Why JJJ has to play 25+ minutes per game

[g0lden3agle]

LOL - I've already wasted enough time debating with the usual idiots on this topic.  Their point of view is so absurd it's beyond funny and ludicrous.

And I know, you know Merritt - that it is true:  A guy can start a game poorly and go on to have a very good basketball game.

And a guy can start a game poorly and go on to press matters even harder, resulting in even more turnovers and bad decisions.

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

LOL - I've already wasted enough time debating with the usual idiots on this topic.  Their point of view is so absurd it's beyond funny and ludicrous.

And I know, you know Merritt - that it is true:  A guy can start a game poorly and go on to have a very good basketball game.

I agree.

You've wasted too much time on this.

Don't mention it ever again.

[Class71]

 


One thing is clear, no one needs to be brilliant to have an opinion on basketball. As Charles Barkley has said, the game is not that complicated. Even I could learn it. On that note, let the opinions fly.

[NersEllenson]

It's not fact, just because you can find some data that supports your opinion while ignoring other data that does not, doesn't make it fact.

I'm willing to bet if we did a statistical analysis, we would find that a person went on to have a good game as often as a bad when missing their first couple of shots....know what that means?  IT IS STATISTICALLY IRRELEVANT AND THEREFORE NOT FACT.  (see I can present theories as facts too, oh and Henry Sugar the Stat signal just went up  )

Also no one said that if you miss your first couple of shots you are going to have a bad game.  People have said, if you make mental mistakes, you sit for a bit and then try and see if you don't make those mental mistakes again.  So really I screwed up, that was a strawman mixed with opinion stated as fact...my bad  

What is a fact is there is a clear and statistically relevant pattern of production for JJJ when he plays more than 25+ minutes per game.  What is NOT a fact is to suggest that just because a guy starts poorly, it does not mean he CANNOT or WILL NOT play well if still given big minutes.

What is also clear is posters had the opportunity to choose from Derrick Wilson's ENTIRE MU basketball career to see if they could find a 6 game set of games that could match the production of JJJ this season (in the ONLY games JJJ got 25+).  So basically we had 32 games last year of Derrick playing 25+, and now another 23 this year - so 55 games to choose from - and BARELY could Derrick's fans put together 6 games out of those 55 that Derrick puts up similar numbers to JJJ.

I'd rather play JJJ 25-32 minutes per game and see what he can do, when I know approximately 49 times out of 55, Derrick Wilson isn't going to produce what JJJ does in 6 out 6 tries.

And we've been playing with 3 PGS on the floor all season.  Carlino can play it.  Duane can.  At least last year those in the support Derrick court could make a legitimate case when they said:  We don't have any other options.  This year??  Please.

[MU82]

Still no proof from Ners or TW as to Wojo's motivation for intentionally trying to torpedo JJJ's career ...

[Lighthouse 84]

 The argument is:  When JJJ plays less than 25 he isn't playing well, therefore he isn't earning any more time.  

And again, for the 101st time - Just because a guy comes into a game and misses his first few shots doesn't mean he's going to be bad for the whole game.  The opposition to my point of view is suggesting JJJ doesn't "deserve or earn" more minutes because he starts a game poorly.

The argument from you has mainly been JjJ is a very highly rated high school player who is entitled to lots of playing tie regardless of how he practices, regardless of his attitude and regardless of how good he is in a game (defense included).  Your view throughout this thread is he has earned or deserves 25+ minutes because he's JaJuan F*cking Johnson dammit!  It's the same argument you had that Deonte should play more minutes.  If the great and powerful Ners says someone should play, he should play, regardless of the effort, attitude or results.

[NersEllenson]

Of course coaches make mistakes all the time, and I am among the many non-conspiracy theorists who have criticized Wojo for the mistakes I believe he has made in a mostly good (my opinion) rookie season as coach.

But you and TW claim that more than "mistakes" have been at the root of his insidious mistreatment of JJJ.

So, once again, Mr. Avoid The Question, what facts can you present to provide insight as to Wojo's motivation for cruelly shunning JJJ?

As for Belichick not letting Brady off the bench until Bledsoe got hurt, well, that strategy obviously turned out horribly for the Patriots in the long term. The mentally weak Brady never amounted to anything, and the Pats never sniffed a championship.

