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Message: [QUOTE="OttoMets, post: 3289326, member: 716"] My memory: not really. (I often cite the example of Wallace getting a breather against Kentucky...if Boeheim can afford to rest an all-time top-ten SU player in the second half of a national championship game, he can rest anybody without losing too much.) [URL='https://cuse.com/sports/2004/7/13/9596mbbstats.aspx?id=1629']The data[/URL]: not really. 3 for Wallace (in the national semifinal, in the regional final, a big loss at West Virginia*) 4 for Sims (the national semifinal, the 45-minute full game against Georgia, the to-the-wire Senior Day Notre Dame game, the loss at West Virginia) 1 for Burgan (the loss at West Virginia). Think of the number of great opponents that I didn't list above: #3 Arizona, after a cross-country flight; #1 UMass, in Hawaii; #5 UConn (and then #3 UConn in the Big East semi); #2 Kentucky in the case of the two forwards...in each of those games, Boeheim thought a minute or two of rest for Wallace, with Reafsnyder or Bobby Lazor at the 4, was better for the team than a full game with Wallace on the floor. And what's really startling is the number of league games where these guys were playing in the low 30s or even high 20s - Wallace had more 20-odd minute nights (6) than he did full games (3). That really makes a difference in terms of preventing cumulative fatigue during the course of the season. And Boeheim's not even strategically doing that in games with a comfortable margin these days, forget about back-and-forth games. My conclusion: well...you all know my conclusion by now. *I don't remember this West Virginia game (though I remember that we lost sort of frequently to them in the late '90s), but it must've been a weird one. 3 starters played the full game, Elimu Nelson played 8, and it was the last game before Cipolla entered the starting lineup. [/QUOTE]

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