls too often and doesn't rebound
much, but his overall effort is commendable.
2009-10 outlook: Walton again should see 15-20 minutes a
night off the bench in a combo forward role off the bench.
He's the de facto fourth big man for the Lakers when they
have foul trouble or injuries up front, so that adds value,
but the bulk of his playing time will likely come behind Ron
Artest at the 3.
Don't expect huge offensive numbers from him, except in the
assist department. He doesn't contribute enough to be a
solution as a starter but his defense and passing ability
make him a quality reserve, and he should have a better year
shooting than he did a season ago.
2008-09 season: Artest turned 29 last year, and he clearly
lost a step at the offensive end. He shot a career high on
3s (39.9 percent) and still managed a career worst from the
field overall (40.1 percent), which means he really
struggled inside the arc. Artest's mark wasn't the worst in
the league (see Daequan Cook comment), but it was the worst
among players who shot often. Among players with at least
500 2-point attempts, only Baron Davis' 40.6 percent mark
came close to Artest's 40.1 percent.
The story within the story is Artest's declining ability to
get to the rim and finish. His shot attempts in the
immediate basket area declined by nearly a third, and he
converted only 45.1 percent of the ones he took -- an
appallingly poor number for a strong, 6-7 forward. Artest
had been in the mid-50s each of the previous four seasons,
so it's possible this was all a huge fluke. A decline in his
speed and leaping ability, however, appeared to be the more
proximate cause. The concomitant dip in his free throw
attempts supports that line of thinking.
Despite all the bricks, Artest offered value. He finished
eighth among shooting guards in rebound rate, 13th in steals
and helped as a shot creator on a team that desperately
needed one. Of course, his defense was a huge plus.
Scouting report: Artest is a fantastic defensive player,
with superhuman strength that allows him to check bigger
players and a blazing fast left hand that strips balls in
the wink of an eye. He has quick feet too and can bottle up
opponents at any position from 2 to 4. Artest struggles when
he has to chase opponents through screens, as his size
gives him trouble stopping, starting and changing directions
on the move. Nonetheless, he is one of the game's elite
wing defenders and did commendable work against Brandon Roy
and Kobe Bryant in last season's playoffs.
Offensively, Artest tends to get tunnel vision. He'll break
plays and go on his own or force up horrendous shots in
traffic. He's a good spot-up shooter and handles the ball
well for his size, and he destroys small defenders on
post-ups when paired in physical mismatches. However, he
seems to have lost some leaping ability and has trouble both
getting to the rim and finishing once he's there.
Of course, any discussion of Artest must include some
diagnosis of his mental state. He's had numerous meltdowns
and run-ins over the years, and while he comported himself
well on the court last season, stories have already leaked
out about his bizarre behavior off the floor.
2009-10 outlook: Artest signed a five-year deal with the
Lakers for the full midlevel exception. OK, everyone now: "A
five-year commitment to this guy? Are they even more insane
than Ron?"
Look back at the history of players in their late 20s and
early 30s signing for the full midlevel -- it's uglier than
Keith Richards after an all-night bender. Most nonstars
begin declining rapidly at Artest's age, so there's a huge
danger of the last two or three years of the deal becoming
total dead weight.
For most teams, such a contract makes no sense. But for the
Lakers, a different logic applies. First, their championship
window is right now so winning the bidding was more
important than paying for a couple of ugly years at the end
(which they almost certainly will). Second, the main
competition for Artest's services was Cleveland, whom they
may end up facing in the Finals, so L.A. killed two birds
with this one stone. Third, Artest is the one player in the
league who can match up physically with LeBron James, again
the Lakers' likely Finals opponent. And fourth, Artest is
good value in the short term at the midlevel.
Artest will start at small forward and serve as the Lakers'
primary wing defender. His offensive numbers are likely to
shift radically since he's now the fourth option, provided
he's aware of this fact. Reducing his role should help him,
however, because. Artest can make spot-up 3s and take
advantage of matchups. He won't be asked to make decisions
in pick-and-rolls as was the case in Houston, which is
better for everyone.
Additionally, he'll return to playing a pure 3 role so his
declining quickness will be less of an issue than it was as
a Rocket, where he mostly played shooting guard. For those
reasons, he'll be a valuable acquisition for as long as he
keeps his head on straight. There's the rub, of course -- it
might be a week, or it might be a decade. We just don't
know. L.A. can afford to take the risk, though.