I've never said Wojo was "cruelly" shunning JJJ.  Said he was playing Russian Roulette, and coaching him with a short leash.  Obviously it's Wojo's prerogative to coach JJJ how he wants.  My point was given Wojo already lost Burton and Dawson, and given that JJJ was ready to bail on MU and Buzz last season after the way things ended, and given that we have 3 open scholarships already for next year, along with a very shaky filled one with Nick N - to potentially lose JJJ's buy in/respect for Wojo was Russian Roulette.

[Lighthouse 84]

I've never said Wojo was "cruelly" shunning JJJ.  Said he was playing Russian Roulette, and coaching him with a short leash.  Obviously it's Wojo's prerogative to coach JJJ how he wants.  My point was given Wojo already lost Burton and Dawson, and given that JJJ was ready to bail on MU and Buzz last season after the way things ended, and given that we have 3 open scholarships already for next year, along with a very shaky filled one with Nick N - to potentially lose JJJ's buy in/respect for Wojo was Russian Roulette.

And we still haven't heard why you think JjJ is such a wet hairy cat that he'd take Wojo's benching as something he should run home to his momma about instead of rising to the occasion.

Nor have we heard anything out of TW other than conjecture but that's another story.

[MU82]

I've never said Wojo was "cruelly" shunning JJJ.  Said he was playing Russian Roulette, and coaching him with a short leash.  Obviously it's Wojo's prerogative to coach JJJ how he wants.  My point was given Wojo already lost Burton and Dawson, and given that JJJ was ready to bail on MU and Buzz last season after the way things ended, and given that we have 3 open scholarships already for next year, along with a very shaky filled one with Nick N - to potentially lose JJJ's buy in/respect for Wojo was Russian Roulette.

Thanks for the answer.

I'm far too lazy to re-read each of your 473 posts on the subject here, so I will take your word for it. Maybe it was only TW who suggested something more sinister, though you two do seem to operate in lockstep.

Having said that, changing one's coaching philosophy and instincts because doing so might offend a player that a coach seriously believes needs discipline ... that definitely is playing Russian Roulette.

[NersEllenson]

The argument from you has mainly been JjJ is a very highly rated high school player who is entitled to lots of playing tie regardless of how he practices, regardless of his attitude and regardless of how good he is in a game (defense included).  Your view throughout this thread is he has earned or deserves 25+ minutes because he's JaJuan F*cking Johnson dammit!  It's the same argument you had that Deonte should play more minutes.  If the great and powerful Ners says someone should play, he should play, regardless of the effort, attitude or results.

Are you kidding me?  My point all along has been RESULTS oriented.  Just as it was with Burton.  People dogged Deonte this year as being so bad, yet he had these skins on the wall:  Big East All Freshman Tea, (proved he could play well at high major level).  Led team in FG%, 3pt shooting percentage and 2nd on team in FT% when he left.

My point has been I don't need a guy to be a floor slapping, maniac out there to warrant him playing - just because he looks uber intense and has all kinds of hyperactivity without any production.  I'd rather play guys who are playmakers and produce than those who "play within themselves," "know their role," "know their defensive assignments" (meanwhile NOBODY here knows that the players individual defensive assignments are or what the team defense concepts are.)  Basically, any cliche that can be offered up to try to justify a guy playing who DOESN'T PRODUCE.  But, "has a good attitude and practices hard."

[NersEllenson]

And we still haven't heard why you think JjJ is such a wet hairy cat that he'd take Wojo's benching as something he should run home to his momma about instead of rising to the occasion.

Nor have we heard anything out of TW other than conjecture but that's another story.

Based on the fact he was ready to bolt at the end of last season after how things went down with Buzz.  Based on the fact he could look to his teammates having similar struggles at times, yet all generally getting longer leashes to play through their mistakes.  Based on riding the bench 25+ minutes per game on a losing team.  Based on knowing generally when I get good playing time, I produce fairly well relative to the rest of the guys on this particular team.  Based on the fact that if you start to believe your coach/leader doesn't believe in your talents and can't use them appropriately - you can find another coach/leader that you feel will.

[mu-rara]

I'm cured.

