"A team with a starting five of Steve Nash (15 points, nine assists), Diaw (21 points, 10 rebounds, five assists), Raja Bell (14 points), Marks (11 points, 11 rebounds) and Marcus Banks (17 points) won 97-91 in a 40-minute contest against a team that started Shawn Marion (30 points, 10 rebounds) Grant Hill (21 points, six rebounds, six assists), Brian Skinner (11 rebounds), Leandro Barbosa (13 points, seven rebounds, six assists) and D.J. Strawberry (eight points, six assists). "
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns/articles/1006suns1007.html
a couple more things i saw:
-grant hill played A LOT, and really good. he's going to straight win games for us.
-at one point hill drove to the hole got fouled and finished, but also had his feet tied up and seemingly rolled his ankle on the replay. however, hill acted like nothing happened. definite positive
-diaw shot the midrange jumper with WAY better form than previous years, and you could tell. the body language was big time confidence, and it REALLY stood out.
-gotta say, this banks talk is overblown. he won't be HORRENDOUS this year (simply because he won't be asked to make decisions), but imo not good enough for playing time if it matters.
-strawberry might get playing time when it matters. dude's hands are all over the place. d'antoni said "he already has a skill that puts him among the elite in this league". i'm assuming he wasnt referring to the shooting ability lol
-barbosa kind of took a backseat to marion and hill today. kinda weird, actually saw him pass up some shots.
-amare said he'd be ready by game 1, kerr said maybe not. they said they checked the schedule and know he'll have 9 days from the time he gets on the practice court till game 1, and they'll see if that's enough. they don't mind him missing the first week or 2.
-based off this, our rotation imo will be the top 7 + a platoon of marks/skinner for 10-15min. also, if strawberry keeps playing well, he's the first guy getting garbage minutes.
