IMHO, D'Antoni will try to get Hill into the starting lineup most of the time:
C- Stoudemire
PF - Marion
SG - Hill
SG - Bell
PG - Nash
Hill was on the East All Star team in 2005 and his stats were down last season from that season as much because the Magic went to a slow down style. The Magic too just under 600 fewer field goal attemps than in 2004-05. While playing the same number of games, Hill had only 660 attempts last season compared to 1015 in 2004-05 (a year where he averaged 19.7 ppg).
D'Antoni has always preferred to put his five best players on the floor and I think that means Hill starts. It also puts Marion at PF where he tends to do better (witness how much better his stats were in 2004-05 and 2005-06).
Obviously that lineup does not work against some opponents such as the Spurs, but I'd expect to see it a lot this season because it would be very hard to stop. Compared to the late season lineup with Jones starting, this would be a much more difficult team to defense.
The bench of Barbosa, KT and Diaw is a pretty good one, especially if Diaw gets back closer to his 2005-06 level. By bringing Diaw off the bench, he might not have the role conflicts with Amare he had last year. Diaw could play more at the high post/pick man than he could when starting along side Amare. Also It makes sense to team up Diaw and Barbosa so Leandro has help at ball handling.
IMHO, KT should be used as PF all the time rather than as a backup center. His skills are better suited to being a mid range spot up shooter than to play the pick and roll. In some cases he starts while in other cases he comes off the bench. When KT starts, Marion moves over to SF.with Hill coming in off the bench.
Last season Bell put in minutes at SF in order to get more three point shooting on the floor. With Hill playing more minutes than Jones did (he averaged 18), I think Bell's time at SF will go down.
When it comes to mintes, I would estimate:
Stoudemire - about the same at 32
Marion - may drop to closer to 35 from 37.6
Bell - may drop to closer to 34 from 37.4
Barbosa - may drop to 30 from 32.7
Diaw - may drop to 28 from 31.1
Thomas - about the same at 18
Nash - may drop from 35.3 (goal of 32 but hard to implement)
The above is 209, which leaves 39 minutes. In theory, Hill could play 30 and still leave minutes, but I expect his minutes to be in the mid twenties. Still, slightly fewer minutes could help avoid guys wearing down.
C- Stoudemire
PF - Marion
SG - Hill
SG - Bell
PG - Nash
Hill was on the East All Star team in 2005 and his stats were down last season from that season as much because the Magic went to a slow down style. The Magic too just under 600 fewer field goal attemps than in 2004-05. While playing the same number of games, Hill had only 660 attempts last season compared to 1015 in 2004-05 (a year where he averaged 19.7 ppg).
D'Antoni has always preferred to put his five best players on the floor and I think that means Hill starts. It also puts Marion at PF where he tends to do better (witness how much better his stats were in 2004-05 and 2005-06).
Obviously that lineup does not work against some opponents such as the Spurs, but I'd expect to see it a lot this season because it would be very hard to stop. Compared to the late season lineup with Jones starting, this would be a much more difficult team to defense.
The bench of Barbosa, KT and Diaw is a pretty good one, especially if Diaw gets back closer to his 2005-06 level. By bringing Diaw off the bench, he might not have the role conflicts with Amare he had last year. Diaw could play more at the high post/pick man than he could when starting along side Amare. Also It makes sense to team up Diaw and Barbosa so Leandro has help at ball handling.
IMHO, KT should be used as PF all the time rather than as a backup center. His skills are better suited to being a mid range spot up shooter than to play the pick and roll. In some cases he starts while in other cases he comes off the bench. When KT starts, Marion moves over to SF.with Hill coming in off the bench.
Last season Bell put in minutes at SF in order to get more three point shooting on the floor. With Hill playing more minutes than Jones did (he averaged 18), I think Bell's time at SF will go down.
When it comes to mintes, I would estimate:
Stoudemire - about the same at 32
Marion - may drop to closer to 35 from 37.6
Bell - may drop to closer to 34 from 37.4
Barbosa - may drop to 30 from 32.7
Diaw - may drop to 28 from 31.1
Thomas - about the same at 18
Nash - may drop from 35.3 (goal of 32 but hard to implement)
The above is 209, which leaves 39 minutes. In theory, Hill could play 30 and still leave minutes, but I expect his minutes to be in the mid twenties. Still, slightly fewer minutes could help avoid guys wearing down.
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