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, STOP FEEDING THE BRAIN DAMAGED

(in my best Chris Farley voice)

[MerrittsMustache]

It is for the above reason that Derrick and Jake drove me nuts.  The had the perfect environment for production, yet still failed to produce.  They got consistent playing time, always did, game after game after game - yet even with all of this consistency, they produced very little.  They proved beyond a reasonable doubt what you would get from them.  My frustration last year, and now again this year - is you have other guys who can take those minutes that show much more potential and overall ability, yet they aren't getting the opportunity to play 3, 4 games in a row max minutes - meanwhile the team continues to lose riding the veteran/upperclassmen.

Great choice of words for me to make my point. True, both last year's team and this year's team had players who could potentially TAKE more minutes...but they didn't and they weren't going to simply GET minutes. Any coach worth his salt will tell you that PT is earned, not given.

Self-ban back on!

[Jables1604]

Ners, do you find it at all hypocritical that you make a blanket assertion that basketball is not a "science" but an "art" and then defend your position by using statistics?  And statistics that conform to the limited dialogue that you repeatedly try to convince people is accurate?

In its simplest form this is your argument:

If JjJ plays well its because he is a phenomenal player.  The statistics back that up.  Statistics don't lie.  They are, after all, data.
If JjJ plays poorly it's Wojo fault.  Despite there being no statistics to back that up it doesn't matter because basketball is an "art" not a "science"
If the teams wins it's because JjJ plays. The statistics back that up.  Statistics don't lie.  They are, after all, data.
If the team loses it's because Derrick is our point guard.  Despite there being no statistics to back that up it doesn't matter because basketball is an "art" and not a "science"

Do you really wonder why people take issue with your opininions which you constantly state as fact?

[reinko]

Great choice of words for me to make my point. True, both last year's team and this year's team had players who could potentially TAKE more minutes...but they didn't and they weren't going to simply GET minutes. Any coach worth his salt will tell you that PT is earned, not given.

Self-ban back on!

Do you feel like doper who just relapsed?  Perhaps we could institute of a 12 step program to assist folks.

1. We admitted we were powerless over Ners postings—that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of the Mods.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. Admitted to the Mods, to ourselves, our fellow Scoop posters the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. Were entirely ready to have the Mods remove all these defects of character.
7. Humbly ask to remove our shortcomings.
8. Made a list of all posters we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. Made direct amends to such posters wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. Continued to take personal inventory, and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.
11.  Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with MUSCOOP, praying only for knowledge.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to our fellow posters who respond to Ners, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

[Lighthouse 84]

Based on the fact he was ready to bolt at the end of last season after how things went down with Buzz.  Based on the fact he could look to his teammates having similar struggles at times, yet all generally getting longer leashes to play through their mistakes.  Based on riding the bench 25+ minutes per game on a losing team.  Based on knowing generally when I get good playing time, I produce fairly well relative to the rest of the guys on this particular team.  Based on the fact that if you start to believe your coach/leader doesn't believe in your talents and can't use them appropriately - you can find another coach/leader that you feel will.

So the answer is you have no facts to base your thoughts on, only conjecture.  Buzz was last year and is not Wojo.  "Knowing generally" is not factual as it pertains to the argument.  You stated nothing factually that JjJ believes his coach/leader doesn't believe in his talents and can't use them appropriately.

I think you're projecting what you probably did when you didn't play as much as you wanted to.  You cried and went home.  I, and a lot of other Scoopers, think JjJ has more stones than you.

[jesmu84]

What is a fact is there is a clear and statistically relevant pattern of production for JJJ when he plays more than 25+ minutes per game.  What is NOT a fact is to suggest that just because a guy starts poorly, it does not mean he CANNOT or WILL NOT play well if still given big minutes.

What is also clear is posters had the opportunity to choose from Derrick Wilson's ENTIRE MU basketball career to see if they could find a 6 game set of games that could match the production of JJJ this season (in the ONLY games JJJ got 25+).  So basically we had 32 games last year of Derrick playing 25+, and now another 23 this year - so 55 games to choose from - and BARELY could Derrick's fans put together 6 games out of those 55 that Derrick puts up similar numbers to JJJ.