Shannon Brown
2008-09 season: The unsung hero of the Lakers' championship,
Brown turned around the most important game of their season
(Game 5 against Denver) with an electrifying third-quarter
dunk. His arrival at midseason solidified the backup point
guard situation before it spiraled into a major problem.
Brown played far better in a Lakers uniform than at any
other point in his career, partly because he finally stopped
trying to create a shot every time he got the ball.
Relaxing enough to let the game come to him, he shot 52.2
percent with the Lakers and 47.3 percent overall. The
results are apparent looking at his stat line -- his usage
rate is way down but his assist ratio and TS percent are way
up. It took three years and four teams, but the light bulb
finally went on.
Scouting report: Brown is a good athlete but a tweener at
6-4. He doesn't handle the ball well enough to be a
full-time point guard, but he's a bit short for a shooting
guard. He also hadn't shot the ball well from outside until
the end of last season with the Lakers. Since he came into
the league with a rep as a shooter and played so
sporadically the previous two seasons, I'd bet on him
continuing to shoot in the mid-to-high 30s on 3s.
L.A.'s system caters to oversized point guards like Brown,
largely masking his weaknesses because Kobe Bryant does a
lot of the ballhandling and the guards don't have to do much
pick-and-roll. Instead, Brown spots up for jumpers and runs
out for transition finishes, two areas where he's proved
quite capable.
Defensively, Brown's size and quickness make him solid, if
unspectacular. His in-between size is something of an
impediment -- quick guards can give him problems and so can
bigger wings -- but the league is now littered with players
of Brown's size posing as "combo" guards and he matches up
well against them.
2009-10 outlook: Brown re-signed with the Lakers on a
two-year, $4.2 million deal and will be one part of the
Lakers' three-headed point guard solution. How much he plays
depends less on him and more on Derek Fisher and Jordan
Farmar; it was Fisher's late-season decline and Farmar's
baffling ineffectiveness that gave Brown the opening last
season. The most likely scenario puts him in a 15-minute
role off the bench, with the playing time varying wildly
depending on the matchup situations in any particular game.
Kobe Bryant
2008-09 season: He did it. Bryant had lots of help, of
course, but ultimately history will regard him much more
kindly because he was the best player on a championship
team, which couldn't be said about his first three rings.
For a player who absorbs criticism for being a
less-than-ideal teammate at times, it was particularly
important for his legacy.
His skill level didn't require such validation, of course.
Bryant ranked anywhere between second and fourth on any
fan's list of the all-time great shooting guards, depending
on which position you confer on Oscar Robertson and your
thoughts on Jerry West.
Interestingly, Bryant played more aggressively than he had
the previous season despite the strong supporting cast. He
didn't clock as many minutes because of the stacked roster,
but he averaged more points per minute and sharply cut his
turnover rate despite the league's second-highest usage
rate.
He didn't score more efficiently, however, and that was part
of the one negative story of the season. Bryant's free
throw rate turned sharply south, dropping to 6.9 per game
last season. While this is a ton for most players and still
ranked 11th among shooting guards on a per-attempt basis,
it's a sizable drop from the nine a game he earned the
previous season or the 10+ he had in the three campaigns
prior.
Bryant reduced the 3-pointer's importance to his shot mix, a
good decision since he's never been terribly potent from
distance (34.1 percent career, 35.1 percent last season).
Instead, half his attempts were inside shots -- his most in
five years -- and he made 53.8 percent of them. That data
contradicts the declining free throw numbers, but it appears
more of his shots were short-range jumpers rather than hard
drives to the cup. He logged nearly 50 percent more shots
from the "in-between" distance than he had a season earlier.
Scouting report: Bryant was an All-Defense first-team pick
for the fourth straight season, and while that may have been
generous, he's certainly among the better defenders at his
spot. This is particularly true late in games, when he tends
to buckle down, but he picks his spots and doesn't defend
at full bore for much of the game. His smarts and physical
skills get him by in the first three quarters, but he'll
lose track of players off the ball.
Offensively, he owns an amazingly diverse arsenal, but the
go-to move is the pull-up midrange jumper off the dribble.
He doesn't go to the basket as hard or as often as he used
to, but the threat of his drive remains potent enough to
clear space for his jumper, especially since his ball skills
rank among the best for a player his size. Bryant can
easily play point guard and ranked 18th among shooting
guards in pure point rating. Even his weakness, 3-point
shooting, isn't a weakness so much as an area where he's
merely average instead of among the league's best.
