There has been a strong movement to move Rip to the bench. An out-of-control Hamilton mixed in with a bunch of young guys might not be the right combination.

Perhaps a movement of Prince to the bench would provide some balance and stability among the first and second units. Assuming a 10-man rotation, the first half might start out this way:

Starters
PG-Billups
SG-Hamilton
SF-Hayes
PF-McDyess
C-Wallace

2nd unit
PG-Stuckey
SG-Afflalo
SF-Prince
PF-Johnson
C-Maxiell

That would be a fun second unit to watch. I think they could get the job done, as well.

I think part of the problem with the current starting five is too much scoring too little defense. I'm with the folks who are calling for Afflalo to move into the starting SG spot and Rip to the bench:

1- Billups
2- Afflalo
3- Tay
4- Dyess
5- Sheed

This way we have one player who won't be needing a regular dose of shots in the starting 5 a la Ben when things ran smoothly. Also, all that dribble penetration can be better checked with a player whose working primarily on the defensive end with the occasional 3, j, or drive (AA). We also will have a good defender for guards (AA), a good defender for SFs (Tay), and a good defender for most bigs (Sheed). Sheed is good for most bigs aside from the bruisers who i think Nazr can handle.

I don't agree with Hayes in the starting 5 simply because the problem is that right now we have too many scorers and not enough touches in the lineup and Hayes shoots a lot.

The second Unit would be as follows:

1- Stuckey/Flip
2- Rip/Flip
3- Hayes
4- Maxiell/Amir
5- Max/Amir/Nazr/possibly Samb

Stuckey will play primary backup to Billups, and should work alongside Rip. Rip can dish and handle the ball until Stuckey develops an NBA capable handle. Hayes will shoot which works, and the bigs will be the bigs. Rip will be featured in the second unit.

Love the idea of Tay to the bench but Hayes in the starting line up would be worse I think. Hayes shoots alot and that would throw our rhythm off. Unless he would ease himself into shooting as a starter; I don't think it would work.

Delfino would have been perfect here.

Starting Five

Plus bench rotation

Hunter
Murray
Nazr
Maxey
Hayes

Same as last year except Nazr replaces Webber and Hayes replaces Delfino.

Looks like rotations are now set for the rest of the year.

We can forget AJ, AA and Hot Rod except for a few chicken bone minutes and garbage time.

I think Flipper has panicked.

Speaking of panic, it sounds like the sky is falling wherever you live. The rotations are set for the remainder of the year? You base this statement on last night's game and Stuckey's injury report?

The sky ain't falling here in L.A. Everything is coming up smelling like Paris Hilton new perfume "Heiress".



Brand Naming: Paris Hilton Launches New "Heiress" Fragrance: Name Wire: The Product Naming Blog

Dyess' 17' money-J is starting to turn into brick foundation. I feel as if this due to weak legs. Not only is Dyess playing more mins/gm than he's normally played for us, but he's battling against bigger and better players every night. The same could be said the same for Sheed also, who's knees I'd like to see getting some rest. We're deep enough and talented enough to get these guys the rest they need, we're only talking about shaving 2-3 mpg off here.

I'd like to see Max be the first sub off the bench for Sheed or Dyess as usual, but instead of Sheed or Dyess coming back in, you give Amir or Primo a few mins before you bring Sheed or Dyess back in for Maxiel.

__________________
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REVIEWING THE ROTATION SO FAR


Point guard. We are two months behind where we should be. Stuckey was suppose to be our backup point the very first game of the season. Hopefully, we can find a silver lining here. One, there is a lot less chance for rookie burnout since Stuckey is starting so late. Two, Suckey's absence left room for Afflalo to step in and take some minutes. Going forward, we should be all set at point. I am hoping that tonight is the night that Stuckey becomes the primary backup to Billups.


