Los Angeles Lakers: Final 2011 Report Cards for Kobe Bryant, Phil Jackson and Co
School is out for summer, just as the Los Angeles Lakers have been for nearly two weeks.
But while kids head off to camp and college graduates hit the real world in search of employment, Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and the rest of the Lakers will be sitting at home, watching the playoffs and wondering what could have been.
What if they had held on in Game One against the Dallas Mavericks? What if they could have done something—ANYTHING—to stop Dirk Nowitzki?
What if?
Well, those questions won't soon change the reality that there will be no three-peat for Phil Jackson this time around nor will they readily change how the team's performance during the 2010-11 season and the subsequently short-lived playoff run will be perceived.
So now that everyone else is getting their report cards for the year, it's time to take the Purple and Gold back to school for a check on their grades.
Not that they will be particularly good, what with the team falling so short of the expectations of another trip down Figueroa.
Kobe Bryant: B+
1 of 10
What better place to start than with the man who runs the franchise—Kobe Bryant.
It's tough to fault Kobe too much for the Lakers' shortcomings this season after playing well enough to once again land a spot on the All-NBA First Team while battling through myriad injuries at the age of 32.
The Black Mamba managed to average 25.3 points, 5.1 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game in what appears to be the tail end of his prime, though his brilliance was not quite as frequent or consistent during the 2010-11 season as the Lakers had become accustomed to.
Which likely had a significant impact on the team's ability to push through adversity, as Kobe wasn't always able to carry his teammates as he had in years past.
Ultimately, though, because Kobe is the man in charge on the floor and in the locker room for the Lakers, he deserves a significant share of the blame for their shortcomings, just as he would be showered with praise had LA won another title.
Derek Fisher: C
2 of 10
Derek Fisher doesn't exactly deserve high marks either for his performance this past season.
Kobe's long-time backcourt buddy looked old all year, and for good reason—he's 36 years old.
D-Fish's numbers from 2010-11—6.8 points, 1.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists—were arguably his worst since the 1999-2000 season, when he came off the bench for the Kobe-Shaq Lakers of yore.
On defense, Fisher often appeared slow to react, especially against the likes of Jason Terry and J.J. Barea in the Western Conference semifinals.
Thus, as beloved as Fish may be in Lakerland, it may be time for the team to seek an upgrade at the point.
Pau Gasol: C+
3 of 10
Perhaps no player on this Lakers squad deserves harsher criticism than Pau Gasol.
The seven-foot Spaniard was set for a career-defining season in 2010-11 after showing some serious moxie against the Boston Celtics in last year's NBA Finals.
The thinking was that Pau had finally come of age, that at 30 years old and in the midst of his prime, he would be ready to not just passively accept the reigns of team leadership from Kobe Bryant, but wrest them away with force from the Black Mamba.
And while his numbers would suggest that he did—18.8 points, 10.2 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.6 blocks—the tape tells a different story.
Gasol looked great through the first month or so of the season, banging through defenders and running the Triangle offense to perfection, before the Old Pau—the soft, deferential Pau—made an unwelcome return.
Which leaves the Lakers in the unenviable position of having to figure out whether or not Gasol is the right guy around which to build the team for the future.
Andrew Bynum: B
4 of 10
Some may wish to dock Andrew Bynum a letter grade or two for the cheap shot he laid on J.J. Barea in Game Four of the Western Conference Semifinals and the five-game suspension that it earned him, but such would be unfair to a guy who was arguably the second-best player on the floor for the Lakers this postseason.
On the whole, though, Bynum's marks must suffer for the games he missed, as he participated in only 54 out of a possible 82 contests during the regular season.
The 23-year-old center averaged a respectable 11.3 points, 9.4 rebounds and 2.0 blocks during the regular schedule and improved his numbers to 14.4 points and 9.6 rebounds in the playoffs, though both represent relative statistical drop-offs for Bynum from recent seasons.
Bynum established himself as a defensive force this year, proving that he is the anchor of the Lakers' defense and might just be the team's most important player.
However, concerns about his maturity and his health have led many to question whether Drew will ever be a franchise-type guy in LA, thereby precipitating talk this offseason that he could be dealt for another young star like Chris Paul or Dwight Howard.
Ron Artest: D
5 of 10
Conventional wisdom around the Lakers organization held that it would take some time for Ron Artest to adjust to LA and Phil Jackson's Triangle offense, and that his game-saving performance in Game Seven of the 2010 NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics was a watershed moment in that process.
