What do you guys value more? Should we kill ourselves for Homecourt or begin resting our guys more after we're certain to finish better than Boston/Orlando?
I don't know if I want to stress out Pau/Kobe with another 45 minute game just for a comparable total with the Cavs. I'd take it real easy the last 5 or so games, test out Shannon Brown more, and work on the bench in general.
We have the 1st seed in the west locked up, no problem. I wouldn't mind resting our guys up, but that's only if we are certain to gain HCA against Boston or Orlando. I'd rather get our guys rested and ready for the playoffs, then focus battling hard in the last couple of games to gain HCA and risk injury to our guys (like Kobe).
Against cavs it will be hard without no HCA, but the thing is that many people (including me) believe boston will beat cavs. Still we can't gamble with it, so i have no idea what to vote.
We can gamble with our health though? Our two stars logged mega minutes in the Olympics already, we need to make sure they have their legs under them.
Yea but they will get a lot of rest if our bench can bring it together but if the Lakers can take a big lead then they'll be able to rest. But its tough to choose but I'll go with taking homecourt.
I think our starters need as much rest as possible, it seems our bench can not be trusted at all, nor do we know how Drew will return. We need to be prepared for our extra playoff minutes, Pau and Kobe will average 40 minutes a night potentially. We already went into two hellish courts and won, only health will be a bigger opponent imo.
By the way, I bring this up because of Friday night. I think it is obvious Kobe took a noticeable risk coming back on a somewhat painful looking injury. He's also in a slump and his legs look tired to me. I think he should take some time off to be honest, or have his minutes scaled back for a few games. To clarify though, "taking it easy" when healthy, means 30ish minutes a night, I still want them to be in rhythm.
The Lakers can win on the Road. Would I chance it against the Cavs? I wouldn't want to, but I believe in this unit. Farmar just needs to stop acting like a little bitch and Machine needs to get his shot back.
Don't screw your ankle for Homecourt Kobe, you look a bit tired lately too. I'm guessing I'll be okay with either decision though. :O
I'd rather have a healthy team than HCA. We have the best road record in the NBA and have beaten many elite teams on the road this year. Even if we don't have HCA against someone like Cleveland, I still think we can beat them, especially if we're rested and healthy.
55-19 Boston 58-14 LA Might as well give them some rest now because I don't see Boston catching up. It'll be foolish to continue fighting for HCA over the Cavs since we probably won't get it and risk injury/fatigue to our starters in doing so. Bench needs more run or whatever to break out their current slump. I don't care what happens, just be healthy.
We have 3 games in four days and Kobe's ankle is still bothering him, this is precisely why we need to cut down his minutes. We went 4-1 on this road trip so far, enough in my mind to secure the second best overall record.
Screw HC... we won't catch up with the Cavs. Yea, i think we're better than them but the problem is this team is way too inconsistent... we haven't even put up a 7+ game win streak... this was our chance but we blew it again. So what will the Cavs potential 69-13 record be in NBA history? 3rd best? That should be us...
Now that we're a couple games back from Cleveland and they have a home heavy schedule remaining, I think I'm all for giving some rest and hoping luck might fall our way and we see Cleveland drop a couple games.