Lakers: are putting their future in Clarkson's hand?

[ambchang]

What's with the Lakers and pinning their hopes on inefficient, chucking guards who plays no defense?

All that hype around Clarkson, how a 2nd round pick made the All Rookie 1st team on one of the most storied franchise in the league, is really just that, hype.

Fact that Clarkson got playing time and "excelled" on the Lakers isn't a function of how good he is, but more a function of how bad the other Laker guards are.

First off, even in raw stats, 12 points and 3.5 assists a game, even on only 25 mpg isn't all that impressive, especially when you are shooting 44.8% from the floor.

Then you look deeper in the stats, and you see:
- 1.6 TOV, which means that for every assists he had, he had a turnover. Not that great of a number
- Then you see 3 pt% of 31.4%. which is a below average 3 pt shooter in today's league. It's impossible for a PG to lead a team anywhere being just an average 3 pt shooter, let alone below average
- TS% of 52.8% isn't all that great for a PG either, even a chucker like Iverson had a lifetime TS% of 51.8%.
- ORTG of 107 and DRTG of 112. Can't really lead your team anywhere if your net rating is -ve.
- VORP of 0.6. Hey, at least it's not negative, but we know that Clarkson is marginally better than an average PG, which is pretty good, even excellent, for a 2nd round pick, but for the future starting PG of a team?

[Koolaid_Man]

What's with the Lakers and pinning their hopes on inefficient, chucking guards who plays no defense?

All that hype around Clarkson, how a 2nd round pick made the All Rookie 1st team on one of the most storied franchise in the league, is really just that, hype.

Fact that Clarkson got playing time and "excelled" on the Lakers isn't a function of how good he is, but more a function of how bad the other Laker guards are.

First off, even in raw stats, 12 points and 3.5 assists a game, even on only 25 mpg isn't all that impressive, especially when you are shooting 44.8% from the floor.

Then you look deeper in the stats, and you see:
- 1.6 TOV, which means that for every assists he had, he had a turnover. Not that great of a number
- Then you see 3 pt% of 31.4%. which is a below average 3 pt shooter in today's league. It's impossible for a PG to lead a team anywhere being just an average 3 pt shooter, let alone below average
- TS% of 52.8% isn't all that great for a PG either, even a chucker like Iverson had a lifetime TS% of 51.8%.
- ORTG of 107 and DRTG of 112. Can't really lead your team anywhere if your net rating is -ve.
- VORP of 0.6. Hey, at least it's not negative, but we know that Clarkson is marginally better than an average PG, which is pretty good, even excellent, for a 2nd round pick, but for the future starting PG of a team?

Bottom line....he gave us more than Tony Parker gave you this past season

[spurraider21]

rookies struggling on defense is pretty common, and also at using D-Rating here, their entire roster is awful defensively. there is still legitimate questions as to whether he's legit or just a guy putting up numbers on a scrub team, though

i doubt you actually watched him play amb, i thought he looked solid, especially for a rook. i think he can be a pretty good 6th man. i dont think he's quick enough to be a true pg

[Killakobe81]

Clarkson had a solid rookie year and really came on late. He was horrid and couldnt get any scratch but improved as the year went on. If you want to do a deep dive why dont you check his numbers after February ...

Tough to say he is the real deal or a scrub because he was on a ty team as noted by amb. But acting like we know he isn't any good is just as foolish, right now he is TBD.

Also must be noted he is older than the typical rook nowadays ...

[Koolaid_Man]

He made all first.. scrubs don't do that...torching all the top guards in the West

[Sean Cagney]

He made all first.. scrubs don't do that...torching all the top guards in the West

Could he do it with the whole game plan focused on him as the star for a full year? I will wait and see how he does next year before I say he is going to be a player in this league. I saw games late where they keyed on him (Clippers game) and he was shut down and looked frustrated out there forcing bad shots.

[ambchang]

Bottom line....he gave us more than Tony Parker gave you this past season

He didn't even play in the post season ....



oh wait, you are right.

[ambchang]

rookies struggling on defense is pretty common, and also at using D-Rating here, their entire roster is awful defensively. there is still legitimate questions as to whether he's legit or just a guy putting up numbers on a scrub team, though

i doubt you actually watched him play amb, i thought he looked solid, especially for a rook. i think he can be a pretty good 6th man. i dont think he's quick enough to be a true pg

The entire roster was horrible defensively, Clarkson was just one of the worst.

[sendman]

Bottom line....he gave us more than Tony Parker gave you this past season

So you are happy with your season.
I wish you many more seasons like this one, for you to enjoy.