Shooting guard. As good as Afflalo is playing, I can't imagine him being taken out of the rotation. If Stuckey is that good that he demands shooting guard minutes, then Afflalo will have to be given small forward minutes. In any case, we are all set at shooting guard. For tonight, vs. NJ, there should be a real simply rotation at guard: Stuckey backs up Billups, while Afflalo backs up Rip. Lets start to see what this new combo, Stuckey and Afflalo, can do.


Small forward. Hayes has been in a shooting slump. The Houston game saw him make more than one outside shot in a game in quite some time. Another player, Walter Herrmann (Fabio), would like to get a shot at some of his minutes. Personally, I would like to see Amir Johnson get some of those minutes. Hayes seems to be playing somewhat better D as the season goes on. Perhaps he is healing yet a bit more from his knee surgeries. We might be ok with Hayes staying at small forward as the backup to Tay. My hope is that either he proves to be the scorer he showed us early in the season, or that his defense continues to improve, or that he gets replaced.


Power forward. We continually get into foul trouble at this spot. But its just a choice by the coach. If we add Amir Johnson to the regular rotation, we add 6 fouls to give to the situation and pretty much become immune to foul trouble. Dyess is playing way too many minutes anyway. Frankly, at this point, I can think of little that is more important to our success in the playoffs than getting Amir playing regular minutes.


Center. We have added Brezec to the team. Samb could still earn minutes here before the season ends. Meanwhile, we mostly use Sheed at center with Dyess as his backup. In my opinion, Dyess should only be our backup center, with Amir or JMAX starting at power forward. According to Dumars, Dyess starts because we don't need his energy off the bench since Amir and JMAX provide that. The trouble is, in case Joe Dumars has not noticed, Amir is not yet a regular part of the rotation to bring that energy.


Here is a list of things I like so far about our rotation:


Stuckey is back already.


Afflalo is playing regularly.


JMAX is playing a lot.


Rip, Billups, Tay, and Sheed are winners. And they are not being beaten into the ground like in past years. At this point, they are a fairly healthy group of players, and there is nothing in sight to think they will get overplayed by season's end.


Flip Murray is out of the rotation. Hunter soon will be. Mohammed has been traded. Dupree has been released. All signs of progress indeed.
Now the bad.


Samb showed enough that we signed him. He showed enough that people really thought he should play more. Instead he was sent down to the D league, where he got two games under him and then got injured. In my opinion, Samb should have been getting some of the minutes Mohammed was getting. (Amir too.) And Dyess has been playing too many minutes, so there is more minutes Samb and Amir could have been getting. Dumars did manage to trade away the bad contract of Mohammed. That is great. Maybe Mohammed had to be showcased for that. But he is traded away now. As soon as possible, Samb should be back with the team and getting some spot minutes for us at center.


Afflalo is in the rotation, but he could have a lot more experience than he has now. Here, Murray played too much, taking valuable minutes from Afflalo. Since Murray has an expiring contract, he did not need to be showcased. Harm has been done here, just hope it was not too much.


Part of Amir not playing is that he had that ankle injury. But that is in the past. He is not playing enough. This has to change. The playoffs are way too close. I do not believe we will win it all if we try to do so without Amir. We will be in too much foul trouble. It won't be pretty. With Amir, we add a very good post up player, a speedy, lengthy defender. And 6 more fouls to give.


And finally, small forward. We need to try other options here. If Hayes wins out in the end, great. If he fairly beats out guys like Amir, Afflalo, Fabio, (and ideally Mejia), he certainly deserves the minutes.

I agree that Dyess minutes should be cut. The problem is that next to AJ he is our best rebounder and fairly strong, a lot more so than AJ at this point, so Dyess does a pretty good job defensively using his strength.

I would like to see Dyess' minutes cut by 2 to 5 a game, but I don't think that this will happen this year, unless he becomes hurt.

Maxey lost 25 pounds this past summer and his game has improved. AJ needs to add 15 lbs of muscle, without it affecting his overall athleticism out on the court.

J-Max gets lots of minutes. I would agree to have Dyess' minutes cut to under 30. He has been quite active on the glass, but I think between J-Max's improving rebounding and contributions from AJ the team should be fine.