Midseason Roundtable Grades: Alan Anderson

Kenneth Armstrong: B-

It seems like we've been waiting all season for the moment when Anderson breaks into the rotation on a permanent basis. That, of course, has yet to happen. When he does play, however, he tends to bring good energy and moves well on defense, which relates to why his grade is in this range for me. The team seems to love "AA," and we have even seen the Clippers organization feature him on their website as the "hype man" who keeps spirits tight with unique and complex handshakes. As long as the Clippers don't have to depend on him for on-court production, he will continue to fit in well.

Max Jeffrey: C-

Evaluating Alan Anderson with a letter grade almost feels unfair. Of the 56 games that the Clippers have played so far this season, Anderson has only been in 23 of them. And in those games, he's averaging a mere 11.6 minutes of playing time. Gauging his overall impact on the team is difficult given such a small sample size, but he just cannot be granted anything beyond a C-. While he looks like a decent fit when he actually does play, the numbers don’t lie. He ranks third from last on the team in Net Rating (-7.9), Defensive Rating (110.7), and True Shooting Percentage (47.2%). In addition, Anderson is shooting just 35.7% from the field and 30.8% from beyond the arc. For a defensive-minded shooting guard, these stats are simply all less than ideal. If there are any moves to be made by the deadline, we might see at least an uptick in his minutes. In the meantime, however, Anderson will have to find ways to earn some more playing time.

Robert Flom: C

On one hand, I don’t think anyone was expecting Alan Anderson to be a crucial part of the Clippers’ success this year. On the other hand, he was a solid rotation player just two seasons ago, and the exact type of player (3 and D wing) that the Clippers have needed desperately over the past several years. Anderson simply hasn’t made an impact of any kind on the Clippers this season, whether for good or bad. He started off the year rehabbing for an injury, and Doc brought him along slowly. But even when injuries started to mount in December, Doc never gave him a real chance in the rotation. The idea of “saving him for the playoffs” when talking about a 34 year old reserve is ridiculous, so he just must not have stood out enough in practices to get more minutes. When he has played, Anderson has been mostly fine. He puts forth effort on the court, has made a few threes, and shown flashes of strong defense, especially recently. More importantly, everyone loves him in the locker room, and that’s important on a team like the Clippers, where not everything is sunshine and roses all the time. Hopefully the fact that he has been in the rotation the past three games (and played decently) is a harbinger of things to come.