Incoming LAKERS

So in last post we saw how Lakers have some players who left the team, for better or for worse. We will now look into how team has  restacked its ranks with this year’s free agency market.

Roy Hibbert: Lakers had 1 huge crater in their team, a defensive big. Roy Hibbert is the meteor size presence which can fit into that hole perfectly. Free agency started this year like Best Buy sales before Christmas offering iPhones at 1$ apiece. 17+ players were dealt with within first 15 hours of free agency. Lakers faced 2 embarrassing meetings with Lamarcus Aldridge where it was leaked out that Aldridge was eager to come but was not happy with the basketball side of their presentation to him. Greg Monroe promised a meeting but decided to join Bucks before meeting Lakers. Other prestigious players also left the playing field before Lakers planned to switch to plan B or C. Roy Hibbert was a non-factor in most of recent Pacers games. Pacers were notorious for being slow team and high on defensive but low on offensive side. Legendary Larry Bird, the team president already announced that Hibbert will be dealt or be given less playing time as team will try to move on to faster paced more offense oriented philosophy. Lakers came with an offer like a knight in a shining armor and Kundli matching was perfect and the basketball gods blessed the marriage. What I mean to say is that Hibbert got a chance to show his importance to the world before he hits free agency in 2016, Lakers can get one of the top 2-3 defensive bigs in the game and we can now focus on getting other players without having to know Lakers may suck more in future. Here’s a look of a concept called Verticality which was present in NBA rulebooks, but made famous only by Hibbert: 

Lou Williams: So, Lakers aren’t worried about defense. They have Kobe: Top 3 scorers of all time, Clarksson: mini westbrook, Young: Kobe beta gamma delta version, Randle: an offensive beast in college. Lakers thought, what the hell, let’s get the reigning 6^th man of year Lou Williams. When you have good defense, it doesn’t help to get more firepower, coz offense is best defense, right? Needless to say another masterstroke of Lakers’ front office.

Brandon Bass: Lakers had Boozer last year who can grab some rebounds, hit mid-range shots and be healthy and fill in as a veteran for some quick minutes from bench. Boozer’s defense was as atrocious as Mukesh Rishi’s acting in Gunda. Brandon bass provides exact same thing only except he is just below average defender for his position and height.

MWP: Metta World Peace is awesomeness. After spending 1.5 years outside NBA he spent some time playing in China to become Panda’s friend [not verb, it was his name, no shit] Now he came back to Lakers. He wasn’t offered a job right away. He had to come in top shape, rub shoulders with other hopefuls, earn that last spot and be in the team. The former defensive player of the year was again necessary to either be the defensive stopper or to guide young guns on defensive knowledge. MWP spent most time with Randle and these two bulls had their fun poking, pushing ramming etc. into each other playing one on one as practice. Randle seems to have grown tremendously from this exposure to such defensive talent. Hopefully MWP has more to offer to Lakers apart from the lovely interviews he gives to remind us all that basketball is a game, it’s supposed to be fun.

Marcelo Huertas: remember we had Nash? The best offensive genius of 2000-2010 decade? We took him in free agency and his age finally showed up to rob us of some wonderful years we may have had with him? Am sorry for my day dreaming, but I can’t help to dream again with what-ifs. Lakers got Marcelo Huertas, the offensive legend outside NBA, often called as Brazilian Nash. He is 32 yrs. old and part of some teams which have kicked and punched about their capacity thanks to the impossible passes this man can make. He left a hefty contract in spain to try his talents in best of the best in NBA. Lakers took the opportunity and gave him the spot. Here’s a look at his assist collection:

Lakers Free Agency Outgoing

So in previous post we discussed about Lakers Draft process and the new young generation of Lakers. Let’s take time to see how the roster has changed from last year concerning the veterans.

Let’s analyze the subtractions from previous year’s squad and how will it weaken the team this year.

Steve Nash: Steve Nash is modern day legend of a basketball player. 6 of the Top 10 offensive teams of all time had Steve Nash as the starting point guard. A player who is 3^rd all-time in Assists and who has multiple 40-50-90 [40% 3pt shooting, 50% field goals, 90% free-throw shooting] season is just irreplaceable. However let’s face it, he was not useful for even 1 game for Lakers this past season. However his training sessions with Jordan Clarksson made Jordan a better point guard in later part of season. At age 41 Steve was useful only as a mentor. So play wise Lakers have lost nothing. Good thing we haven’t missed out on his grey matter. Steve stays in California region and has shown strong reluctance to move to any other area concerning mainly for his children schools and the weather. He has also explicitly said that he can’t forget what Lakers organization has done for him and how much is he indebted to them for the support during his later years while being injured. He has already had few sessions with Jordan clarksson and the new incoming d’angelo Russell. He has also volunteered to help Lakers in other departments if there is need. If Nash is able to impart wisdom of passing and shooting to the future backcourt i.e. point guard and shooting guard of Lakers, then it’s actually a gain to have Nash retired and focus more on teaching than playing, getting injured and spending time in rehab.

Carlos Boozer: Boozer is like a cd player which runs perfectly fine but can’t be used only because we now live in world of smart phones and iPods. Boozer can be an above average scorer as 2^nd option coming from bench, can grab rebounds. But his per minute efficiency is very low. With respect to defense I got only 1 thing to say that even if I play against him, me being seasonal player and he being an NBA great, I will look like Rajnikant in front of  his defense. His age at 33 looks even less promising. He has been fairly healthy till now but it isn’t a wise decision to invest playing time and money on an aging player who can’t play 1 aspect of game. He is better suited to a championship aspiring team which needs battle tested veteran for experience during playoff time.

