Riley Says Lakers Not Making the Grade

You probably thought the Lakers were playing well this season. Their 21-6 record indicates as much. Opponents have offered unsolicited praise. Most in the media have lauded their effort.

But is Coach Pat Riley satisfied? Not according to a statistical evaluation he and his staff gave to Laker players before their final practice of 1989 on Sunday.

Riley said that starters and reserves alike are not producing strong enough individual statistics in the usual areas--field goal percentage, rebounding, turnovers, steals and assists--compared to previous seasons.

“They are all down,” Riley said. “Overall, from a number standpoint, our top four guys (Magic Johnson, James Worthy, Byron Scott and A.C. Green) are all down at least 12 to 18% from last year in some areas and are down a hell of a lot more from their best years.

“Every one of our players is down in certain areas we think are important. We’ve tried to establish some guidelines for them to shoot for, but it’s up to them.

“Individuals have to want to keep striving. If they’re just content with winning, then they may not have individual success. The team will carry them. But if they can get into increasing their performance, it’ll help the team that much more.”

Added Riley: “The individual player has to be most responsible for his individual play across the board. Getting 22 points and 10 rebounds a game--that means nothing to me. They’ve got to try to develop some consistency in their total game. They need to know these things.

“If they can just improve 1% (individually) in a number of these areas . . . That 1% could be five-tenths of a rebound or one-tenth of a steal (per game). You multiply that 1% by 12 (players), you’ll get a significant improvement in team performance.”

Laker players have come to expect such scrutiny of their performances from Riley. His New Year’s Day report card--they reportedly used to include letter grades, but no longer--has been a standard for the past three seasons.

This time, they expected a poor report, since the team field goal percentage and points per game have dropped significantly.

“We’re used to it,” Johnson said. “If we didn’t have this report card, everybody would be looking at (Riley) funny. You’re always looking for those notes he sends us in the summer and these marks. You always know where you stand.”

Before talking in generalities about his players’ deficiencies, Riley outlined his statistical formula.

“We took the (individual) stats from the last three years and their individual best year (if it is a different season), then we showed them the team’s best year, which was (1984-85),” Riley said. “And that’s what we’ve compared to this season.”

The Lakers’ four “core” players--Johnson, Worthy, Scott and Green--are down in several areas, according to Riley.

Scott’s combined shooting percentage in the four seasons Riley mentioned was 51.1% This season, Scott has made 45.2% of his shots. Scott had averaged 18.5 points in the four seasons; 16.1 this season.

“Byron’s shooting percentage is down, and he knows he needs to improve on that,” said Riley, who added that Scott’s rebounding and assists totals are slightly down from his best season.

Said Scott: “What it is is a friendly reminder of what you’re doing out there. It doesn’t put pressure on you, but it lets you know. Numbers don’t lie. I mean, you can get 20 points, but not have a good game.”

Green, according to Riley, needs to work on his field goal percentage, assists and also reduce his fouls. Green’s rebounding average has improved from 8.5 a game in the four seasons in question to 9.4 this season. But his fouls have risen from 2.3 a game to 2.7, and his blocked shots are down to 0.74 from a career high of 1.01 in 1986-87. “Across the board, A.C. has to improve in each area except his rebounding, which is good,” Riley said.

Said Green: “I think it’s a good evaluation tool. Coach Riley points out those things so that you’re aware of it. If I can improve 1% in each area, I’ll be that much better.”

Johnson and Worthy, the two most reliable Lakers, also saw a few statistical areas highlighted with a marking pen on their report cards.

Worthy’s steals are down from 1.2 over the four-season span to 0.88 this season. His shooting percentage has dropped 3% and his turnovers have increased to 2.3 from a low of 1.9 in 1985-86.

Johnson said the faults Riley found in his game were his field goal percentage of 47.1 this season compared to 51.9 in the four seasons, and his 88.8 free-throw percentage compared to his NBA-best 91.1% last season.

“There are things you still have to improve on as a player,” Worthy said. “There’s a lot of little things, like turnovers. Everybody on the team has a category, steals for me. I’ve got to get my turnovers down to like it was in (the 1985-86 season). I’ve also got to foul less.”

Added Johnson: “(Riley) wants my shooting percentage better. He says I’m good inside, but it’s on the perimeter where I got to improve. The other thing is free throws, but I know I’ll improve that.”

In addition to the standard NBA statistics, the Laker staff charts such obscure categories as players’ shooting accuracy from different spots on the court. Center Mychal Thompson, the fifth Laker starter, said every category on his report card was highlighted for improvement.

“It’s embarrassing,” Thompson said. “No matter how long I stayed out of school, I still get failing grades. I never made the dean’s list in college. But I don’t care. Just once, I’d like to make Riley’s list.”

Riley, however, takes these motivational tools seriously.

“It isn’t going to make or break them, in terms of playing time,” Riley said of the performance reviews. “But they know it’s important. They were nodding at me, as if saying, ‘You’re right.’ Well, let’s see some results now.”