FanHouse Leandro Barbosa

Picks and Roles provides all the vital information you need in making those tough lineup decisions for the week ahead.

This week we have four teams -- Kings, Bucks, Pacers, and Wizards -- who play just two times. Aside from the obvious guys like Danny Granger, Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler, I would only consider Tyreke Evans and Andrew Bogut as players to slot into your lineup. Obviously, since most of us play in a "two center" league, if you have to start Roy Hibbert I could see you making the case.

Jason Thompson is another guy on the fringe this week. He's starting to look more and more like a top 50 fantasy baller this year. Brandon Jennings would be another guy you could consider. Though if it comes down to a point guard who plays four times and Jennings, you have to take the four games. Same can be said about Thompson and the other fantasy fringe players. Maximize your games played, it's Fantasy 101.

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FanHouse previews a player to watch from each NBA team in advance of the 2009-10 season.

The conventional wisdom is that every Suns wing or guard champed at the bit for the end of Terry Porter's reign so that they could do what they do best, which is to run and gun. Upon taking over for the deposed Porter during the All-Star break, former D'Antoni assistant Alvin Gentry couldn't exactly replicate Seven Second or Less -- he still had Shaquille O'Neal, after all, and he lost Amar'e Stoudemire after only a few games.

But Gentry certainly unleashed Steve Nash, and by extension the offense. As we head into 2009-10, with Gentry still in place and with Shaq having become someone else's superhero/problem, the theory is that a fully unleashed Phoenix with Amar'e back in the saddle will be a massive improvement on last season. Top to bottom, the guards and wings most comfortable under D'Antoni should improve. This means Nash, of course, but also guys like Leandro Barbosa ...

Right?

Tip-Off Timer counts down the days until the first game of the 2009-10 season. On Wednesday, there are 27 days remaining.

The NBA created the Sixth Man of the Year Award back in 1982-83, some 27 years. It was an attempt to recognize great team players who subjugated their egos to come off the bench despite obvious talent. Eventually, the award became a coronation of the league's top scorer who happened to start fewer than half of his games.

Early winners include Philadelphia stud Bobby Jones, Kevin McHale (who won twice) and Bill Walton. For all his virtuoso work, Manu Ginobili has only won one Sixth Man award, in the 2007-08 season which followed San Antonio's third title of the decade. Two players other than McHale have won twice: Detlef Schrempf and Ricky Pierce.

You can change all the pieces you want, but at some point you just have to reconcile with the fact: the Spurs own the Suns.

This statement stretches well beyond today's game. In fact, even if the Suns had managed to win today's game which they lost 103-98, it wouldn't alter that fact. It's a universal truth that springs from such a far ranging set of circumstances, through injuries, season, suspensions, and every conceivable manner of heartbreaking defeat.

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Earlier this week, we showed you a basketball + soccer video staring Kevin Garnett and David Beckham. Not to be outdone, the always entertaining Shaquille O'Neal also decided to take a stab at the game of soccer. But unlike KG, Shaq focused on goal tending. Here's footage of Shaq successfully blocking Leandro Barbosa's goal attempt:

PHOENIX -- As the arena began to fill up, Dan Majerle was working on his half-court shooting, warming up for the Haier Shooting Stars event. FanHouse NBA writer and next-door neighbor on press row Brett Pollakoff said Majerle practices knocking down the shots from halfcourt before every Suns home game, but it didn't rub off on Saturday in Phoenix.

Before the Suns were scheduled to take on the Magic, they already knew that Shaquille O'Neal wouldn't be back in time from the trip he took to deal with some family matters. What they didn't know was if the newly acquired Jason Richardson would be available, and if so, how much he could contribute. As it turned out, not only did he play, but he played very well, scoring 21 points in 34 strong minutes off the bench.

Things didn't start off so hot for J-Rich, or for the rest of his new teammates. Richardson checked into the game midway through the first quarter to a standing ovation, but missed his first four shot attempts, as the Suns fell behind by as many as 12. (After the game he said he was nervous and was surprised they weren't all airballs.)

Richardson found his rhythm early in the second quarter though, and scored his first bucket as a Sun on a layup and-1 drive down the middle of the lane. He followed that up a couple of possessions later with one of the game's most exciting highlights, when he converted a pass from Leandro Barbosa into an alley-oop reverse slam that brought the house down.

