Evaluating Rashard Lewis
by Evan Dunlap on Jun 4, 2010 8:00 AM EDT
in Evaluations
Email
Print
Ask a number of Orlando Magic fans, and you'll likely find they hold these tenets to be true: if Vince Carter's shortcomings this season reflect poorly on his game, then Rashard Lewis' shortcomings this season reflect poorly on the team's system. Prior to signing with the Magic, Lewis averaged 22.4 points per game on 58.7% True Shooting, albeit as the top option for a mediocre Seattle squad. Since then, though, he's shifted to power forward, turned almost entirely into a jump-shooter, seen his usage rate drop 20.5%, had to bear more clutch shooting responsibilities, and shouldered a ton of blame for Orlando's playoff failures. That's a lot to ask of a guy, although obviously he's well compensated.
| Rashard Lewis | ||
|---|---|---|
| No. 9 | ||
| Power Forward | ||
| Points Per Game | Rebounds Per Game | Blocks Per Game |
| 14.1 | 4.4 | 0.4 |
| Points Per 36 | Rebounds Per 36 | Blocks Per 36 |
| 15.4 | 4.8 | 0.4 |
| PER | Rebound Rate | Block Rate |
| 14.0 | 7.8 | 0.9 |
| FG% | 3FG% | FT% |
| .435 | .390 | .806 |
| eFG% | TS% | |
| .539 | .573 | |
All statistics in this table from Lewis' player page at basketball-reference. Career-high statistics highlighted in gold. | ||
Lewis is not without blame for his poor season. I like the way he plays and believe he's a great fit for Orlando, but there's just no way to look at his overall body of work and argue that he had a successful season.
His game is pretty simple: if he's not putting the ball in the basket, he's not doing much to help the team. He's a poor rebounder and not a guy who can create for his teammates off the dribble; almost all his assists, I'd wager, go to Dwight Howard underneath, and I credit Lewis for learning to throw a mean entry pass. But that's not the same thing as, say, driving to the rim, drawing defenders, and kicking the ball out to the open man, you know?
And that's the problem, really: for whatever reason, Lewis struggled to score this year. One explanation is the 10-game suspension that he served to start the year forever took him off his game. Another is that he's just getting old, and that at age 30, he can't score like he used to. The most likely explanation is that he and new addition Vince Carter didn't work well together. Lewis' usage tumbled to 19.4% this season, its lowest since the 2000/01 season, when he ended 18.4% of the Sonics' possessions. In his first two years with Orlando, he was never worse than the third option on offense. This year, with Carter in the fold and Jameer Nelson healthy, Lewis became the fourth option. And when you rob a guy of opportunities to do the one thing he does well on the basketball court, well, yeah, he's not going to have a great year.
None of this is to say that Lewis stinks, or anything like that. Jason Kidd and Channing Frye were the only two players to shoot jumpers more efficiently this season, for instance, according to Synergy Sports Technology. And he came up huge in the first two rounds of this year's playoffs, before the combination of Kevin Garnett and a stomach virus rendered him ineffectual in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Again, Van Gundy has come under fire for his offense, which I don't understand. Surrounding Howard with three-point shooters makes sense, and Howard's about the last guy in the league who needs "protection" from a "true" power forward. No, Lewis is the right fit at that position. My issue is that Van Gundy needs to find ways to get Lewis more touches. He's a brilliant scorer, but too often gets lost in the shuffle. Whether that's Carter and Nelson calling their own number too often, or Lewis not making himself available, or Van Gundy not getting him involved, or some combination of the three, I'm not sure. But Lewis is too talented to keep loitering on the weak side, waiting for a kickout, for 33 minutes a night. Going forward, that's the biggest concern about Lewis.
Regarding this year, though, he didn't get enough chances to really make his mark. The last time he was this uninvolved in his team's offense, Antonio Davis and Latrell Sprewell were All-Stars, so I think you can cut him a break for looking a bit lost.
| Grade: C+ |
|---|
63 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Spot on.
For the contract he’s earning, it’s insane not to involve him more.
by The BBQ Chicken Madness on Jun 4, 2010 8:42 AM EDT reply actions
Money does not equal shots.