2009-10 outlook: First, the bad news: Declines in free throw
rate are a fairly ominous canary in the coal mine, and
Bryant is 31 with a lot of mileage on his legs. For that
reason, I don't think he'll match last season's numbers.
Having said that, I wouldn't expect a precipitous decline
either. Bryant keeps himself in fantastic shape, has had few
knee problems, and has already shown he has the smarts to
adjust his game to whatever new realities his body deals
him. Additionally, the Lakers should be able to manage his
minutes very carefully and reduce the regular-season wear
and tear. That, in fact, may be a bigger drain on his
numbers than age -- if he plays only 34 minutes a game, his
averages will drop no matter how well he plays.
Bryant is eligible to sign an extension with the Lakers that
would keep him in uniform for at least three more years.
The alternative is that he could opt out of his deal and
choose unrestricted free agency next summer. Nobody expects
the latter outcome, especially after he led L.A. to the
title.
Andrew Bynum
2008-09 season: It was déjà vu for Bynum. Once again he
looked great in the first half of the season before a knee
injury slowed him down, and while the Lakers rolled through
the postseason, he struggled to regain his early season
form.
But those who watched him only in the playoffs left with too
pessimistic a viewpoint, because his overall body of work
was very impressive for a 21-year-old center. Bynum
demonstrated that his prior season's performance was no
fluke, averaging nearly a point every two minutes while
shooting 56 percent from the floor. He also rebounded
solidly, ranked in the top quarter of centers in blocks per
minute, and for a young big man, he impressed with his
ability to defend without fouling.
Scouting report: Opponents have a tough time matching up
against Bynum because he's huge at 7-1 but has soft hands
and a nice touch around the basket. Plus, he's a good passer
out of double-teams. Additionally, teaming him with Pau
Gasol provides another advantage since Bynum often finds
himself covered by the lesser of the opponent's two post
defenders. The Lakers made a concerted effort to feed Bynum
the ball in the middle when he was in the game, as his usage
rate nearly equaled Gasol's.
Bynum emerged as a massive defensive force early in the
season, using his size and shot-blocking ability to protect
the paint, but he didn't move nearly as well in the playoffs
and struggled as a result. He has trouble maintaining his
intensity, but his sheer size makes him a tremendous
defender in the basket area. Like most big centers, he finds
pick-and-roll defense troublesome away from the bucket, but
the trade-off is more than worth it.
2009-10 outlook: Despite his struggles in the postseason, my
projection system likes Bynum this season. Actually, it
REALLY likes him, projecting him to lead the Lakers in PER,
several percentage points ahead of that guy in jersey No.
24. Young centers with offensive skills often make
tremendous strides in their early 20s, and no one would be
shocked if Bynum became the next one to do so.
For Bynum, however, the operative question is not "how well"
but "how often." He's a 285-pound center whose knees broke
down midway through two straight seasons. If he's this
brittle in his early 20s, what's he going to be like when
he's older?
That's why the Lakers have to make a concerted effort to
manage the pounding on Bynum's knees, both by keeping him at
the lighter end of his weight range and by carefully
monitoring the time -- both in games and in practices --
that his knees absorb the strain of carrying such a huge
frame. He's clearly an All-Star-caliber talent from the
quads up, so the only question is whether the knees will
allow him to put 82 games of such quality into one calendar
year.
Jordan Farmar
2008-09 season: One of the biggest disappointments in the
Lakers' championship season was Farmar's unexpected
regression. Thought by many to be the heir apparent to Derek
Fisher at the point, he struggled on both sides of the ball
and by the playoffs had lost most of his playing time to
Shannon Brown. While Farmar's athleticism remained a factor
-- he finished in the top dozen point guards in both blocks
and steals per minute -- he was an empty trip waiting to
happen with the ball.
Farmar finished 59th in pure point rating, which was an
inexcusable performance for a small, quick guard on a team
with this many weapons around him, but he struggled even as
a scoring guard. He made only 39.1 percent from the floor,
and his foul shooting (58.4 percent) has become absolutely
indefensible.
Overall he ranked 62nd out of the league's 69 point guards
in TS percent and finished with a PER in single digits. For
a healthy 22-year-old who posted a 15.29 PER a season
earlier, it was an epic crash -- narrowly missing out on the
league's largest decline (see chart).
