You're the coach, divvy up the minutes.

[muwarrior69]

There is no reason for Cheatham to be getting more than 10 minutes. This isn't Bruce Bowen. Cartwright had 18, most of which came in the second half on him. Brunson has 19 on him. Foster had 30 on him. Baldwin had 18 on him. Did a great job on Cain. Rodriguez had 30 on him. Brunson has 16 on him. Did a great job on Rodriguez. Did a great job on Peak. Tonight just his turnovers alone gave up 10 fast break points, so even if he was shutting someone down he gave it back right there alone.

Hate to rag on a kid but he's hurting the team right now. In situations where you need a longer perimeter defender sure, throw him in there and tell him to lock down his man and not dribble the basketball. Otherwise I'll take my chances that Duane or Katin can defend equally as well and have a prayer of scoring while not risking a turnover with every dribble they take. It's bad.

I hope he makes me eat my words.

Like 32, Matt 8
Sam 27, Katin 13
JJJ 15, Katin 15, Cheatham 10
Duane 24, Howard 10, JJJ 6
Rowsey 28, Howard 12

If I were the coach I might sit him out for the DePaul game. Let him clear his mind. Sometime when you want solve a problem or correct something you have to stop and take a time out. This is not playing mind games with a kid. I would also have him work with Todd over the summer. He just does not to seem be as strong as the players he is up against.

I am not a coach, but do they actually  sit down with each player one on one and  go over film with them to teach them how to adjust?

[MUfan12]

You don't sit a kid with confidence issues to try and get him out of a slump. That will only compound it.

I am fine with reducing minutes, and using him in spots where he can get going a bit. But a benching would be a terrible idea.

[muwarrior69]

You don't sit a kid with confidence issues to try and get him out of a slump. That will only compound it.

I am fine with reducing minutes, and using him in spots where he can get going a bit. But a benching would be a terrible idea.

I am old school. He is only a soph. Looking for long term success.

[MUBurrow]

Wow, funny how fast this board flips on DW. I'm still a big DW fan, and would like to see him get more minutes and have the ball in his hands more often, provided he's healthy. Not so much as a criticism of how things have gone, I just think its a data point that it can't hurt to have at this point. 

I think DW is neck-and-neck with JjJ as the best creator on the team and is as good a defender as anyone else in the backcourt (provided, he's got to be healthy for those to be true). I still think the system doesn't fit him nearly as well as Buzz's would have, but with the team in a slump, I think the entire group would gain a lot of confidence in having DW empowered by Wojo to take the reins a bit. This board likes to shake its fist at the sky and scream about senior leadership a lot, but I think DW is the guy that a lot of the team looks to.

[CTWarrior]

You don't sit a kid with confidence issues to try and get him out of a slump. That will only compound it.

I am fine with reducing minutes, and using him in spots where he can get going a bit. But a benching would be a terrible idea.

This summer, he needs to tie his left hand behind his back or something to force him to use his right hand more.  Basically, the defense is forcing him to go right and staying on his left hand when he gets near the basket.  St. Johns took it a step further and just stripped the ball from him.

As for the broader topic, playing rotation should be based on the opponent.  St. John's is a very tough matchup for us because they are quicker and bigger that we are all over the floor.  I know Luke is "bigger" than St. Johns bigs, but they are much quicker, and better and quicker jumpers so he doesn't play bigger.  We don't have a good balance to counter-act that.  I personally would have maxed minutes for Reinhardt and Wilson last night, and lowered Cheatham and JJJ, but it wouldn't have made a difference.  We don't have a rotation that would have won last night's game, based on where we are right now.   To maximize Rowsey and Howard, we need a good, big, steady PG.  Unfortunately, we don't have one of those and we don't have a PF, either.  That makes it tough for us to match up with some teams.  I think Traci Carter's minutes would have gradually reduced had he stayed, but last night was a night were he would have played 20 minutes and been a big help.

Besides all that, St. John's were on top of their game last night, too.  Add it up and its a rough night.

[Billy Hoyle]

Wait.  Tell me who's hot, how many fouls Luke has at half, and if KR has made at least 2 3's by half.

