With Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, and Andrew Bynum comprising the Lakers’ “Big Three,” let’s take a look at the team’s “role players,” Derek Fisher and Metta World Peace:
Derek Fisher (Grade: C+): Never one to impress through stats, Fisher will always receive an A for effort. Always the consummate professional, Fisher has maintained a streak of 500+ consecutive games played, which is a testament to his conditioning and toughness. He is always available, and is always willing to make the big play down the stretch. However, his play this season has not lived up to expectations.
Fisher is averaging just 5.5 points per game on 37.1 percent shooting. More worrisome is his three-point field goal percentage, which is just 28.3 percent compared with a 37.3 percent career average. Much of this can be attributed to the fact that, as the President of the NBA Player’s Association, Fisher spent more time at the negotiating table than in the gym during the lockout. At 37 years-old, Fisher takes his training very seriously. Because he was unable to train with the intensity he normally likes to during the off-season, he has had to try and make up for it during the regular season, and it has shown.
Additionally, when Steve Blake went down with an injury, much of his minutes landed on Derek Fisher. Combine Fisher’s age and unpolished off-season training and we have the result of a struggling point guard.
Many consider Fisher to be the Lakers’ weakest link, and have been clamoring for an upgrade at the point guard position. The inability to guard opposing teams’ explosive guards has definitely been an “Achilles heel” over the years for the Lakers. However, although the Lakers could definitely use an upgrade at the position, Fisher has proven he is able to get the job done time and time again. After all, Fisher has played alongside Kobe Bryant for all five of his championship titles, and never had eye-popping stats during any one of them. Fisher knows how to be a role player and step up in huge moments, but this season it appears as though he has really been struggling to be consistent. In a more traditional offensive system, Fisher’s assists have picked up to 3.4 per contest, but he no longer possesses the ability to penetrate opponents’ defenses that he once had. His biggest threat is his outside shooting, but that normal constant for him has faltered this season. The return of Steve Blake, however, should help alleviate Fisher’s responsibilities going forward, and allow him to pick his spots better.
Even during a grueling condensed season, we expect Fisher to correct his shooting woes somehow, and find a way to get his legs under him. If there is one word that describes Derek Fisher, it is “clutch,” and we have faith that he will get back on track when the Lakers need him the most.
Metta World Peace (Grade: C-): Unlike in Derek Fisher’s case, the Lakers need solid production from their starting small forward. World Peace’s production has sharply dropped off since the Lakers’ most recent championship run in 2010. This season he is averaging 4.9 points (on 33.5 percent shooting, 24 percet from three), 2.8 rebounds, and 0.8 steals in 22:48 minutes per game. Compared with his averages of 11.0 points (on 41.4 percent shooting, 35.5 from three), 4.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 1.4 steals in 33:47 minutes of play from the 2009-2010 season, it is safe to say that World Peace is struggling. Although World Peace doesn’t like stats, and prefers to play within the feel of the game instead of worry about numbers, Metta has been largely inconsistent this season.
To be fair, a lot of what Metta does will not show up in the stat sheet, as he is appointed as the Lakers’ primary defensive stopper. However, his defense this season has not been up to his normal standards either. In the 2009-2010 season, he was able to be a lock-down defender, and disrupt the opposing team’s best player. This season he has only shown flashes of this, but has seemingly picked it up as of late.
If the Lakers look to make a push during the second half of the season and playoffs, Metta World Peace will have to find an offensive rhythm and get into a defensive groove. The good news (hopefully) is that there isn’t much room for regression for Metta.
Next Page: The Bench