After Earl Clark had a breakout game against the San Antonio Spurs last week, I wrote an article detailing how his emergence can significantly bolster the Lakers going forward. In the article, I also softened my stance on Pau Gasol having to start ballgames. However, I once again stressed that Gasol’s half-court game is a necessary factor for the Lakers to succeed this season for a number of reasons.
With Gasol’s recent return to the lineup, I now feel that regardless of who starts or comes off the bench, the Lakers have multiple options in the front court and can even efficiently utilize all of them.
I truly feel that Earl Clark has added a dimension to the Lakers that helps the team blend together and has even enabled other players to play more naturally and seamlessly.
Let’s take a look at the impact he’s had so far, and the impact he can have going forward:
Lakers Can Play Bigger
One area in which Earl Clark’s emergence can positively impact the Lakers is allowing the Lakers to play bigger. It’s no secret that over the seasons size has been the Lakers’ biggest asset, and it still is–regardless of whether it was being utilized or not. Even with Jordan Hill out of the lineup, the Lakers are far more deep on the front lines than they are in the back court.
What Clark’s presence has done for the Lakers is allow them to play more “big” players at once. Previously, you would rarely see Jordan Hill on the court with Antawn Jamison at the same time, unless Hill was playing at the center position. Additionally, if they were out on the floor together (with Jamison playing at the small forward position), it didn’t work out too well, particularly on defense. Similarly, playing Antawn Jamison, Pau Gasol, and Dwight Howard together was even more of a defensive liability.
Simply put, Antawn Jamison could only be effective in his natural power forward position, and was often left on the bench in favor of a more defensive-minded Jordan Hill.
However, Earl Clark has changed some of this. Clark is a combo-forward–if you will–and even used to play the guard position when younger. His versatility on defense is particularly of great importance here, though. Clark can match up with taller, stronger forwards and battle them for rebounds, but can also match many smaller forwards and even some guards with his foot speed and length.
This allows he and Antawn Jamison or he and Metta World Peace to constantly switch on players defensively, and virtually become interchangeable offensively when out on the floor together.
All three forwards (World Peace, Jamison and Clark) like to play along the perimeter as well as in the post, so it can work out beautifully; and so far, it has.
That particular factor also allows for the Lakers’ bigger players to get more minutes.
“Bigger” Minutes
Effectively, Clark allows the Lakers to utilize more of their best players–who are front-court players–at the same time, instead of having to choose which one will be the better match-up on any given night.
Here’s a look at the average minutes of Metta World Peace, Antawn Jamison, and Earl Clark during the four-game stretch (which began in San Antonio) in which Earl Clark emerged with Pau Gasol sidelined:
- Metta World Peace – 33:14
- Antawn Jamison – 29:43
- Earl Clark – 31:12
Just for fun, let’s look at each player’s average stat line for that four-game stretch as well:
- Metta World Peace: 13.8 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.0 steals and 1.5 assists
- Antawn Jamison: 13.3 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.3 steals
- Earl Clark: 12.8 points, 10.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.8 blocks
Those numbers are quite evenly matched, and really seem to complement each other. Additionally, the production between the three allows for Mike D’Antoni to have almost guaranteed production between his three forwards.
As for the minutes, the averages total just about 94 minutes–which is almost the amount of total minutes available for the two forward positions (96 minutes). Averaged out, that’s 20.0 points, 11.6 rebounds and 4.4 assists split between each forward position, which is outstanding!
Obviously, those numbers likely won’t remain the same, but keep in mind, they were averaged against the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder along with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Milwaukee Bucks–which is a solid variety of opponents.
Now, let’s take a look at how the rotation can work with Gasol back in the lineup.
Next Page: What Happens With Gasol Back?
What Happens With Gasol Back?
Not counting on that exact production from the forwards during the four-game stretch, let’s add Pau Gasol back into the picture and see exactly how the minutes can be distributed but still allow for significant production:
Say Dwight Howard plays 36 minutes (he averages 36:06 on the season); all of which would be at the center position. That leaves Pau Gasol with approximately 12 minutes at the center position and 22 minutes at the power forward slot, given his current season average of 34:17 minutes per game; and also leaves 26 minutes open at the four slot.
This is a good thing for Gasol and the team as Pau is much better this season in D’Antoni’s offense at the center position with a PER (Player Efficiency Rating) of 27.4 compared with a PER of just 13.0 at the power forward slot. Additionally, his opponents’ PER is lower at the center position (10.1) compared with his opponents’ PER at power forward (15.4). Actually, Gasol’s numbers at center are better than Dwight Howard’s, but the percentage of time played at that position is quite low. Basically, the more minutes Gasol receives at the center position, the better for him because he’ll be more effective on both ends of the floor.
Anyway, this cuts the rest of the minutes for the other three players who excelled during the “Earlsanity” stretch down by those 22 minutes, though, and Metta World Peace averages around 35 minutes per game on the season; which is actually more than he did with Gasol out (33:14).