Exactly. One of the dumbest thread topics going back to the original Ahoya board. It's about Fonk trouble, matchups, injuries, practice performance and other factors. But hey, we all know more than Wojo and the staff, right?

[dw3dw3dw3]

I think Wojo has done great with the minutes. HC was tough to watch last night and he was benched for a bit. Seems like the guys understand if they aren't playing well there's another option to try behind them. Not ideal if the backup option isn't working that well, but I like that the guys sort of know if they suck it up they are coming out.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Per the guidance of statistical guru, Henry Sugar, I use a spread sheet to track 5 game moving averages for o-rating. A way of seeing who has been hot recently. Using those averages, here is what the "Who's hot" lineup would be:

Starters:
Rowsey: 147.2
Jajuan: 96.2
Katin: 114.8
Hauser: 141.9
Luke: 130.6

Bench:
Cheatham: 90.0
Howard: 79.1
Heldt: 77.2
Wilson: 56.1

What this shows is that offense has slowed down. Sammy and Rowsey are significantly above their season averages. Katin is a little above his season average. Luke is right at his. JJJ is a little below his. Everyone else is way below their season average.

The player who has taken the biggest drop? Duane. His season average is 109.6, a full 53.5 points higher than where he is know. His usage is pretty low though, so the impact isn't as great. The biggest impact is Markus. He has played a full 38.1 points lower than his season average of 117.2. He also has double the usage of Duane. Getting Markus back on track might be the quickest way to jump start the offense.

[brewcity77]

Because despite what Duane did 2 seasons ago he has not been good this season. By any statistical measure.

Well...he has his highest offensive efficiency this year by a wide margin, best career turnover rate, best 2PFG%, the problem is he's been inconsistent if anything. He's been decent defensively (definitely better than some), was very good against Villanova, has shown himself versatile enough to handle the 1 or 2 at times.

He accepted a lesser role without complaint as well, even embracing it. Not a lot of players would happily do that.

[muguru]

I wonder if at this point in the season Markus might be a little homesick, and that is why he has been struggling. He's 17..so I'd say it'd be a normal thing. Saw a tweet a few days ago where his GF is coming to visit sometime this month....not sure what to think of that..it could either help him immensely, or it could make him struggle even more.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Well...he has his highest offensive efficiency this year by a wide margin, best career turnover rate, best 2PFG%, the problem is he's been inconsistent if anything. He's been decent defensively (definitely better than some), was very good against Villanova, has shown himself versatile enough to handle the 1 or 2 at times.

He accepted a lesser role without complaint as well, even embracing it. Not a lot of players would happily do that.

He's currently last on the team in o-rating over the last 5 games. He's second to last on the team for o-rating for the season. I'm sorry but the kid is having a rough year. His defense seems to be good.

[brewcity77]

He's currently last on the team in o-rating over the last 5 games. He's second to last on the team for o-rating for the season. I'm sorry but the kid is having a rough year. His defense seems to be good.

Last in O-rating the past 5 games isn't the same as "...he has not been good this season. By any statistical measure."

He's adjusted to a new, lesser role and despite a recent dip, has done rather well on the whole. Defense is good, and he's been opportunistic on offense without trying to overly force things. Duane's past 5 games haven't been as bad as Katin's first 13, and I don't hear anyone saying he hasn't been any good this season.

[Lennys Tap]

There is no reason for Cheatham to be getting more than 10 minutes. This isn't Bruce Bowen. Cartwright had 18, most of which came in the second half on him. Brunson has 19 on him. Foster had 30 on him. Baldwin had 18 on him. Did a great job on Cain. Rodriguez had 30 on him. Brunson has 16 on him. Did a great job on Rodriguez. Did a great job on Peak. Tonight just his turnovers alone gave up 10 fast break points, so even if he was shutting someone down he gave it back right there alone.

Hate to rag on a kid but he's hurting the team right now.

Love the kid but you're dead right.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Last in O-rating the past 5 games isn't the same as "...he has not been good this season. By any statistical measure."

