Last year we had some fun with potential starting lineups before a season in which the rotation looked to be relatively concrete. This year, there's no time to mess around. The rotation and starting five are very much up in the air. With this in mind, I figured we should have a little Posting and Toasting team exercise to select our preferred starting five. Last season I just suggested one by myself, but this time I'd like to solicit a five-man team from as many people as possible to get a sense for what we all want. Then, perhaps we'll have a big poll and send the results to Mike D'Antoni with the message "use this or suffer the consequences". Sound good? Let's do it.
So, your challenge is to name a starting lineup mentioning each player's position. Keep in mind what we know about D'Antoni's style, as well as the handful of pre-existing tensions between certain players and management. Speaking of which, we're gonna assume that Marbury and Randolph are sticking around and that Gallinari is fully healthy. In fact, just assume that everyone on the current roster is available. Go to town.
That said, here's my 2008-2009 staring lineup for the New York Knicks.
PG: Chris Duhon (It pains me to pick Du over Nate or even Steph, but he's probably the reasonable choice).
SG: Jamal Crawford
SF: Wilson Chandler (This is Wil's year. Q is old news.)
PF: Zach Randolph (Lee's the first man off the bench, but if Zach's around, he should at least get a shot at D'Antoni's scheme.)
C: Eddy Curry (For lack of a better option).
So that's what I've got. Pretty conservative and a little bleak now that I look at it in full. Leave yours in the comments. Perhaps you'll be a little more creative than I was.