Jeremy Lin: Personally speaking I liked Jeremy Lin. He has good off-ball game and he can be a spot up shooter complimenting Kobe Bryant and Jordan Clarksson. He has good on ball game where he can drive in and get buckets [remember last year he was the best finisher within 3ft range of basket, just behind lebron james] He is a monster in pick and roll offensive scheme. However we got d’angello Russell in draft and it wouldn’t be fair to either lin or d’lo for getting less playing time. D’lo needs all the experience by playing to develop his game as fast as he can to be a pillar for future. Lin needs to become a great player right now to salvage his image and career. Either ways, it’s a loss for Lakers but its somehow mitigated by drafting D’lo. I wish him all the best for future.

Ronnie Price: Ronnie was one of the favorites of Byron Scott because he put effort in defense. That’s all the positive I got for him. He was on wring side of 30, short height, poor offensive game, good effort but bad effectiveness on defense. He was not fit for another season in Laker land.

Xavier henry: Last year was supposed to be a breaking out year for Xavier but he suffered Achilles torn ligament and he missed the remaining season. Lakers cut him from squad to make way for others who can play. Lakers however allowed him to continue rehabbing and practice in Lakers facility. However Xavier has 4 yrs short career till now and he spent almost 55-60 % of that time in injuries. Not a trait someone would like either in a youngster or a veteran. He was cut and we have a roster spot for a healthy player.

Jordan Hill: Jordan Hill was famous for his energizer Bunny image and his relentless work on rebounding and interior scoring. His offensive rebounding was top notch and he had developed a good shooting range too. He showed promise in ins fitness after he quit his drinking problem and worked harder in summer time. He was slated to be the team’s starting center. He showed promise in his offense and his rebounding/stamina. However he was simply outplayed by other starting bigs in the league. His reliance on his outside shooting meant it impacted his rebounding and interior scoring and hence shooting percentages and hence offensive efficiency of the team. He was given a comparatively huge contract of 9mn$/yr only to see if he works hard enough to earn it. Also it was given to be used as a trade bait for other teams to dangle during trading window. Lakers at the end of season expected more from Jordan than what he offered. He could have improved his game further in this offseason but it was simply too much money to give. Lakers had team option on Jordan hill’s contract and they didn’t claim it before deadline. Lakers however were willing to take him back at bargain price but he was snatched by other team before Lakers could make a move. So another all the best to him for his future endeavors.

Wayne Ellington: He was a veteran presence in the locker room along with the ability to play good minutes. Wayne had capability to knock down open 3pt shots and he was a very good spot up shooter. He was average in defense but had familiarity to Byron Scott’s offense/defense and hence valuable. However he wasn’t a great piece to build for future and was more like a spot gap solution at shooting guard position. He signed with other team in Free Agency. Hope he has a good career ahead.

Wesley Johnson: This is one player I can say “All the best for future” only to sound like a gentleman, but I seriously am angry and frustrated for his performances. Wesley is like your old Maruti 1000, it works good in  some very specific conditions and it will make you feel like a genius in Car world, but these days are so far apart and rare that remaining time you decide if to sell it for 100 bucks or just dismantle and sell spare parts. We had already talked about Wesley’s inconsistencies in previous year in a different post. He was given a stable Small Forward position in the team where his focus was to only defend the best player of opposite team and knock down some open 3s as spot up shooter. Being a top 5 pick in draft, this should seem like a cake walk especially considering he is often called the athletic freak. But Wesley took the word inconsistency to a whole new level and he simply was too much expensive for Lakers to invest on even at the league minimum salary. Enough said.

Ed Davis: Ed Davis came in as a low price player [1.1mn$] But again he was the steal of last year’s free agency. He is known as a defensive guy who has very good offence within 10ft distance of the ring. He has very limited play in midrange and long range game but he does enough dirty work of setting up screens and moving off ball that he covers his poor shooting with it. He was one of the most consistent and might be only defensive player in Lakers squad last year. However it became pretty much obvious that he can be a very good bench player unless he develops some bulk to tackle starting centers and power forwards. Lakers wanted to have him back in this year squad at an affordable rate. Ed Davis wanted to come back to Lakers, however he got more lucrative offer from Portland team and Lakers were still unsure if their Plan A/B/C would be successful , so he had to sign with a different team. I wish Ed luck to find more money and playing time in his career.

Having said this lets also look at the players which we are inheriting from previous year’s squad.

