He was asked the last time he had played forward.
He had played forward two or three times previously during the season, and before that, he played forward during his first year of junior hockey in Green Bay in 2004.
But Essendon will struggle at the other end: Jason Winderlich, Jake Carlisle and Michael Hibberd have played forward and back without fully delivering at either, while Tom Bellchambers and former Giant Jonathan Giles need to cover the ruck.
Having played forward early in his career, West was also a capable rebounder, and gifted with long arms, quick hands and strong defensive instincts, West was also once described as one of the best ball hawks, man-to-man defenders and shot blockers among NBA guards: when the All-Defensive Teams were introduced in 1969, West made every one of them until his career ended in 1974.
He has played centre forward at Barcelona, you know.
The past two weeks, he said, he has played small forward, "which I haven't played in the 20 years I've played basketball".
Another player who has played in forward areas for McCoist's side is Thomas Bendiksen but his contract has expired and he has returned to his native Norway to hold talks with Tromso.
Standing at 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) and weighing 240 pounds (109 kg), he has played the small forward and power forward positions for the Thunder, formerly the Seattle SuperSonics.
Mark Recchi, the Bruins' 43-year-old forward, has played 46 minutes on the power play this spring without scoring a point.
Villa have lost every league game when the former Ireland Under-21 forward has played this season.
