There is no reason for any starter | Syracusefan.com

There is no reason for any starter

If the idea is that because of our depth we can afford to take guys out after their second foul in the half, I don't agree. As JB once said, if guys are taken out for the rest of the half when they commit their second foul, they stop defending after their first foul.
 
If the idea is that because of our depth we can afford to take guys out after their second foul in the half, I don't agree. As JB once said, if guys are taken out for the rest of the half when they commit their second foul, they stop defending after their first foul.
While I understand stand why that might be his feeling there is a solution. Stop defending and you come out.
 
I thought you were going to say, “There is no reason for any starter ......to play 40 minutes.” which I absolutely agree with.

But JB has never really allowed a player having 2 fouls in the first half to impact how he distributes playing time, whether he has useful backups or not.
 
I thought you were going to say, “There is no reason for any starter ...to play 40 minutes.” which I absolutely agree with.

But JB has never really allowed a player having 2 fouls in the first half to impact how he distributes playing time, whether he has useful backups or not.
Me too haha

But I’d be more than fine with Marek playing 40 minutes. Nobody else though
 
Me too haha

But I’d be more than fine with Marek playing 40 minutes. Nobody else though

With the emergence of Woody as a really servicable piece, I see no reason for Marek to play 40 minutes. Marek’s a good player and brings an interesting skill set, but he's no Derrick Coleman or Billy Owens.
 
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With the emergence of Woody as a really servicable piece, I see no reason for Marek to play 40 minutes. He's a good player and brings an interesting skill set, but he's no Derrick Coleman or Billy Owens.
I’ve been very impressed with Woody so far but I want to see him do it against real competition before I go all in on him getting minutes year. If he does, and I think he can, I agree. That would be great depth on the wing
 
I’ve been very impressed with Woody so far but I want to see him do it against real competition before I go all in on him getting minutes year.
Yeah, but here's the thing - how often do we see a guy NOT do it against less than stellar competition, and then do it against real competition?
 
With the emergence of Woody as a really servicable piece, I see no reason for Marek to play 40 minutes. Marek’s a good player and brings an interesting skill set, but he's no Derrick Coleman or Billy Owens.
Using last season's stats, MD would average 4.4 fouls per game at 40 mpg usage. So, far too often for comfort, he'd foul out before the game ended. I agree, MD for 40 is not a great idea.

EDIT - If Marek can stop himself for picking up frustration fouls 90 feet from the basket, then I could see using him for more than his average of 33.3 mpg last year.
 
Why did you have to go here?! This is one of the things that irritates me consistently. BUT...I have to admit that JB has always done this and does it so consistently (all the time) that the few times it has come back to bite us is far outweighed by the extra minutes JB has always gotten out of our best players by doing this. I haven't sat down and done the analysis, just the way it seems to me. It was one of my hard and fast coaching rules because I'd rather have kids playing harder in the 2nd half with 3 fouls left than a little soft to end the first half.

Quick personal coaching story, I had a kid playing for me once in summer league that was a stud (became a small college QB) and I let him stay with 2 fouls and a couple minutes left. He promptly got called for a charge and then was T'd up because he did the old hard dribble right back into his hand, but a little loud. So he went from 1 to 4 fouls in about a 20 second span. He still begged me not to take him out after his 4th! I kind of laughed and told him I didn't need him the next 2 minutes and would rather use whatever minutes he had left in the 2nd half. Naturally he played 20 minutes in the 2nd half and scored 24 points.
 
I thought you were going to say, “There is no reason for any starter ...to play 40 minutes.” which I absolutely agree with.

But JB has never really allowed a player having 2 fouls in the first half to impact how he distributes playing time, whether he has useful backups or not.

The only thing that impacts how JB distributes playing time is winning games and what he believes always gives him the best shot at doing so. Of course, I haven't an issue with that as winning obviously trumps everything, regardless of any related consequential weaknesses. It's why JB has and always will go with his 'comfort zone' of 6-7 players max in his rotation. That number reflects "meaningful" playing minutes, most notably in the 2nd half of games, especially when the game is still on the line. There's no doubt in my mind, that pattern will hold true this season and all remaining seasons JB decides to coach. It's his MO...it is what it is.
 

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