I think most Laker fans
appreciate Metta World Peace for what he is: a defensive specialist who can
occasionally sink his three pointers with consistency. World Peace has
seemingly lost the ability to dribble the ball well and has become extremely
one dimensional offensively; he has yet to master that one dimension like other
notable defensive specialists such as the retired Bruce Bowen or Miami’s Shane Battier. World Peace’s biggest problem with Los Angeles during his whole tenure
with the team has not been his inability to consistently make teams pay from
beyond the arch, but rather, his willingness to shoot despite the defense on
him or the shot clock having more than 10 seconds left on it. World Peace is
shooting as if he was still “the man” on his team, when in reality he has
become the weakest link in the starting lineup.
He’s a fan favorite for his
on court antics, his personality and this play that is forever embedded in
Finals and Laker history:
The problem with Metta World
Peace is his very streaky shooting and his general lack of speed; you need to be
fast or consistent from deep to play within Mike D’Antoni’s extremely fast
7-seconds-or-less offensive style of play and World Peace doesn’t have either
of those characteristics.
There are a few replacements
for World Peace at the Small Forward slot within the team. These options begin
with:
Antawn Jamison: By far my
favorite player to log in heavy minutes at the SF slot instead of World Peace, he
lacks the speed to effectively run with Steve Nash for the whole game, but his
shooting ability is much more consistent than that of World Peace. Jamison also
has a post-game, can put the ball on the floor and is, in general, a better fit
for the system than Metta World Peace is. Jamison is extremely versatile; he
can play the Power Forward position and be a true “Stretch-4” for the Lakers,
he can play his more natural position at the Small Forward, and he can, on
occasion, play against bigger and slower shooting guards.
We may see some
experimentation from D’Antoni once Nash gets back on the court. This could mean
D’Antoni going with a “small” lineup that can stretch the floor, with Jamison
and Pau Gasol being the two post players, Kobe Bryant playing Small Forward, Jodie Meeks holding down the shooting guard role and Steve Nash running the show. Whether
Jamison indeed becomes a starter or not, once D’Antoni finally meets with the
team, his role should be expanded within the team, taking over Jordan Hill’s
minutes at power forward, while splitting his playing time between power
forward and small forward. Jamison’s Win Share per 48 minutes is a below
average .084 so far in the season, this can be attributed to his relatively
little playing time on the court, and his poor shooting start to the season;
however this indicates that given more playing time, it should increase over
the course of the season.
Devin Ebanks: A very solid
defensive player, probably the best perimeter defense player on the bench. He
plays with high energy and a silky smooth mid-range jump shot. The problem with
Ebanks, and main reason he rarely sees the court, is his relatively low
basketball I.Q, and the extremely limited range on his shot; Ebanks can only
shoot from about 15 to 20 feet without straining his jump shot and thus, making
his shot extremely flat from the outside. Ebanks, so far, looks like a poor
man’s World Peace with slightly better dribbling skills. Ebanks has been
increasing his skill level bit by bit every year, however this year, he has not
seen the court very much, only having played 41 minutes in 4 games, most of
that being mop up work during the Lakers blowout wins. Ebanks’ Win Share per 48
minutes is a horrid -0.076, well below the league average of .100.
Jodie Meeks: Meeks is known
primarily for his offense; he has good transitional speed and is a marksman
from three point range as he shoots 36.8% from beyond the arch for his career.
An excellent fast break player, but not from the same mold of Dwyane Wade and
LeBron James, as Meeks is very good at recognizing what his point guard is
trying to do, and he usually trails by the three point line for an easy, wide
open shot. Meeks has probably been the most disappointing acquisition by the
Lakers so far in the season. He is shooting barely 27.3% from the field and has
looked lost so far, as he tries to find his shooting groove. His WS/48 has been
absolutely atrocious at -0.126, and is the only player on this list with a
negative total Win Share. Meeks is very similar to Leandro Barbosa offensively,
with the exception of being able to slide to point guard, however Meeks is
leaps and bounds better defensively. That’s not to say he’s a good defender, by
all means he is not, but he is perfectly adequate at it, and generally plays
with energy on that side of the ball. In
short, he’s the exact type of player Mike D’Antoni looks for in his system, but
he has been extremely disappointing to start the season. Meeks would not play
SF directly; he would play shooting guard and have Bryant slide over to SF if
he were to ever start a game.
Obviously, World Peace would
not be replaced; he will likely be the starter for the whole season, but that
doesn’t mean he can’t receive less playing time in favor of one of the options
listed above (Antawn Jamison being the best choice). Currently, World Peace is
playing 35 minutes per game, and is becoming an offensive liability, especially
during crunch time. Metta isn’t the biggest problem on the team, but he’s the
one problem that can be easily fixed by Mike D’Antoni and co. however unlikely
that may be.
