This is the ninth in a series grading the Lakers’ efforts on the 2012-13 season.

Player: Jodie Meeks, Lakers guard

How he performed: Averaged 7.9 points on 38.7 percent shooting from the field and 35.7 percent from three-point range in 21.3 minutes through 78 regular-season games; scored four points on 25 percent shooting in 20 minutes through one playoff game.

The Good:Even on a veteran team where shots are hard to come by, Jodie Meeks never showed any hesitation to shoot. That mindset had its consequences. But it also helped Meeks provide the service that he was supposed to provide when he signed a two-year, $3 million deal last offseason. That enabled him to score in double figures in 25 games. He shot above 50 percent from three-point range in 14 games. Even on off shooting nights, his mere presence significantly spaced the floor better, making it easier for Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol move more inside. It also helped that Meeks kept a positive attitude and showed hustle on defense.

The Bad: Meeks’ gun-slinging mentality hurt him more often than it helped him. He went through 25 games where he shot 25 percent or worse from the perimeter. Meeks’ fast-breaks usually ended in catastrophe. And he didn’t appear willing to temper his shot selection or his fast-break execution despite the results usually going against him. It didn’t help that Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni openly encouraged him to take such an approach.

It would’ve been possible for Meeks to diversify his shooting by finding opportunities on mid-range jumpers or looking more for Howard and Gasol inside. Even if he had done that, it wouldn’t have compromised his rhythm or confidence to shoot the ball. But that didn’t happen.

He also proved to be a non-factor in the playoffs, missing the last three games of the Lakers’ first-round sweep to San Antonio because of a partially torn ligament in his left ankle.

Grade:C. Meeks had the potential to be an X-factor every game. But he was too unreliable with his streaky shooting. The Lakers will likely bring Meeks back by exercising his $1.6 million team option. So it’s imperative that Meeks alters his shooting approach so he becomes more consistent.

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Follow L.A. Daily News Lakers beat writer Mark Medina on Twitter. E-mail him at mark.medina@dailynews.com

Lakers assistant coach Steve Clifford interviewed Monday with the Milwaukee Bucks for the vacant head-coaching position, according to a league source familiar with the discussions.

It wasn’t immediately clear if any offer was made or if Clifford will have a follow-up interview. But ever since the Bucks decided not to retain interim coach Jim Boylan, Milwaukee has also interviewed Nate McMillan and Houston Rockets assistants Kelvin Sampson and J.B. Bickerstaff, according to a league source.

Clifford also plans to interview soon with the Charlotte Bobcats for their head-coaching spot.
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The obstacles facing Kobe Bryant no longer consist of healing from a torn left Achilles’ tendon.

Lately, it involves something far more suffocating than navigating a double team.

Bryant’s mother, Pamela, and father, Joe, filed statements in federal court in Camden, NJ. on Monday suggesting the Lakers’ star has lied during his recent efforts to stop Pamela from giving a New Jersey-based auction house more than 100 of his basketball memorabilia from both his high school and early portion of his Lakers career.

In a declaration filed in federal court in Camden Monday, Pamela insisted sworn statements from Kobe and his wife, Vanessa, “contained many false statements.” That included Kobe’s account of a May 2 phone conversation, in which she allegedly agreed he had never told her she could have his belongings.

Pamela Bryant claimed sworn statements by her son and daughter-in-law contained “many false statements.” She rejected Kobe Bryant’s account of a May 2 phone conversation, in which she allegedly agreed that he had never told her she could have his belongings.
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In a sign that they didn’t exactly put the ‘D’ back into Mike D’Antoni’s name, none of the Lakers earned any spots on the NBA’s All Defensive teams.

Instead, the first team honors went to the Clippers’ Chris Paul, Miami’s LeBron James, Oklahoma City’s Serge Ibaka, New York’s Tyson Chandler, Chicago’s Joakim Noah, Memphis’ Tony Allen. The second team included San Antonio’s Tim Duncan, Indiana’s Paul George, Memphis’ Marc Gasol, Boston’s Avery Bradley and Memphis’ Mike Conley.

Not that any of this should be surprising.

The Lakers lost to the San Antonio Spurs in first-round sweep. They finished the regular season ranked 21st in total defense (101 points per game), 29th in fast-break points allowed (15.9), 15th in opponent shooting percentage (45.3 percent) and 14th in opponent three-point field goal percentage (35.7 percent).
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Somewhere, Mark Madsen might be dancing.

The popular former Lakers reserve has been named the head coach of the D-Fenders, the team’s Development League affiliate. The Lakers recently lost Reggie Theus, who left to take a head-coaching job at Cal State Northridge.

Madsen, who spent last year in his first season as an assistant at Stanford, played nine years in the NBA and was on the Lakers’ 2001 and 2002 championship teams. He earned a place in Lakers lore both for his constant hustle in practice and for his unique dancing style during championship parades. Madsen also spent two seasons in the D-League as an assistant for the Utah Flash.

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Follow L.A. Daily News Lakers beat writer Mark Medina on Twitter. E-mail him at mark.medina@dailynews.com

This is the eighth in a series grading the Lakers’ efforts on the 2012-13 season.

Player: Earl Clark, Lakers forward

How he performed: Averaged a career-high 7.3 points on 44 percent shooting and 5.5 rebounds through 23.1 minutes in 59 regular-season games, including 36 as a starter; Averaged 3.5 points on 36.8 percent shooting and 3 rebounds through 20.5 minutes in four playoff games.