I'd rather play JJJ 25-32 minutes per game and see what he can do, when I know approximately 49 times out of 55, Derrick Wilson isn't going to produce what JJJ does in 6 out 6 tries.

And we've been playing with 3 PGS on the floor all season.  Carlino can play it.  Duane can.  At least last year those in the support Derrick court could make a legitimate case when they said:  We don't have any other options.  This year??  Please.

It is also a fact with clear and statistically relevant data that JJJ plays well in games after he is benched. We should bench him every other or every 3rd game to make sure this pattern continues. It's supported by statistics.

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

New approach:

Ners, EVERYBODY on this forum will admit that Wojo isn't infallible and will be wrong from time to time if you admit that there is a chance that you are actually wrong about JJJ.

Then we can all move on, right?

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

I understand it must be incredibly frustrating to see JJJ perform well against Seton Hall for those who tried to disagree with my original post on this topic.

Nope, I loved it. I am a fan of the team, and every single player on the team. Watching JjJ string together two strong games in a row against top competition for the first time in his career has been one of the high points of the season for me. You are the only poster (besides people who do nothing but troll) who I have ever seen post that you actively cheer against one of our players. Just because you curse and spit every time Derrick does well, does not mean we do the same for JjJ.

I don't give a flying f*ck about being right. I just want to see the team win. I don't think you could say the same.

I understand many of the same posters who passionately disagree with me here, just as they did last year about Buzz's coaching, probably are tired of having our on court performance support my positions/arguments.

I don't feel this is an accurate statement at all. Our argument is that we aren't very good this season. Our on the court performance reflects that. Derrick is a big part of that. You and TW are the only two who think this team would be tournament worthy if only JjJ got all of Derrick's minutes (and Carlino's in TW's case).

I understand people have gone to GREAT lengths to try to discredit the stats I provided in this original post - cherry picking as best they can to support their flawed position.

There has been some cherry picking on both sides. That is common amongst fans. I don't think I would classify WarriorNYC's stats about JjJ's first half performances as cherry picking. I don't think I would classify my stats about JjJ's performance against top 100 opponents as cherry picking. I also don't think the posters who hold that JjJ gets 25 minutes because of solid play rather than JjJ has solid play because he gets 25 minutes are cherry picking. I don' think the posters who point out that 5/7 of JjJ's 25+ minute games were against sub 100 opponents, most of them sub 150, are cherry picking. I don't think Bama's value add is cherry picking. I don't think pointing out the JjJ's usage/efficiency stats show him to be a liability on the court is cherry picking.

The fact that you are ignoring all of these shows that you are doing a hefty amount of cherry picking yourself.

I understand many of these same people are the same who beat the drum of what an effective and solid and contributing player Derrick Wilson is to this team - just as they did last year - as did Buzz and now Wojo.  Meanwhile, the losses rack up at the highest rate in 15 years - and the only constant of the last two seasons has been Derrick Wilson playing 30+ minutes.  I am still curious about what Derrick is doing to "earn" all those minutes.  You'd think at some point he'd hit the bench in a game where he's 0-6 from the field, 1-4 from the FT line and commits 4 turnovers might lead to some bench time no?  But what happens instead??  He plays the whole game.  LOL.  And you think teammates don't get frustrated by the double standard that applies for the coaches favorite?!

We all recognize Derrick as a liablity. No one is denying that. We just don't agree with you that all his minutes should go to JjJ. I would take Derrick's production over JjJ's production every day of the week. I don't understand why Duane doesn't get some run at the 1. That is a coaching decision I disagree with. I disagree but still have enough respect for Wojo to trust his judgement over my own. Derrick earns his playing time, Bama's stats prove that. I think on a better team he would earn less, but alas we are stuck with the team we have.

You call it a double standard. You do understand that starters get longer leashes than bench players right? That is standard practice for every college basketball team at every level. Derrick has earned Wojo's trust to play through mistakes. JjJ has not. Starters get to play through mistakes, bench players don't, at least not in the same way. You say its unfair but its not. You can't let every player play through mistakes. Just like you can't pull a starter every time he makes a mistake. You know this, so the real issue is that you don't like that Derrick has earned this privilege and JjJ has not.

