2023-2024 Minutes Distribution

[CbusCuse]

Now that the roster for 2023 is set with the possible exception of Mintz's decision still up in the air, I wanted to take a look at the possible minutes distribution we are looking at. For this exercise I'm keeping Mintz in this discussion as playing in Syrause for 2023, fingers crossed. We're really looking at 11 guys that need minutes plus a few sprinkled minutes from Carey at the center spot would make 12 deep. That doesn't make it easy to disperse but if we are playing a more up-tempo pace as many expect we should naturally foresee some guys getting less minutes while playing more bodies. With the influx of guards/SF players I see Bell and Taylor's minutes being reduced a fair amount.

I also don't see how we would play both Benny and Maliq Brown at the same time and keep the minutes for the guards and small forwards respectable. Seems both Benny and Brown would need to rotate in for each other at the PF spot playing small ball quite a bit. Playing a big line-up with both of them certainly throws the balance off but seems like it will be necessary for a while some games more than others. So say Benny and Brown both played at the same time an average of 10 minutes a game with Benny in at SF. The minutes distribution would require Westry or Bell play 4 minutes a game at the PF spot in a very small line-up as I have shown. But that may not be very feasible most games. Otherwise you are reducing the Westry/Bell minutes 4 minutes a game and increasing Benny/Brown accordingly or maybe plugging in Carey at the PF spot 4 minutes a game in a big line-up and adjusting his minutes.

I'm not sure Benny should play 26 minutes a game with the talent and bodies on this roster but he has the size/frame this roster is short on and I think his minutes go up despite the style change. Here is my best guess at making the minutes work out.

For reference here are the 2022 minutes played.

 

[sufandu]

I think it Mintz comes back he's getting more than 29 min. He'll be the main catalyst for the offense. 32-33 makes sense. Enough that he makes a great impact, but not so much that he's run into the ground.

Now, if Red is planning some sort of 40 min of hell stuff, I can see it being under 30. I'd be surprised if that's the case.

 

[orangefog]

I think it Mintz comes back he's getting more than 29 min. He'll be the main catalyst for the offense. 32-33 makes sense. Enough that he makes a great impact, but not so much that he's run into the ground.

Now, if Red is planning some sort of 40 min of hell stuff, I can see it being under 30. I'd be surprised if that's the case.

I'm hoping that he plans on something like 40 minutes of hell, as you mentioned. I just want our guys to go 100% on both offense and defense while on the court, constant movement on offense and intense defense. No saving energy, no plays off.

 

[OrangeDW]

I'm hoping that he plans on something like 40 minutes of hell, as you mentioned. I just want our guys to go 100% on both offense and defense while on the court, constant movement on offense and intense defense. No saving energy, no plays off.

I’d love to get back to where we’re blowing more teams out, which is why the average minutes for our best players might lower a bit.

 

[orangefog]

I’d love to get back to where we’re blowing more teams out, which is why the average minutes for our best players might lower a bit.

Absolutely and it develops the players on the bench more quickly.

 

[NorSyr66]

WOW......at first glance I thought the board was going high class and was planning on having minutes for next year! But now I realize we are distributing playing minutes to players... oh well!

 

[sufandu]

I'm hoping that he plans on something like 40 minutes of hell, as you mentioned. I just want our guys to go 100% on both offense and defense while on the court, constant movement on offense and intense defense. No saving energy, no plays off.

I don't expect 40 min of hell. I can see see something more like a light 3/4 court just to keep teams from rolling the ball to halfcourt with aggressive M2M in the halfcourt where we're pressuring out beyond the 3 point line and then situationally using full court pressure as a change up.

I expect guys to go harder. I think our top minute guys can go as high as 32 minutes and go hard. That's why I expect 1 or 2 guys to go as high as that, similar to what most of the top teams did this year.

 

[NineOneSeven]

Was going to start my own thread but I will just bump this one..

It's going to be extremely interesting to see how the minutes fall with this team. Not just because it's a new season, but we've got a new coach, we've got several new players. and we've got a full roster. The only number I am confident in is Judah seeing 30-35' per game. Other than that, really going to be interesting. Looking forward to seeing the preseason action. I like to brainstorm how the minutes will fall, and it's tough right now. The guys I don't expect to see the floor (outside of blowouts or injuries) are Carey and Patterson. That still leaves 11 players. We won't see 11 every game.

Not uncommon these days, but we also don't have a senior on the team.

 

[CardiacCuse]

Was going to start my own thread but I will just bump this one..

