Mikhail,

The problem with Hill is that he is another old guy. His mid-range shot is finally there but he was getting blown by on defense. He might work but the age is an issue.

Joe got us the rookies in key areas with Stuckey and Afflalo but they are still rookies. We need an established scorer off the bench and Francis would fit that bill. If the rookies produce then watch out--we would again have the best back court in basketball.

Are you assuming that Chauncey leaves?? If he doesn't I think CB and Rip would still start.

I consider AJ a PF and the SF positions a perimeter positition. So were were weak at the perimeter and now ere stronger. If you all don't smell a grant hill comeback to backup Tay you better prepare. Now we are stacked at the edges and solid on the middle

Where does this leave Dice? I see him being like Marion, he can play both the 3 and 4.

Guys please, when you have versatlity you don't need a "backup" at every position. Rip can play sf and with the backcourt logjam it will open up more mins for the new blood. The problem with you guys is that mentally you still think of bench production in terms of what we saw with the Alternatorz during the Carlisle era.

We don't need to sign a center-period, there are none available. A frontcourt of Rasheed+Dyess or Maxiel, has proven to be effective. I see no problem with starting Dyess along side Rasheed this season and bring Max and Amir off the bench for them, with NazMo as an insurance policy.

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"Ain't nothin' strange 'bout yo daddy, what's strange is what he had to deal wit'!!!!!" - Rev. AL.

It means Dice is a PF too. I believe AJ can play both the 3 and 4 as well, but it terms of frontcourt DEPTH, you have to add him to the mix with Dice and the rest. I said he was a PF to settle an argument.

Remember toward the end of last season how there were articles about how we had three solid frontcourt backup backups... Dice was first off the bench, then we had J-Max, Dale Davis, and Nazr... And the talk at the time was about how we could choose the backup big based on the opposition and the need. Under that scheme, J-Max developed while we maintained a good handle on the front court (toward the end of the season/playoffs C-Webb was not a heavy minutes guy). I think this same type of setup is going to develop with our guards, even if we lose some through trades or retirement, we still will have more guards than necessary, we're going to rotate around having them audition for the different backup slots, thats what i think will happen.

Rip is too light to play SF. Other team's SF will just post him up and push him out of the way.

against other teams starters you may be right but were not talking about starters vs starters its about matchups.... against some teams you can have rip play the 3, against other teams max could be playing against the 3. If we get all the young talent intergrated in and play them with each other giving us 10 players that you can pick them "almost" out of the hat and they can function well together then you have what you have down in san.... starters that arn't playing tons of mins during the regular season and are fresh for the playoffs.

That all being said I have total confidence in the talent that joe trys to bring in, i just hope that that guy blowing the whistle starts to use it all.

The solution to post ups is to front and play ball denial.