46 replies to this topic

[GCMD]

You may or may not agree with this but IMHO, Dwight needs to take about a week off. I've been watching him and he doesn't seem to be recovering his mobility or stamina as quickly as he should. I understand that it's a long process and he has to play through a certain amount of pain and discomfort but I'm a little worried that he's pushing through it a little too much.

Now would be a good time.

Give him the DEN, POR and Philly games off. That's about 10 days. Let him rest and stay back in LA with no practice, travel or contact. Let him give his body time to heal. Give him a chance to get over the hump in his rehab. We have Nash back and can make a big showcase out of starting Pau at 5. It's a chance to get a GOOD look at what Pau will and will not be able to do with Nash on the floor. If he can find his way in the low post, good. If he still struggles with Nash running the show AND Howard out, his fate is sealed.


IMHO, it's the right thing to do...not just for now, but also for the future. 2 birds, 1 stone.

Edited by GCMD, December 24, 2012 - 11:59 AM.

[PhillyLaker24]

As much as it sucks to see him sit I agree. This dude shouldnt have been out here anyway until Jan. The simple eye test tells you he isnt 100 percent, and on top of that in a recent interveiw he said at times he cant even feel his feet thats not good at all.

[Hollywood]

Mike said he wants wins at any cost

[NYCLakerfan]

I wouldn't mind it

[PhillyLaker24]

Mike said he wants wins at any cost

Yea that is very obvious having kobe out there for 40+ a night just shows how short sighted this guy is. He only cares about winning right now to keep the heat of the media off his back. He isnt getting our team right for the playoffs by pushing them way too early in the season. Then again thats if we make them.

Edited by PhillyLaker24, December 24, 2012 - 12:12 PM.

[djcovi]

I agree somewhat. It's actually been pretty awesome that we've had him at all, there were initially reports he was likely going to be out until January (as we all know). He just isn't completely there yet.

They dug such a big hole for themselves so early in the season though, I think their thought process is they can't afford to fall behind more than they already have or they won't even make the playoffs.

I don't blame Mike D'Antoni for pushing guys this early, he has to try and get this team back on track ASAP.

So I would give him some games off, I like the stretch you pointed out of Nuggets, Blazers, Sixers. But I can understand why they won't most likely.

[bobekryant]

Lakers better alert the league office if they plan to rest him.

[LakeShow805]

idk....we need to catch up to other teams in the W column

[GCMD]

That next 5 games (after the Philly game) are going to be wild...

Clippers
Denver
Houston
San Antonio
OKC

All of them in an 8 day span...I'm pretty sure we will be ok with missing Dwight for 10 days and 3 games so we can have him come back on a tear (or at least be mobile) for the next 8 days and 5 games...


As far as MDA and his "win at all costs" stance, I'm pretty sure he's much less worried now that Nash is back...so am I. We can beat those teams (DEN, POR, Philly) by outscoring them...can't say the same about LAC, SAS and OKC. We will need Dwight in better form if we really want to get back into the playoff race. Now is just as good a time as any other...

Plus, we get to SHOWCASE Pau...don't forget that. If other teams are going to give us anything of importance for Pau, we have to show them what he can do...and more importantly, show US what he CAN'T do.

Edited by GCMD, December 24, 2012 - 12:26 PM.

[manaro90]

If Howard gets some time off we can still dominate with this lineup the next games:

NASH
MEEKS
BRYANT
WORLD PEACE
GASOL

OR

NASH
MEEKS
BRYANT
GASOL
HILL

Then we would pick up Jamison back in to the rotation!

[bigfetz]

If we do this our record could get so bad that we cant recover. If we had a winning record maybe but come on. If we were to do this we would be lucky to win what 1 maybe 2 games. We would be ending up around 4-5 games under .500. Way to big of a risk.

[fido]

This team needs to win at a high clip to just make the playoffs.

There is no time to unnecessarily rest any of the core players.

That would be disastrous.

[NYCLakerfan]

This team needs to win at a high clip to just make the playoffs.

There is no time to unnecessarily rest any of the core players.

That would be disastrous.

This is also a good point

[Cowboys&LakersFan]

Lol dude you're crazy. We can't afford to rest Dwight. Rest won't help him. He just needs to get in better game shape. Only playing would do that. As others said we're too far behind in the standings to sit any players that aren't hurt.

[Japago]

Lakers wouldn't win a game without him.

The Lakers' defense might be historically bad with him gone.

[8RingKobe]

This team needs to win at a high clip to just make the playoffs.

There is no time to unnecessarily rest any of the core players.

That would be disastrous.

Don't you think we could beat Denver/Portland/Philly without Dwight now that we have Nash back?

Edited by 8RingKobe, December 24, 2012 - 01:58 PM.

[Real Deal]

With Artest out of the starting five, and Dwight out, it would only be Kobe roaming around and trying to defend...and with Nash and Gasol having bigger roles in the offense, we would be a bottom three defensive team in the NBA.

Kobe has been carrying everyone else through the mud for almost two months now. With Nash back in, it puts Howard and Nash P&R on the map, and gives Kobe needed rest. He's already showing signs of "season fatigue" and having trouble elevating on shots, something that wasn't happening in November.

This team does nothing without Kobe. It's only the end of December. We need to start winning games decisively ASAP, so we can lower Kobe's minutes. Otherwise, we will suffer from it, like we did over the last two seasons, when help was coming inconsistently.

[Majesty]

Dwight will be fine, he will only get better through playing and it will increase his cardio. I don't know how sitting out a week would help his stamina any because he's still trying to get back.

Kobe is the person we should be worried about minutes wise.

So especially now you play Dwight Nash etc so that we can win games clearly so we can sit our players in garbage time.

The best way to get our players rest, is getting the chemistry to the level where we're blowing teams out and can rest them the rest of the game.

[Notorious Arab]

I agree with Majesty. Kobe is the one who needs rest out of all the players. But we are way too behind in the standings. Cant afford it now.

Edited by Notorious Arab, December 24, 2012 - 03:18 PM.

[hotpocket]

I wish we could give him a rest.

We started out so poorly though, and still have a lot of work to do to make this team work that taking him out would probably make us dive again. He's not 100%, but he's still our best defensive player and we need him.