The Good: So much for the Lakers initially considering Clark no more than just a throw-in involving the trade that brought them Dwight Howard from the Orlando Magic. Clark emerged as a surprisingly reliable stretch forward that provided plenty of energy, length and an occasional jumper. Clark may not have received such a chance if not for injuries to Howard (shoulder), Pau Gasol (concussion) and Jordan Hill (regular season-ending left hip injury). But Clark’s season-high 20 minutes against Houston on Jan. 8 soon morphed into career-highs in points (22) and rebounds (13) the next day against San Antonio. Even when Gasol returned, D’Antoni granted Clark the starting spot after because of his preference for a smaller lineup.

Clark took advantage of that opportunity. He posted 11 double doubles. Clark made a key basket in a win Jan. against New Orleans. He scored on a lob with .04 seconds left before the first half in a win Feb. against Detroit. And in two must-win games in April against Memphis and Dallas, Clark averaged 15 points, 8.5 rebounds and three blocks.
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This is the seventh in a series grading the Lakers’ efforts on the 2012-13 season.

Player: Antawn Jamison, Lakers forward

How he performed: Averaged 9.4 points on 46.4 percent shooting and 4.8 rebounds in 21.5 minutes through 76 regular season games; Averaged 7.3 points on 43.5 percent shooting and 1.8 rebounds in 19.8 minutes through four playoff games.

The Good:Team accounts described Jamison as the Lakers’ second best off-the-ball player behind Kobe Bryant for a number of reasons. Jamison seamlessly snuck through the cracks of any defense so well that Bryant affectionately described him as a “cockroach.” Steve Blake marveled at how quickly Jamison slipped off of screens to set himself up for an open shot. Everyone mused how Jamison’s ridiculously ugly flip shot usually remained effective.
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Phil Jackson stopped at midcourt moments after suffering perhaps the most embarrassing loss of an otherwise storied 19-year NBA coaching career bearing a slight smile on his face.

Plenty of things could’ve soured Jackson’s mood. The Lakers’ 112-86 Game 4 loss to the Dallas Mavericks in the 2011 Western Conference semifinals derailed the team’s hopes to three-peat. It also marked the end of an accomplished coaching stint that spanned 11 NBA championships, 13 NBA Finals appearances and 229 playoffs wins. Consider Jackson’s bemused reaction as nothing more than a moment of Zen.

“I’ve never been very good at dealing with loss. Like many competitors, one of the main driving forces in my life has been not just to win but to avoid losing,” Jackson wrote in his book, “Eleven Rings,” slated for a May 21 release. “Yet for some reason, this fiasco didn’t affect me as much as some of the other losses I’ve endured in my basketball life. In part, that was because this wasn’t the finals. It’s much easier coping with an early-round loss than a game in which you’re closing in on a ring. But even more than that, the way in which the Dallas finale unfolded was so over-the-top absurd, it was hard to take too seriously.”
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This is the sixth in a series grading the Lakers’ efforts on the 2012-13 season.

Player: Steve Blake, Lakers backup point guard

How he performed: Averaged 7.3 points on 42.2 percent shooting and 3.8 assists in 26.1 minutes through 45 regular-season games; averaged 14 points on 39.3 percent shooting and 2.5 assists in 37.5 minutes through two playoff games.

The Good:  Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni gushed plenty of hyperbole in his introductory press conference. He envisioned how the Lakers would averaged 110-115 points per game (they averaged 102.2). D’Antoni believed he would have little problems incorporating a faster-paced offense to a veteran group (there were plenty). He set his sights on an NBA championships (the Lakers were swept in the first round).

But D’Antoni was hardly exaggerating when he said he long coveted Steve Blake, feeling his playmaking, feistiness and team-mindset proved the perfect fit in his system. Blake lived up to that billing in what became his most productive season in three years with the Lakers. In his previous two seasons under both Phil Jackson and Mike Brown, Blake admittedly played fairly tentative both out of respect to the team’s star studded lineup and because the offense hardly catered to his hope to create on his own. That wasn’t the case with D’Antoni, who always encouraged Blake to play with full aggression and take any shots that came to him.

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The Cleveland Cavaliers recently asked and received permission from the Lakers to talk with player development coach Phil Handy about possibly joining Mike Brown’s coaching staff, said Lakers spokesman John Black.

Brown hired Handy as his player development coach in the 2011-12 season, his first season as the Lakers’ head coach. Since then, Handy has developed a strong reputation among the Lakers’ players for both his engaging on-court workouts and infinite willingness to work with them at all hours of the day.

When the Lakers fired Brown last season following a 1-4 start, Mike D’Antoni still kept the coaching staff intact and added his brother, Dan, to the staff. That included Handy, whose duties entail working players out before games and after practices through various individual shooting and ball handling drills. Handy also worked closely with players in individual workouts as they progressed from various injuries.

The Lakers’ coaching staff has remained in flux in recent weeks. Eddie Jordan took the Rutgers’ head-coaching job just before the NBA playoffs began. D’Antoni informed both Chuck Person and Bernie Bickerstaff Monday that they won’t return for the 2013-14 season. Steve Clifford also plans to interview soon with the Charlotte Bobcats for their vacant head-coaching position.

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Follow L.A. Daily News Lakers beat writer Mark Medina on Twitter. E-mail him at mark.medina@dailynews.com