Now that Ron-Ron's second season as a Laker has come to a close, whatever optimism is left about him as a part of the Lakers' future is highly guarded.
Artest's numbers from this past season—8.5 points and 3.3 rebounds—were career lows for a guy who, at 31 years of age, should have at least a year or two of his prime left in the tank.
As much of a liability as Artest was on the court, he proved to be something of a hazard off of it this year as well, as demonstrated by his alleged attempts to get himself traded back in February after whining about how the Lakers were scapegoating him for their struggles.
Add to that Artest's bloated deal, which will net him about $22 million over the next years, and he becomes the sort of headache that not even a bottle of aspirin can alleviate.
Lamar Odom: A-
6 of 10
Lamar Odom was the Lakers' most consistent performer this past season, and for that he deserves high marks.
Odom has settled quite nicely into his role as a super swingman off the bench, as evidenced by the Sixth Man of the Year award that he earned for his play during the 2010-11 season.
Between coming off the bench and filling in for the ailing Andrew Bynum, Odom averaged 14.4 points, 8.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists while serving as the glue guy in a locker room full of big personalities.
The one knock against Odom is the same as always—that he's just not as assertive as he should or could be given his immense talent.
But, other than that, Lamar deserves a tip of the cap.
Shannon Brown: C
7 of 10
As for the rest of the reserves, good grades are hard to come by.
Shannon Brown, in particular, appeared as though he'd really turned a corner early on in the season, knocking down perimeter jumpers with regularity to open up more opportunities for him to show off his incredible athleticism.
However, as the season dragged on, it became more and more evident that Brown was not fitting into the Triangle so well and that, as a result, Phil Jackson had lost some confidence in Brown's ability to be a steady contributor to the team's success.
So now, the 25-year-old guard, who averaged 8.7 points and 1.9 rebounds in his second full season in LA, looks less like a future star for the Purple and Gold and more like a player whom the team won't miss all that much should he decide not to exercise his player option for next season.
Matt Barnes: B
8 of 10
As far as the Lakers' additions from last summer are concerned, Matt Barnes proved to be a solid pickup, at least when he was healthy enough to play.
Barnes missed 29 games during the regular season while recovering from surgery on his knee, but played quite well before the setback and slowly but surely rounded back into form by the time LA's playoff run came to a disappointing end.
Despite his averages of 6.7 points and 4.3 rebounds being his worst since the 2007-08, Barnes was a valuable member of this year's Lakers team, providing Phil Jackson with a tenacious defender to pull from his bench whenever Kobe Bryant or Ron Artest needed a breather.
Judging by the way he carried himself during and after his exit interviews, Barnes seems likely to exercise his player option to return to Los Angeles next season.
Steve Blake: F
9 of 10
Then there's Steve Blake.
What's there to say about Steve Blake that hasn't already been expressed in vitriolic terms by every Lakers fan in existence?
Blake was supposed to be the missing piece to a Lakers puzzle that had managed to bring home two titles without a true sharpshooter on the roster. General manager Mitch Kupchak signed Blake to a four-year deal at $4 million per season with the hope that adding a career 39.1 percent three-point shooter to his team's bench would keep them among the league's elite teams.
And while the Lakers were still one of the top five or six teams in the NBA this season, they remained so in spite of Blake, not because of him.
All told, Blake finished the season averaging a career-low 4.0 points per game on 36.0 percent shooting from the field, along with just 2.0 rebounds and 2.2 assists, putting him in prime position for early termination should the new collective bargaining agreement allow teams amnesty to let a player go without taking a hit to their luxury tax bill.
Phil Jackson: B
10 of 10
For overseeing a sinking ship and keeping it afloat as long as he did, Phil Jackson deserves a solid B.
The Zen Master's impending retirement was supposed to be motivation enough to get the aging Lakers revved up enough to round out another three-peat, which would have been Jackson's fourth in all.
Instead, it seemed as though Jackson's usual tactics got stale.
Not that Phil necessarily lost the team, but rather that he might not have pushed all the right buttons as he usually seems to do.
That being said, there's a sense about Phil these days that, whether or not his retirement is final this time around, he won't mind not having to deal with all the drama that comes with being the ringleader of the traveling Purple-and-Gold circus that the Lakers have long been.
