(Daniel Eade is a basketball fan, freelance journalist and BPL contributor.)

With an aggressive approach to the opening of the free agency period, the Melbourne Tigers have swooped on two key acquisitions as the club attempts to rebuild after back-to-back seasons outside the playoffs.

The Tigers have added Australians Liam Rush and Daniel Dillon to their roster, but will now almost certainly lose Lucas Walker.

Walker, runner-up to Sydney Kings guard Ben Madgen for the 2011 Rookie of The Year, does not appear to be part of  the Tigers' plans with the club openly saying that they are chasing Peter Crawford and two imports to fill out the roster.

Walker averaged 5.5ppg and 3.8rpg in his rookie season, but his numbers ballooned over the last 10 games of the season to 9.3ppg/5.0rpg when Darryl McDonald manned the sidelines and increased Walker's minutes.

A picture of Walker dunking is still being used by the Tigers to advertise their 2011/12 Memberships.

The additions of Rush, a 6'6" swingman who played in Sweden last year and last appeared in the NBL with the Sydney Spirit in 2008/09, and Dillon, a 6'0" combo-guard who played last season with the Cairns Taipans, to an already guard-infested line-up is a strong indication that the Tigers will be playing plenty of small-ball throughout the 2011/12 season.

Rush has the ability to play as a stretch-four in the NBL, a position the Tigers were severely lacking last season.

New head coach Trevor Gleeson (pictured, above) described Rush as "athletic" and said he can play "multiple positions."

The Tigers still have Daryl Corletto, Bennie Lewis, Tommy Greer, Cameron Tragardh and Matt Burston returning from last season.

With Corletto, Lewis, Greer in the squad, and Rush and Dillon brought in to bolster it, I'm a little confused why the Tigers would chase Crawford, another swingman, and not get insurance and a back-up big man for Tragardh and Burston.

Unless the Tigers are planning on using one of their import spots for a back-up big man. Or, moving Burston to the bench, Tragardh to the middle and having room for Donta Smith to play at the four-spot, if the Tigers are willing to meet his huge price tag.

The Tigers have already back-flipped and now indicated that they will be looking to add an import point-guard, after they let go Corey 'Homicide' Williams and were unsuccessful in acquiring Adam Gibson. It's a fair bet that 2011 MVP Gary Ervin and Ayinde Ubaka will be under consideration for that role.