It's going to be extremely interesting to see how the minutes fall with this team. Not just because it's a new season, but we've got a new coach, we've got several new players. and we've got a full roster. The only number I am confident in is Judah seeing 30-35' per game. Other than that, really going to be interesting. Looking forward to seeing the preseason action. I like to brainstorm how the minutes will fall, and it's tough right now. The guys I don't expect to see the floor (outside of blowouts or injuries) are Carey and Patterson. That still leaves 11 players. We won't see 11 every game.

Not uncommon these days, but we also don't have a senior on the team.

the messaging from Red so far is we're going to do this as a team...so I expect a pretty wide distribution of minutes with a very deep bench...

the roster is way deeper than JB had, especially in recent years...all of these guys can play

hopefully they all stay happy and satisified with their roles...good problem to have...just gotta finesse it


it will likely depend a lot on injury recovery - cuffe, westry and starling all are coming off injuries and that will definitly factor into who gets what minutes

 

[Orangezoo]

Was going to start my own thread but I will just bump this one..

It's going to be extremely interesting to see how the minutes fall with this team. Not just because it's a new season, but we've got a new coach, we've got several new players. and we've got a full roster. The only number I am confident in is Judah seeing 30-35' per game. Other than that, really going to be interesting. Looking forward to seeing the preseason action. I like to brainstorm how the minutes will fall, and it's tough right now. The guys I don't expect to see the floor (outside of blowouts or injuries) are Carey and Patterson. That still leaves 11 players. We won't see 11 every game.

Not uncommon these days, but we also don't have a senior on the team.

I see Judah at 28-32. No one else beyond 25-29 range otherwise.

 

[NineOneSeven]

the messaging from Red so far is we're going to do this as a team...so I expect a pretty wide distribution of minutes with a very deep bench...

the roster is way deeper than JB had, especially in recent years...all of these guys can play

hopefully they all stay happy and satisified with their roles...good problem to have...just gotta finesse it


it will likely depend a lot on injury recovery - cuffe, westry and starling all are coming off injuries and that will definitly factor into who gets what minutes

We'll see. I think Cuffe is left out too. I think our top 8 will be Judah, JJ, Benny, Bell, McLeod, Maliq, Taylor, Copeland. Obviously this means Maliq spends more time at center than Hima does. I still am not sure what to make of Copeland though.

Edit- I forgot Chance. I do expect him to play as well, probably as the 7th guy, bumping Copeland down a bit.

 

[orangefog]

We'll see. I think Cuffe is left out too. I think our top 8 will be Judah, JJ, Benny, Bell, McLeod, Maliq, Taylor, Copeland. Obviously this means Maliq spends more time at center than Hima does. I still am not sure what to make of Copeland though.

Are you figuring Westry is still a no go due to injury?

 

[Sbucketball]

Are you figuring Westry is still a no go due to injury?

I feel like Westry might have the best NBA potential on this team. If he's healthy this year and shoots the way he's capable of shooting he could go in the first round. All depends on his injury.

 

[NineOneSeven]

Are you figuring Westry is still a no go due to injury?

Nope, totally forgot him. But I am really not sure what to expect the first month from him either.

 

[orangefog]

Nope, totally forgot him. But I am really not sure what to expect the first month from him either.

I agree. I am excited about Westry, but I expect him to take some time getting over the injury. But, he has to play when healthy. I would love to see a 9 man rotation when that happens. Most of our players can play 2 or even 3 positions, so we could see some really interesting combinations.

 

[Niastri]

I agree. I am excited about Westry, but I expect him to take some time getting over the injury. But, he has to play when healthy. I would love to see a 9 man rotation when that happens. Most of our players can play 2 or even 3 positions, so we could see some really interesting combinations.

I'm starting to worry that Westry has a potato knee. He's been injured 18 months now, if the current concerns are valid.

Some injuries don't heal. I really hope this isn't one of that type of injury.

 

[Orangezoo]

I'm starting to worry that Westry has a potato knee. He's been injured 18 months now, if the current concerns are valid.

Some injuries don't heal. I really hope this isn't one of that type of injury.

He's been working out quite a long time. There hasn't been anything to lay claim to the knee being an ongoing problem plus we was cleared. One nice thing is Q is a similar type of player even if he isn't the 5 star caliber Westry is. Out of the gate I'm not sure there is a huge gap.

 

[OrangeDW]

I’ve always thought an 8 man rotation is ideal if you have the right guys for it, with a 9th who can produce when needed(injury, foul trouble, certain matchups) as a huge luxury.

It’s tough to go deeper than 8 in big games.

Mintz
Starling
Bell
Benny
McCleod

Westry
Brown

Copeland/Taylor battling for 8th man, but as very different players it’s possible both end up playing solid roles. Depending on Westry’s health, one or maybe both could end up in a much bigger role.