Kobe Bryant: The living legend. Read about him in my previous post. I will only tell about the stuffs which he did previous year. Kobe Bryant was both awful and awesome in this last year. Let’s start with awful part. Kobe Bryant, the 2^nd most awesome shooting guard of all time was so lost in shooting department that his field Goal % last yr was 37%. It’s not all, there were games where he had close to 50% field goals too. Whys is that bad, you ask? Coz that means that there were games where the shooting percentages were somewhere in range of 11-15%. That’s out rightly downtrodden. Kobe received a lot of flak for his shooting percentages and more so for his love for mid-range shooting which is scoffed at in today’s NBA . Kobe was also criticized for his isolation plays and selfish ball chucking since he stepped foot on the basketball court but this year it was actually a thing which hurt the team very very much. Now the awesome part. Kobe was coming of 2 career threatening injuries, ACL rupture and Knee Fracture. Not to mention he is 37yrs of age and has 3^rd highest playing time ever at 55700+ mins of playtime over his 20yr career. This means that if he would have quit, people will still be singing praises of his longevity and ironman fitness and his diamond studded career. Kobe being Kobe was adamant to leave on his own terms. He became fit for the training camp. He played with Nick Young and Wesley Johnson in the offseason to impart tem valuable knowledge in footwork, shooting angles, defensive positioning one on one defense and others. He took Julius Randle under his wing and gave him 1^st hand experience of the work ethic which needs to be put to become an all-time great. Now about his awesomeness in actual on court production. He played almost 39 minutes per game last season. How much is that? It’s the number which Tim Duncan hasn’t played since 2009. That’s 6 yrs ago. Also not to mention he was fairly effective in his time playing. He produced 20points per game, 5assists per game and 5 rebounds per game for a sizeable part of the season. Since 2000, Kobe is the only guard to achieve this 6 times, and first time in history with usage rate 30%+ and with age more than 35. To give you a perspective, it’s like asking a 59 yr old salesman to meet some all-time high sales targets while working 12+ hrs a day and yet Kobe delivers it 6 times in last 10 years. That’s phenomenal. Kobe also surpassed Michael Jordan in the most point scored list and now sits at number 3. He also became the only player in NBA history to have more than 6000 assists and more than 30000 points. There were games in which he had triple double ie 10+ points, 10+ assists and 10+ rebounds and there were games in which he had 15+ assists. All the time while being the most used player of the team and being a leader in points per game for the not only for his team but also NBA. This didn’t continue for long as he was injured again with tissue damage in shoulder and he had to sit out for the rest of the season. Another interesting piece of information, Kobe was again selected for the All Star break celebrations but he didn’t play and asked fans to vote for other players as they deserve chance too.

Nick Young: Swaggy P was a shadow of Kobe Bryant this past year. This should have been a good news for everyone except for the fact that Kobe was having one of the worst seasons in his career and Nick was still barely a shadow of that. His shooting percentages were even worse than Kobe and he was injured for most part of season. He played minimal defense and his clashes with coach wasn’t good either. Overall it’s a blessing for him to get another season to prove to Lakers that he still can play for the team. He was discussed throughout the league for trade possibilities. Chances are he might be a trade bait in December-February window. If he has a good season, good, else he will surely be out for next season from Lakers roster.

Ryan Kelly: Ryan Kelly was a very good player under Mike D Antony era. He surprised everyone with his offensive versatility  and mobility to other teams. He had a rough year with injuries. When he finally was healthy, he was played out of position and he struggled very much to adjust. He is now one of the candidates to be traded or to be waived by the team. He has little margin of error this year or his NBA career is over.

Robert Sacre: Let’s be honest. Sacre is known in NBA more for his cheerleading and celebrations than his skills. Expectations with him were very low and he delivered on them. So he didn’t do much to move the needle either in his favor or against. However Sacre showed a lot of improvement from mid-range shooting and defense. If he continues to work more these aspects he can really find a place in this league as a substitution center for the good teams. 

Lakers Draft Analysis 2015

Last Year we looked at how the roster was formed for Los Angeles LAKERS and I had many articles in the pipeline. They didn’t see daylight as my enthu went south, pretty much at the same rate as LAKERS’ season performance.

However I am committed this year to bring even more dedicated effort to my writings and analysis. Planned to get it rolling along with twitter feeds and bring more sense to my airy creativity. Also I would try to scout many more teams and give my perspective on how can they make moves for better future. Without further ado, let’s start with LAKERS this season.

Draft History:

LAKERS ended last season being the 4^th worst team. Yeah, you heard that right. I am rooting for one of the most successful franchise which suffered an all-time worst franchise record and it was still not worst in the league. Even crazy stat is that this year the 2^nd worst team was New York Knicks which has General Manager none other than the legendary PHIL JACKSON, one of the most successful coaches in NBA history and the man behind championship years of Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant.

Coming back to topic, LAKERS had 4^th worst record which meant that they  had 27% chances to move into top  3 draft pick selection, almost 31% chance to drop out of top 5. Why is this info necessary? Coz if they fall out of top 5, the draft will go to Philadelphia 76ers. Talk about a risk for a losing organization which is cash strapped and in transformation phase with little power over future to dictate forming super-teams.

After 3 years of misery finally, the basketball gods smiled on LAKERS luck and we jumped 2 places to get 2^nd overall pick in this year’s NBA draft.  LAKERS-nation went mad and crazy and this year’s draft class had franchise changing talent at top 4-5 which meant we do control some part of future in our hands and move ahead with it.

We drafted Julius Randle last year with 7^th pick and he could see only some seconds of action before breaking his tibia bone and being out for the whole season. He had a screw in his foot in his college year which was ok but needed to be removed eventually over a period of time. So LAKERS took opportunity and did 2 operations on Julius randle’s leg and he was pretty much done playwise and health wise last season. However important thing to note, he has all the skill set necessary to be the Power Forward for the future.  For my friends who don’t know much about basketball, its position number 4 and usually donned by the other big guy from centre position.

We then drafted Jordan Clarkson at 46^th pick by buying his rights from Washington Wizards and boy-o-boy did we get away with a robbery. Clarkson became the top shooting guard of the last year’s rookie class and was nominated for the All NBA rookie 1st team. Saying he is shooting guard of future would be a stretch as we have been spoiled by Kobe Bryant and not even Dwayne Wade or Carmelo can convince us that they can replace Kobe. However it’s awesome to see Clarkson play high quality basketball and is being touted as mini Westbrook. Honestly looking at his drive and speed and aggression I won’t deny that either.

Considering we had holes to fill all around the roster and prepare for the future we wanted young guys who can play really well. Over the course of last season we lost games but what I liked most was we got some good pieces for future. We got Tarik Black from Houston Rockets. Tarik can immediately replace Jordan Hill as an energy guy off bench. He is one guy who can get as many rebounds in a game as he can score points in as many minutes he play. You get what i mean to say.