Therefore, if World Peace stays on his season average, it cuts the rest of the forwards’ minutes by 24. Subsequently, 39 minutes would be left to split between the two forwards, but the two could each average nearly 20 minutes (19:30), which is definitely a drop from their averages during the four-game stretch, but still significant enough to make an impact.
What was happening prior was that Gasol played the majority of his minutes at the power forward position, but farther away from the basket–which was hampering him on both ends of the floor.
Theoretically, when Gasol does take up those 12 minutes at the center slot, the remaining minutes at power forward (26) were previously split between Metta World Peace, Jordan Hill, and/or Antawn Jamison at the power forward position. Kobe Bryant often slid down to the three slot, however, essentially filling in for MWP, while averaging 38:36 minutes per game on the season. Thus, realistically, it only allowed for either Jordan Hill or Antawn Jamison to get some minutes at the power forward position–but not both of them.
The New Revolving Door
With Earl Clark, the “revolving door” focuses less on the center/power forward area, and more on the power forward/small forward area, and allows the Lakers to still compete with “small ball,” but also play big at the same time.
On the season, Antawn Jamison averages approximately 20 minutes while Jordan Hill had averaged 16 minutes– but they often got those minutes separately, or as a result of Pau Gasol being out. With Hill now out for the season, the two remaining backup forwards can average more minutes than that, and actually be effective together.
Again, let’s break down the possible minutes per front-court player:
- Dwight Howard: 36
- Pau Gasol: 34 (12 at C, 22 at PF)
- Metta World Peace: 35
- Antawn Jamison: 19.5
- Earl Clark: 19.5
- Total: 144 (which is also 48 minutes multiplied by three positions)
Obviously, those minutes won’t be concrete, and on some nights it might be Antawn Jamison or Earl Clark getting big minutes instead of Pau Gasol or sometimes even Dwight Howard. Or, some nights Antawn Jamison might get all of the minutes ahead of Earl Clark, or vice versa. The main point here is that the Lakers have options in the front court, and they can actually play all of their options significant minutes.
UPDATE: Since I wrote this article, Gasol actually did return, and the minutes were distributed relatively similar to what I had envisioned with World Peace playing 37 minutes and Pau Gasol playing 25 (a little less than expected due to his first game and coming off the bench), while Earl Clark and Antawn Jamison had approximately 22 minutes each.
Now, let’s see how the new rotation will affect the guards.
Next Page: How Clark Affects Kobe And The Back Court
Kobe’s New Role
During the four-game stretch in which Earl Clark emerged and received big minutes, Kobe’s minutes dipped from a 38:36 season average to just 34:36, although most of that is due to the Lakers’ convincing victories over the Cleveland Cavaliers and Milwaukee.
Nonetheless, the switch allowed/allows Kobe to focus on harassing smaller guards instead of trying to stop shooting
I’m not saying Clark is the Lakers’ savior by any stretch, but his versatility allows him to keep up with more perimeter oriented power forwards, which is something Jordan Hill couldn’t do effectively, and something that Pau Gasol can’t do either. More importantly, it allows Metta World Peace the ability to remain guarding the small forward position, which in turn allows Bryant to disrupt the smaller guards–and apparently Kobe’s quite good at it even in his advanced age.
Coupled with D’Antoni and Kobe’s decision for the Black Mamba to play on-ball rather than off of it, the adjustments looks to be paying off and should continue to do so going forward as well. Clark’s length and relative speed could also be an improvement when closing out on shooters–which is one area in which Bryant has lacked this season.
Effect On Guards
If Clark remains productive, it would likely keep Kobe Bryant playing at his natural shooting guard position–other than short stretches where Mike D’Antoni decides to play Darius Morris and Chris Duhon together along with Bryant, although that typically happens with Bryant on the bench.
Jodie Meeks is currently the “odd man out” as so many other Lakers have been at various times throughout this bizarre season, but it’s not exactly due to Earl Clark’s emergence. Mike D’Antoni appears to like the idea of having point guards Duhon and Morris or Morris and Nash on the floor together at times, which leaves little time for the three-point shooting Meeks. Because Bryant will likely not switch down to the three spot too often if D’Antoni decides to keep playing his forwards significant minutes, Meeks will likely remain out of the rotation.
However, despite Morris’ defensive energy and Duhon’s play-making ability, Meeks has proved that he can be as much of a hustle player as he can be a deadly three-point shooter. There’s no doubt in my mind that he will once again get his chance this season, just as basically every other player on the team has.
Final Thought
Earl Clark’s emergence truly came as a blessing in disguise for the Lakers, and couldn’t have come at a more desperate time. Dwight Howard, Pau Gasol, and Jordan Hill were all sidelined, and Clark provided the versatility Mike D’Antoni had been searching for at the forward position all season; a player who has length, quickness, the ability to shoot the long ball, pass, drive into the lane, cut to the basket, and defend.
While he may not be an All-Star, he has a well-rounded skill-set which is perfect for the Lakers. The fact that he’s playing alongside extremely talented and intelligent basketball players maximizes his natural abilities and instincts.
In return, “Easy” Earl Clark–as they now call him–has given the Lakers an added dynamic which enables his teammates to be more productive as well.