Rotation When Kobe Returns?

[Tiesto_Lakers]

Who moves to the bench, Blake or Young? I would put Young on the bench and start Kobe at SF....Nash and Blake seem to play well together, other than the Spurs game. Henry would probably be bumped out of the rotation. I would also make Hill the starting PF for now on.

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

[ROballer]

Either Blake/Meeks/Henry/Young is out of the rotation for good

As much as I'd like Kobe's mins to be monitored,it's only up to him,if he can't play major mins he won't,if he can he will....D'Antoni doesn't have the balls to play him only 30 mpg like he plays Pau for example,Kobe would just check himself in if he's physically fit and the team needs hos services(close games)


Already it seems he gave up on that ridiculous 11 man rotation which is good,Williams doesn't need to take any mins from guys like Johnson/Hill/Kaman who clearly deserve it more

I expect a 10 man rotation from here on....so one of the players from above will be benched and sub'ed by Kobe and used only in garbage time/injury scenario

[Michael Lucky]

i'm seriously worried that farmar is going to lose all playing time with blake taking the back up pg spot. >.>

[Penberthy]

i'm seriously worried that farmar is going to lose all playing time with blake taking the back up pg spot. >.>

Famar is the new barbosa. If kobe comes back at the 2, blake will back him up and dantoni will go small with meeks at backup 3.

I see somthing like:

Nash/Farmar
Kobe/Blake
Young/Meeks/X
Johnson/Kaman
Pau/Kaman/Hill

Kaman/Johnson being interchangable at the starting PF depending on the size matchup of the opponent.

I think Williams becomes the odd man out because Johnson basically does what he does but with more bounce and a better 3. Hill will get 10-15 mins per.

Also, at least one of those guards/sf's will get injured so the minutes will be there.

[semi-sentient]

PG: Nash / Farmar
SG: Henry / Young
SF: Kobe / Johnson
PF: Hill / Kaman
C: Gasol / Kaman


Nash and Kobe can split play-making duties. Nash becomes more of a spot-up shooter since Kobe draws defenses away, and Kobe himself becomes our primary scoring option.

Henry and Young ensure that we have some athleticism in our backcourt at all times. We need guys that can get back on defense and keep guys in front of them, as well as guys that aren't afraid to attack the basket. They aren't lights out shooters but they do a decent job of hitting open shots so I'm comfortable with those two playing the 2-spot.

Kobe at this stage would be better off playing SF for defensive purposes. He has a tough time keeping guys in front of him and offensively he's effective posting up even against bigger players. Johnson backing him up for 20 mpg seems reasonable.

I'd like to see Hill and Kaman split minutes at the 4, meaning that Williams is taken out of the rotation. He's been useless anyway.

At the 5 we'd have mostly Gasol but Kaman is capable of playing there for stretches as well. Gasol will likely be less worn down as he receives less defensive attention with Kobe back in the lineup, so I think he'll be able to handle 30+ minutes.

As appreciative as I am of what Blake did for us against the Rockets I can't overlook how awful he's been overall. I'd take him out of the rotation as well. We've seen plenty of Blake to know by now that he's not a consistent positive contributor and that's not likely to change.

[SlimShady83]

^only thing is about that Semi is that MDA I believe is in love with Blake and will continue to use him as SG

Nash/Farmer
Blake/Henry/Young
Kobe/Meeks
Johnson/Hill/Williams
Pau/Kaman

MDA will use Kaman when facing 2 taller players much like the Houston game where he started Pau/Kaman, if not then he will go small ball with the above line up. I also read somewhere that MDA is trying to turn Johnson into a stretch 4 so he will start no doubt in that position except when other teams have twin towers

[Desiderium]

I'll be sad if Henry gets glued to the bench

[KB24TBOTB]

I'll be sad if Henry gets glued to the bench

He isn't really that good but I guess maybe he can improve?

[One Love]

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

[Dr Aki]

i think MDA is intent on playing kobe at the 3.

he won't be quick enough to guard 2s anymore.

[milesfides]

Blake will get heavy minutes simply because he can hit threes and play defense. And handle the ball. He's pretty much still the best guard on our team right now, until Nash gets healthy, Farmar starts taking care of the ball and being a better playmaker, Nick Young stops clowning and channeling 17 year old Kobe, etc.

I like Blake, Meeks, Kobe, Johnson, and Hill/Kaman as our main lineup. I'd like to see a lot of postups from Kobe this year. Use his footwork, and surround him with shooters to stretch the floor.

[LAKESHOW]

lets start from the beginning. When is he returning?

[Desiderium]

I'll be sad if Henry gets glued to the bench

He isn't really that good but I guess maybe he can improve?

He has an upside...and he likes going to the hole.

It's tough, we have a lot of interchangeable players. I love what Meeks has done this season.

