Kobe Bryant
Grade: A
2012-13 has become the season Kobe could no longer hide how bad his defense had become. He went from being an elite defender to being an average one about four seasons ago, in spite of all those undeserved First-Team All-Defense selections. But up until these past few games, Kobe has been outright awful on defense this season. That’s due mainly to lack of effort on the defensive end. He still has the ability to lock guys up on-ball when he chooses to, but he’s spent the majority of the season playing safety and gambling for steals and screaming at officials while his man is getting an easy lay-up.
However in spite of all that, what Kobe’s done on offense this season has compensated for his defensive deficiencies, at least for the purpose of issuing him a letter grade. Anyone foolish enough to blame Kobe for the Lakers’ struggles probably hasn’t watched a lot of their games. It’s scary to think how much worse this team would be without him.
Dwight Howard
Grade: B-
If my grading was based on expectations, I doubt Dwight would garner anything above a C. The truth is it’s kind of unfair to judge him on what he’s done this season because he’s clearly not close to 100%. In spite of what could either be either lack of health or lack of effort, he’s still averaging 17 points and a league-leading 12 rebounds per game. Few plays this season better symbolize the disappointment in both Dwight and the Lakers this season as his late-game block of Andre Miller a few weeks ago that went right to Danilo Gallinari for the 3-point dagger.
Pau Gasol
Grade: C-
Is Pau being misused? Probably. But that doesn’t change anything from the fact that he still misses way too many gimmes and can’t guard anybody who can run a 40 in under six seconds. A career 53% shooter, Pau has only made 43% of his shots this season. He’s now averaging 12.7 points per game, nearly six fewer than his career scoring average. His durability has also come into play. He’s already missed 13 games this season after missing 19 over the previous four seasons combined. It’s easy to say it’s time to trade him. Not so easy to find a taker that also won’t compromise the Lakers upcoming cap space in 2014.
Steve Nash
Grade: Incomplete
Lakers fans waited patiently for Nash’s broken leg to heal. He was going to be the answer to what ailed the team during his absence. How could people judge this team while it was being led by Darius Morris and Chris Duhon, right? Instead Nash still hasn’t figured out a way to fit in seamlessly. Except for maybe a handful of games, Nash has tried way too hard to get others involved at the expense of doing what he needs to do for the team to win. He’s one of the greatest shooters of all-time. There’s no reason he should only have 26 free throw attempts after 17 games. It’s hard to knock his defense considering his age and expectations. But if his offense isn’t at least countering how he hurts the team defensively, then he’s doing more harm than good. It’s still only 17 games. I’m willing to wait another 10 or 15 before issuing a letter grade.
Metta World Peace
Grade: B
Since last season there were calls from fans to amnesty Metta World Peace. Most were probably unaware that he spent most of last season either overweight or dealing with a bad back. He came into camp in great shape and early in the season looked like the Ron Artest who played for the Pacers. While there’s no denying that his effort is there every game, he’s still missing lay-ups and wide-open three-pointers when it seems the team needs them the most. He can still defend anyone not considered an elite player but he can no longer be counted on to defend LeBron James, Kevin Durant, or James Harden. Then again, who can?
Next Page: The Bench Unit
Grade: A-
Before his season-ending hip injury, Jordan Hill was one of the few brights spots in an otherwise miserable season. There were wins that would have been losses and losses that would have been blowouts if not for Hill’s willingness to do the dirty work. The good news for Lakers fans is that he’s under contract for one more season after this one. He might not have lived up to being the eighth-overall pick in the 2009 Draft but he has proven he belongs in the NBA and he deserves an everyday role. Hill adds his name to the list of Mitch Kupchak’s acquisitions who most of us just assumed was a throw-in.
Antawn Jamison
Grade: D
In much the same way that a teacher deserves blame for a child’s inability to learn, it’s hard to give Jamison a D without at least assigning some of the blame to both he and Coach D’Antoni. Nobody expected Jamison to play any defense. He’s believed by many to be the league’s worst defender. But there’s no reason that he should have six “DNP-Coach’s Decisions” on his game log. The fact is, when he has played, he’s found a way to produce on offense. His professionalism and experience is something that this team has lacked far too often this season.
Earl Clark
Grade: A-
The only reason he got the minus was because he’s only been a part of the team’s rotation for a couple of weeks. The truth is that Clark has found a way to not only replace the energy the team lost when Jordan Hill got hurt but also provided them with the athleticism this team is sorely lacking. His energy and effort hasn’t translated into many wins but he has proven that he, like Hill, belongs in the NBA in spite of bouncing around so early in their respective careers.