Richardson's stellar play in his first outing with his new team wasn't lost on Magic coach Stan Van Gundy, who said afterwards that sometimes a player's first game in a new setting might be easier than expected.

There were plenty of storylines heading into Friday's nationally televised game in Phoenix between the Suns and the Miami Heat. You had Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O'Neal meeting for the first time since the Diesel was traded to the Suns last season, and you had Shawn Marion returning to the team where he spent eight and a half seasons making a name for himself. But in the end, it was the Suns' offensive ineptitude that was the story, and the surprise absence of Steve Nash that helped the Heat cruise to a rare (and easy) 107-92 road victory.

Nash was a late scratch, and sat this one out with a right thigh contusion. The decision not to play came very late in fact, as lineups were revised about 20 minutes before tip-off to let us know that Nash would be unavailable. That left the starting point guard duties to Sean Singletary, who had played decently in a backup role as of late, but was clearly unprepared to run with the starting unit, and it showed from the opening moments.

The Suns have had their problems with turnovers this season, and that problem was exacerbated by the fact that Nash was on the sidelines. The team looked lost offensively without their two-time MVP running the show, and committed seven first quarter turnovers that the Heat were able to convert into 32-19 lead at the end of one. On paper, the Suns appeared to have a huge advantage in the paint, with Shaquille O'Neal and Amare Stoudemire facing the likes of Joel Anthony and Udonis Haslem. But the Miami defensive strategy was both brilliant and well-executed, as they continually kept Shaq and Amare from getting the ball in prime position to score.

One of the things that the Phoenix Suns have been working on this preseason -- besides trying to have a full lineup available for a "dress rehearsal" in one of these games -- is figuring out who they should start at the small forward position. Grant Hill was the starter a season ago, but with the off-season acquisition of Matt Barnes, head coach Terry Porter has been weighing the option of bringing Hill of the bench.

I get the feeling that Porter would prefer to start Barnes, but he's been cautious not to make that decision without trying it out first. Also, since Hill has been a starter his entire career, it's a role Porter wants to make sure Hill feels comfortable in.

"I had talks with the staff, and with Grant, it's something totally new for him," Porter said. "He's never not been a starter in his whole career so it's definitely been a challenge and an adjustment for him, so I had to see if it was something he could fit fairly comfortably with. I think it's a good fit for our team, it's going to help us."

Coach Porter also likes the idea of Hill having a stabilizing effect while playing with the second unit, and thinks it will take some of the pressure off of Goran Dragic and Leandro Barbosa to make things happen.

Pardon the horribly inaccurate (the rumor itself seems like pure fiction and the Spanish is not even close to correct) but it's not every day that I get to use Boris Diaw's name in a Spanish exclamatory phrase.

Of course, it's not everyday that a rumor surfaces that would allow the Bulls to dump Kirk Hinrich on some poor unsuspecting sap another team. That sap du jour is Steve Kerr and the Phoenix Suns, although this particular rumor, founded by East Valley Tribune and Jerry Brown, probably bears all of us bringing our saltshaker.

re both Boris Diaw and Leandro Barbosa now necessary on the roster? Would the Bulls, who are still sparring with Luol Deng on a contract and looking to move Kirk Hinrich's contract, entertain the idea of swapping Hinrich for Diaw (they have almost identical contracts) and then go after some center depth with their last roster spot?

There is no indication that the Suns and Bulls have talked. But Hinrich is a name that has intrigued the Suns in the past, and they will have to get creative in picking up a point guard. Barnes' pleasantly unexpected arrival gives them more chips to play.

Oh yes, it's also worth mentioning that Brown seems to think Matt Barnes makes a nice backup point guard. I would tend to disagree with that, although Leandro Barbosa might. Still, this is an interesting proposition, if only because Hinrich is a guy that would certainly interest Kerr, and it seems fairly obvious that Diaw and Barbosa are not.

Additionally, it would solve a problem for the Bulls (getting rid of Hinrich aside) in that it would give them a versatile big man who can pass. Rumor? Yes, certainly. Plausible? Just maybe.