Apr 12, 2013; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers head coach Mike D
There has been a lot of talk about whether the Lakers will be good or not. Well, Mike D’Antoni has some thoughts of his own.
"I think we can be better than most people think. I think Mitch [Kupchak, Lakers general manager] and [owner and executive] Jim Buss have done a great job of retooling as well as we could.”"
After losing Dwight Howard, the Lakers went out and signed Chris Kaman, Wesley Johnson, Nick Young, Jordan Farmar, undrafted free agent, Elias Harris, and also drafted Ryan Kelly. As far as rotations go, MDA had a couple things to say.
"A lot of combinations can happen. The guys that come in [to camp] and win the battle — they will they settle [the rotation] amongst themselves. I foresee 11 guys playing a lot of minutes.”"
It would fantastic if D’Antoni used an 11 man rotation next season, especially after only using eight guys at points during last season. If the Lakers make the playoffs somehow, the players should be properly rested.
Coach D’Antoni talked about how he expects Pau Gasol to have the best season he’s ever had, ironically enough. Most people will remember that Gasol was benched and put in the doghouse, so what makes this season different? Maybe it will help if Gasol plays center, but it’s hard for me to believe that he will have a career year after injuries and being on bad terms with D’Antoni.
It really isn’t a surprise on how MDA wants the team to play.
"“I would like it to be in theory but I’ll have to watch the players and see where they can go with. Do we want to shoot a lot of threes? Yeah, that’s kind of where the league is going. If you look at it analytically, that’s a better shot than the old traditional one inside the arc kind of jumper. It just mathematically makes sense that you want to try to get threes, layups and fouls.”"
It remains to be seen whether this current Lakers team will be able to play up-tempo. They are certainly younger than last season, but they still have some older players like Nash, Gasol, and Kobe.
What do YOU think about Mike D’Antoni’s quotes? Let us know in the comment section down below!