Backing up the Backcourt

                                                     

The fourth of July represented a major day for Lakers fan as the front office pulled off the unthinkable and turned draft picks and a trade exception into not only one of the great point guards in the league, but probably of all-time. Since Ramon Sessions decided to test the FA market and opt out of the final year of his contract, the Lakers knew that they had to fill a hole at the PG. As great as acquiring Nash is, it creates a bit of an issue for the Lakers in the sense that they now have the older backcourt in the league, and it’s not even close. At 72 years of age, Nash and Kobe have been around the block, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t two of the best at the respective positions. Despite being the oldest tandem, it is the league’s best backcourt. Although Nash and Kobe are unquestionably the starting guards, the Lakers must value minutes and not allow Mike Brown to overuse players like he did with Kobe and Gasol this year. It would be nice to see Nash and Kobe somewhere in the 30-32 minutes per game range basically averaging about 7.5-8 minutes a quarter. Kobe was fourth in the league with 38.5 minutes and at times he did seem fatigued while Nash played 31.6 minutes per game and based on Brown’s effort to control minutes last year, it wouldn’t be shocking to see those increase. Brown must use the guards off the bench to help preserve Kobe and Nash for May and June basketball. The bench will probably consist of 4 guards when the season begins and all would be familiar faces from last season.

Steve Blake was one of the first players off the bench last year and assuming he is on the roster to start the season, he will most likely resume that role. Since coming to the Lakers, Blake has been a disappointment and has shot inconsistently as well as not often enough. At times he seems to defer to Kobe and the other guys more than he should and passes up open looks. The depth chart today would have Blake as the backup point guard, but it would be refreshing to see a change or at least him share time with the Lakers’ best player in the summer league.

The other PG on the roster will be last year’s second round pick Darius Morris. A sensational player at the University of Michigan, Morris didn’t get opportunities to flourish under Brown last season, but after the kind of summer league that he had, it would be a smart decision to allow him more minutes. He scored and distributed the ball well, but his turnovers were a bit of an issue. Playing with Nash could be a great learning opportunity for Morris and perhaps he could be the point guard of the future for the franchise. Another nice characteristic of Morris is that he has size for a point guard and at 6’5 could grow into a solid defender in the NBA.

Andrew Goudelock is the current backup SG and although this has been a role that hasn’t been important in recent years, but if Brown controls the Mamba’s minutes appropriately and like Gregg Popovich does so well, Goudelock should see a good amount of action. Goudelock showed promise as a scorer last year and seemed to be someone who Brown liked off of the bench. Andrew hit open shots and played well when he got opportunities. That being said, AG is not the shooting guard for the future and isn’t going to be anything more than a backup in this league. He is greatly undersized for a 2, somewhere between 6’2 and 6’3, and at times doesn’t seem to understand his role. As an elite scorer in college, Goudelock has shown that he is comfortable launching shots from anyway on the court and shot around 30% from the floor in the summer league. He will start behind Kobe unless someone else is brought in, but hopefully he doesn’t stay there.

Christian Eyenga would be the last guard on the roster and someone who should see more minutes this season. He showed in the summer league that he has a bright future as a pretty solid scorer and a capable defender. What makes him more valuable to the Lakers is that he is extremely athletic and big at 6’7. Eyenga is similar to Ebanks and a hybrid player who could play the 2 or the 3, but the need for athletic wing defenders suggest that he should get playing time ahead of the trigger happy, undersized, and inefficient Goudelock. If given proper minutes in the rotation, expect Eyenga to emerge this season as a solid role player for this team and have a breakout year like Ebanks will.

With the backcourt as old as it is, the Lakers need to make sure that throughout the regular season they use a Popovich like approach so as to make sure that everyone is rested and ready for the most important part of the season.