[Tiesto_Lakers]

Since Kobe is coming back any day now...and Nash is not even in the picture in the near future...our rotation should be:

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

Interesting how Kaman didn't get any action last night...looks like D'Antoni is starting to shorten the rotation a bit. Anyway, when Kobe returns, it's obvious Henry will be out of the rotation...he hasn't looked good recently anyway.

[Thethirdguy]

Interesting how Kaman didn't get any action last night...looks like D'Antoni is starting to shorten the rotation a bit. Anyway, when Kobe returns, it's obvious Henry will be out of the rotation...he hasn't looked good recently anyway.

I believe Kaman was out last night because he had some issues with his back.

[Fresh360Waves]

Interesting how Kaman didn't get any action last night...looks like D'Antoni is starting to shorten the rotation a bit. Anyway, when Kobe returns, it's obvious Henry will be out of the rotation...he hasn't looked good recently anyway.

I believe Kaman was out last night because he had some issues with his back.

Yes he was out w/ a back injury but it seems like he was losing minutes even before the injury w/ the emergence of Jordan Hill. Hill can play C too.

[Fresh360Waves]

I think the rotation should look like this:
PG - Nash / Blake / Farmar
SG - Kobe / Meeks / Henry
SF - Wes / Young
PF - Hill / Williams / Kelly / Harris
C - Gasol / Kaman / Sacre

Farmar: It sucks he is 3rd string PG because he has so much athleticism and he can drive to the paint really well, but it is what is. Regardless he'll still get a good amount of minutes due to Nash's age and declining play.
Meeks: Arguably the most improved Laker so far this season. He deserves to be the backup at the 2.
Henry: In the same position as Farmar except I think he won't get as many minutes once Kobe comes back because there's too many guys at the SG position and he hasn't been as consistent as Jodie.
Wes: I think he should start simply because of his length and athleticism. Also gives the lineup some flexibility because Wes can guard the SG position and the Lakers don't have to have Kobe guarding the opposing 2.
Williams/Kelly: I think D'Antoni should throw Kelly out there one game and see what he does w/ the opportunity. Perhaps to send a message to Shawne Williams and be like, "Hey your spot is up for grabs. Impress me."
Kaman: Probably gonna lose some minutes since Hill can play C, but he can still come in and knock down some shots and give us scoring off the bench
Nick: SWAGGY P! He finally looks comfortable out there on the court. Starting role isn't for him. He's built for a sixth man role.

[Tiesto_Lakers]

I think the rotation should look like this:
PG - Nash / Blake / Farmar
SG - Kobe / Meeks / Henry
SF - Wes / Young
PF - Hill / Williams / Kelly / Harris
C - Gasol / Kaman / Sacre

Farmar: It sucks he is 3rd string PG because he has so much athleticism and he can drive to the paint really well, but it is what is. Regardless he'll still get a good amount of minutes due to Nash's age and declining play.
Meeks: Arguably the most improved Laker so far this season. He deserves to be the backup at the 2.
Henry: In the same position as Farmar except I think he won't get as many minutes once Kobe comes back because there's too many guys at the SG position and he hasn't been as consistent as Jodie.
Wes: I think he should start simply because of his length and athleticism. Also gives the lineup some flexibility because Wes can guard the SG position and the Lakers don't have to have Kobe guarding the opposing 2.
Williams/Kelly: I think D'Antoni should throw Kelly out there one game and see what he does w/ the opportunity. Perhaps to send a message to Shawne Williams and be like, "Hey your spot is up for grabs. Impress me."
Kaman: Probably gonna lose some minutes since Hill can play C, but he can still come in and knock down some shots and give us scoring off the bench
Nick: SWAGGY P! He finally looks comfortable out there on the court. Starting role isn't for him. He's built for a sixth man role.

Blake, Farmar and Meeks are all having good seasons, so it's tough to bump one of them out of the rotation when Kobe and Nash return. I think Henry is out no matter what.

As for Kelly taking Williams' spot, I just don't see it. I like Williams' defense much better than Kelly's, and Kelly doesn't seem athletic enough to play PF. He's more of a C in D'Antoni's system.

[semi-sentient]

Kobe needs to be moved over to SF so that we can keep Blake, Farmar, Meeks, and Young in the rotation. They've all played well and I'd hate to see them lose their place on the team. Besides that I think Kobe will be more effective defensively and have more post-up opportunities on offense if he's at the 3. Johnson will be his back up.

Henry is definitely the odd man out.

My biggest concern is what will happen to the rotation when Nash returns. He's the one that's likely (and unfortunately) going to force Farmar out of the rotation. I know this sounds kind of dick but I hope he doesn't come back. He seems pretty adamant on returning and trying to contribute over the next 18 months, but there's no reason to believe that he actually can. He's a major liability on defense and has a tough time breaking down the defense, and him being in and out of the lineup is just going to prevent us from getting in a groove. I just wish he would call it career already.

[Dr Aki]

the problem with kobe's comeback is it takes away from blake's game.

all those assists? likely to be halved.

at least blake's defense is better than nash's defense.