Ricky Should be an under-the-radar breakout candidate.  Should with a capital S.  He needs to stay out of foul trouble so he can be on the court for 30+ minutes per game.  He has the defense, the rebounding, and the perimeter shot.  Two things he really needs to improve.  First, for someone who sees the court as well as he does, he has to cut down on the turnovers.  If he attempted the simple pass rather than the spectacular one most of the time, this would be a step in the right direction.  Second, he absolutely must learn to finish in the paint.  Way too may times, he misses these close-in shots by making a spin move or otherwise complicating matters.  Just relax and score.

Having seen Max play a few times at Kenner, I am comfortable proclaiming that he is the real deal.  I'd say that only his own health can stand in his way, and let's hope his health issues are in the rear view mirror.  Interersting choice of words when saying "knows his role."  I am taking this to mean that Max will be prone to defer quite a bit this season to James and Ricky (and even to Brendan to a lesser extent).  Would not surprise me to se Max become a truly breakout player once James and Ricky have moved on.

Sure, everyone likes the potential of Noel Brown.  I hope he takes the leap this year and becomes more than a bit player for this team.  I'll repeat a comment from months ago.  The improvement I saw (at Kenner) was how Noel positioned himself in the post, called for the ball, and handled the entry pass.  Even his moves with the ball looked more fluid.  Unfortunately, he just wasn't finishing in the post nearly as much as one would like from a guy his size.  Granted what I saw represents a small sample size but it was over the course of competitive (Kenner) games.  Please prove me wrong Noel.  If he can reach the point where he averages 18+ minutes, 8+ points and 5+ rebounds per game, that would be a huge plus for this team.

I concur with Rothstein's predicted lineup.  Sounding like Brendan may play the point while James plays shooting guard, which I would prefer to see.  (Unless the opponent has a shorter, quicker, peskier point guard who gives Brendan problems.)