Is The Lakers’ Tanking Hurting Jordan Clarkson’s Development?
Rookie point guard Jordan Clarkson has shown glimpses of an exceptionally high ceiling, but is the Lakers’ pathetic roster molding him into a “score-first” point guard?
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Clarkson, just the other night against the Portland Trailblazers, posted 27 points on 12 of 20 shooting along with seven rebounds and five assists. Good numbers, no doubt, but should a rookie prospect really be taking so many shots? Even if they’re falling? Point guards like this have received mixed reviews from around the league, as Russell Westbrook and Stephen Curry are eyeing the league’s MVP award, while others like Kemba Walker and Brandon Knight have been far less heralded. Westbrook and Curry are the unquestioned motors of their team, and, as a result, have the ball a lot. Clarkson is not the motor of the Lakers, but he sure tries to be.
In the aforementioned game against Portland, the Lakers were routed 107-77 as Clarkson accounted for 35 percent of his team’s scoring on the night. However, contrary to the belief of many, Clarkson’s overwhelming “shoot, shoot, shoot” mindset may not be entirely his fault.
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The Lakers’ coaching staff may be more to blame for Clarkson’s mentality, as he seems to have free-reign at times to let it fly. Additionally, Clarkson’s teammates aren’t exactly helping out a whole lot either, as the team seems to have folded here in the latter part of the season. With Clarkson being the lone prospect in the works on the roster, you might understand that some of the seasoned guys are less than enthused about suiting up at this point, but even still, the atmosphere may be causing Clarkson to feel as if he has no help at times, which is, in a way, true.
Despite his team’s less than optimistic view, I believe Clarkson’s trigger-happy tendencies of late are predominantly due to coaching, or lack thereof. Byron Scott seems to have given Clarkson an awfully long leash, which isn’t a bad thing considering he’s in development. The result of games has little to no meaning to the team, but that long leash may be a bit too long at times, especially when Clarkson begins taking matters in his own hands, ensuring that none of his teammates touch the ball before he gets a shot up.
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This style of play obviously has “wrong” written all over it, but Scott allows Clarkson to continue. Sure, let’s assume Scott is preaching ball movement to the young guard, if this is the case though, Clarkson clearly hasn’t been listening sometimes, at which time Scott should pull Clarkson’s leash all the way back to the bench, at least for a few minutes. Many fans might use the classic “how can he learn if he’s on the bench?” line; the answer? He can learn more than people realize by riding the pine for a bit, possibly more than he would by staying out on the court, throwing up cringe-worthy step-back jumpers.
Should Clarkson be relegated to the bench for entire games? No, the Lakers would be insane to do that, but a little breather late in the fourth quarter might wake him up next time he forgets he has teammates.
The verdict: Clarkson is a promising offensive talent that can shoot the ball well from inside the arc. He needs a little work on his three-point shot, needs to learn to run an offense better, even one as pathetic as the Lakers’, and needs to shore up his defense quite a bit. His work with the now-retired Steve Nash is showing on the court. More so that he received his first rookie of the month award from the NBA.