please play your bench Buzz

[Norm]

I think EWill and J Jones should have been in sooner, but MU is up 30 now - give them some playing time!

[CrazyEcho]

Great idea, especially in light of the Louisville game. 

[PaintTouches]

Nah, I think Buzz is right in keeping everyone in after the Ville debacle. With 5 min to go, then the bench can clear.

[Lennys Tap]

I think EWill and J Jones should have been in sooner, but MU is up 30 now - give them some playing time!

After Saturday, don't think he'll call off the dogs with over 8 minutes left.

[tower912]

7 to go.   It's time.   Let Blue, Cadougan, DG, EWill and JJ finish from here.    With a little Frozena mixed in.   An injury to a starter would be unforgivable at this point. 

[KipsBayEagle]

Yeah put them in.  This team ain't louisville

[nyg]

Up 36 on a terrible team with 6 to go and no bench yet. Depaul like an AAU team, Not Louisville.  Man, its 36 point lead.

Gardner, Jones and EWill probably wondering if they will ever play in a game.

[Norm]

After Saturday, don't think he'll call off the dogs with over 8 minutes left.

Yeah, but its a 35 point lead now with just over 6 to play - against DePaul. They hardly ever play with the top 8. Today would have been a good time to play them in the mix.

[mviale]

I think EWill and J Jones should have been in sooner, but MU is up 30 now - give them some playing time!

We just lost a game where we had a lead of 18 and we still lose.  KILL KILL KILLL

[DJO's Pump Fake]

IMO he waited a perfect amount of time.  Reinforce how we need to keep the pedal on till the end. 

[Norm]

IMO he waited a perfect amount of time.  Reinforce how we need to keep the pedal on till the end.  

Sure, but can't Buzz mix in 5 minutes of EWill with 4 regulars with a 20 point lead with 15 minutes to play and still keep attacking? Same with Jones. Why do they have to go in as a unit at the end in just mop up duty?

[VegasWarrior77]

I would like to have seen Buzz selectively substitute and try various combinations by adding EWil, Ox and JJones with the starters @ various times.  This is our last tuneup before the gauntlet begins!

[wardle2wade]

Did anyone really think Buzz would pull the starters with 6min left?  No way, no how.  After Saturday's debacle, he wanted to make sure the guys knew how to sweep the leg by attacking.   

Also, when you have a bitter break-up, isn't a "slumpbuster" the best cure to forget the heartbreak?  Perhaps Buzz recognized that DePaul was the low-hanging fruit.

[MU Ted]

slumpbuster...perfect analogy

[brewcity77]

Plain and simple, Buzz shouldn't pull his starters until the other team does. If they haven't waved the white flag, why should we?

[GGGG]

They played about as much as they should have, and about as well as expected.

Let me also add, that I think we have a bias toward wanting to see the bench play more.  It is frankly why we watch the end of these blow out games.  Remember that our bias isn't Buzz's bias.

[21Jumpstreet]

Definitely wanted to see Melo.  Frozena should never play in another game.

[Norm]

One of the reasons we blew the Louisville game is because our main 6 guys were pretty tired and made some mental mistakes out there in the last 5 minutes. Louisville was on fire, but MU took dumb shots and were not moving on offense. I was hoping that Buzz would have played his bench more in the DePaul game so he could give EWill, J Jones and Gardner some actual quality time to get soem more experience, and even more so, some confidence that they can play when called upon in non-garbage time.

I'm not calling for Buzz to play these guys 10-15 minutes a game. But if they never play, we don't establish any real depth to the team ,which is supposedly the most talented in years. I was just hoping he could play these guys at maybe 5 minutes spurts with 4 of the regulars to get them better game experience.

[RubyWiscy]

I don't quite get the obsession of some with wanting Buzz to play everyone. This isn't 5th grade basketball.  The best players play. The guys who earned the right to play, play. I'm more concerned with who is on the court than who is sitting on the bench.   

[mu_hilltopper]

The concept that you keep your starters in until the other team empties it's own bench is crazy talk.

Yes, that's *A* reason you would empty your bench, but there are plenty of others.   A losing team, like DePaul, may not wave the white flag for a dozen reasons, including the simple, obvious need to work on their game.   There's such a thing as teaching "never give up" as well. 

Other reasons for a winning team pulling starters .. give your supporting cast some PT, which helps in two ways.  First, it helps them develop outside practice.  Second, maybe it improves morale.  I imagine sitting on the bench in a 30 point blowout does not do wonders for your psyche, as in, I'm such a crappy player, I can't even get into this blowout.  

Sure, the result could be, hey, I need to work harder in practice and get better.  Or, the result is, screw this.  I'm transferring.  

I reject the "this isn't little league" argument.   These guys aren't getting paid a salary (besides a free education they'll use while playing in Estonia.)   The guys have egos, and as coach, you are at the mercy of teenagers. 

Go ahead, roll the dice on not putting them in during a blow out, both on the kids sitting, and on the unforgivable injury to a starter playing garbage minutes.

[NersEllenson]

The concept that you keep your starters in until the other team empties it's own bench is crazy talk.