Players earn shots, not paychecks.
Read www.magicbasketballonline.com ! Follow @magicbasketball !
by magicbasketballonline on Jun 4, 2010 9:20 AM EDT up reply actions
"Whether that's Carter and Nelson calling their own number too often"
The first half of that statement is the problem. Orlando’s system isn’t privvy to a “do it all for us” kind of guy. It’s set up for a TEAM effort night in and night out. Too much focus on VC did us in this year. Here VC, please “take over”. Here VC, save us.
Not only is VC not the answer anymore for that kind of stuff, the system isn’t condusive to it. We need efforts and games like the 06-07 seasons of the Florida Gators. All 5 of their starters averaged for the season within a point or 2 of each other in scoring. That’s blance right there, and thats what Orlando needs next season to win it all. BALANCE. VC tipped the scales (regardless of who/what’s at fault) and threw off the team balance.
Also, we need to not be a 4 out 1 in team as often as we were this year, we need a BALANCE there also, between 4 out 1 in and 3 out 2 in.
Im sorry
but comparing the Magic to either of those Gator squads has to be one of the dumbest things Ive ever read on this site. I just cant even comprehend how one could make a comparison at any level, be it personel or the system we run. Not to mention your comparing apples and oranges with college and the NBA. If you want to say “the Magic need more balance in their scoring” (even though I dont agree with that statement because we had balanced scoring all year) then say that. Dont say “like the Gator teams”. I know you might not believe it, but the Gators were not the first team in the history of basketball to play a team game.
by BJ the Bossman on Jun 4, 2010 10:30 AM EDT up reply actions
I'm sorry
but dont lead off comments with “I’m sorry” only to follow it up with a bunch of baseless nonesense covering up the true notion that you are simply just a FSU fan showing distain towards a Gator reference.
Go Gators.
I wasn't comparing them on any level outside of team scoring balance
Give it a rest Ben. Of course you would hop on this opportunity against me.
Wait
You want balanced scoring?
Howard – 18.3
Carter – 16.6
Lewis – 14.1
Nelson – 12.6
The only starter who didn’t average 12+ PPG was Barnes. Pretty damn balanced.
by eltharion_doa on Jun 4, 2010 1:22 PM EDT up reply actions
What part of my statement was "baseless nonsense"
aside from the part where I referenced you comparing two completely different teams, systems, and situations
by BJ the Bossman on Jun 4, 2010 1:55 PM EDT up reply actions
Carter blended fairly well the second half of the season.
"I've had people say, 'I don't need to check the [player statistics]. I've seen it with my eyes.' Well, I would also say your eyes lie to you sometimes, and some of the guys you may really like and think are really doing things, when you get deeper into it, aren't or vice versa." ~Stan Van Gundy
by magicfaninTN on Jun 4, 2010 10:49 AM EDT up reply actions
A lot of it isn't even anything he can do about.
It is up to Stan to get him involved in the offense. He isn’t exactly the type of player who can just demand the ball and then go to work. I think next season they will use him in the post a lot more, because from the left block he is almost unstoppable if he is hitting his turn around fadeaway jumpshot.
Agreed. I'll have more of Rashard posting up please. And a side of drives from the perimeter into a floater.
Thank you.
The intensity has to go up, up! Not down...UP! -Stan Van Gundy
maybe if vince played to his strengths we wouldn’t be in this situation questioning ourselves about rashard lewis…..in the playoffs vince countless times drove in and put up crazy off balance jumpers and ended so many possessions with a stupid shot…..rashard is not the problem his usage rate is the problem…..i also wouldn’t mind if he crashes the offensive glass every now and then to help out dwight…..everybody always just clears the floor expecting dwight to get everything
"i also wouldn’t mind if he crashes the offensive glass every now and then to help out dwight"
For what its worth he did start to do this a little bit in the postseason more. That’s somewhat promising.
Also
Not that I agree with this philosophy because I think occasionally they could still send a second guy to crash the offensive boards, but I am pretty sure the reason for Dwight being the only one down trying to get offensive rebounds is because that is their defensive scheme. Send everyone else back on D to prevent fast break points. And Dwight is fast enough that if they do get out on the break he can still get back into the play and make a difference. Lebron isn’t the only one who can chase people down for a block, ask Rondo.
