Yeah, Blake is pretty solid. He won't wow you, but he'll hit 3's at a good rate and he'll sneak in around 5 assists a game.
On an average of 26 mins a game over his career, he has a 4:1 a/t. I don't think that's turnover prone. He had more turnovers with the clippers last year but he was with a new team, had to feel out his teammates on the fly. Defensively, well, he's not exactly a lock down defender but I don't see him being utilized when the Lakers need a crunch time stop, more a 2nd quarter and late 3rd quarter guy on this team. Solid and serviceable pro that can contribute in a motion oriented offense and hit the open shot.
Blake is a reasonably decent vet. I'm not sure if he is quick enough to stop any of the fast guards, but he is a sufficient starting PG and a decent backup. It's not a terrible signing for the Lakers. My only worry is Blake has never been an athletic guy and he is entering his 30s now. He is almost certain to decline now and considering he was never anything more than solid to begin with, that's not a good sign....but for a team playing for one more shot, he is a good signing.
He definitely was never a guy that could stop quick guards in the NBA. However, he wasn't bad enough on defense that he had to go play in Europe and no longer have a career in the NBA. I think the Lakers are saying that Jordan Farmar and Shannon Brown's athleticism at the 1 was not the deciding factor in them winning the championship. The Lakers won with a starter that was physically inferior in Derek Fisher and who had to go up against arguably one of the most athletic and lengthy point guards in the league. Brown got some flashy plays here and there as well and especially as Farmar (with some hustle plays here and there), but they also fudged it up as many times running the basic offense. Farmar in particular has gone as far as admitting that he thought he was going to be a bigger part of the offense as time went on but never was. I think that's why Blake is a perfect fit, he's a guy that's going to go in there and do his job which is run the triangle, take care of the ball, and hit the open shot, that's all the Lakers need out of their backup point.
He used to kill the Lakers when he was in Portland. If you can't beat him get him. Good signing for the Lakers.
blake owns fisher http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/boxscore;_ylt=AkOys_I_qA5lJoKUuYlUG3nhPKB4?gid=2010041412
Great pickup. He has decent size for a point guard (6 foot 3) so thats good. Excellent 3 point shooter to spread the floor for Kobe/Gasol/Bynum inside. 3 point shooting was their biggest weakness last year so they've addressed their need. As good as Fisher is in the clutch and showing up in playoff games, a lot of the Lakers struggles can be pinned on him such as 1) Not converting open 3s with the opportunities being set up by Kobe/Gasol 2) Inability to defend his man adequately. ^ those were huge problems in the regular season and he fixed it to some extent in the playoffs but they remained a problem nonetheless thats why the OKC series went 6 games Blake is a baller and combine that with the fact that he'll be playing under a system he fits and a legend like Kobe who will make him elevate his play, this signing was a great great thing for the Lakers who become even better now compared to last year.
Blake allows PJ to limit Fisher's minutes during the regular season, so he will be fresher during the playoffs, where he shines. Yes AB & Lowery will blow past them. But for that to truely matter, we have to get to them in the playoffs.
That's what the Lakers need more than anything, and probably the major reason they went for him. Fisher, Farmar, and Brown are shhtless at throwing inlet passes to Gasol and Bynum, 2 of them aren't real point guards and Farmar is an unskilled one (and a shorty). Nenad Krstic was successfully pulling fronting Gasol in Rd. 1 w/o needing a double team. The lunkhead LA guards just look at him and then pass it to the other side of the arc for Ron or Odom to turn it over. If Blake can get it into the bigs, that's where the Lakers are going to make other teams pay. Once the other team doubles, the defense gets off kilter and opens a Laker up.
Nuh. Neither of them listen to each other. They just allow each other to do what they wanna do. Fisher's not going to tell Kobe to pass more and Kobe isn't going to tell Fisher not to do **** like continually going for layups on breaks (it's an effin miracle he hit that one in Boston, 3 defenders were caught off guard because they didn't know he was crazy enough to try it). It's their fiefdom over the younger guys.
Re: your last sentence...right now, they probably do prefer someone at that position who's long in the tooth unless it's a choice between him or some young stud they'd be stupid to pass up. Their window might have just next year in it because if we go thru a year-long lockout, that's going to F over most of the league like it did in 1999. Every contender that was supposed to be back from 1998 folded at some point, including your team and mine. Shawn Kemp came to camp looking like Eddy Curry. Plus, this is Phil's last season.
Wow.....They finally got a good PG off the bench. Blake is a huge upgrade for them off the bench. He will control the tempo off the bench that they desperately need because Farmar and Brown wasn't enough. Man the Lakers just got tougher with this small move.