Yes, that's *A* reason you would empty your bench, but there are plenty of others.   A losing team, like DePaul, may not wave the white flag for a dozen reasons, including the simple, obvious need to work on their game.   There's such a thing as teaching "never give up" as well. 

Other reasons for a winning team pulling starters .. give your supporting cast some PT, which helps in two ways.  First, it helps them develop outside practice.  Second, maybe it improves morale.  I imagine sitting on the bench in a 30 point blowout does not do wonders for your psyche, as in, I'm such a crappy player, I can't even get into this blowout.  

Sure, the result could be, hey, I need to work harder in practice and get better.  Or, the result is, screw this.  I'm transferring.  

I reject the "this isn't little league" argument.   These guys aren't getting paid a salary (besides a free education they'll use while playing in Estonia.)   The guys have egos, and as coach, you are at the mercy of teenagers. 

Go ahead, roll the dice on not putting them in during a blow out, both on the kids sitting, and on the unforgivable injury to a starter playing garbage minutes.

Agree with a lot of your analysis here...but also think that with what just happened at Lville - paranoia had to be at an all time high of possibly losing a late lead.  The game also provided a good teaching example for MU's top players to keep the foot on the gas..and not get passive offensivel or devfensively - even when holding a commanding lead.

All that said...if an injury occured..it would be terrible - and also I do agree that as an end of the bench player..it probably would bum me out if I couldn't get into a game where we are up 25 with 5 minutes left...

[MerrittsMustache]

The concept that you keep your starters in until the other team empties it's own bench is crazy talk.

Yes, that's *A* reason you would empty your bench, but there are plenty of others.   A losing team, like DePaul, may not wave the white flag for a dozen reasons, including the simple, obvious need to work on their game.   There's such a thing as teaching "never give up" as well. 

Other reasons for a winning team pulling starters .. give your supporting cast some PT, which helps in two ways.  First, it helps them develop outside practice.  Second, maybe it improves morale.  I imagine sitting on the bench in a 30 point blowout does not do wonders for your psyche, as in, I'm such a crappy player, I can't even get into this blowout.  

Sure, the result could be, hey, I need to work harder in practice and get better.  Or, the result is, screw this.  I'm transferring.  

I reject the "this isn't little league" argument.   These guys aren't getting paid a salary (besides a free education they'll use while playing in Estonia.)   The guys have egos, and as coach, you are at the mercy of teenagers. 

Go ahead, roll the dice on not putting them in during a blow out, both on the kids sitting, and on the unforgivable injury to a starter playing garbage minutes.

If a player has the attitude that he'd rather transfer than work harder in practice, I don't want him on the roster.

It's easy to say "Let the guys at the end of the bench play in a blowout," but when a coach empties the bench, the last thing he wants to do is make more substitutions, particularly because he'd be putting a contributor back into the game. That's why coaches typically don't empty the bench with 6, 7, 8 minutes left like some people call for. They give players 9 thru 12 about 2-4 minutes because that's a fair amount of time to avoid having to sub for anyone. Buzz could pull Butler, DJO and Crowder with 8 minutes left but he'd likely have to put them back later in the game when one of the EOB* guys needs a blow.

I do think that there are occasions where it would be beneficial to put one of the EOB guys in to get some work with the regulars. However, many coaches would rather keep their regulars in so that they can work on specific things (set plays, defensive rotations, press-break, etc) in real game situations. IMO, Buzz feels that it's more important to have his top 8 guys on the same page than to have the EOB guys getting a few minutes of experience just in case.


* - EOB = "end of bench"

[mu_hilltopper]

Listening to the post-game, Buzz "took 1000% responsibility for the loss at UL."  

I write that to suggest it wasn't the players who took the foot off the gas.  (Although it was a part, sure.)

In any event, DePaul is not Louisville.  The BC is not the Yum center.  With 8 to go, it was as over as any game gets.  DePaul just did not have the horsepower to even think about a 30 point comeback.  

If a player has the attitude that he'd rather transfer than work harder in practice, I don't want him on the roster.

The problem with that is .. you have freshmen on your team because they eventually turn into sophomores.  The investment in one recruit is HUGE.   While Duke probably doesn't recruit projects, MU has a number of them on their team every year.   Kids will mature.  You need to keep them around until they pay off.   Guess what?  These kids aren't going to be 100% mentally strong every day and stick with you.

A weeks worth of a kid being pissed off with the wrong guys whispering in their ear about PT and better usage .. and suddenly your investment just went to zero.

[Lennys Tap]

Ox and Jamail played 4 minutes last night. E Will 3 because he was on the sidelines waiting to enter for nearly a minute. And people are bi*ching because they didn't get in ONE minute earlier? Gimme a break. We could beat Duke by 20 at Cameron and some people would find something to complain about.

[mu_hilltopper]

I'm not bitching because of one minute.  Up 30 with 11 to go.  We were up 33 with 8 to go.  Up 38 with 6 to go.  

JJ and Gardner were the first to get in at 4:08
EWill at 3,
Frozena at 1:26

Sure, in the end we're "bitching" about a few minutes.   Watching in the BC, they were very long minutes, with many thinking, wow, where's Gardner?  Ewill? Jones? Man, those guys must be terrible if they aren't playing now.  Start the transfer clock.