| Los Angeles Lakers: Up Year, Down Year? Authored by Christopher Reina - January 20, 2009 - 5:37 pm
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- Pau Gasol on the roster from day one
- Andrew Bynum has remained health
- Winning percentage of .800 compared to .695
- Increase in minutes for Trevor Ariza
- Improvement defensively, as the Lakers have gone from very average in forcing turnovers to the top-five, which has helped offset a decrease in eFG% allowed. Their improvement in defensive rating has gone from 105.5 (6th) to 104.7 (5th) this season.
But the Lakers had a +14.4 per game FIC differential last season and are currently at +13.9, which puts them behind Cleveland (22.5), Boston (20.0) and Orlando (15.5). They also trail the Eastern Conference big three in point differential, as they are at +8.4 per game, while the Cavs are at +11.2, +9.4 for the Celtics and +8.6 for the Magic.
The real separation for the Lakers into the undisputed elite has come in comparison to the remainder of the Western Conference, with the Spurs looking like the only legitimate threat to unseat them and block a return to the Finals.
Individually, the decrease in FIC40 for several players goes beyond the decrease in pace from 95.6 to 94.7.
Which players are having up years and which are having down years?
- Player (Season FIC Rank, 2008-09 FIC40, Career FIC40, Differential)
- Kobe Bryant (8th, 17.6, 16.0, +1.6)
For the third consecutive season, Bryant has a 115 offensive rating and at 47.6%, he has never been a more efficient floor scorer. His usage (32.1) is up from last season, though it remains a long ways away from his 'I'll do it all' 05-06 when it climbed to 38.7. Everything else remains virtually the same, though he's had a 0.4 decrease in steals per 36 minutes and he isn't getting to the line with as great of frequency.
He also can't get his teammates to take a foul for him when he dislocates a finger, but that's another issue altogether.
- Pau Gasol (10th, 18.4, 16.9, +1.5)
Gasol's numbers this season look better than his total from 07-08, but not when you isolate out the Memphis games from the equation. He has scored at a slightly less efficient clip (55.6% from the floor compared to 58.9%), but it was unrealistic to expect him to maintain the 128 offensive efficiency from his 27 games with the Lakers last season and at 125, which puts him behind just Chris Paul and Carl Landry.
- Andrew Bynum (52nd, 15.0, 15.3, -0.3)
Before I looked at the numbers, I was expecting Bynum's usage rate to have decreased significantly from last season since he didn't play at all in 07-08 with Gasol, but it actually increased from 17.5 to 19.0. His decreases have come primarily on the glass (12.7 rebounds per 36 minutes to 9.4) and his field goal percentage, which has gone from 63.6% to 53.8%. He had an FIC40 of 21.0 last season, which means that category has dropped by six points.
- Trevor Ariza (74th, 15.1, 11.7, +3.4)
The Ariza trade frequently gets lost amongst the Gasol impact, but I called it a steal for the Lakers when I did the 'Grading the Deal' for it at the time and I have uncharacteristically been proven correct. His shooting has dipped from 52.4% back down closer to his career average of 47.6, but he continues to play excellent perimeter defense while being an effective slasher offensively.
- Derek Fisher (96th, 10.5, 9.6, +.9)
Fisher is playing more minutes per night than any year since 02-03 due to the Jordan Farmar injury and absence of any other capable point guard on the Lakers' roster. He's always been known as an excellent perimeter shooter and he's having a career best 43.7% mark from beyond the arc.
- Lamar Odom (102nd, 13.2, 14.4, -1.2)
Odom has largely been the odd man out and his offensive rating has dipped from 116 to 103, as he went from a 52.5% mark from the floor to 47.0%, which is closer to his career average. He's been shooting better from distance, but 07-08 appears to be an anomaly in several categories, most notably said shooting efficiency and rebounding.
- Vladimir Radmanovic (194th, 10.7, 10.4, +.3)
Radmanovic does essentially one thing (shoot threes) and he's been doing it better than ever this season, shooting 45.3%, up from 40.6% in 07-08 and his career mark of 38.6%. His offensive rating has declined to 110 as his assists per 36 minutes have been cut almost in half from 3.0 to 1.7.
- Sasha Vujacic (213th, 10.4, 9.2, +1.2)
Like Odom, Vujacic has seen his shooting accuracy decline substantially from 45.4% to 38.9% and 43.7% from beyond the arc to 37.5%. He has been more of a creator as part of the Farmar fill-in, but the drop in his shooting is clearly disconcerting because he was a valuable off the bench scorer throughout 07-08 and particularly in the playoffs.
- Jordan Farmar (250th, 9.9, 11.2, -1.3)
I was counting on a breakout season from Farmar and he showed signs of regressing before his injury. He shot 46.1% from the field last season and that dropped to 40.5% this season, while his offensive rating went from 109 to 98.
- Luke Walton (299th, 9.9, 11.5, -1.6)
Walton's shooting has been way off from his career marks of 44.1% fro the field and 33.4% from 3-point territory, as he's shooting 37.9% and 25.0% respectively. His offensive rating has never been outstanding, but at 100 points per 100 possessions he has rightfully drawn the ire of the Laker Nation.
- Chris Reina is the executive editor of RealGM |
