Coach Mike D’Antoni’s small-ball offense has received some comments from Lakers center, Pau Gasol earlier this season. Along with other frustrations coming from the Laker bench is Chris Kaman, who has only appeared in 38 of the 73 total games the team has played.
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Recently after Monday’s practice, Pau Gasol spoke with Mike Bresnahan and Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times to express his hope to play with Chris Kaman on the court together after he comes back from vertigo:
“We played a few games in the preseason, and I think it was pretty effective. I think people were pretty excited and we got good results from it, but we really never went back to it during the entire season.”
The ll-year veteran, Chris Kaman, has experienced his most frustrating season of his career with the purple and gold. Averaging only 18.6 minutes, Kaman has been able to put up 10.3 points and 5.9 rebounds per game.
D’Antoni’s decisions to not play Kaman revolves around a number of reasons. Robert Sacre has played the majority of the minutes due to his defense in the post. Also Kaman’s offensive game reflects as a mirror to Pau Gasol’s versatile style of play. The result of having both of the same players on the floor does not equate to coach D’Antoni’s interests, leaving Kaman to sit on the bench.
As for Tuesday night’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers, Gasol is probable after sitting out four games. It remains to be seen if Gasol will get the chance to play with Kaman in the final nine games of the season, but Kaman has shown that he can produce when given minutes.
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D’Antoni Praises Chris Kaman, But Still Unsure Of Role