Scouting report: Farmar is one of the league's more athletic
point guards, as he possesses an explosive vertical leap
and a speedy first step. He's a good outside shooter too,
especially off the catch, but his judgment as a point guard
needs a lot of work. Too often he forces shots early in the
clock, and when he puts the ball on the floor, he struggles
to find the open man. He scores at a steady clip when the
shots are falling, but last season they weren't.
Defensively, Farmar performed admirably and was much
improved from a season earlier, becoming the Lakers' go-to
guy against the quick point guards who bedeviled Fisher and
Brown. Farmar is a good athlete who is quick to the ball and
his leaping ability helps him contest shots even against
taller players. He has to get stronger and dial up his
intensity and consistency, but he's good already and could
get quite a bit better.
2009-10 outlook: On paper, Farmar enters the season as a
quasi-backup who will split minutes with Brown behind
Fisher. In reality, much depends on which Farmar shows up.
The guy from 2008-09 is unlikely to play much, but he has
the talent to perform much, much better, and had shown it in
the 2007-08 campaign. If he plays like that again, he'll
blow past Brown and Fisher into the starting job by
midseason, because he's clearly the most gifted of the
three. He just hasn't determined how to translate his gifts
into consistent offensive success yet.
Derek Fisher
2008-09 season: Fisher hit arguably the biggest shot of the
year for L.A., nailing the game-tying 3 at the end of
regulation in Game 4 of the Finals that drove a stake
through the Magic. It was a nice recovery from a horrid
first three rounds of the playoffs, where he shot 35.6
percent and had Lakers fans wondering aloud why he wasn't
replaced.
That said, Fisher definitely started showing his age at 34.
He lost nearly four points off his 40-minute scoring average
and prevailed in his annual competition with Luke Ridnour
to see who could be the league's worst shooter in the basket
area. Fisher made only 37 percent of his tries at the rim,
the lowest mark of any player with at least 100 attempts.
Mostly though, he stayed out of the way and tried not to
screw up. Fisher had the fourth-lowest usage rate among
point guards but the second-best turnover rate. And despite
the poor finishing, he had a decent TS percent because he
was so good from midrange. Fisher made 49.7 percent of his
long 2s, the third-best mark in the league (see Jameer
Nelson comment) and hit another 44.1 percent on in-between
shots.
Scouting report: Fisher is one of the strongest guards in
the league, and that enables him to cover bigger players
without any trouble. He can also switch onto wing players
and push them away from the rim with his power, and he uses
his might to shrug off defenders on the dribble and go up
for his jumper. Fisher's D has slipped on the perimeter,
however, and against quick guards he rarely stays close
enough to make his muscle a factor.
Offensively, Fisher's biggest limitation is that he can't
jump at all anymore. This hinders him greatly finishing at
the basket, and it's also why he posted one of the worst
rebound rates in basketball last season. A left-hander, he
loves to pull up off the dribble in transition for long
jumpers -- that's the shot he made in Orlando, for instance.
Otherwise, he rarely seeks to penetrate, instead moving the
ball and spotting up on the weak side.
2009-10 outlook: Fisher will begin the season as the Lakers'
starting point guard, but whether he ends in that position
is open to speculation. He's 34 but doesn't rely on speed or
athleticism. All he does is shoot jumpers and rely on his
muscle on defense, so those shouldn't be affected much by
age.
The big worry is whether he can defend the position
adequately enough, especially as opponents tend to employ
more small, quick guards. He'll have a role regardless, but
with three point guards on hand of roughly equal capability,
it may end up being a smaller one than a season ago.
Pau Gasol
2008-09 season: This generation's gold standard for rip-off
trades, Gasol arrived from Memphis in exchange for a sack of
potatoes and provided the final piece of L.A.'s
championship puzzle. He shook off the maddening efforts of
his teammates to play keepaway from him by going to the
boards for the ball, snaring a career-high 3.1 offensive
rebounds per game, and shooting a career-high 56.7 percent
from the floor thanks to all the putbacks.
Combined with his passing and ballhandling skills, Gasol's
improvement on the boards helped him deliver one of the most
efficient offensive seasons in basketball. Gasol jumped to
seventh among centers in TS percent with an outstanding 61.7
mark and ranked third at the position in pure point rating.
This made it all the more baffling why he didn't get more
touches -- unbelievably, his usage rate was scarcely better
than that of Jordan Farmar, Andrew Bynum or Josh Powell. Had
Gasol not grabbed so many second shots for himself, his
usage rate would have been lower.
