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I have no idea. Especially if Kobe is sidelined to start the season.

It's what...

Nash, Pau, and others? Honestly, this is gonna be savage as it stands.

Nash, Blake, ?, Pau, Kaman? Yikes.

with Kobe it's

Nash
Kobe
Young
Hill
Pau

without, I'm still expecting D"Antoni to use Blake similar to the first playoff game so
Nash
Blake
Young
Hill
Pau

I guess...

That'll be Pau at the 4 Hill at 5 though.

Wouldn't be surprised if D'Antoni starts the season with the Pau/Kaman combo...I mean,Hill's not necessarily his favorite player

Things may change afterwards though

I would go with:

PG: Nash
SG: Young
SF: Kobe
PF: Hill
C: Gasol

Hill and Gasol seem to play really well together, and for defensive purposes I'd slide Kobe over to the 3 so that the more athletic young can help with our wing/transition defense.

Farmar, Blake
Nash, Meeks
Kobe, Young, johnson
Hill, Harris Kelly
Pau, Kaman

With a healthy Kobe, our lineup will be as follows:

PG: Nash
SG: Kobe
SF: Young
PF: Hill
C: Pau

If Kobe is out, the lineup will be as follows:

PG: Nash
SG: Wesley
SF: Young
PF: Hill
C: Pau

Lets play ball baby...

That front court is going to suck astronomical levels on defense that I'm sure we'll end up bottom 5 in defense this season. I hope the offense is good enough to carry us.

Young is athletic... Hill can bang... Pau has length... It won't be great but we may be surprised... Still going to be a long team... Don't under estimate chemistry...

I think it will be Nash, Meeks, Young, Hill, Pau without Kobe. Meeks started last year with Kobe out.

Anyone who wants to start Farmar and Nash together needs to give their head a shake..that'd be the worst defensive backcourt in the history of the league.

When Kobe is healthy, I feel Nash and Young are the best pieces to put around him. Hill and Gasol should be starting together regardless of Kobe's status...Hill is a good defensive player and rebounder who can hit the mid range J.

G - Nash/Farmar
G - Young/Blake/Meeks
F - Bryant/Johnson
F - Hill/Kelly
C - Gasol/Kaman/Sacre

I can see D'Antoni playing Wes Johnson as a small ball PF during certain times of the game.

Our fastest lineup: Farmar, Blake, Young, Johnson, Hill
Our biggest lineup: Nash, Bryant, Johnson, Gasol, Kaman
Best defensive lineup: Blake, Bryant, Johnson, Hill, Kaman
Best 3pt shooting lineup: Nash, Meeks, Young, Johnson, Gasol

I'm more worried about our perimeter d. Gasol plays solid d at the center spot because of his length and high bball iq. Hill on the other hand can do the dirty work for Pau.

I think the Lakers are going to start Kaman. I do not think they would have used the full MMLE on him to play backup center behind Gasol and possibly only get 20 minutes a night - or less. I also think Kaman signed here with some assurances that he would get significant playing time, if not start, to be able to showcase himself somewhat in the open market next season.

I also think that the Lakers want to show - stubbornly or not - that a two big man system can work with Kaman in place of Howard. I see Hill handling the majority, if not all, of the 4-5 backup minutes behind Kaman and Gasol, unless Kelly and/or Harris would come on very strong.

If the they liked Kelly or Harris in camp and/or signed Lamar Odom, I could see Hill traded for more tax relief.

With it looking like Sacre will be here for the next three years, it could be a good move to also trade Hill to get him some PT and see what he can do and if he offers anything more than a towel waving third - string center as we move into the future.

If it were me for balance I would start Wesley as he is better spot up and slash off Nash and Kobe. Bring Young in off the bench in that 6man instant offense role. He also is good buddies with Farmar and grew up playing with him so they could anchor that second unit. It's a bit small but in D'antoni's system its fast and spread nicely

Nash/Farmar
Wesley/Meeks/Blake
Kobe/Young
Hill/Harris
Pau/Kaman

That second unit could come in early and often to keep the starter mins down and really push the tempo.

^exactly, have Wesley start at either wing position to build confidence, run the lane and focus on d. This way young can do what he does best without Kobe hogging the ball. Makes the most logical sence but who knows we'll see.

supaflash wrote:If it were me for balance I would start Wesley as he is better spot up and slash off Nash and Kobe. Bring Young in off the bench in that 6man instant offense role. He also is good buddies with Farmar and grew up playing with him so they could anchor that second unit. It's a bit small but in D'antoni's system its fast and spread nicely

Nash/Farmar
Wesley/Meeks/Blake
Kobe/Young
Hill/Harris
Pau/Kaman

That second unit could come in early and often to keep the starter mins down and really push the tempo.

I think Young accepted a veterans minimum with the guarantee that he would get heavy starter minutes. I tweeted Dave McMenamin earlier and that's what he said.

Young can still get his "heavy starter mins" off the bench. Starting him wil only relagate him to standing in the corner waiting for Kobe not to pass to him. Wesley would be perfect playing along side the mamba, doing all the dirty work and not worrying about his 1on1 iso plays. I just don't see any balance with young and Kobe in the starting line up. The lineup supaflash has is spot on.

wesley johnson is not going to start over blake you better believe that.

without kobe: nash/blake/young/pau/kaman

i still think kaman is going to start because he has a much better jumper than hill.

chefy wrote:I'm more worried about our perimeter d. Gasol plays solid d at the center spot because of his length and high bball iq. Hill on the other hand can do the dirty work for Pau.

doesn't work if pau's man is the one setting picks on the perimeter

Pau starts at center... statistically that is really the thing that matters. If he spends some time at the 4 to get Kaman on the floor with him, fine, but he should get the bulk of center minutes. I can't find the article I posted on this last year, but Pau in the post is still statistically a top 3 center, where as he's a very avg PF. Case in point he had triple doubles on bad leg last year at the 5, so don't even suggest he's our starting 4.