Minute Distribution of ASU Game

[MU82]

Are you going to turn those minutes over Pete?  We have 8 freakin' scholarship players and play a 3 guard lineup with essentially 4 guys (plus Frosh Sandy as a swing).  If you go to a 2 guard lineup all 3 of our bigs need to be on the floor at the same time.

I'd have probably thrown Cohen back out there for another try after he was yanked. But as I said I had no major quibbles.

Wojo seems to have a pretty nice feel for this stuff already. As is the case with a few of our players, our coach also has a high ceiling.

[jsglow]

80 minutes up front.   Split relatively evenly between Luke, Juan, STjr,  with Sandy getting occasional minutes
120 minutes in the backcourt.   Roughly 30 minutes each between Duane, Carlino, Derrick, and JJJ, with Sandy getting occasional minutes at the 3.

I know the argument that they are young, that they hadn't played in 10 days....I just disagree with it.   There will be nights like last night where Wojo rides the hot hands, but I simply think it isn't going to work long term having guys play >35 minutes a game. 

Especially during the BEast when we're playing twice a week against top competition.  All our top line guys can go 30-32.  I personally think 37 is too much.  I think it was fine last night after a long layoff and with an upcoming schedule.  In some ways it was too bad that we didn't hold the 15-20 point lead because it might have allowed for some late subs.  We benefit if we can reduce the game from 200 total minutes to 180 'competitive' minutes.

[willie warrior]

He did it at a better clip then Duane did last night, though that was probably the highlight of his performance.

hope you are not implying that Derrick is a better FT shooter than Duane. If so, I have $100 to bet on that.

[MU82]

Derrick's going to have to be able to feed the post if he wants to keep those major minutes.

It was beautiful seeing Wojo give Derrick the hook after failing twice in a row to feed Luke, who had battled hard to get great position. And I say that not only because it was Derrick; Wojo should do the same regardless of who screws up like that -- it's that important.

You pull him, let him know why and then put him back in. The next time, Derrick did feed the post properly and Luke scored.

With the middle-school team I coach, I call it "playing right." Kids -- whether they are 6 or 22 -- will make mistakes. But a coach can't let avoidable mistakes just slide. He must constantly reinforce the concept of "playing right."

I think Wojo is doing a very good job of this so far.

[GooooMarquette]

I think I am the only one that believes Derrick should be in at the end of the game as long as we are in the double bonus. Sure there is the risk of Derrick missing both free throws, but missed free throws are not as disastrous as Carlino turning the ball over. As soon as Carlino is pressed he tries to get rid of the ball. He is like a deer in headlights. Derrick is the only one that can consistently bring the ball up against the press. Duane gets in trouble when ties to push it to fast and ties to split defenders.

I agree.  Even with Derrick's usually weak FT shooting, I'd rather have him at the line shooting two, than have a high risk of Carlino, JJJ or Duane turning it over for easy points on the other end. 

I'd also note that Derrick's FT shooting has improved pretty significantly over the course of the season.  Over the first five games, he was an abysmal 2-10.  In the last four, he is a much improved 9-15.

[jsglow]

I'd have probably thrown Cohen back out there for another try after he was yanked. But as I said I had no major quibbles.

Wojo seems to have a pretty nice feel for this stuff already. As is the case with a few of our players, our coach also has a high ceiling.

Good enough.  Perhaps the combined total for Derrick, Steve, and Sandy ought be in the 40-50 minute range.  Last night it was a more modest 35.  I think that asks an awful lot out of 5 other guys and could be a cause for concern, long term.  Sure Wojo rode the hot hand.  But I want all these guys to contribute and it's a long season.

By the way, I remain in favor of having Derrick (and to a much lesser extent Steve) continue to start.  I think Derrick's principle value to this team is via his leadership and work ethic.  Even if more skilled players start to take a good chunk of his minutes, he is still their Captain and will be a principal catalyst in their development this season.  I absolutely want each and every one of our guys to feel valued because we're not going anywhere with all of them.  

[mikekinsellaMVP]

hope you are not implying that Derrick is a better FT shooter than Duane. If so, I have $100 to bet on that.

I, mikekinsellaMVP, bet that on the night of 12/16/2014, Derrick Wilson was a better free throw shooter than Duane Wilson.  Want to shake on it?

If you're going to be critical of a guy, don't pick the one aspect where he actually showed improvement.

[axaguy]

Saw a lot last night that bodes well for the rest of the season. Luke truly makes us a different team on both sides of the court. Maybe less so with tougher competition but still an improvement. Forget the quibbling about minutes played  by whom. Wojo is doing an outstanding job for a first year head coach with less than 10 games under his belt!!!!

He's been flexible with his approach to how the game is played with the type of talent and ability he has. ST is certainly not a presence like Luke looks like he can be, for sure. The game will change mightily for us when Luke sits and/or gets in foul trouble.

The bad parts of the game last night was we left at least 14-16 points on the floor by missing bunnies and layups, negating some defensive turn overs. Free throw shooting was awful and we turned a potential 30 point blow out into a single digit win by the infractions listed before and playing very sloppily in the last three minutes with terrible ball handling and passing. If they were tired better conditioning is in order. We can only go with who we have and they need to be able to handle it.