He was particularly good on "in-between" shots -- not at the
basket, but inside 10-12 feet. This is the most difficult
spot on the floor, with most players shooting in the
mid-to-high 30s from this range, but Gasol is so long and
skilled that he hit 48.8 percent, placing him third in the
league (see chart).
Again, one can only wonder how much more damage he could
have done from that distance with more touches.
Gasol has never been known as a physical force, but he did
manage to keep himself on the court. He committed only 2.29
fouls per 40 minutes, the league's lowest rate among
centers.
Scouting report: Gasol possesses rare skill for his size.
Although he's 7 feet with long arms, he's quick and converts
shots around the basket with either hand. He's also able to
get post position by making quick cuts despite his lack of
strength and operates effectively as either a scorer or
passer once he's there.
Gasol shoots decently from midrange too, making over 40
percent on long 2s for the fourth straight season which,
combined with his passing ability, makes him very adept
operating from the high post. Additionally, he runs the
floor well and frequently beats opposing big men down the
court for dunks.
Defensively, Gasol contests shots well thanks to his length
and comfortably checks perimeter 4s away from the basket.
He's also quick enough to defend pick-and-rolls, but his
lack of strength makes him a liability closer to the basket
area. Therefore, he's better defending as a 4 than as a 5,
which is another of the several hundred ways the trade from
Memphis to L.A. helped him: Andrew Bynum's presence limits
Gasol's minutes at center.
2009-10 outlook: Gasol's rock-solid, year-to-year
consistency translates into a predictably narrow range for
his numbers this season. He'll average 20 points and 10
boards per 40 minutes while shooting in the mid-50s, with
his minutes being the biggest variable. L.A.'s strength
could prove to be his statistical detriment, because if
Bynum stays healthy, Gasol is highly unlikely to match last
season's average of 37 minutes per game. If so, that will
drag his scoring and rebounding averages down to the 18 and
8 range, but it won't prevent him from making another
All-Star team.
Lamar Odom
2008-09 season: Odom's willingness to come off the bench and
move permanently to the frontcourt became an underrated key
to the Lakers' title run. Those moves didn't exactly play
into his best interests as a rising free agent, but they
turned the Lakers' frontcourt into a much more potent force.
The Lakers fed him more touches as a reserve (note the rise
in usage rate) and had he not shot bricks from the free
throw line (a career-worst 62.3 percent), he would have
significantly improved his PER from a season earlier.
Odom continues to be a strong playmaker, ranking fifth among
power forwards in assist ratio and 13th in pure point
rating. But he's also underrated pulling off the "big guy"
stuff -- he landed 12th among power forwards in defensive
rebound rate and ninth in blocks per minute. He's continues
to be a middling outside shooter (37.8 percent on 2s outside
the immediate basket area, 32 percent on 3s) but
contributes so much in other ways that he retains tremendous
value.
Scouting report: The left-handed Odom is a tough matchup for
opposing big men because of his ability to handle the ball
and play away from the basket. Opponents lay off him because
he's not a great shooter, and smart ones overplay his left
hand since that's where he goes 90 percent of the time.
Nonetheless, he has a big quickness edge against most
frontcourt players and frequently creates help situations
that lead to buckets for others.
Odom doesn't have the thickest build, but he has become an
impressive rebounder and at 6-10 can use his size to post up
smaller opponents when the opportunity arises. Defensively
he's done a solid job as well, though his intensity has
peaks and valleys and physical frontcourt players can give
him problems around the basket.
2009-10 outlook: After much drama and hand-wringing, Odom
returned to the Lakers on a four-year, $32 million deal with
the fourth year only partially guaranteed. This provides
outstanding value for L.A., as Odom has been extremely
consistent at a minor-star level over the past half decade
and likely would have reaped bigger rewards in free agency
had he been more willing to relocate.
Instead he'll fill the same role he did a season ago,
playing 25-30 minutes a night as the Lakers' primary
frontcourt reserve and moving into a starting role should
Andrew Bynum's knee give way again. He should shoot better
from the line than he did last season and seems to have
conceded little to age even though he turns 30 this year. If
Bynum stays healthy, then Odom will barely scratch double
figures, but that's hardly an indication of how much value
he adds to this team.