Darius Morris
Grade: C-
It’s a coach’s job to put his players into positions where they can succeed. When Mike D’Antoni chose to insert Morris into the starting lineup so that he could guard Carmelo Anthony on Christmas, he did just the opposite of that. Morris might be one of the Lakers best defenders, but that doesn’t mean he’s a good defender. Of late, D’Antoni’s decided to make Morris the back-up shooting guard. Another move that seems to have weakened the Lakers and emboldened their opponents. The minutes that Morris received while Steve Nash was hurt may ultimately benefit the player he will become. But it’s done nothing to help the Lakers win basketball games at a time when they need to win, regardless of how.
Grade: C
Meeks was brought in to make open three-pointers and he’s done just that when asked. It’s everything else that he’s had trouble with. He can’t guard the stanchion, he can’t dribble, and he can’t seem to take care of the basketball when he’s doing anything except for shooting it. The fact that Meeks has lost his back-up shooting guard minutes to Darius Morris is both indicative of Mike D’Antoni’s failings and of Meeks’ inability to stake an outright claim to it. I still think Meeks can help this team if given the chance. I just don’t hope he’s run out of chances.
Chris Duhon
Grade: D+
For a while there, Duhon was leading the NBA in assist-to-turnover ratio. The problem is even though he wasn’t turning the ball over often, he was doing it at the most inopportune time. Take for instance, the Lakers game against the Nuggets in Denver back in December. The Lakers were trailing by 12 points with 3:53 left in the third quarter. Duhon’s jumper brought them to within four with 32 seconds left. Andre Igoudala’s lay-up pushed the lead back to six with 12 seconds left. With a chance to pull within four or even three to end the quarter, Duhon threw the ball away with three seconds left. The Nuggets got the ball to Corey Brewer who sank a 26-foot 3-pointer. What could have been a three-point deficit was now nine points heading into the fourth quarter. That pretty much sums up Chris Duhon.
Robert Sacre
Grade: C+
It’s also hard to evaluate Sacre considering he didn’t get much run early in the season. What we do know is that his motor is always running and he’s a lot more intelligent than the average rookie. Sacre thrives in the pick and roll and has proven to be pretty good at both picking and rolling There’s a reason that the Lakers chose to hang onto Sacre and waive Darius Johnson-Odom. It wasn’t only because of their lack of bigs due to injuries. He has proven he will respond when given the opportunity. The problem with Sacre is his lack of range. He can’t make anything outside of three feet and his shot has an odd spin on it. He needs to figure out how to get that kink out or he won’t get a lot of love from the rim on shots that aren’t perfect. There’s no reason that Nash can’t turn Sacre into Marcin Gortat, Jr. with enough time together on the court.
Devin Ebanks
Grade: F
It’s not just that Ebanks hasn’t been able to stay out of trouble. It mostly has to do with the fact that the Lakers chose to keep Ebanks instead of Matt Barnes. Perhaps it was because the Thunder had expressed interest in Ebanks last summer because of a few good minutes Ebanks had guarding Kevin Durant in the playoffs. The bottom line is that Ebanks can only get off the bench in garbage time while Barnes has already made 15 more three-pointers in 42 games for the Clippers this year than he made in 63 games for the Lakers last year.
Steve Blake
Grade: Incomplete
It would be unfair to judge Blake based on only seven games played this season. He seems close to returning and playing in his first game for D’Antoni. Nobody can expect Blake to be the answer to what ails this team but if his return means no more Duhon or Morris, then it can’t come soon enough. In his introductory press conference, D’Antoni mentioned how he’d been wanting to see what Blake could do in his system for years. Hopefully he can provide valuable minutes backing up both guard positions before both Kobe and Nash kill themselves before season’s end.
Next Page: The Coach
Grade: F
I’ve had enough time to evaluate D’Antoni and I’ve seen nothing that leads me to believe that anything with him will change. The word that keeps popping up when you read about D’Antoni is ‘stubborn’. His refusal to either tweak his system to fit the personnel or continuing to bench guys like Jamison or Meeks further proves the point that if you’re not willing to listen to those around you then you’re bound for failure. He’s given me no reason to believe that he will be here beyond this season. If you can’t find a way to make it work with four potential future Hall of Famers I’m not exactly sure if it’s possible to be successful again on this level. I understood why the Lakers chose to hire him instead of Phil Jackson. That doesn’t mean it hasn’t proven to be one of the most disastrous hiring in professional coaching history.