But the signs are good if we improve in some areas and allow Wojo to learn on-the-job as well but I think we'll be surprising come conference.......

[mattyv1908]

He's been flexible with his approach to how the game is played with the type of talent and ability he has. ST is certainly not a presence like Luke looks like he can be, for sure. The game will change mightily for us when Luke sits and/or gets in foul trouble.

IMO we should've reverted back to the zone which has been effective when Fischer went out.

[bilsu]

Carlino and Anderson finished with 4 fouls last. I believe Carlino is the only player who has fouled out this year. There is going to be a game where Cohen is forced to play major minutes.

[PGsHeroes32]

Carlino and Anderson finished with 4 fouls last. I believe Carlino is the only player who has fouled out this year. There is going to be a game where Cohen is forced to play major minutes.

Agreed. It's great our team is showing a consistency of pretty much staying out of foul trouble. But it hits every team at some point in at least a game or 2. Cohen will have to be ready.

We got away with play 6 guys yesterday because we played fast and brought it to them. Had them sending us to the line repeatedly(or more notably Duane).

[willie warrior]

I, mikekinsellaMVP, bet that on the night of 12/16/2014, Derrick Wilson was a better free throw shooter than Duane Wilson.  Want to shake on it?

If you're going to be critical of a guy, don't pick the one aspect where he actually showed improvement.

For the entire season--you don't go by one game--except you do. And there are plenty of areas to be critical, including FT shooting.

[nyg]

For the entire season--you don't go by one game--except you do. And there are plenty of areas to be critical, including FT shooting.

For the year so far:

Du. Wilson   37-49, 75%  includes 8 misses last night.  If he had made just four of those misses, it's 83% for year.

De. Wilson    11-25, 44%

[mu03eng]

For the year so far:

Du. Wilson   37-49, 75%  includes 8 misses last night.  If he had made just four of those misses, it's 83% for year.

De. Wilson    11-25, 44%

guys, guys, guys......lets not do this

[mikekinsellaMVP]

guys, guys, guys......lets not do this

Sorry, I instigated.  Someone's got to fill the void. 

The point I meant to make is if Duane's aggressiveness is going to get him 17 FTA a game, yesterday is hopefully an outlier rather than backsliding.

[mattyv1908]

Carlino and Anderson finished with 4 fouls last. I believe Carlino is the only player who has fouled out this year. There is going to be a game where Cohen is forced to play major minutes.

That's because Carlino is a horrible defensive player who is lazy with his feet so he reaches almost all game long.  You could call it tight and he would foul out by halftime.

[brewcity77]

But look that list.  Where do the 10-15 minutes he loses go?  You want to give more minutes to the guys playing 30+?  The only real logical place for them to go is Sandy -- Steve's minutes are going to go up because Luke can't be expected to play 33 every game, and as others have stated, playing them together is a dangerous prospect (in terms of foul trouble) for an 8-man roster with their most difficult competition ahead.  The best case is Cohen gets 8-10 with Derrick playing 18-20.  I don't think any more is realistic in the near future.

This is what all the Derrick bashers seem to fail to grasp. We simply don't have more bodies to play those minutes. The simple truth is most college teams don't play the bulk of their guys 30+ minutes per game, and if Derrick is playing less than 20, that will be the reality.

Derrick had a poor outing last night for most of the game, though he was better in the last 10 minutes. Was able to settle down the offense, helped create a few baskets, and at least didn't screw things up.

We pretty much need to play everyone if we want to have a chance to be winning games. The team I remember most vividly is the Providence team from 2012. They played 4 guys 30+ minutes, but despite having a good group of players in Council, Henton, Cotton, and Coleman, couldn't get many wins, largely because they were all gassed. Like it or not, Derrick needs to play. We just don't have the bodies to keep him glued to the bench for 25 minutes per night.

[mattyv1908]

This is what all the Derrick bashers seem to fail to grasp. We simply don't have more bodies to play those minutes. The simple truth is most college teams don't play the bulk of their guys 30+ minutes per game, and if Derrick is playing less than 20, that will be the reality.

Derrick had a poor outing last night for most of the game, though he was better in the last 10 minutes. Was able to settle down the offense, helped create a few baskets, and at least didn't screw things up.

We pretty much need to play everyone if we want to have a chance to be winning games. The team I remember most vividly is the Providence team from 2012. They played 4 guys 30+ minutes, but despite having a good group of players in Council, Henton, Cotton, and Coleman, couldn't get many wins, largely because they were all gassed. Like it or not, Derrick needs to play. We just don't have the bodies to keep him glued to the bench for 25 minutes per night.

I don't think there's anyone on this board who's not banned that needs this explanation and the one who is banned doesn't listen anyway.

I'm not a fan of Derrick Wilson either, and I find his game excruciating to watch, but even I have been on record defending his minutes this season due to the team's make up.

[brewcity77]

I don't think there's anyone on this board who's not banned that needs this explanation and the one who is banned doesn't listen anyway.

Probably true

I just have seen the 10-15 minutes quoted so often, not only from him, that it seems some people expect us to have 6 guys (none of whom are Derrick) play 30 minutes, and split the remaining 20 between Derrick and Sandy. Just not very realistic.