Mike D'Antoni continues to say what everyone already knows, the Dwight Howard experiment was a big failure. The Los Angeles Lakers did everything they could to get the center to fit right with the team, but in the end it did not work out. Now, Howard has moved on to the Houston Rockets and the Lakers are trying to pick up the pieces and draw on their old ways to find success again.
The biggest issue with the Lakers last season was Howard and Pau Gasol on the court at the same time. Howard wanted the ball. Gasol wanted the ball. They both wanted to work inside. They both wanted the rebound. Nothing meshed with these two on the court at the same time. D'Antoni admits that a lot of the downfall came from politics on the court.
"It was very uncomfortable," D'Antoni said, via USA Today about the Howard-Gasol dynamic. "I knew I was messing on (Gasol) last year. That's not fair to him. But that was the situation we were in. How do we make the best of it? I was just trying to make the best of it. But no, it wasn't fair to him. I think it was all (politics). It was all that. We wouldn't do that (normally). If nobody had names on their jerseys, and we were just playing? You go through Pau. There's not a question. No question."
The Lakers head coach notes the two have cleared the air on everything and the entire team is ready for a fresh start. Could that fresh start include shocking the masses with their season? Los Angeles has been projected to not be in contention for the playoffs come the end of the regular season, mainly due to age and lack of fire power. Kobe Bryant is still injured and aging Steve Nash is uncertain for the entire year.
Now the man in charge, Gasol has plenty of questions surrounding him as well. The four-time All-Star is now 33 and had two knee procedures during the offseason. He suffered a foot injury that held him out most of last season. He is hoping to regain his spot at the top.
"I definitely believe I can do it," Gasol said. "I know it. I bounced back really well. The procedure went well, my tendons are a lot healthier now than they were before. I have a lot more healthy tissue that regenerated well. I worked hard during the summer to be in the position that I'm in today, and I look forward to just to going out there and doing what I know best."
Gasol averaged a career-low 13.7 points per game last season in just 49 games total. However, he looks better so far in 2013. In seven preseason games, Gasol led the Lakers in scoring while putting up 6.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game. Time will tell how long that lasts.