I understand people are getting all excited about next year's recruiting class, but other than Henry Ellenson, it doesn't really matter if we signed 3 other Top 100 players as recruiting rankings don't matter.

Recruiting rankings matter. Performance on the court matters more. I am excited about next year's class because the only thing I have to judge them on is their rankings out of high school. I was not excited about this team because besides Duane and Sandy, I could judge them all on their performance from last season. And guess what? That performance wasn't very good.

Do you think Big East coaches prepare to play against us by telling their players "Look out for Jajuan Johnson, he was a top 35 recruit in the 2013 class?" No! They prepare by saying "Jajuan Johnson is an energy guy off the bench who is great in transition. But he is turnover prone, overly aggressive on defense, and couldn't hit the ocean if he fell out of the boat."

I understand that it is beyond reason for coaches paid millions of dollars to make mistakes with regard to their decision making.  Even though it just happened to Pete Carroll, Mike McCarthy.  Bill Belicheck had Tom Brady riding the bench behind his trusty vet, Drew Bledsoe.  Wojo benches a red hot Duane Wilson in the Georgetown game from the 7:50 mark to 3:35 mark of the game for no reason.  We've imploded down the stretch in multiple games this year, taking the air out of the ball and playing a conservative brand of basketball - spearheaded of course by our ultra conservative PG.

I think coaches make play calling mistakes all of the time. Wojo has made many of these. I also think these are only mistakes in hindsight. What if McCarthy went for it twice and the players couldn't pound it in? People would be calling that a mistake. What if Pete Carroll decided to run even though everyone in the nation expected it? Maybe Lynch would have gotten in, maybe he would have been stopped behind the line. What if Russell Wilson hadn't lead the reciever too much? Pete Carroll is a genius for passing when everyone thought he was going to run. Brad Stevens got praised for an end of game play he drew up when he was at Butler where Barlow, a former walk on, made the game winning bucket. Had Barlow missed, he's an idiot for trusting a former walk on. Since Barlow made it, he's a genius for doing the unexpected.

I think playing time mistakes are very few and far between. I'm sure they happen but coaches get these right 99% of the time. They have so much data and spend so much time with these kids that it is easy to know the proper depth chart. Now maybe individual in game substitution mistakes get made at a frequent rate. But setting the depth chart is easy for a coach.

[NersEllenson]

New approach:

Ners, EVERYBODY on this forum will admit that Wojo isn't infallible and will be wrong from time to time if you admit that there is a chance that you are actually wrong about JJJ.

Then we can all move on, right?

Sorry.  I'm not wrong on JJJ.  I'm not wrong on Derrick.  I wasn't wrong on Buzz last season.  And I'm not wrong on Wojo this season - he's made plenty of mistakes, yet gets a pass as a rookie head coach.  I'll be much more bullish on Wojo as a coach if he starts to course correct starting tonight against Xavier.  Or will he pull a Buzz and grind us right down to the stretch with 35+ minutes of Derrick Wilson and continued losses mounting, while relegating arguably our most talented player to the bench for 25+ minutes per game?

[GGGG]

Sorry.  I'm not wrong on JJJ.  I'm not wrong on Derrick.  I wasn't wrong on Buzz last season.  And I'm not wrong on Wojo this season - he's made plenty of mistakes, yet gets a pass as a rookie head coach.  I'll be much more bullish on Wojo as a coach if he starts to course correct starting tonight against Xavier.  Or will he pull a Buzz and grind us right down to the stretch with 35+ minutes of Derrick Wilson and continued losses mounting, while relegating arguably our most talented player to the bench for 25+ minutes per game?

[Lighthouse 84]

Based on all those quotes from Ners about what he "understands", I don't think he knows what that word means....

Sorry.  I'm not wrong on JJJ.  I'm not wrong on Derrick.  I wasn't wrong on Buzz last season.  And I'm not wrong on Wojo this season - he's made plenty of mistakes, yet gets a pass as a rookie head coach.  I'll be much more bullish on Wojo as a coach if he starts to course correct starting tonight against Xavier.  Or will he pull a Buzz and grind us right down to the stretch with 35+ minutes of Derrick Wilson and continued losses mounting, while relegating arguably our most talented player to the bench for 25+ minutes per game?

