Lakers: Kobe Bryant effect tracker

[RsxPiimp]

Kobe's rumored to come back this week. It would be interesting to keep track of how his return will affect the Lakers. It will dispel any notion that they are better with Gasol, who mind you, has been painfully awful this season (Jordan Hill is the teams best player big man). Despite of Pau's poor shooting, the Lakers won in several meaningful games (5-14 vs Detroit, 1-10 vs Houston, 5-18 vs Atlanta). Many thanks to Steve Blake, Jordan Hill and Farmar for picking up the slack.




They are 9-9 and currently 11th and out the playoff seeding in the Western Conference.

Team stats

Off Rtg: 103.6 (16th)
Def Rtg: 105.5 (19th)
Points Per Game: 101.1 (14th)
FG%: 46%
Pace: 97.5 (3rd)


Its intriguing to see how Kobe will impact not only the teams efficiency and production but also Gasol's. With Kobe gaining the opposing teams defensive attention, Pau in particular will definitely see a rise in this category.


Gasol's key offensive stats and efficiency as of 12/03/13

14.3 PPG with 41% FG PER: 14.9 (career lows)


Kobe has hinted that he's willing to accept a new role. He's an excellent play maker so I'm ecstatic to see him fulfill this role. We'll see a bit more of Kobe Johnson this year.



I'm expecting the Lakers to finish the season strong (41-23). I'll bump this halfway through but all signs points to the Lakers being a much better team with Kobe on the court.

[StrengthAndHonor]

That's some lofty expectations. I had them making the playoffs in the prediction thread, but I don't know anymore. They'll probably finish with a 500 record, few games short of making the 8th seed.

And with Kobe taking the ESPN ranking personal, we can forget about him being a playmaker. I expect the same amount of shots, lower amount of efficiency. But its fun to speculate. We'll see.

[Cry Havoc]

Kobe has hinted that he's willing to accept a new role. He's an excellent play maker so I'm ecstatic to see him fulfill this role. We'll see a bit more of Kobe Johnson this year.