We got Jabari Brown and recruited him to D-League and he was the highest scorer per game in the time he was there. We brought him back and he became lightning in the bottle for bench scoring.

However they are not long term starting options or the core future of the team if we want to continue winning championships in future. Its just like having Roger Binny or Axar Patel to give is quick 15-20 runs when others are building their innings. Again, catching my whim???

Draft This Year:

So here we are, we have shooting guard, power forward who can be high level starters next year in league. We have one guard and other pf/c for bench. So by my calculations we need point guard, small forward and a centre for our future.

This year’s draft was full of guys who can change course of a franchise for years to come. Sadly none of them were small forward. In PF/Centre there was a huge battle between Karl Anthony Towns and Jahill Okafor. In point guard it was DÁngelo Russel and Emanuelle Mudiay. Let me give you brief outlook on these guys as they would be household names in future.

Karl Anthony Towns [KAT]: Karl Anthony Towns Jr. is like ultra-dynamic modern day big. To give you comparison of his game let me say that if he realizes his potential he would be next Kevin Garnett. AWESOME!!! He was in conversation for top 2-3 pick all year but by the end of the year it became pretty evident he would go 1^st overall to Minnesota Timberwlves. WHAT? Kevin Garnett mentoring future Kevin Garnett under the coach who raised and developed Kevin Garnett….Thats freaking Garnettception.  If Timberwolves messed up and passed on him, they would be blamed for eternity for the stupidity and pretty much any of the other 29 team who would be picking 2^nd would snatch KAT. That 2^nd pick was LAKERS and Timberwolves didn’t out-think themselves and KAT went to Minnesota.

Jahill Okafor:  This guy is your throwback to the 90s centre who can demolish a team with his back to the basket post-up game. Player comparison would Tim Duncan.  If you are tired of seeing battles between Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett for being best power forward of their generation, I have a bad news for you. It will continue in the form of Okafor vs KAT. Jahill okafor has the most advanced post-up moves and he can toy around with NBA centres. Yes, he was that talented in college. He has upper and lower body strength to maintain against the NBA level physicality and the height and skills to be elite. The only knock on his game is that he is considered as a poor defender. However I would like to give him some grace marks in this critique. He was very less aggressive on defensive end as his team wanted him to not get in foul trouble. He avged 1.6 fouls per 40 minutes in college career. A Very-Very low number. Also he seems to have good numbers when taken look at advanced statistics. Opponents shot 30% lower than average when being guarded by Jahill okafor at centre. Not to mention he has 7’5’’ wingspan. That means he has ability to alter shots with small jumps and defensive positions and use his length to defend at high level.

 Emannuele Mudiay: This guy didn’t go to college. He had such supreme confidence that he took off to china to play among grown up men. He displayed enough talent and numbers that scouts said he is 2^nd coming of John wall and as aggressive as Westbrook - Another lethal combo. Bad news he suffered leg injury mid-season and had to pull out from the tournament which became a red flag for teams which wanted to draft him. Also he doesn’t have a good outside shooting range.

D’Angelo Russell:  Pop quiz. Who were front runners in 2015 MVP race? Thats right..Stephen curry and James Harden. What would you do if I say there is a prospect who is projected to be as skilful in handles, passes and shooting as Curry and has leadership quality and iso-play like harden. Thats exactly what I said too. SHUT UP AND JUST DRAFT THIS KID. D’Angelo Russell is a wonder kid of this draft class. He has sweet stroke, great handles and leadership qualities. Would it be enough to give you basketball orgasm if I say that scouts and coaches said he has passing ability as awesome as Magic Johnson? Ok. Next candidate please.

Coming back to LAKERS. LAKERS had huge interests in Jahill Okafor. LAKERS is known for its dominant  history of extremely Elite Big players at centre position starting with Mikan, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Shaquille O’ Neil, Pau  Gasol. So Jahill Okafor fits the bill perfectly for being the next big legend. Russell on the other hand was acing the draft workouts too. They were torn between the two of the most polished and awesome prospects in recent years.

But we also have another history of Lakers to tell you. LAKERS have a history of drafting the guards and trading for bigs. Right from Jerry west to Magic Johnson to James Worthy to Elgin Baylor to Kobe Bryant were drafted by LAKERS while the ones I mentioned were traded in subsequent years. This years’ free agency had notable names in power forward or centre position like Kevin love, Lamarcus Aldridge, Marc Gasol, and rumours about Demarcus cousins being available by trade. LAKERS took a bold step and drafted Russel.

Last year we took Jeremy Lin’s dinosaur contract of 15mn$ a year from Houston which we accepted due to deal sweetner of 27^th pick from Houston. We also had our own 34^th pick in 2^nd round of draft. Another pop-quiz. Guesstimate the amount of homework LAKERS did for these 2 late round picks?. Try. Guess some? They auditioned 66 people for these 2 picks!!!! Then they recalled 18 of them again 1 night before draft to zero in on few. WOW!! And I thought I had the most sincere dudes in my class.

LAKERS took Larry Nance Jr at 27^th Pick. Another power forward who is son of NBA player Larry Nance and was defensive player of year for the Wyoming.

At 34^th LAKERS took Anthony Brown, a small forward who specializes in 3 and D. Whats this? Will explain in future post.

Wait, the post is not ever yet. LAKERS also took Robert Upshaw who was undrafted. And it’s too early to say but scouts and general managers already calling him a steal of the draft by LAKERS.