Ok Ners.  You got us.  We're wrong.  Buzz was wrong. His entire staff was wrong.  Wojo is wrong.  His entire staff is wrong.  You're right.  In Ners we trust.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

I've never said Wojo was "cruelly" shunning JJJ.  Said he was playing Russian Roulette, and coaching him with a short leash.  Obviously it's Wojo's prerogative to coach JJJ how he wants.  My point was given Wojo already lost Burton and Dawson, and given that JJJ was ready to bail on MU and Buzz last season after the way things ended, and given that we have 3 open scholarships already for next year, along with a very shaky filled one with Nick N - to potentially lose JJJ's buy in/respect for Wojo was Russian Roulette.

This is an argument I understand. I agree with the presentation but not the conclusion. It is true, if a high rated player doesn't get the minutes he thinks he deserves, there is a risk he will decide to transfer. I absolutely agree. What I don't agree with is letting players decide how many minutes they deserve. The moment you do that, is the moment you lose the team. I am willing to lose a player who is willing to pull the "give me more minutes or I transfer" card.

[Vander Blue Man Group]

Sorry.  I'm not wrong on JJJ.  I'm not wrong on Derrick.  I wasn't wrong on Buzz last season.  And I'm not wrong on Wojo this season - he's made plenty of mistakes, yet gets a pass as a rookie head coach.  I'll be much more bullish on Wojo as a coach if he starts to course correct starting tonight against Xavier.  Or will he pull a Buzz and grind us right down to the stretch with 35+ minutes of Derrick Wilson and continued losses mounting, while relegating arguably our most talented player to the bench for 25+ minutes per game?

Sorry, you are wrong.  I played in high school and as a senior coached a team of sophomores and juniors to a park district championship so I clearly know better than you.  Please do not try to argue as I have BOTH coaching and playing experience.  

LOL - I've already wasted enough time debating with the usual idiots on this topic.  Their point of view is so absurd it's beyond funny and ludicrous.

And I know, you know Merritt - that it is true:  A guy can start a game poorly and go on to have a very good basketball game.

I'm curious.  Do you actually LOL when you type 'LOL'?  Just looking to get a response from you in this thread that actually makes sense.  Much appreciated!

[NersEllenson]

Nope, I loved it. I am a fan of the team, and every single player on the team. Watching JjJ string together two strong games in a row against top competition for the first time in his career has been one of the high points of the season for me. You are the only poster (besides people who do nothing but troll) who I have ever seen post that you actively cheer against one of our players. Just because you curse and spit every time Derrick does well, does not mean we do the same for JjJ.

I don't give a flying f*ck about being right. I just want to see the team win. I don't think you could say the same.

I don't feel this is an accurate statement at all. Our argument is that we aren't very good this season. Our on the court performance reflects that. Derrick is a big part of that. You and TW are the only two who think this team would be tournament worthy if only JjJ got all of Derrick's minutes (and Carlino's in TW's case).

There has been some cherry picking on both sides. That is common amongst fans. I don't think I would classify WarriorNYC's stats about JjJ's first half performances as cherry picking. I don't think I would classify my stats about JjJ's performance against top 100 opponents as cherry picking. I also don't think the posters who hold that JjJ gets 25 minutes because of solid play rather than JjJ has solid play because he gets 25 minutes are cherry picking. I don' think the posters who point out that 5/7 of JjJ's 25+ minute games were against sub 100 opponents, most of them sub 150, are cherry picking. I don't think Bama's value add is cherry picking. I don't think pointing out the JjJ's usage/efficiency stats show him to be a liability on the court is cherry picking.

The fact that you are ignoring all of these shows that you are doing a hefty amount of cherry picking yourself.

We all recognize Derrick as a liablity. No one is denying that. We just don't agree with you that all his minutes should go to JjJ. I would take Derrick's production over JjJ's production every day of the week. I don't understand why Duane doesn't get some run at the 1. That is a coaching decision I disagree with. I disagree but still have enough respect for Wojo to trust his judgement over my own. Derrick earns his playing time, Bama's stats prove that. I think on a better team he would earn less, but alas we are stuck with the team we have.

