Diaw's last 5 games

Over the last 5 games, Diaw has averaged 18.8pts, 9.2rbds and 8.2ast

When Amare comes back, whats the chance of Diaw playing C for the rest of the season, and maybe his career? He is playing aff his nut!

wow thats some amazing stats... Amare is a natural PF..
Shawn can always go back to the 3 spot..
Diaw, Amare, Marion, Bell, Nash
with this team, they wouldn't be beat on the boards..
They have 3 capable defenders in Amare, Marion and Bell..
looks like a great lineup
since Marion won't really handle the ball, Diaw can be the point center once in a while when nash isn't controlling

Diaw could play back-up to both Amare and Marion. Remember, they lost Kurt Thomas to injury and are looking at a 2nd round return for him.

That would leave Phoenix with Tim Thomas, Eddie House, Barbosa and James Jones off the bench... talk about depth...

As much as Id love to see Diaw start when Amare gets back, I dont really see them bringing Kurt Thomas off the bench, although they might, I just cant see them do it.

Does Kurt Thomas nearly average a triple double though? As far as I know, Kurt is out for a LONG time as well... entire season long

I think you need to have that extra size in the middle so I'd go with Amare at centre. Diaw's been doing good things from the forward spot this year before he shifted over to centre so there's no harm sliding him back over to accommodate Amare.

you might find that Amare is played on offense as centre, but on defense, Diaw covers the other team's best big man to conserve Amare

id like to see Diaw starting

Personally, I've got no problem leaving Diaw at center. With a starting line-up like that, you've got a hella lot of versatility. Diaw might get thrown around on D, but having him against bigger, slower guys might actually favor Diaw. In fact, putting him back on the SF, won't really make a difference-he'll keep delivering triple-double numbers every night.

PROJECTED LINEUP

Stevie-no shit
Raja-gun three's
Marion-"bowen"esque defender
Stoudemire-no shit
Diaw-read above

EDIT: The only big problem I have with this lineup is size. These guys are relatively small, and with Diaw at center, that might be a problem. Oh well, leave it up to D'antoni.

Personally, I've got no problem leaving Diaw at center. With a starting line-up like that, you've got a hella lot of versatility. Diaw might get thrown around on D, but having him against bigger, slower guys might actually favor Diaw. In fact, putting him back on the SF, won't really make a difference-he'll keep delivering triple-double numbers every night.

PROJECTED LINEUP

Stevie-no shit
Raja-gun three's
Marion-"bowen"esque defender
Stoudemire-no shit
Diaw-read above

EDIT: The only big problem I have with this lineup is size. These guys are relatively small, and with Diaw at center, that might be a problem. Oh well, leave it up to D'antoni.

I'm sure Kurt Thomas is shorter than Stat and look how the suns were doing so far this season despite height shortness.

Diaw doesn't have to start at center. Amare held his own defensively at the 5 spot last year, so Marion and Diaw could stay at the forward spots. Kurt Thomas off the bench won't hurt either. It's scary to think that, including a healthy Stoudemire, this team has gotten deeper and much better defensively since last year.

With Amare back, the lineup will probably be:

PG: Nash
SG: Bell
SF: Diaw
PF: Marion
C: Amare

Defensively they can rotate on matchups, so it really doesn't matter what the position specificity is. When KT returns, he will start, but Diaw will get more minutes off the bench backing up the 3,4,5.

Kurt Thomas is going to be out 5 - 6 weeks.

So he'll be back by playoff time.