I know its an awkward position because DLee and Harrington are 2 of our best players, but I dont like the idea of Lee as a center. Still no shot blocking in that line-up.

all returners from last year.

figured gallo would start. d'antoni started him when he could last year.

not too surprising, but i'd like to see who are the other starting 5. that might be more revealing.

are they gonna play jeffries, darko and curry?

will hill make that starting 5?

my guess...

hughes
nate
milicic
curry
jeffries

to start camp, it would make sense lee would start because he's accustomed to playing in mike d's system.

milicic hasn't learned it yet.

Starting Lee at center is pretty much a give up on the season.

We've got to get Darko up to speed or it will be a long year.

Posted by Moonangie:

Duhon
Chandler
Gallo
Lee
Darko

Eddy needs minutes, too, to become better trade bait. Al is not an ego problem, and will bring amazing energy off the bench. He could swap starting with Lee some days to better balance minutes.

That would be my five as of now. Training camp could change things, of course.

I think that's the starting 5 we'll see.

Right now the starting 5 are guys from last year. Darko and Eddy are going to have to earn their playing time. MDA is challenging them which is the right thing to do. We'll see if they can rise up in pre-season and win a starting spot...or even a rotation spot.

Posted by PresIke:

Posted by JohnWallace44:

Starting Lee at center is pretty much a give up on the season.

We've got to get Darko up to speed or it will be a long year.

dude, it's the first lineup of camp.

no big deal. basically, all of guys from last year, who all know mda's system.

giving up on the season seems like a bit of stretch, no?

Starting Lee at center for the entire year would be a give-up on the season. Is that a big deal to say? On what other team would that be remotely acceptable?

I know its the first day of camp. I hope that the lineup changes at some point during camp. Getting Darko to show that he's not a complete bust would go a long way for this team.

What happens is that in the 7 seconds or less offense the back line is discouraged from fouling. If you're the size of Dave, playing center, then you're going to look like a matador, which is what you see on a lot of his video low-lights from last year.

Its not fair to Dave, the team, or the fans to put him in that position on a night-in-night-out basis.

You've got to have someone there who can block shots without fouling, and who can still exist in the flow of the offense.

That means Jeffries, Hill or Darko has to make a huge leap. Darko is probably the easiest to envision playing that role.

The beginning of the season is a long way away.

jw,

all i'm saying is maybe let's see what happens through camp and who are the main starters opening night.

i don't think it is likely lee starts at center. he even said in the interview with knickerblogger that he does not expect to play as many minutes at center. in the end, even if he does start when the season commences it doesn't have to mean the end of the season, because maybe darko or curry or whoever, comes in soon afterward.

again, i don't think it is likely lee starts at center anyway.