The entire premise that these professional NBA athletes cannot play at a high level for 36-40 minutes, or that they should not play that long, every single game is so flawed and full of horse crap, made by people that aren't professional athletes (likely not even athletes) and never won a championship in any sport... ever. It's their JOB to play as many minutes as it takes to win games. We should all only work 7 hour days, 5 days a week, and get 20 vacation days (+weekends), or we won't be able to function!!!! Shut the front door. They are paid millions because they CAN play at a high level for an entire game, every game. Generalizations and case studies don't amount to jack squat because we aren't talking about the retirement home in Brooklyn. We're talking about Portland, and we're talking about what make an NBA champion caliber team. OKC 2009-2010: Played vs NBA champion Lakers in 1st round Regular Season: Durant 82 games played 39.5 mpg Westbrick 82 games played 34.3 mpg Jeff Green 82 games played 37.1 mpg Thabo Sefolosha (played defense) 82 games played 28.6 mpg (split time with Harden who doesn't play D 76 games played 22.9 mpg - rookie season) OKC 2010-2011: Played vs NBA champion Dallas in the Western Conference finals Regular Season: Durrant 78 games played 38.9 mpg Westbrick 82 games played 34.7 mpg OKC 2011-2012: Played vs Miami in the NBA finals Regular season (66 game season): Durant 66 games played 38.6 mpg Westbrick 66 games played 35.3 mpg OKC 2012-2013: Lost due to freak injury to Westbrick in 1st round vs Houston Regular season: Durant 81 games played 38.5 mpg (age 24) Westbrick 82 games played 34.9 mpg (age 24) Why not include Miami? They played in the weakest division in the entire NBA for YEARS and could afford to sit players out with the game in hand. Well, OK: 2010-11 reg season (NBA finals vs Dallas) LeBron 79 games 38.8 mpg Wade 76 games 37.1 mpg Bosh 77 games 36.3 mpg 2011-2012 reg season (NBA champions - 66 game season) LeBron 62 games 37.5 mpg Wade 49 games 33.2 mpg Bosh 57 games 35.2 mpg 2012-2013 reg season (NBA champions) LeBron 76 games 37.9 mpg (age 28) Wade 69 games 34.7 mpg (age 31) Bosh 74 games 33.2 mpg (age 29) Elite players play. That's what makes them elite. You cannot afford to take them out of the game without lowering your chance at winning. This is the difference between champions and chumps. I find it ironic that some "fans" who talk about why this team isn't a championship contender, also say the players play too many minutes. The argument about injuries is stupid as well. People disingenuously refuse to distinguish between wear and tear, and freak accident. Westbrick's injury last season was a freak accident. It shouldn't even be considered, affects every single team in the NBA with ZERO predictability and EXTREMELY WEAK correlation to time played. You disagree? Then don't ever drive a car again, because people die in car accidents. It's all loud noise from people trying to rationalize and cope with how low ball their expectations were, seeking validation or hoping for failure. Either way, this is an argument for losers, not champions. Pick a side. If you're too lazy to look up: LA 37.1 mpg (12th - age 28) Lillard 36.1 mpg (20th - age 23) Batum 35.7 mpg (23rd - age 25) Wes 34 mpg (41st - age 27) We've been so accustom to playing for the scraps, we forgot what a championship team looks like in Portland. Wake up! We don't have a Big 3, we have a Big FOUR. Four, elite players, and TWO league MVP candidates that are killing the entire NBA in offense and have the best record in the NBA as of today. Enjoy the show.
Gonna listen to it during the rocks/memph game. Thanks for tip. Sounds like they might share my opinion from your summary.
Lebron Wade or Bosh did not play a full 82 game schedule. They also only had one player average over 35.3 minutes in Lebron we have 3. Are we playing too many minutes who knows, but we certainly could use an additional piece off the bench to give the starting five a little more rest. Still I have to agree for millions of dollars, nutritionist, trainers, sleep therapists, massage therapists etc. are all available to the team so I think the concern is probably over blown. Especially considering the lack of intensity the team exerts on the defensive side of the ball each night.
I'd like to apologize for mentioning it. Their podcast is terrible! 80% of it is how they came up with Twitter handles (WE DON'T CARE) or why they don't want to work on Christmas (WE DON'T CARE). The minutes part was interesting.
It was terrible. More horrible "life in the day of" experiences from a couple of geeks. I skipped through most of it, but I think my post went further than they went. Casey said he wanted to know why he was wrong about his predictions, not make excuses for why he wasn't. It's a step in the right direction.
Well MM, Westbrook is out for significant games. You said they are contenders, so let's see how they respond.
I hope Lebron plays. But, if we catch the breaks, it's not our fault or the schedulers fault. Shit happens and it shouldn't be held against the team. Again, though, I really hope Lebron plays.
Minutes do matter IMO but the quality of rest can be a little deceiving. Most of our starters are rested 2-3 minutes before each quarter ends and 1-2 minutes after the quarter starts. At the start of the 3rd sometimes you don't see 1 or 2 of the starters to start the second half. So they are logging on a lot of mins. but the quality of the time off is as important , if not more, than the amount of time off
It blows my mind how little Casey has learned about podcasting since he's been doing it (which is a while). They literally didn't get to basketball talk until about 17-18m in. You're right that the audience does not care about press credentials, 'a day in the life of a content farmer' or restaurant recommendations. They care about details that their access allows them, and their point of view when it comes to the team and the basketball. Freeman is a huge plus, though, and is much more concise with his points. Hoping they stick to basketball and edit out the rest.
Casey is nice. And he tries hard. And his blog is actually a decent read. And I do read it, specifically because he includes extended audio interview of the players post game. But ya, Casey isn't a basketball mind, he's a journalist major. So, you just have to view him through that lens, and hope he can improve like a Meyers Leonard type when it comes to talking bball.
I agree with this. Casey writes a really good blog, one of my favorites about the Blazers but he's not good on camera or with a microphone anywhere near him. He has eliminated some ummms but he's better behind the scenes. He needs a voice coach and some theater classes if he wants to do that sort of work. He's a writer first and foremost.
Minutes, back on topic, people also who add up players minutes seem to forget to factor in how many overtime games are played. That makes a huge difference and is why stats don't always mean squat when you look at the big picture.
He is unfortunately very much unlike LA. I actually don't here the "you know" when LA talks because I'm hanging on his every word to hear him drop some knowledge. When Casey says, uhm, I'm not waiting. lol And this is pretty funny to me. I was listening to Stotts and I think even Blazer fans don't understand just how amazing and deep the chemistry runs in the team. Listen to Stotts' interviews. He says "you know" A LOT. LOL LA is rubbing off on him. I love it.