He's adjusted to a new, lesser role and despite a recent dip, has done rather well on the whole. Defense is good, and he's been opportunistic on offense without trying to overly force things. Duane's past 5 games haven't been as bad as Katin's first 13, and I don't hear anyone saying he hasn't been any good this season.

You missed the second part where I said his season o rating is second worst on the team.

I included the last five games to show that it's not like he's on an upward trajectory

[Dr. Blackheart]

You missed the second part where I said his season o rating is second worst on the team.

I included the last five games to show that it's not like he's on an upward trajectory

He has been fighting through the groin injury the last 8 games.  I doubt his is a candidate for a span of continued extended minutes.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

He has been fighting through the groin injury the last 8 games.  I doubt his is a candidate for a span of continued extended minutes.

Another reason why he isn't the answer right now.

I love Duane. I love his toughness. I love his willingness to play a role. But we have backup qb syndrome right now.

[wadesworld]

Another reason why he isn't the answer right now.

I love Duane. I love his toughness. I love his willingness to play a role. But we have backup qb syndrome right now.

No we don't.  We have "Cheatham is hurting more than he's helping" syndrome right now.

[WarriorFan]

It's Depaul next... start the guys who were hustling and getting us back into the last game:
Duane
Heldt
Rowsey
Hauser
anyone but Cheatham, probably JJJ.

I'm not saying anyone gets less minutes, just shake things up and send a message.

[mubb3434]

The only comments I will make is that Duane needs to see the court more than Haanif, and we need Rowsey out there at least 25+ minutes a game.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

No we don't.  We have "Cheatham is hurting more than he's helping" syndrome right now.

And you think a worse player on the bench would do better. That's backup qb syndrome. Ners used to set the same thing about Derrick. It was true but didn't mean John Dawson was the better option.

Cheatham has been better over the last three games than Howard has. Why are there no calls to bench Howard?

Cheatham has some terrible turnovers last game. But he was attacking the basket with confidence and getting to the foul line. He even swished a three. That was his worst turnover game of the season, an outlier. If he doesn't continue that trend then he will continue to be one of our five best players.

[wadesworld]

And you think a worse player on the bench would do better. That's backup qb syndrome. Ners used to set the same thing about Derrick. It was true but didn't mean John Dawson was the better option.

Cheatham has been better over the last three games than Howard has. Why are there no calls to bench Howard?

Cheatham has some terrible turnovers last game. But he was attacking the basket with confidence and getting to the foul line. He even swished a three. That was his worst turnover game of the season, an outlier. If he doesn't continue that trend then he will continue to be one of our five best players.

He was also 3-7 when he did get to the line and missed what could've been some pretty important free throws down the stretch of the Nova game.  He missed a breakaway layup that would've sealed the at Seton Hall game.  He's in his own head.  Instead of looking to finish a play, he hopes he gets fouled or has a wide open teammate that will take the layup for him (think that was the home Seton Hall game).

If Cheatham is one of our five best players we are in some big trouble.

[KampusFoods]

Cheatham has been better over the last three games than Howard has. Why are there no calls to bench Howard?

Because Howard is actually getting benched.

[tower912]

Howard is benching himself.   And Rowsey is stepping up.   

[MUBurrow]

If  Cheatham or Howard see their minutes significantly cut with much more immediate than their long term development in mind, we're losing the forest from the trees. Now please don't take that to an unreasonable extreme and say "Oh well if its a close game with three minutes to go and one is playing poorly, you want them in no matter what?" No, of course not. But the development of those two are so, so crucial to the future of this team, that giving them the time to play and mature through it is every bit as important as finding a couple extra minutes for KR. Its an imperfect science based on gameflow, but as a general rule, I don't want to see HC or MH lose significant time (particularly in the first 3/4 of a game).

[GGGG]

Looking at his game log, the minutes he is playing seems to mirror his production.  Just like any other player. 

Against St. Johns for instance, JJJ did his usual "hey I'm going to drive into nowhere" thing and went 1/6 playing terrible defense in the process.  Duane got in early trouble and scored 1 point in 17 minutes of action.

So I can see why Wojo felt that, despite his five turnovers, Haanif was one of the five best players available at the end of the game.