Lewis misses Hedo's passing.
I’m not getting into the Hedo/VC thing. I think Otis made the right move. I’m just saying in this particular area, Hedo hit Lewis with assists at a higher rate than VC has.
"I've had people say, 'I don't need to check the [player statistics]. I've seen it with my eyes.' Well, I would also say your eyes lie to you sometimes, and some of the guys you may really like and think are really doing things, when you get deeper into it, aren't or vice versa." ~Stan Van Gundy
I agree
Vince is always thinking me me me when he has the ball.
Partly due to its what he knows to do his whole career, and party because he feels thats the pressure he is under being brought in here.
You really have no idea what Vince is thinking.
You’re only making assumptions based on the outcomes you perceive.
"I've had people say, 'I don't need to check the [player statistics]. I've seen it with my eyes.' Well, I would also say your eyes lie to you sometimes, and some of the guys you may really like and think are really doing things, when you get deeper into it, aren't or vice versa." ~Stan Van Gundy
by magicfaninTN on Jun 4, 2010 10:50 AM EDT up reply actions
I don't know about Rashard missing Hedo's passing, VC is a pretty damn good passer.
But you’re right in that something was wrong with the way they played together. I don’t know if it is because they both liked to operate on the same side of the floor, and Shard got the shaft and had to shift, I don’t really know, to be honest, but like many have said, it didn’t work all that well between the 2 of them this season.
I've got to disagree with your first point
One of Hedo’s strengths was that he was an excellent passer. Vince had his moments, but a lot of his passes this season required an adjustment from whomever he was passing to, which took away the option for a quick shot. In Rashard’s case, that is crucial because he is very good at the quick fire pass-and-pop. But if he has to move to catch the pass and take a dribble, he is screwed unless the defender gets caught in overpursuiting him.
They call me Curmudgeon McMiserly.
I'm a guy.
by Sir Lawrence J on Jun 4, 2010 1:15 PM EDT up reply actions
Carter's no Hedo as a playmaker
You’re right, but he’s no chump either. Pretty similar to Kobe and better than Ray Allen, Jamal Crawford or Steven Jackson.
by eltharion_doa on Jun 4, 2010 1:25 PM EDT up reply actions
Might be a little late at the point in the grading process.....
….and it might just add fuel to everyone’s fire, but BQR, have you considered color coding career lows in the charts with a color like you used gold for the career highs (don’t use red, that’d really get people riled up)?
"I've had people say, 'I don't need to check the [player statistics]. I've seen it with my eyes.' Well, I would also say your eyes lie to you sometimes, and some of the guys you may really like and think are really doing things, when you get deeper into it, aren't or vice versa." ~Stan Van Gundy
I think Van Gundy deserves a bit of fire for his offense...
…even though I generally support it (and him).
One gripe is the one you mention: The offense doesn’t give Lewis (quite) enough touches. A fix, which Van Gundy sometimes acknowledges needing to do more of, is to give Lewis more opportunities in the post.
The other gripe, related the one above, is that surrounding Howard with shooters is less effective when the opposing team can single-cover Howard in the post. Here, again, we have fixes, including (in descending order of frequency) PnRs by Nelson, isolation plays by Carter, and post plays by Lewis. It’s possible that Lewis’s plays should take greater priority over Carter’s.
by gift of the magi on Jun 4, 2010 10:03 AM EDT reply actions
“The other gripe, related the one above, is that surrounding Howard with shooters is less effective when the opposing team can single-cover Howard in the post. Here, again, we have fixes”
The best fix is that Boston (one of the only 2 teams in the league that can really do this) will be a non factor next year. KG, by all accounts, will be done. Rasheed will be irrelevant/gone/awol and Ray Allen will be elsewhere.
The Lakers will be the only threat next year for single covering Dwight.
LOL
I don’t know that hoping the competition gets worse is a very good plan for offseason adjustments.
