The bench right now is down to Butler and Acker, and only Butler seems to be expected to contribute much when he's in the game. Acker can guard a small G and can handle the ball and not turn it over much, but he doesn't initiate any offense at the point and he usually is just filling a spot on the floor.
So now the rotation is pretty simple. Butler comes in for McNeal, Matthews, Hayward or Burke, and Acker comes in for James. Acker will also come in for McNeal, Matthews or Hayward if Butler is already on the floor for Burke or if Butler needs a rest and Buzz wants to go small.
So, we are down to a 7 man rotation now. I know that they are 21 and in great shape and all, but I think our main four guys are going to wear down a little if they have to continue to play 36+ minutes/game, especially when we get to tournament season with quick turnaround times for the games.
I really got concerned watching the DePaul game last night. DePaul is fundamentally wretched, with awful defensive rotations, no effective point guards and an uncanny ability to miss uncontested layups, but they hung around for 35 minutes because they out-efforted us. We seemed to lack the energy to attack the basket, we threw an assortment of lazy passes, we weren't moving to meet the ball on perimeter passes and we did not play our usual in-your-jockstrap-defense on the perimeter. In essence, we just looked tired. Hopefully, we were just taking DePaul too lightly after the big start, but I'm started to worry that we are wearing down.
James, who has always been a max effort guy, in particular seems to be wearing down. Because he handles the ball and defends the other team's primary ball handler he generally has to expend more energy than the other guys. In both the Georgetown and DePaul games he got beat off the dribble multiple times and last night he lost track of Walker many times, which is out of character for him. You can see him take little breaks while on the floor, particularly in the transition from offense to defense.
I really think it is a non-issue. These guys know when they can dial it up and dial it down. it's difficult to do, but that is something experience allows you to do. in a way, they only expend enough energy to win. a dangerous game to play, but they have NOT look tired at all in big games, or in key stretches of other games when they put teams away. And, again, what other choice do we have?
Coach K has had teams at Duke where he plays his starters almost the entire game. Did Jay Williams, Battier, or Duhon ever come out that one year that they won it?
Our guys are in good shape and will be fine.
Others have pointed out that practice time might be a bigger issue. In a typical week, we play two games. Even if they sit out an extra 10 minutes a game, that's only 20 minutes less playing time each week. We've been hearing reports that the practice load under Buzz is lighter than it was in the past. Hopefully that reduced load will compensate for the increased game time.
Quote from: CTWarrior on February 04, 2009, 10:58:41 AM
I really got concerned watching the DePaul game last night. DePaul is fundamentally wretched, with awful defensive rotations, no effective point guards and an uncanny ability to miss uncontested layups, but they hung around for 35 minutes because they out-efforted us. We seemed to lack the energy to attack the basket, we threw an assortment of lazy passes, we weren't moving to meet the ball on perimeter passes and we did not play our usual in-your-jockstrap-defense on the perimeter. In essence, we just looked tired. Hopefully, we were just taking DePaul too lightly after the big start, but I'm started to worry that we are wearing down.
Really, you were concerned??? We were playing great the first 10 minutes and built an easy 18 point lead. Then played very lazy and loose cannon like the rest of the half where the majority of the lead slipped to 5 during a very short stint of a few minutes before winning by 15. All of this on the road and against an opponent that while they didn't have their best player, were playing their super bowl game of games going against a rival and a team ranked 8th in the country.
They were not tired last night. The ragged play was due to putting the game on cruise control way too early and getting way too cute on the passes and heat check shots.
The thing is that this question will be brought up the rest of the year because the schedule will only get tougher, we will lose some games and after every nail biter of a game or a tough loss, someone will post that this team is tired and we need to sub more. Problem is there is a huge drop off in talent after the big 4 and just about every team in the country that has a star player will play them 35 plus minutes a game unless they are in foul trouble. We just happen to have 4 of them who up until this point have not been getting into foul trouble.
Does an additional 4 minutes a game really make that much of a difference? What about giving up the extra 4 minutes a game to eek out an extra win or two to get a better seed in the tourny to play an easier opponent in the first round where we can rest our starters early and be more fresh that second game instead of getting a 7,8 or 9 seed and playing a tough first round game and a much tougher second round game.
For comparisons sake in the Big East, in games from January until now:
Adrian 34.9 minutes/gm
E. Clark 35.5
Flynn 38.1
Field 34.4
Gody 38.5
McAlarney 39.9
Ruoff 37.9
D.Butler 33.8 include 2 games in big foul trouble
Thabeet - foul trouble makes his minutes skewed but in last 7 games, 3 games of 39 minutes and 1 with 37 minutes
McNeal 36.7
Wes 34.5
DJ 36.0
Hayward 31.6
Are these minutes really that bad????
How many times can we rehash the following subjects:
1) Big four minutes per game
2) Why doesn't (pick a player, any player) play more...is he transferring or hurt????
3) Fulce and Otule need more minutes so they can prepare for (insert a game).
MU is 20-2. These three things are NOT issues.
Instead, lets talk about....last night MU guaranteed a winning record in mirror games. The tournament committee will look at BE mirror records. We need to do well with ours and have to split Nova and Gtown on the road
OR
A win at USF will put MU 5-0 in BE road games and guarantee a winning BE road record! Conference road record is another aspect of getting a good NCAA seed.
+1 Badgerhater. This "minutes" issue is a non-issue. They are well conditioned, Buzz's practices are, thank god, not Crean-like, and hopefully all noticed that we basically dropped the hammer on them the last 6 minutes...which means that we're not tiring, while they are.
Also, Acker/Butler/Fulce/Burke minutes are apportioned clearly by matchups at this stage of the season. Butler and Acker saw alot more action last night, but Burke and Fulce might play more against bigger teams.
Agree with lab_warrior, in fact, I'd say that our conditioning is so good that we have become a second half team. HOw many teams have we blown open a game in the second half? PC, Georgetwon, ND immediately come to mind.
Quote from: ATWizJr on February 04, 2009, 01:02:30 PM
Agree with lab_warrior, in fact, I'd say that our conditioning is so good that we have become a second half team. HOw many teams have we blown open a game in the second half? PC, Georgetwon, ND immediately come to mind.
West Virginia and Cinci are 2 others.
Remember, if our starters are on the floor for long periods of time, the other teams have to follow suit - for the most part. Our team does impress me as being in exceptional condition, and wears out the opposing starters at some point in the second half (consistently).
Advantage - Marquette.