Sasha Vujacic
2008-09 season: Those of you who read this space a year ago
knew not to take Vujacic's career year at face value, so the
rebound in his numbers last season didn't come as a huge
shock. While he certainly can shoot it -- the guy made seven
straight free throws with his eyes closed in front of
reporters during the Finals -- he fell back to a more mortal
36.3 percent from 3-point range last season. Since Vujacic
rarely got to the rim -- even most of his 2s were jumpers --
it pulled his shooting percentage down to 38.7 percent.
Only six shooting guards fared worse.
Despite his uncharacteristically shoddy shooting, Vujacic
yielded value. Because 3s comprised so many of his shots,
his TS percent was solid, and he had no other negatives.
Vujacic ranked third among shooting guards in turnover rate
and a surprising 15th in assist ratio, nearly doubling the
latter mark from a season earlier. He also ranked second at
his position in steals per minute, with the only drawback
the rampant fouling that accompanied it (4.76 personals per
40 minutes, third among shooting guards). During his rare
free throw attempts, he succeeded, making 92.1 percent from
the stripe. I have it on good authority that he kept his
eyes open during the games.
Scouting report: Vujacic doesn't move well laterally, but
he's a feisty defender who competes and does a good job
overall. It helps that at 6-7 he's long for a guard and can
challenge shots or play an extra half-step off most ball
handlers. He lacks muscle and physical mismatches down low
bedevil him, but L.A. rarely assigns him to cover players
who can expose that weakness.
Offensively, he's strictly a catch-and-shoot guy with a
line-drive release, though he's been too willing to pull the
trigger at times. He'll occasionally shoot off one dribble
in a pick-and-roll, but he rarely penetrates into the paint.
For the most part, as soon as he puts the ball on the
floor, he looks to pass rather than to score. The exception
is during transition when he's all but guaranteed to fling a
pull-up J from 20 feet. He handles the ball well enough to
be an emergency point guard, and for a guy with a rep as a
gunner, he posts solid assist rates.
2009-10 outlook: Though he's played fairly well the past two
seasons Vujacic has averaged only 17 minutes a game over
the two campaigns. His playing time should be scarce again
this season, as the Lakers already have a shooting guard who
seems to be working out pretty well. As a result, don't
expect much to change for Vujacic. He'll shoot in the high
30s on 3s and he won't turn the ball over, both of which
make him a valuable reserve. But on this roster, he has no
shot at moving up to a more prominent role.
Luke Walton
2008-09 season: It was another tough season for Walton, as
Trevor Ariza usurped his starting gig at small forward, and
Walton's scoring and shooting rates plummeted. He retains
one phenomenal skill, however: Among forwards, he's one of
the best passers in history. Walton once again led all
forwards in assist ratio with an astounding 30.6 (meaning
nearly a third of the possessions he used ended with an
assist). A lot of point guards don't earn marks this high,
including all three of the ones on his own team.
Walton forced some passes and had a high turnover rate, so
he had to settle for second at his position in pure point
rating, but his passing ability is even more amazing when
you consider he's not a gifted penetrator. He just has
superior court vision.
It's vitally important to his survival because of his
limitations as a scorer. Even on the few shots he created,
Walton wasn't very accurate. He shot 29.2 percent on 3s and
made less than half his inside shots, and his TS percent
ranked 53rd out of 63 small forwards.
Scouting report: Walton is a combo forward who can post up
when matched against small wing players but moves out to the
perimeter against bigger matchups. From either spot his
advanced passing ability makes him a good set-up man, but he
has trouble scoring on his own. His favorite ploy is to
post up against 3s on the left block, and opponents almost
never double him there out of respect for his passing
ability. He's not as effective spotting up on the perimeter,
and on drives to the rim he lacks the explosion to finish
at the rim.
Walton is an underrated defensive player who has the size to
bang with power forwards and the dexterity to check most
3s. He's an enthusiastic help-side defender who scaled back
his gambling quite a bit last season -- that's why his rate
of steals went down. He fouls too often and doesn't rebound
much, but his overall effort is commendable.
2009-10 outlook: Walton again should see 15-20 minutes a
night off the bench in a combo forward role off the bench.
He's the de facto fourth big man for the Lakers when they
have foul trouble or injuries up front, so that adds value,
but the bulk of his playing time will likely come behind Ron
Artest at the 3.
Don't expect huge offensive numbers from him, except in the
assist department. He doesn't contribute enough to be a
solution as a starter but his defense and passing ability
make him a quality reserve, and he should have a better year
shooting than he did a season ago.