"I've had people say, 'I don't need to check the [player statistics]. I've seen it with my eyes.' Well, I would also say your eyes lie to you sometimes, and some of the guys you may really like and think are really doing things, when you get deeper into it, aren't or vice versa." ~Stan Van Gundy
by magicfaninTN on Jun 4, 2010 10:52 AM EDT up reply actions
what are you doing, filtering for all my comments on OPP and commenting purposefully against them?
Or are you just a Vols fan?
What?!
Both questions are presuppositions on your part. I think you owe me an apology for the first accusation. Cool off, man.
"I've had people say, 'I don't need to check the [player statistics]. I've seen it with my eyes.' Well, I would also say your eyes lie to you sometimes, and some of the guys you may really like and think are really doing things, when you get deeper into it, aren't or vice versa." ~Stan Van Gundy
by magicfaninTN on Jun 4, 2010 12:45 PM EDT up reply actions
I would recommend stopping with the ad hominem attacks, particularly if you’re going to be stupid enough to accuse a Hokie of being a Vol.
And before you start any paranoid accusations about what college I went to, my bachelor’s degrees are from Florida Southern College, and my master’s is at Crummer Graduate School. For Division I sports, I root for Temple, because I have family that teaches there.
Honor is no substitute for victory.
Dude, give it a rest
So far your arguments for anyone with a different line of thinking is that people are obviously FSU or Vol fans, and that Ben is out to get you.
Just once I would like to see a Gator fan handle differing opinions without:
a. exposing the superiority complex that seems to be issued with UF fandom
b. not use the Gators as a fallback as to why no team will ever be as great as them
But I digress, we’re trying to talk about the Magic, not completely different teams and/or athletic levels of basketball. And until you brought the Gators into this, no one cared who you supported in collegiate athletics. Keep it topical, and for God’s sake keep it relevant and accurate. Lastly, don’t get pissy when someone disagrees with your very loosely based opinions. You’re entitled to them, by all means; on the other hand, everyone is entitled to dispute them without suffering the lackluster finger-pointing that you have exhibited.
They call me Curmudgeon McMiserly.
I'm a guy.
by Sir Lawrence J on Jun 4, 2010 1:23 PM EDT up reply actions
Kendrick Perkins isn't going anywhere
Garnett can’t guard Howard one on one and doesn’t try, he takes the opponent PF unless the Celtics are in serious, serious foul trouble.
A fit Andrew Bogut might give Howard some problems one on one, although the team should still have enough elsewhere to take care of the Bucks.
by eltharion_doa on Jun 4, 2010 11:02 AM EDT up reply actions
Fair enough
Howard always struggles a little against Yao too, now that I think about it.
by eltharion_doa on Jun 4, 2010 11:46 AM EDT up reply actions
The teams with centers that are capable of playing Dwight 1 on 1 are found in the playoffs
which is a major cause for concern
I probably know Judo! How many of you can make the same boast?
by Souwantmyname on Jun 4, 2010 1:28 PM EDT up reply actions
IMO Yao's length is more than enough to give Howard fits
I’m not sure about his strength, but I imagine his ability to guard Dwight has to do with said length and decent technique/footwork.
They call me Curmudgeon McMiserly.
I'm a guy.
by Sir Lawrence J on Jun 4, 2010 1:28 PM EDT up reply actions
In my opinion
we should bring Vince off the bench next year. I know he might not want to do it, and it is unconventional, but I think it would really do wonders for our offense. You start JJ (assuming we bring him back) in place of VC, and then run the other normal starting 4 out there (Jameer, Barnes, Shard, Dwight). I like this for two reasons: 1) It gives shots back to Shard like Ben said in the article. I think this will get Shard back to being the 2nd or 3rd option and elevate his game. 2) Our 2nd unit improves drastically. We can still run the 1 in 4 out with Anderson in the game, and Vince running the pick and roll with Gortat could be awesome. Just my opinion here but I think its in the best interest of the whole team.
I really do like this idea a lot, and thought about it myself as well, the problem I keep running into is like you said. Will VC accept the role?
He could be like Manu, or he could turn into AI. I just don’t really know what his thoughts are on the situation. There are TONS of veteran guys in this league that refuse to come off the bench, which is why you won’t see Jared Dudley starting next season in place of a 38 yr old Grant Hill.
