Derek Fisher/Steve Blake
When it comes to poor shooting, sometimes it’s best to continue to shoot yourself out of a slump. Derek Fisher has been trying to shoot himself out of a shooting slump, over the past six games he’s shot 32 percent from the field and averages five points per game, but it hasn’t been working.
Credit Fisher for doing all the little things, as he usually does, including having active hands in plays creating steals, hustling back down the floor in transition and being vocal. Still, the poor shooting has to be concerning, but it seems we go through this every year around this time.
The injury to Matt Barnes means someone has to pick up the offense. It’s easy to point the finger at Artest, and so far he seems to be delivering on both ends of the floor, but that doesn’t mean the rest of the bench can’t help fatten the stat lines. Steve Blake stands out in the box score for all the wrong reasons, mustering up only six points in his last six games. For the mathematically challenged folks out there, that’s a point a game.
Blake’s problem is a little different than Fisher’s as he’s not even attempting to make shots. He’s taken 11 shots over those same six games and averaging 17.6 minutes of play. Perhaps Blake should take a page out of Jordan Farmar’s book and call his own number every once and a while or at the very least make a conscious effort to spot up and not hesitate to shoot when passed the ball.
In case you’re wondering how Gasol feels about the tough road ahead, he told the Los Angeles Times’ Mark Medina he wasn’t completely sure.
“We will find out as we go through those games how ready we really are,” Gasol said. “We thought we were ready for the Miami game and we got our butt kicked. It’s a matter of stepping on the court and getting the job done.”
