hat will receive the most minutes on the floor
and<br>will play down the stretch of a game and season (i.e.
"playoff" squad).<br><br>Point Guard - Alvin
Williams<br>Every great team has a "general" or floor leader who
can control the offence by having great court
awareness, good ball-handling skills and,
most<br>importantly, a passing game. Williams has all the tools to be
that "type" of player but his inexperience limits him.
He needs to get the ball as often as he can (as well
as the minutes) and, more importantly, "want" to
handle the rock. His ball-handling skills would keep
turnovers down. His talent is maybe a bit
under-appreciated.<br><br>Shooting guard - Doug Christie<br>Tenacious defender
against big opposing guards ... maybe "hogging" ball a
bit on offense (but who isn't) ... needs to "throw
away" one-on-one<br>game and focus more on team play
... good post game but needs to work on
post-positioning when receiving the ball ... a bit streaky beyond
the<br>arc ... will defend "prime-time" players (eg. Pippen,
K.Byrant) in the late minutes of the game.<br><br>Small
Forward - John Wallace<br>A key position that requires an
offence-minded player. Third-year player John Wallace has shown
he can score consistently in this league, a year
ago, and deserves more minutes this year... still has
unstopable short jumper - his timing is just a little "off"
... has worked on and shown improvements in
rebounding and defending ...confidence level down - but who
wouldn't be after being beaten by a "rookie" (i.e.Vince
Carter) for the starting job ... more minutes will help
him find "lost" timing on offence.<br><br>Power
Forward - Charles Oakley<br>A no-brainer.<br><br>Center -
Kevin Willis<br>Team's highest scorer ... good post
game and short game ... descent defender ...
veteran-savvy ... intense player on the boards. <br><br>First
Substitution:<br>These players will see the first action when they can
off the bench.<br>1. Vince Carter - for
Christie<br>From one highly athletic player to another. Explosive
slasher ... needs to develop a jumpshot beyand arc and a
strong defence to be a complete<br>player... team can't
depend on an inexperienced rookie for the latter part of
games, so he will see action in the first and third
quarters.<br> 2. Michael Stewart - for Willis (and his aching
back) Good defender, rebounder ... still a young player
who needs experience and minutes ...<br>can learn
from mentors, Willis and Oakley, by playing behind
them.<br> 3. Tracy McGrady - for Oakley<br>Improved player
from last year ... but still inexperienced and needs
minutes ... explosive like his cousin Vinnie but still
needs an outside<br>jumper ... almost there (as a
prime-time NBA player) but not quite ... maybe next
year.<br><br>Second Substitution:<br>Mark Baker - for Alvin
Williams<br>"Fat" chance that this will happen. But from what I
heard, he's got good floor instincts and can handle the
rock like a true point guard. So, why<br>not give him
a shot? ... he can keep turnovers down with his
good ball-handling skills ... descent shooting (but I
could only guess since he has seen so little
action).<br><br>Third Substitution:<br>Dee Brown- I would play this guy
at shooting guard where he can work his perimeter
shot, at will ... he would play in the fourth quarter
in replace of Christie (if Doug suffers another
oh-for-ten night)... will be the third-string point guard
...<br>will receive 10-15 minutes a game for his veteran
presence.<br><br>The "Hack-a-Shaq" Squad:<br>These players will use
whatever "fouling" techiniques they can by defending
("hacking") poor free-throw shooting centers/power
fowards<br>in the league ... will receive limited
minutes.<br>1. Reggie Slater- Recently, seeing a lot of minutes
because of his aggressive play... too short to defend
centers or power forwards ... has<br>shown that he has
worked on perimeter game.<br>2. Sean Marks - Will get,
at least, one alley-oop dunk a game<b