There's no advantage gained by starting any of those guys over Harrington:

• none is a superior rebounder to Harrington
  
• unless Harrington completely lost his shot, none is a better shooter
  
• Pietrus has no midrange game at all; Barnes has some but not nearly enough and ends up committing a ton of turnovers trying to use what he does have

Croshere looks like he'd be a solid rebounder and does bang, but he's been cold from deep.

If Lasme or Wright were ready I could see a case for sitting Harrington, but right now none of the options are actual upgrades. Seems like a lateral (at best) move to me.

AC is just nasty.  he doesn't board well for his size, and he has horrible shot selection.  if he just stuck to spotting up and taking open shots he'd be alot better off, i can tell he has a nice touch.  but these step-back contested 20 footers just aren't working out for him.  I don't think he's an improvement over Al at starting PF at all.

I believe Monta Ellis should be our 6th man.  Mainly because I don't like seeing him match up defensively against the Kobe Bryants and Tracy McGradys of the NBA.  Buke has earned the starting SG role.  I'm a little pensive about Belinelli. His stroke is so smooth and hypnotizing that you don't even realize he's been shooting at a cruddy 38% clip against 3rd-string defenses.  He could be some nice instant-offense off the bench.

On a side note, I think POB is ready to see some backup center minutes in the NBA.

I've never been an Al Harrington fan, but man I was at the Lithuanian game today and he was running the whole time with the 2nd unit. When he was out there with Wright, POB, Belinelli, and Tierre Brown (who I realize in the regular season would be replaced by Monta Ellis) Harrington was commanding attention on the floor. He'd get the board and push it like crazy, initiating offense on his own. If the fast break didn't work, we know we can count on him to do well in the half court set.

Let's look at that same lineup with Barnes or Pietrus. I realize that Barnes does the same things Harrington does to initiate offense (Boards, pushes and dishes), however Barnes' game is weak in the half court set. I feel that he's similar to Azubuike; he needs good players around him in order to be fully effective.

Pietrus in that second unit would bring good  D and hustle, but he's atrocious at creating for himself. He needs to see more minutes with the starting unit than the 2nd unit as well.

And Croshere... I like the man, but he's not fast enough and in good enough shape to be running with us. He's good for minimal use on this team.

Just trying to light the fire under Al. Sunday wasn't exactly a good performance for the team, so media jabs and 'possible' tinkering are natural courses of action.

Nellie also is starting to waffle on whether he'll start Monta at the 2. It is what it is, but I see it as nothing more than some posturing by the grizzly old coach.

a little confused by her article, or maybe by what Nellie's thinking. He basically said Azuibuke had a great training camp, and is the best 2 guard. But then he says that Monta will probably start, even though he's missed all of preseason. In my opinion, I think Bookie deserves a shot at the starting 2. He matches what he had athletically and in strength with J-Rich, and he seems like he could muscle up with the bigger 2 guards in the league.

is even worse than the Al idea

You lose Buki and you lose not only defense but rebounding and all around physicality (Which we know is going to be a problem all year

I don't think there's any way that after watching Azubuike and his smooth power game play the last 4 games he would start Monta over him.  Monta hopefully will see little to no time at the 2 this kid is definately made to be a point guard, he just needs some work on his handles and his vision.  As far as who starts at PF Al is by far the best candidate but I don't want to see him trying to create in the half court set, his dribble drive is attrocious he's lucky he didn't get called for multiple charges last night.  Also I would love to see him get a bit more consistent from the 2 foot layup range, I mean come on you're 6'9".  As far as Croshere goes I like his hustle he plays rugged and he boards pretty well he won't make the stupid turn overs that Al makes and he's a little more consistent, but I still start Al based on the fact that Austin has shown me nothing from outside.  

I didn't see that part, but that'd be stupid as well. Another rebounding downgrade and it gives him the chance to rack up points, which mean dollars at the extension table.

He needs to be our backup PG, period (though that doesn't mean he can't share the court with Baron@SG)

who cares who starts when Nellie can substitute at every dead ball?

The issue of who starts is way overhyped in all pro sports.  It is all a mind game for these big-headed fools's egos.

Nellie changed the starting line-up how many times last year?  I know there were injuries to deal with, but it is fair to change the line up based on who the opponent is and the chemistry we need on the court at any given moment.

I hope articles like this die down for the next couple weeks

Starting positions are somewhat irrelevant compared to minutes played.  Here is the order of minutes/game for last season's team.

Baron
Ellis
Jackson
J-Rich
Harrington
Biedrins
Pietrus
Barnes
Azubuike
Jasikevicius
Powell
Foyle

If Monta had the second most minutes/game on last season's team, I think he's a pretty good bet to play starter's minutes this year.  Barnes played more minutes as the season went on, so he probably moves up on this list.  Azubuike replaces a lot of J-Rich's minutes.

Here's my guess how the minutes order plays out this season, not-withstanding player personnel moves.

Jackson
Baron
Monta
Biedrins
Harrington
Barnes
Azubuike
Pietrus

Beyond the top 8, I have no idea.

I don't mind the idea of playing Harrington as sixth man but I don't think it is worth doing as he is used to starting and links up well with the starting line-up (especially Jackson who he had previous experience of playing with). I would pick the following as starters and bench players:
Starters:
PG Baron Davis
SG Kelenna Azubuike
SF Stephen Jackson
PF Al Harrington
C  Andris Biedrins
Bench players:
PG Monta Ellis
SG Marco Belinelli
SF Matt Barnes
PF Austin Croshere
C  Patrick O'Bryant

THud can play 4-5 minutes maybe and cover when/if injuries occur. Hopefully Wright and Lasme will gain experience and start to contribute towards the end of the season when other players tire (Lasme seems more ready than Wright). I don't think Perovic will see a lot of time and MP can fill the 3 as a back-up as well as playing the odd minutes at the 2 where he has good rebounding for the average 2(and maybe the 4 if necessary).
Obviously, Nellie will want to change things round a fair bit but that (or similar) is how I would like to see it.

times: POB at 5 with AB at 4 with Al rotating in at 4.

Can we give up on that? Nelson doesn't play anyone at power forwards if he doesn't have 3 point range.

This is a rough breakdown of how I believe the minutes should be distributed at the beginning of the season.

PG BDavis 24
SG Buke 36
SF SJax 36
PF Harrington 36
C Biedrins 36

PG Ellis 24
SG Belinelli 12
F Lasme 12
F Barnes 24

When Barnes subs into the game, he'll either be subbing for Harrington or subbing for Biedrins and have Harrington slide down to Center.

Lasme, despite being an NBA rookie, is almost 25 years old and experienced.  I believe he'll be getting some PT this year off the bench (moreso than Wright or Perovic).  I'm unsure whether he's better slated for the 3 or the 4.  He has the exact same build as SJax, but he doesn't have the range on his jumper to spread the defense as a Nellie small forward should.

Besides the loss of rebounding if Ellis starts at the 2 over Special-K, we'd also lose 3P shooting.

I'm liking the idea less and less.

We'll be severely undersized in the short term, and at the negotiating table next summer, assuming Ellis plays alot of 2, he'll likely have better "money" stats (PPG, really).

I believe the best solution is Baron/Buike to start, Ellis/Belinelli off the pine, sharing ballhandling duties. This assumes Belinelli has sufficient grasp of the offense to run it from time to time.