It takes 11 players to replace Kobe Bryant.
The Los Angeles Times is reporting that coach Mike D'Antoni is using an 11-man rotation as he tries to figure out what gives the Los Angeles Lakers the best chance to win on a nightly basis until Bryant, the Lakers' all-star guard, returns.
"If you start losing, then you have to do something quicker," he told the Times. "I don't think we're at that point yet."
If D'Antoni is tanking to give the Lakers a better shot in the lottery next summer for the No. 1 pick, he's not doing a very good job of it.
The Lakers have started the season 2-2, and the players say the large rotation is responsible for the inconsistency.
"We're not a well-oiled machine," guard Steve Nash said after practice Monday. "We don't even know what lineups suit us best yet, let alone what each other are going to do."
According to the Times, the Lakers have used 34 player combinations so far this season.
Yet, a Los Angeles Lakers team that had a healthy Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol and a center coming back from back surgery in Dwight Howard was 1-4 after its first five game (Nash suffered a broken leg during the second game of the season).
Center Pau Gasol said he hopes D'Antoni finds a combination he likes and sticks with it. "Definitely rotation and lineups will help with us being more consistent," Gasol said.
"I'd like Jordan [Hill] to see more minutes," Gasol told the Times. "I'd like Chris [Kaman] to get more minutes.
And Gasol, who is averaging 26 minutes a game, said he would like more time on the court too.
"At some point in the future . . . I would like my minutes also to increase," Gasol said.
Nash played a season-high 29 minutes with 13 points and six assists in the Lakers' 105-103 win over Atlanta on Sunday. He feels optimistic he can be more of a contributor than he was last season when he was fighting through the effects of the broken leg.
"If last night's an indication, if I can get up another level or two, I can be pretty effective," he told the Times.
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