So here we are. After facing one of the worst seasons of history of franchise [not hyperbole, it actually was] LAKERS have jumped back from the dead. They have a solid foundation for future. In future posts I will discuss more on the free agency part of LAKERS plan. But it gives me great comfort that LAKERS have D’Angelo Russel, Jordan Clarkson, Jabari Brown, Anthony Brown, Larry Nance jr, Julius Randle, Tarik Black and Robert Upshaw as future of the franchise.

More about in-depth analysis of LAKERS picks in coming posts. Also will discuss on some of the jargons I use and how I define players. If I have enough time on hand I will also discuss various strategies used by teams offensively and defensively. Till then Adios Amigos.

Lakers Analysis Part 2

In the 2^nd part of our series let’s look at the different end of spectrum for Lakers, the so called scrap heap. People who might not make to the playing team except for the garbage minutes. People who are almost on un-guaranteed contracts playing of r next contact. People who are dangling between NBA and D-League. I might include few players who are injured and are almost as good as these players in terms of playing in a game.

Robert Sacre: The 60^th pick in the 2012 draft is known all over the league for his celebrations and cheering his team mates. Mike D Antoni is the legend of his offensive philosophy and equally infamous for his defensive ones. Last year Lakers were one of the absolute worst in the league defensively. Yet Mike D’Antoni said that Lakers have Sacre as the hardest working defensive big man. Now that’s a good thing to hear. Though the source is not so reliable especially when defense is the point in matter but it’s still good to be talked in superlatives while being a scrap in a team like Lakers. Sacre if he works on his skill can really be a very good backup center in league for a long time or may be a starting center for a low seeded team.

This year when you saw Sacre playing you will know instantly that he has really a very good 12-15 foot range. Approx. 50+% of his shots are coming off the mid-range. That’s a good thing to hear. But it’s a good thing if we assume if the player is equally good in close range. Strangely that’s not the case with Sacre. You expect a 7 footer to play close to the basket, get rebounds and play close, dunk and get putback points. Sacre doesn’t play that game. There are some games when he will play good defense but is lost in rebounds while some in which he will get good rebounds but is lost in defense. If he gets that thing corrected then he can be a as good as we think him to be. 

Sacre shares training room and locker with Jordan Hill and Ed Davies – one of the most premiere bigs in rebounding and offensive rebounds. If the rebounding bug gets to Sacre on a consistent basis it would be a huge plus. Since both Hill and Davis are 6’10’’ they know the mechanics of getting a rebound and have the smarts for it. Sacre’s 7 foot frame and his weight can help in getting more rebounds. Sacre has also shown he can be healthy for long time. He should develop more core body strength and fight it out with J-Hill and Ed for rebounds. This is where Boozer can help in his knowledge as we previously discussed. Also Sacre has shown he can defend. But he fouls at a very high rate. He plays approximately 15-20 mins. a game and he still gets 3-4 fouls which is huge. I assume they are the growing pains of a defensive bigs. Some good defensive centers in league today for e.g. bogut, de andre and others had this problem of being foul prone. It shows they were more aggressive. This aggression helps in getting the exposure to various situations. Either fouling when trying to block, or fouling when taking a charge, or fouling when giving help defense. So it’s good if Sacre sees lots of film and learn from his mistakes. It would also help if he sees film of how other defensive stalwarts like Howard or Marc Gasol or De Andre react in similar situations. If he develops this sense of how hard to go for blocks, when and how to go for help defense, how to take charge then he can really be a good defensive presence. Sacre should grab at least 8 boards per game to help team mates. Lastly on offensive side Sacre has shown that he is a good screen setter. There is no statistic to measure that thing but he passes the eye test. Sacre should consider Tyson Chandler as his role model in this aspect. Like Tyson he should only focus on setting screens, make weak side offensive movements, go for lob to dunk, go for offensive rebounds and put backs, be a threat from mid-range to pull other bigs out of paint to provide driveways and passing ways to guards.

Ryan Kelly: If you can get appreciation from Mike Krzyzewski saying that you are one of the best bigs in the draft class then you surely have talent in your pocket. Ryan Kelly has that. Sadly he is not able to use it till now. With injury riddled seasons in his first 2 years in league it’s difficult to make case for you being in NBA. Couple that with the fact that you have negligible presence on rebounds and defense, it’s a recipe for disaster. Having said this, Kelly is one of those bigs who if can work on his strengths and go to Spanish league he can become an offensive juggernaut. It may be blasphemy but if Kelly lives to his promise, I can see another Nikola Mirotic in him at least speaking about the offensive repertoire.

Kelly needs time to develop. He is physically fragile and there are many aspects of his game which needs lots of development and practice and repetitions. Sadly hard work and weak body don’t go hand in hand. This makes me say that Lakers cannot be the team who can offer that opportunity to Kelly. However Lakers can choose to exercise the option on Kelly, let him play in D-League or overseas and bring back 2 years later as an offensive spark off the bench, it would be a great addition to the whole team. Let me review about his game in a similar standpoint.

Kelly is not one of those hulky bigs who can rebound or defense. He is a specialist. And that means your competition will be specialist too when you are on the court. It now means that he has to be elite in what he does if he wants to stand chance to be a rotation player in this league. Kelly should focus in getting his core and legs healthy for the next season. It should not matter if he gets bulky but he should at least have lean and mean body like what Garnett had in his prime, slim but tough. Kelly should focus only on his 3 pt shooting. He is already very good there but he should add more aspects to his 3 pt shooting. What that means is he should do more practice in shooting off the dribble with right leg, shooting off the dribble with left leg, catch and shoot with catching front, catch and shoot with catching left, so on and so forth. Running across the court left to right and shoot and vice versa. He should be absolute beast in his 3pt shooting. He should get lateral speed to defend opposite stretch 4s on the perimeter. He should see films of nowitzki on how he defends his assignment on perimeter. He should see some films of how Dirk fakes on 3 attempt dribble once and catch and shoot from the elbows. He should copy 1 more step from Dirk, if Kelly takes the ball on the block and plays post, if he can face up and drive for lay-up or hook good, if not then this fade away flamingo jumper should be as deadly as Dirk himself. Again add more layers to it by shooting similar percentages when turning left and turning right. Kelly should get minimum of 5 boards in a match, 1 steal, 1 block and good perimeter defense, very very good offense. He can be a mystery puzzle for Lakers. But again he needs 1-2 years of seasoning before that.