I've always wondered why we keep Redick on the second unit when he would be more effective playing with Dwight
I probably know Judo! How many of you can make the same boast?
by Souwantmyname on Jun 4, 2010 1:29 PM EDT up reply actions
That would have been hard to institute during the regular season
If they tried it, and Vince didn’t respond well, it could have been disastrous to the team overall. Much better idea, should the pursue it, to put it in place during the offseason, so the team has time to adjust to it (mentally more than anything else).
They call me Curmudgeon McMiserly.
I'm a guy.
by Sir Lawrence J on Jun 4, 2010 1:31 PM EDT up reply actions
YUP... Lets start Reddick..
Carter is slowing down, BEEN slowing down. Lets get the Young’n some playtime!
Appropriate Score
Your usage comments are spot on. Shard’s % stats this year are not much different than the past. His 3pt % was excatly the same as last year and actually higher than his last 2 yrs in Seattle. Yes – he doesn’t board, create many of his own shots, …, but a thing I like is that he rarely puts up bad shots. If he doesn’t have a good look he likely will look for the pass rather than throwing up an off balance shot by trying to create something that isn’t there. This leads to a lower usage rate when he is the 4th option. I’d like to see him post up more and take that fade away jumper that we saw more of in the latter part of the season.
The score is quite harsh.
The last series aginst Celtics is disappointing, but overall, he is consistent in the season.
Would like to see him post up more and shoot better near the rim.
Harsh?
If anything, I would have thought the mark might be half a grade too generous. Over the space of the whole season, I thought he was very disappointing (for a number of reasons – some of which have already been discussed in this thread).
If Otis tries to bolster his PF stocks over the off-season, it’ll be very interesting to see where that leaves Rashard. I still think he’s a far more useful 3 than he is a 4 (even though he obviously played the 4 last season in the Finals run).
'The Crossover' - a Nets and Knicks podcast. http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=268817312
For 22 million a year you should be getting more than consistent
he is a disappointment
I probably know Judo! How many of you can make the same boast?
by Souwantmyname on Jun 4, 2010 1:30 PM EDT up reply actions
One of Rashard's great strengths might be a bit of a weakness here.
They call him Ice-O because he is a cold deadly shooter that doesn’t ever seemed bothered by the moment. That goes with his personality as an easy going and soft spoken player.
However, the issue here seems to be that he needs to get himself in rhythm and in order to do that he is going to need to be more assertive and create his own opportunities. I don’t know if Rashard is terribly interested in his stats or creating his own looks enough to be as effective as we would like. Remember, he was the one who gave the speech at the beginning of the season pleading for teammates to sacrifice their stats. Also, remember that early on he gave up minutes to Ryan because he thought Ryan was playing well.
I’m not insinuating that Rashard build an ego, because there’s plenty of that to go around in the NBA. Lewis’ personality is one of his greatest assets and helps him deliver in clutch situations. I do think Stan needs to figure a way for him to be more useful next season. And no, I don’t think moving him to SF is necessarily the answer to that. Maybe it’s worth trying for a while, but I think that would limit us particularly on the defensive end.
The intensity has to go up, up! Not down...UP! -Stan Van Gundy
Yeah
I think van Gundy could do worse than running some plays for Lewis earlier in games and trying to get him going.
by eltharion_doa on Jun 4, 2010 1:30 PM EDT up reply actions
the system doesnt allow Rashard to play anywhere other than the perimeter..
He cant post up PF’s and he not running around screens like Ray Allen. Honestly Lewis is very limited in SVG’s system
I probably know Judo! How many of you can make the same boast?
by Souwantmyname on Jun 4, 2010 1:32 PM EDT up reply actions
There's room to be flexible
We’ve occassionally see Rashard’s post up game, like we did when he got to play on Pierce for a bit in Game 5, or last year in the Philly game where Howard was out.
I’d like to see us have more variety in our offensive sets in general – get Dwight in motion more, get the 1/2 pick and roll going more, get the guys use to play in a variety of sets. Our problem against Boston was that if the dump and kick to Howard offense didn’t work, and the Nelson off a screen didn’t work, we were lost as to another option. We need to get a variety of offensive sets going rather than just have one or two plays we continually use – they’re not dominant enough for us to get away with that.
by eltharion_doa on Jun 4, 2010 1:35 PM EDT up reply actions
Yeah, a lot of people knock our system.
