Mike D’Antoni desperate to have Steve Nash back into his lineup – NBA Update
Los Angeles Lakers point guard Steve Nash has been out with a fractured fibula in his left leg since Oct.31 and with the Lakers’ trembling under their new head coach Mike D’Antoni, they need him badly.
None more so than D’Antoni himself.
D’Antoni and Nash go way back. The duo was at the centre of the Phoenix Suns resurgence in the middle of last decade, one that got Nash two regular season MVP’s and D’Antoni a coach of the year honour. The two separated when Mike
decided to take a job at the New York Knicks and it is fair to say, that he didn’t prove to be much of a genius without Nash.
Now that Mike is in Hollywood as the head coach of the Lakers, he is understandably desperate for Nash to return and once again carry his offensive philosophy which has failed so far. Before Sunday’s game against the Utah Jazz,
when asked about the possible return of Nash on the four game road trip, Mike was quick to say yes, only to retract his statement afterwards;
"I think it's possible," D'Antoni said. "I wouldn't put my reputation on it, but, it's possible."
"Steve probably won't play this trip," he quickly quipped. "I'm always hoping maybe, but that's me, that's not probably going to happen."
Nash has been participating in individual shooting and dribbling drill off late, but has yet to reach a level of fitness where he can push his body towards more hectic routines, like sprinting and cutting. He spent the shootaround
on Sunday morning with Lakers conditioning coach Tim DiFrancesco and D’Antoni asserted that he wants his guard to be fully fit before the eventual return.
"He's ramping it up," D'Antoni said of Nash. "He's even sweating over there, so that's good. I think he's getting there. He just does not want to take any steps back. He wants to be 100 percent, which I want him to be too. It's
just too important to the team to get him (before) he feels great."
However with the losses ramping up – the Lakers lost 117-110 to Jazz as we write – and the Lakers sliding down the ranking, the pressure is mounting on D’Antoni to deliver, with or without Nash.
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