Xavier Henry: Xavier Henry has turned many heads in his Lakers campaign in 2013 season. Sadly his injury bug caught up to him and he ended up missing half of the games. If we rule out the injury aspect of Xavier’s career, he might be getting a huge extension from some team right now. That’s not the case and we got this talented kid. With his positives we also inherited his injuries and he again in the list of scrap players to fight for next contract. Xavier has a very explosive game. He can penetrate and finish at the rim or at least get contact and get to free throw line. He also has a respectable jumper from 3 which makes him a decent threat. Problem is he has very less offensive game if you leave these 2 aspects. He has poor pull up jumper, poor mid-range game, poor passing, poor floater. He needs at least 1-2 years to develop at least 2 of those options. Again Lakers can’t provide him that time. Again Lakers would have to stash him outside or assign to D-league.

What Xavier has to do is nothing much than what Ryan Kelly has to do. Be Healthy first. Then concentrate on distributing when he slashes to rim. If he can avoid his tunnel vision when he drives and look for teammates while also having an option to drive or just pull up for a floater or pull up it will make him a very good offensive prospect. He is below average defender which makes me tend to say that Lakers are just keeping him and his partially guaranteed contract as a part of trade feeder or to waive him off if they want to absorb some salary later. Assuming Lakers want him to be a part of the puzzle he should be a Jodie Meeks type of player who doesn’t need to have balls to be effective. He should develop game around playing off ball where his only role is to set screens for Kobe or Lin and just catch and shoot for 3s or slash and make drives to basket after setting screens for pick and roll. Also not to mention he has to develop his defensive side of game. Since he doesn’t have defensive intellect and the physical tools to be a lockdown defender he has to lots of film study to be effective.

Ronnie Price: Ronnie price is everything Lakers wanted from a point guard at the fag end of the free agency at such a low price. He is veteran. He is good in defense. He applies pressure. He has a decent 3pt shot. He can run offense. That’s more than what you can ask from a 9 yr veteran point guard who was unemployed till late September in a point guard dominated league. You should keep expectations low when evaluating such talent. Having said so let’s discuss what he brings to the table and what he can improve and what he can offer.

So Ronnie is good PG. He has decent handles. He can run an offense. He applies pressure on defensive end. But all of those things can be offset by he having lesser ability to create shots for himself and others, small height, decent penetration and 3pt shooting. This is a knock mainly on Ronnie’s physical attribute than his ability. Had he been a 6’4’’ guard he would be commanding 10mn$ per yr from teams. But with his size he has to forgo many advantages to opposing team PGs in offense and defense. We will take the examples of other small guys like nate robinson, allen Iverson, Isiah Thomas to judge Ronnie because they had the ability to improve other aspects of their game so drastically that their heights weren’t a factor. 

So Ronnie needs to develop a very very good 3 pt shooting. It’s his 3pt shooting which will open doors to other aspect of his game. If he shoot lights out from 3 means guards will pressure more on perimeter, which means he can just fake to shoot, let the defender jump and penetrate inside. Now with the penetration he has to have a good handles to penetrate to the basket or at least draw enough defenders to kick the ball outside. Chances of him finishing at the rim is very less because of the size differential which means to make the defenders honest in collapsing on him he should develop a good floater. I won’t expect too much from Ronnie but if he can develop a 5 foot floater and shoot 35+% from 3 he can be a la Tony Parker guy for the 2^nd unit. Another opportunity which waits for Ronnie is that Byron wants to run Princeton. Princeton offense doesn’t depend heavily on playmaking skills of a PG which will hide some of his deficiencies. If he understands and internalizes the nitty gritties of Princeton and can execute to a T, it might bring a new balance to the 2^nd unit scoring overall.

Wayne Ellington: Wayne was brought to the organization for his 3 pt shooting. Frankly speaking I don’t expect much from him except for this thing. He has a rather average offensive game. He has some fade ways some post play some iso play tricks in his bag but other than that I don’t have much expectations. Only way I can expect some stuffs from Wayne is in a situation where the Lakers find less number of offensive options. Nick Young is injured for a considerable time, Nash is out of season, Randle is out for season. This is one of those peculiar cases which makes me consider the above mentioned offensive tricks and in fact expect something out from him.

Wayne has to have his 3pt shooting hand hot always. And by always I mean every second he is on floor. He has been brought as a 3 pt specialist in a team which despised 3pt shooting in preseason and by the time 3^rd game rolled Coach Scott and Kobe accepted they should in fact take more 3s. This brings us to have unrealistic expectations from Wayne. He needs to keep his 3shooting white hot by practicing daily all the drills I mentioned for Ryan Kelly. All Wayne has to do is play off ball and play catch and shoot all game. He should use his average set of offensive game only when he finds a mismatch in defense or if he finds himself a separation from defense in spacing or timing. He should be one of those guys who sets screens and run all offer the floor to confuse defense and then pick a spot and just pop for a 3. If he can develop the exact game what we asked in previous sentence he can be a beta version of JJ Reddick for us and it might again be helpful in 2^nd unit scoring. May be Kobe can get some rest against weaker teams if Nick Young comes on 1^st unit SG and Wayne backs him up.