But our system allows for a lot of diversity like what you’re describing. We just don’t do it.
The intensity has to go up, up! Not down...UP! -Stan Van Gundy
He can iso other PFs, though
He doesn’t do it often, but his speed is good enough to beat a good number of opposing PFs. I could also see running the occasional 2/4 off-ball screen to either free up VC/JJ or get the favorable rotation on Lewis.
Honor is no substitute for victory.
Indeed. Rashard was a killer in isolation sets.
I really ought to just post Synergy breakdowns in every evaluation…
IMO Shard is playing the wrong position..
He needs to slide down to the 3, where he use his size, and post skills to his advantage.
I am not opposed to starting RA at the 4-He drives the ball and rebounds well. I would prefer a more traditional 4, but I am not sure that is possible.
Definitely like idea of starting Redick over VC. VC’s one job is to come in and go for his.
FEED THE BEAST!!!
Twitter Account
I'd also like to see him at the 3
He gets shutdown against every PF in the post and he rarely goes to an iso.
As Ben said, Rashard’s success largely depends on his teammates. An All-Star who needs help from teammates on offense (even though he plays PF) and needs help from teammates on defense isn’t a good thing.
The point of a PF who can shoot 3’s is to stretch the perimeter… while still doing all the things PF’s do like playing post defense, rebounding, boxing out, setting good screens, etc. Rashard’s easily the best 3-pt shooting PF in the NBA. He’s also statistically the worst rebounding PF in the league and is below average at post defense, boxing out & setting screens. Is there another All-Star who is the best in one category while also being the worst in another?
I don’t think RA is ready for a starting spot. He gets murdered in the post much worse than Rashard does. I hope we move Gortat & Bass for a true PF. Gortat could be excellent but it won’t happen playing 12 mins a game. He’ll never develop in ORL but can start for several other teams and he’s only 25. I don’t think our defense would collapse with Gortat’s replacement and if Otis can find the right PF we can get a lot more production in his 30+ mins. ORL having to use the Twin Towers against LA & Boston proves we need help at PF and proves that we’re extremely predictable on offense with Gortat & Dwight on the floor at the same time.
"It can be done, you can just crush somebody"
here's how i see it fundamentally
Rashard is one of our best 3 point shooters. That’s why he hangs out around that area. He was an all-star because he was so ice downtown.
The posting up is an added bonus.
He doesn’t rebound a lot because of that. He’s not Flash, so he’s not gonna be in the 3 point line one second, then boxing out for rebounding position the next.
He doesn’t get a lot of iso plays because he’s been reduced to 3rd – 4th option. Damn you Vince Carter.
I think the coaching staff didn’t use his maximum abilities this season.
I agree and I think that the way the coaches went wasn't really a surprise.
Somehow the problem with the team as a unit this year was that the great roster that we had on paper didn’t produce at that level on the court (especialy in the fisrt half of the season). What I’m trying to say is that most of the time people were steping up when someone wasn’t playing but it wasn’t so many times when everyone one was in a great day. I think it applies to Lewis and VC, J-Will and Nelson, MP and Barnes… Don’t get me wrong Magic played some amazing basketball this year and I don’t expect everyone who comes from the bench to be hot the second he steps in. Its that the coaches had a much tougher job this year to choose who they would help to get going. (I hope my bad english makes sense)
Don't mind my spelling. I'm a Typo Master.
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recommended FanPosts
Recent FanPosts
Contact Us
In Association With
Ball Don't Lie - NBA - Yahoo! Sport
- Days of NBA Lives: Wherein Roy Hibbert tap-dances to Maine
- Grizzlies Valentine’s Day cards are the key to love
- Kevin Love would like the NBA to take the MLB’s approach on All-Star games
- Kobe Bryant fires a few hilarious salvos at Jeremy Lin
- Brandon Jennings states the obvious regarding his 2014 free agency, everyone goes nuts
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