You call it a double standard. You do understand that starters get longer leashes than bench players right? That is standard practice for every college basketball team at every level. Derrick has earned Wojo's trust to play through mistakes. JjJ has not. Starters get to play through mistakes, bench players don't, at least not in the same way. You say its unfair but its not. You can't let every player play through mistakes. Just like you can't pull a starter every time he makes a mistake. You know this, so the real issue is that you don't like that Derrick has earned this privilege and JjJ has not.

Recruiting rankings matter. Performance on the court matters more. I am excited about next year's class because the only thing I have to judge them on is their rankings out of high school. I was not excited about this team because besides Duane and Sandy, I could judge them all on their performance from last season. And guess what? That performance wasn't very good.

Do you think Big East coaches prepare to play against us by telling their players "Look out for Jajuan Johnson, he was a top 35 recruit in the 2013 class?" No! They prepare by saying "Jajuan Johnson is an energy guy off the bench who is great in transition. But he is turnover prone, overly aggressive on defense, and couldn't hit the ocean if he fell out of the boat."

I think coaches make play calling mistakes all of the time. Wojo has made many of these. I also think these are only mistakes in hindsight. What if McCarthy went for it twice and the players couldn't pound it in? People would be calling that a mistake. What if Pete Carroll decided to run even though everyone in the nation expected it? Maybe Lynch would have gotten in, maybe he would have been stopped behind the line. What if Russell Wilson hadn't lead the reciever too much? Pete Carroll is a genius for passing when everyone thought he was going to run. Brad Stevens got praised for an end of game play he drew up when he was at Butler where Barlow, a former walk on, made the game winning bucket. Had Barlow missed, he's an idiot for trusting a former walk on. Since Barlow made it, he's a genius for doing the unexpected.

I think playing time mistakes are very few and far between. I'm sure they happen but coaches get these right 99% of the time. They have so much data and spend so much time with these kids that it is easy to know the proper depth chart. Now maybe individual in game substitution mistakes get made at a frequent rate. But setting the depth chart is easy for a coach.

On bolded:

Yes, I want to see the team win.  Period.  Was far happier after Seton Hall than the last 5 games.  Didn't even care Derrick was once again a total liability in that game - as Wojo's hands were legitimately tied to an extent, that said, he still didn't need to play him 40.  But, go back to the game thread - I didn't hate on Derrick at all during the game.  It's because I CARE about winning that I want Derrick's minutes reduced.  He's been given all the chance in the world to show he's capable of leading a team, and playing at this level - and he simply isn't good enough.  He's doing his best, but it simply isn't good enough.  Not his fault.  It's on Wojo to take him off the floor.

As for NYC's post.  You'll note stats somehow weren't available for JJJ's clunker against Ohio State, which would have helped bring his numbers down.  

You invented this criteria now of:  He's played 2 games well against Top 100 teams for the first time.  Newsflash - JJJ hasn't even played in back to back games all year against Top 100 teams 25+ minutes. He doesn't make the schedule.  Hell he's had only 2, 2 game stints where he did play back to back 25+ minutes:  TN Martin and OSU.  And then North Dakota State and MOrgan State.  Had his highest O-Rating of the year against Tennessee and only got 15 minutes - so what does that mean?  Wojo didn't play him more minutes just because he was playing well.  LOL.

As for my cherry picking - I'm not trying to parse the data into all kinds of different subsets - Teams Top 100, games against teams Top 100 back to back - you guys are the ones that HAVE to parse the data into all kinds of subsets to try to discredit the reality and truth of JJJ getting 25+ minutes per game - he performs well.  Regardless of if it is against Morgan State, or ASU, Providence, or Seton Hall.

As for Bama's stats - Pomeroy's stats also suggest Derrick Wilson is a Limited Role Player, yet oddly enough he plays the highest percentage of minutes on this team at 78.4%.  How can you be a limited role player when you play max minutes?!  Incongruent.  How is a team going to perform well when it leading minute getter doesn't produce?

***And most indicting of you and your bias:  "I'll take Derrick Wilson's production over JJJ's every day of the week." ****

Wow.  Just wow.  You give JJJ 32+ minutes every game this season and his production would absolutely and totally blow Derrick Wilson's production out of the water.  I'm not sure a dumber thing has been said on Scoop than to suggest Derrick Wilson is a more productive player than JJJ.