Steve Nash: Nash is a legend. I am lucky to be born in an era when Kobe and Nash played. This sentence is not because they both are Lakers but only because I saw impossible offense from Iso from Kobe and impossible team offense by Nash [though latest versions of San Antonio Spurs are becoming equally poetic as Nash’s Suns] The amount of offensive knowledge Nash has in his mind is more than all other Laker players and coaching staff sans Kobe Bean Bryant. Lakers aimed for the stars and fell flat on face in deep quick sand with the trade with Suns for Nash. We are still paying that price. But Nash understands what Lakers mean and how the organization takes care of its players and their family and values their relationship with them. Nash has expressed his decision that he will quit if he is traded coz he doesn’t want to move away from his family at 41 situated in California. Nash is known as the best team mate ever and the ultimate professional in basketball circles.

So what expectations do I have from Nash? Well Nash wasn’t able to help team in 2012-2015 era when he played. May be he can help team help in post 2015 era being an assistant coach or a player development coach. Lakers can either waive Nash or get a buyout from Nash as neither will help cap problems. If Nash retires only half of his salary gets off the books. They can get injured player exception of half his salary if they file for it, which they have. They can also do a trade and it will come off their books but I will write about it in different blog entry. So how does Nash help Lakers?

He should invest all his time to be fit. Not fit for game but just be able to walk and talk in life. I wish him all the luck and good life ahead. After a hall of fame career he surely deserves a good healthy happy life. Now he should focus on the PGs of Lakers for our future. Lin has strike a bond with Kobe and his work ethic along with Asian-American population in Los Angeles and Lakers presence in Asia, he might be a piece who can be retained by Lakers. Similarly Jordan Clarksson looks like a steal in 2^nd round. If Nash can help Lin develop in distribution and look out for his team mates without developing a tunnel vision while driving in, Lin can be unstoppable. Lin already is elite in finishing around the rim, he has very good 3pt range. If Lin develops this last piece of puzzle along with his recent flashes of a good floater Lin can carry forward Nash’s legacy of being elite point guard without being elite athlete himself. Jordan Clarkson can very well become the 1^st guard off the bench for a long time and can be a candidate for 6^th man awards. He is a combo guard and Lakers should develop him as a combo guard. He can’t handle ball as easily as PGs and don’t have the supreme offensive game as other SGs have. But the combination of his size, speed, handling and scoring can help in substituting for either guard spots from bench.

Nash can also help other team mates understand the timing and nitty gritties of a pick and roll game. He can teach them how to play off ball so that a PG is always in a position to kick the ball to them for shots. Ed Davies and Hill can get that timing and positioning and rolling tips from Nash, the person who steered Amare Studamare and Dirk Nowitzki in his prime. Also others like Ellington, Wesley Johnson, Young and Henry can learn how to position themselves on 3 pt line or to blast for a dunk when moving in transition or playing a fast game. Be it Princeton or Triangle it’s more or less just variations and complex combinations of setting screens and passing and shooting and getting free. So Nash can help others [non guards] develop the offensive side of games. He can really help in shooting forms, quick release. Nash never had fastest speed or the length or the bulk to overpower other guards, he was just the smartest who knew how to use angles and his body forms to get perfect shooting arc to be the best offensive guards of all times. He can teach those specific details to undersized Davis, Hill and Randle respectively.

Nash knowledge of shooting and passing and his philosophy of team basketball along with Princeton offense-which is spread out and involves all 5 players means if the players buy into the system and pick Nash’s brain Lakers can soon turn into another symphony just like Phil Jackson’s Triangle or 13-14 Spurs. Nash should be a huge part of Lakers in future to help bring championship back to Lakerland. Buss family needs to take this opportunity to lock him down as assistant coach. We already lost out on Shaw, Jackson, Fisher, Hollins, Blatt, Messina. Scott is a good coach and I won’t want to write him off, but those are clearly better choice considering the statistics.

LAKERS Analysis

So we have started with the regular season and we know about these Lakers so much more that we knew 1 month back. This training camp, preseason games and the first few games gives so much knowledge about these Lakers that we can start our analysis and start dissecting moves and speculate. That’s the reason why I would like to start my new series of analysis. This series of analysis would mostly be for Lakers but I would also be covering my thoughts on other teams.

Let’s start. Lets the get the obvious out. LAKERS ARE BUILT AROUND KOBE. So to create its ideal rotation, we will put Kobe at the focal point in Lakers offense and defense. I would like to mention our strategies in few key parameters like points, assists, rebounds, 3pt %, and offensive rebounds. But it will also include something intangible in defense, team chemistry, setting screens, hustle etc. Again I would be a realist Lakers fan but still be madly optimistic about our chances to win the title. And this is where I would like to bring my blog as a voice of reason which explains what can be done, how can we improve, what should we not do to bridge the gap between current reality and the title hopes. Also the magic number to reach playoffs bottom seed is 50 wins. Also in terms of ranking in western conference Lakers doesn’t fit in top10. Spurs, OKC, Rockets, Portland, Suns, Clippers, Warriors, Mavs, are better. Nuggets, Pelicans are somewhat better. This means we are almost destined to miss the playoffs.

Kobe is A+ star. But we also need to understand that Kobe is 36 yrs old now, that’s almost 80 yrs in basketball terms – the amount of running, training, injuries, banging up, jumps, changed directions are too much to cause lost athleticism in a players body. He may not run as fast, jump as high, quick as he wants. Kobe is extremely elite in his basketball knowledge, footwork and techniques. These are the years when Kobe should play extremely efficient 30 minutes per game and others should take the remaining load. Kobe can then push in playoffs and bring home the title.

