NBA Playoffs 2012: Metta World Peace Rejoining Lakers Won't Lead to Victory
Metta World Peace is making his debut in the 2012 NBA Playoffs tonight in an attempt to propel the Los Angeles Lakers past the Denver Nuggets in a critical game seven match up.
World Peace’s return won’t matter.
The man formerly known as Ron Artest was serving a seven game suspension for throwing an elbow at Oklahoma City Thunder guard and Sixth Man of the Year, James Harden.
Throughout the duration of his suspension the Lakers have been reeling, dropping the last two games in their first round series against the Nuggets.
The Lakers have had issues stopping the offensive attack of players like point guard Ty Lawson and the supporting cast of forwards Danilo Gallinari and Al Harrington.
Lakers’ big men Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum have been visibly out-hustled by Denver's surprising duo of JaVale McGee and Kenneth Faried. Gasol has only scored 12 points in the last two games, Bynum only 27.
The Lakers are hoping the return of World Peace provides them with some of the intensity that the team has been missing. He’s also one of the best defenders in the league, so his prowess at shutting down offensive players is something that Lakers desperately need at this juncture.
Kobe Bryant has been anticipating the return of World Peace as much as anyone:
""I expect him to come out and play with the tenacity that he's known for," Bryant said after Game 6. "He's the one guy that I can rely on night in and night out to compete and play hard and play with that sense of urgency and play with no fear. So, I'm looking forward to having that by my side again."
"
Even with World Peace having Bryant’s approval, it’s hard to imagine his return is going to somehow entirely change this lackadaisical Lakers unit.
World Peace has had one of the worst seasons of his career to date, averaging only 7.7 points per game on 39 percent shooting. Now that he’s had seven games off he is completely out of rhythm and will likely be unable to contribute much offensively.
If the Lakers somehow manage to beat the upstart Nuggets, it won’t have anything to do with World Peace returning to the team. It will be because the team sees efficient play from its big men and the team as a whole matches the intensity of the young Nuggets.
Metta World Peace returning is a nice sub-plot to the series, but it won’t have a massive impact on the bigger story here: The Lakers need to find themselves as a team before the Nuggets put them out of their misery.
