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Message: [QUOTE="General20, post: 125740, member: 724"] Very true, you can argue that they only go 8 deep, since MCW does not play any meaningful minutes in the second half of close games. I've always thought the bench points stat was a meaningless one anyway. What matters is how many points your team scores total. Who cares what percentage of them comes from the bench? Did anybody worry that the Bulls bench was not scoring enough when Jordan was dropping 40 a game? I've said it before, if Carter-Williams was starting for us I'd be fine with it. He would be a good player right now if we dealt with his freshmen mistakes and gave him minutes. The thing is, we are so good we dont need to deal with his freshman mistakes. We have veterans who are playing at a high level right now, and quite frankly its better to play 3 guards than 4. The guard position is a skill one, and a leadership one. Unlike bigs, guards need to be in the game for long stretches to get the flow of it, and to get their shot working. Its best to have 3 guards who are interchangeable and who all play between 20-30 minutes. That way they all get into the flow of the game but none of them gets too tired. We have that right now, and it is working very well. As good as Carter-Williams is (and I happen to think he's very good) there just isnt much room for him right now. Christmas is a different story. Some people think that Boeheim is playing Christmas 2 or 3 minutes by design and then pulling him. That is not the case. Christmas is making one big mistake on D in that time every game, and that is why he gets pulled. Right now he is not good enough to play for us. I've wondered, if Boeheim does not mind Fair coming off the bench, if starting Southerland might not be the way to go. Often times shooters benefit from starting. It allows them to get into a rythm because they know exactly when they will be coming into the game. Rautins, for example, was about 15% better from 3 over the course of his career in games where he started compared to games where he came off the bench. I've always said, that everything else being equal, you should start your skill, and bring your energy and athleticism off the bench. To me, that means starting Southerland and bringing Fair off the bench, even if Fair is the guy getting starters minutes. We are a different, and much better, team this year when Southerland earns a good amount of playing time and is hitting shots. [/QUOTE]

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