To sum it all it means that even is Kobe is A+ elite star and the focus of offense and defense, he should not take all the load of offense and defense.

Defenses should be allowed to pick their poison between providing help defense or double-teaming on Kobe or provide good defense on other side. Offense should have the fear to not mess around Kobe even though they know he is slow and not explosive. And this is how we should play our game. Since these are initial days we will focus on each player one by one and tell what they should do so that they fit in a puzzle to win the title. Without further ado, let’s begin.

Jeremy Lin: Jeremy Lin is one of the most prized possessions of the remaining Lakers which we have. And I am not at all referring to Linsanity which he created. It is mainly because Kobe never had anyone of Lin’s caliber to accompany and share the offensive load. Kobe being old, he needs to keep pressure off his game as much as possible. And that would be possible either if Kobe can plays off the ball or if he has someone reliable to kick out for 3pt shot or if he can get some action and playmaking from weak side so that defense doesn’t collapse on him. With all due respect to Nash [2012-2014] and Fisher Lin is better than both of them in offense and defense. Kobe’s tutelage and experience will rub on Lin and he can be a solid starter by the end of the regular season.

Lin is very very good Pick and roll player. He has a very elite penetration game. In fact he has 3^rd highest scoring percentage in 5ft around the basket after Lebron and Durant if we don’t take into account the centers and power forwards. He has also a good eye to find open shooters. That’s good. But he has a tendency to be turnover prone. There are various types of turnovers, it may be due to poor ball handling or poor shot selection or poor decision making. Lin is better in all 3, where he lacks is his he seems lost in offense. He is born and brought up where he was the scoring point guard and led teams to winning. Linsanity was the time when knicks were bare thin in roster due to injury and had to rely on Lin- the D leaguer to take over games. Also he was playing in MDA point guard friendly system which padded his stats. But Lin has seen his share of bad days and he has evolved into better more mature player. Lin needs a system to work in, where there is clear cut 1^st option, if its taken out by defense a clear cut 2^nd option, then 3^rd option but there should also be enough freeway to make his own decision and exploit the mistakes made by defense.

This brings us to Princeton offense by Byron. Byron has spent 90+% of time of preseason training on defense. I think he should now focus on setting offensive sets and roles and responsibilities. Lin can be so much better in point guard oriented Princeton offense where Kidd, CP3 & Irving shined. His assist to turnover ratio will improve. He wont have to keep dribbling balls to think and make things happen by himself and if needed he can rely on Kobe to go and work his post game and be a spot up threat from beyond 3 pt line. Lin can be the next reclamation project under Byron Scott and a load sharer with Kobe. He is young and athletic and puts effort in defense. With all NBA defensive specialist mentor in Kobe and with the finer nuances which Kobe will share and with hard work and video study Lin can be a good smart defender and yet top 10 point guards in league in offense.

Carlos Boozer – Boozer is the 2^nd veteran which we have who will share playing time and load with Kobe. Expecting something out of Boozer in defense means we are too naive to the world of NBA. I won’t expect that. What I do expect out of him is be the good veteran presence in locker room. Be the ultimate professional and handle the Beta players in the group. We already have demanding personalities in Kobe and Byron. We have extremely self driven professionals in Nash and Randle. So it would really be helpful to have a person who is established in the game to do the balancing act of pushing themselves hard on floor yet be happy and cheerful in the locker room.

That’s just the personality of Boozer. Boozer has made his bread and butter by offense and that’s how he should contribute. When he is playing he should constantly make himself a threat, either as a mid range shooter or with his high post game. He is also a very good rebounder for his height. But he has to contribute most when he is training and not on floor playing. We have some really unpolished gems in Ed Davis , Ryan Kelly, Randle and Sacre. He should set his training camp along with Mark Madsen [Assistant Coach – development and big players] and get these people learn about developing a shooting range. He can certainly help them in getting a go-to move in the post. Make them do many repetitions and then also help them develop a counter to the go-to move.

I was almost tempted to say that Boozer should try to develop weak side defense or at least be a big body in paint so that others can focus better on their defensive assignment but then I remembered if Tom Thibeadeu can’t make him play defense then probably no point wasting time on that aspect. Boozer can be a high post presence. He can be a presence on the defensive rebounds while his counterpart center focuses on defense. I have no expectation from Boozer apart from big body that can keep his hands up and jump and provide 2^nd thoughts in penetrator’s mind. Then he should just turn back and fight and hustle for a rebound. Boozer has been known as a volume player and needs time and patience to let his game develop. I would recommend if he comes off the bench to provide scoring punch along with Nick Young and others.

Boozer is an undersized PF at 6’9. The fact that he has been an all-star on the basis of his scoring and rebounds shows that those 2 skills are very elite. It remains to be seen if he can get those stats because of his old age and reduced athleticism.. But it’s his knowledge which is important. He knows how to maneuver his ways around bigs and play close to baskets. He has that knowledge to choose his spots and pop once in a while with a mid-range jumper. He has developed strength and intellect to fight and rebound among the league’s bigs. It’s these qualities which should be valued. Lakers should not expect anything apart his knowledge sharing and experience sharing in Boozer’s stay here in Lakers. He is not worth enough to play another season at Lakers as it might hinder in growth of Randle and it will block money to sign other marquee signings. But if he can give those knowledge to Ed Davies, Randle, Ryan Kelly, Sacre and Jordan Hill, we can happily spend 3mn$ on him and give him stable 15 mins off bench for this season.