Hima would seem to be on the outside looking in, in a lot of games? But perhaps could anchor the press with his shot blocking, Jeremy McNeil style, in certain games? And will be needed when McCleod or Brown gets in foul trouble.

I have no idea with Cuffe. Would seem to be on the outside looking in for this year, unless he surprises and is better than one of the other guards? Seems we’d have too many guards for all of them to play. Especially when Judah is a clear 30+ mpg guy. There’s only so much time available after that.

 

[Cusefan0307]

The Westry injury has really taken a life of its own with our fans and the rumor mill.

 

[Orangezoo]

I’ve always thought an 8 man rotation is ideal if you have the right guys for it, with a 9th who can produce when needed(injury, foul trouble, certain matchups) as a huge luxury.

It’s tough to go deeper than 8 in big games.

Mintz
Starling
Bell
Benny
McCleod

Westry
Brown

Copeland/Taylor battling for 8th man, but as very different players it’s possible both end up playing solid roles. Depending on Westry’s health, one or maybe both could end up in a much bigger role.

Hima would seem to be on the outside looking in, in a lot of games? But perhaps could anchor the press with his shot blocking, Jeremy McNeil style, in certain games? And will be needed when McCleod or Brown gets in foul trouble.

I have no idea with Cuffe. Would seem to be on the outside looking in for this year, unless he surprises and is better than one of the other guards? Seems we’d have too many guards for all of them to play. Especially when Judah is a clear 30+ mpg guy. There’s only so much time available after that.

I think in today's game you run 8.5.. your 9th and 10th guys see most every game ( maybe 2 and 5 DNPs roughly) but that 10th guy even more than 9 is wide open. Hima is solidly at #10. Cuffe is depth at guard and the other two it's hard to tell.

Things go well and tourney time comes around and it's 8 guys with that 8th spot being all about matchups. So much that you might "play" 10 guys but reality is shifting things around in what you need in that 8th spot.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

I suspect the 8 will be the starting 5 we're expecting, the 3 main bench guys will be Westry, Copeland, and Brown, and Hima and Taylor will get situational minutes if we need size in the middle or more shooting.

Cuffe and Carey will make appearances early against the tomato cans. I have no knowledge of this, but I wonder if Patterson red shirts.

 

[Goin' Deep]

I think Red works toward 8 or 9 players every game...establishes a rotation...player 6 goes in on the first deadball after the first TV timeout...you play great "D" you play alot...then there's gonna be that game where a "Bell" can't miss and he'll get double the normal PT...and YUP Judah is gonna be at 32 minutes a game...

 

[Cusefan0307]

I predict we are going to have someone get less minutes than expected and someone get more minutes than expected.

Who those players are I am not sure, but it's not easy to do a minutes distribution when we don't have any read on Reds tendencies or philosophy in general.

Mintz is the surest thing we have with JJ just behind him. After that I could see the rotation shaping out a bunch of different ways.

 

[Dick_in_MI]

Without knowing how Westry's health will factor in, I see it differently than many. I think Brown gets occasional minutes in the middle, but overall Hima will get more backup time there.

Copeland is an interesting case. Both he and JB felt he was a point guard playing out of position. However, I think the bulk of the minutes at the point will go to Judah and J.J., so Quadir won't play there a lot. At the 3, Bell, Benny, and maybe Westry will be playing ahead of him. Maybe even Justin. I like Quadir a lot, but it wouldn't surprise me to see him buried in the lineup.

Justin is really a 2, and I could see him being part of the rotation when Judah goes to the point.

Red will likely play more guys, but at the end of the day he will still need shooters on the wings and muscle in the middle more often than not.

 

[cliftonparksufan]

Without knowing how Westry's health will factor in, I see it differently than many. I think Brown gets occasional minutes in the middle, but overall Hima will get more backup time there.

Copeland is an interesting case. Both he and JB felt he was a point guard playing out of position. However, I think the bulk of the minutes at the point will go to Judah and J.J., so Quadir won't play there a lot. At the 3, Bell, Benny, and maybe Westry will be playing ahead of him. Maybe even Justin. I like Quadir a lot, but it wouldn't surprise me to see him buried in the lineup.

Justin is really a 2, and I could see him being part of the rotation when Judah goes to the point.

Red will likely play more guys, but at the end of the day he will still need shooters on the wings and muscle in the middle more often than not.

I have no idea how things will shake out, but I think I am more bullish on QC than most. He is a big energy guy which should play well with HCAA's projected faster pace offense and defense. But we will see.