Derek Fisher – #2, Los Angeles Lakers

Scouting Report

Derek Fisher makes you sacrifice things when you put him on the court. When #2 checks in, you’re losing any hope of stopping the opposing point guard, you’re putting in a player that can’t finish at the rim, and you’re allowing a guy that fires up jumpers too often for his own good to run your team.

After reading that, you might be asking yourself how this guy has been able to keep his starting spot on the back-to-back NBA Champions’ roster for the past few seasons. And everybody that roots for the Lakers has been wondering aloud the same thing for the past two regular seasons. Fisher’s age has obviously caught up to him, which is a worst case scenario in a league that is shifting towards quick guards, and he is no longer hitting those jumpers as efficiently as he did back in the day.

The reason those same fans were demanding that the Lakers re-sign him this off-season is how he responds to those critics and bounces back. Fisher had a fantastic post-season run a couple of months ago that culminated with a game-tying three in the fourth quarter of game seven of the NBA Finals. It was a fantastic moment and the perfect example of why Fisher continues to maintain his spot on the league’s best team. Just days before that big shot, Fisher had a Kobe-like fourth quarter performance in game three with several clutch jumpers and an AND-1 lay-up to close it out with three Celtics fouling him at once.

Derek’s defense has been a liability but his effort can’t be questioned. During the Finals, Fisher fought through screens to chase Ray Allen around and put in solid contests. When facing quicker guards, even though he was beat quite often, he used his wider frame to push them around and make it tougher for them to eventually get by him. Also, Fisher’s ability to sell moving and illegal screens and take offensive charges is invaluable and has created a hundred or so extra possessions for the Lakers over the past two seasons.

Fisher’s leadership and off the court presence is an added bonus that probably doesn’t deserve a mention in a scouting report but because those two qualities are so vital to the flow of the Lakers’ offense and team chemistry, it is definitely something Fisher deserves to be credited for. Derek is the guy who calms the team down in big moments, the player who provides a big time threat in crucial situations, and the person that is closest to Kobe Bryant perhaps in the entire world.

The Lakers brought in Steve Blake this off-season, so undoubtedly Fisher’s role will change a bit this upcoming season. He may still be the starter, but he will no longer be playing a starter’s serving of minutes. That may serve as a blessing in disguise for Derek, as his body, though in extreme condition, is no longer capable of handling that much wear and tear. A fresher Fisher in the post-season may mean he can contribute more than just clutch shots, which will be a dramatic upgrade for the Lakers considering how their point guard crop (other than Fisher) performed last season.

Statistical Analysis

Advanced Stats

Based on the above report, you can tell that stats don’t tell a lot of the story with Fisher. He’s a role player that isn’t expected to do much for the majority of the season as it pertains to scoring points. The Lakers have the most offensive options in the league and the perfect system to take advantage of them all. Fisher isn’t one of those elite level scores, so obviously Phil Jackson isn’t relying on him to be a top notch scorer.

There is one telling stat, however, that I have pointed too often for the past season regarding Fisher’s ability to finish at the rim. Out of all point guards that played an average of 25 minutes a game in 40 games, Fisher finished last in terms of shooting percentage at the rim with a 39.5% success rate. Fisher rarely gets an open lane to the basket but when he does, he isn’t effective. That’s not a good thing when you pair that with a rather poor three-point shot.

Player Rating

Offense: 3 out of 10 – Fisher’s ability to hit big shots give him some points here, but over the past few seasons, age has eaten away at the rest of his offensive abilities making him a below average overall contributor on this end.

Defense: 3 out of 10 – The Lakers’ biggest weakness over the past couple of seasons has been defense at the point guard spot. Going up against guys like Aaron Brooks, Russell Westbrook and Deron Williams, Los Angeles routinely got torched as those younger, quicker guards took advantage of Fisher. Derek gives 100%, though, and his ability to take charges and sell moving screens score him points.

Overall: 6 out of 20 – Fisher isn’t the game’s best player and he acknowledges that. He has weaknesses but for what he is expected to do, a six out of 20 is just as good as a 20 out of 20. And his big game reputation and set of championship rings speak to that.