Courtesy of Tommy Dee, the starting 5 for the first preseason game, tomorrow (!) is:
PG- Chris Duhon
SG- Larry Hughes
SF- Al Harrington
PF- David Lee
C- Jared Jeffries
My initial reaction is (A) this might not be the lineup that starts the regular season (Hahn tweets that D’Antoni said not to read into it), and (B) that youth is not being served.
However, 4 out of these 5 have been on winners in their careers, and they know what effort is required (plus nobody questions Lee’s effort) to win. It is going to be up to this group to set the tone for the youthful second unit, which, by the way, is going to be dynamic between Douglas, Nate, Chandler, Gallinari, Darko (is there room for Curry here?). These starters will have to lead by example and avoid falling into big holes to start out games.
Other than that, I think the majority of the scoring load is going to fall on Harrington and then Hughes. They will both have to prove that they can keep the ball moving, something neither has done much of in his career.
In addition, it appears that Jeffries has earned a starting spot with some great play in camp. Like I’ve previously said, I’ll believe he’s transformed into, at a minimum, a consistently useful player when I see it. Nothing would make me happier. Otherwise, even if he starts, I don’t see him getting more than 20-25 minutes.
Well, we finally get to see some action. Yippee!