I don’t care that we won. I don’t care that our bench is beyond terrible. Playing our starters this many minutes so we can chase an 8th seed is foolish and professionally negligent. We are potentially threatening next season by running our starters into the ground and for what? Stotts needs to be stopped.
Regardless, I agree with the premise. I've been saying this season is done for since like January. I have no interest in getting swept at the hands of Rondo/Davis again.
They're not going to have a long playoff run even if they get the 8 seed, so they'll have a full, or nearly full, offseason to rest and recover. I think they should be conservative with injuries, but otherwise I'm fine with them playing bigger minutes in pursuit of a playoff spot. That isn't to say I highly value an 8 seed, but I think this passes muster for organizational priorities.
Playing CJ 43 mins and Melo 37, Hassan 38, etc etc just to beat a G League team is nuts. We just saw Dame go down with an obvious overuse injury. I want them all back fully healthy come October, not at risk for a long term injury now that ruins next season too. Obviously, I don't just want to sit them completely, but things like playing CJ an entire second half is crazy.
you never know, it could be the player telling the coach they feel fine and want to keep playing. if you were a starter, built up a huge lead just to have your bench lose it, i would think they would want to stay in.
Do you have any medical expertise to be able to determine that his pulled groin was strictly from over use? Pulled groins and hamstrings happen often and it isn't often from over use. Injuries happen.
There are two ways to go in this kinda scenario with recent examples. -We can do what Terry is doing in playing guys 40+ mins like he did with Dame a few weeks ago on back to backs or like he's doing with CJ now. -Or we can do what GS is doing in shutting down Klay for the season, letting Steph take his time in his return, and intermittently benching Draymond whenever they can. This is a bit more defensible because they are completely out of the playoff hunt, while we're still in it. I think the more close parallel to our situation is the Lakers last year. Lebron kept getting hurt and realized his team required him to work too hard to even sniff the playoffs, and he started taking games off here and there. But he still played 55 overall and ended the season averaging 35 mpg while they won 37 games. I'm OK with this for this season for our guys. Play Dame/CJ/Nurk somewhat regular minutes without burning them out and putting them in harms way. If we can't get to the playoffs, so be it. The other thing we're doing while running Dame/CJ/Ariza into the ground is not allowing some youngins valuable learning opportunities. Let them work thru mistakes. The potential of them developing is a far greater reward than the reward of limping into an 8th seed.
Yes, let's completely ignore what sports science has been saying about load management over the past 5 yrs. This was Dame's load over the past month + And what? Muscle tears are classic examples of overuse injuries. You need a medical expert to tell you this?
Melo and Hassan aren't part of our long term future. Hassan's playing for a contract, Melo just has something to prove. Glad to see CJ playing well.
I agree about Melo and Hassan not being part of the future, but them (and Ariza) playing so many minutes comes at the cost of benching Simons/Little/Gabriel, who at least have a shot of being contributors next year. I don't need these guys playing 35 mpg, but pulling guys for mistakes, while letting Melo completely free to not play any defense is a waste of time.
Like one game in Feb was heavy minutes? The loss they should have won against Utah. Not sure your stats are holding water here?
Why do you assume that it isn’t coming from below as well? The players want to make the playoffs. Dame and CJ are in their primes and want to play in the biggest showcase the basketball world offers. Whiteside is playing for a new contract. Melo wants another playoff run before calling it a career. Young players want a taste of the postseason. Athletes want to play and they know that message board discussions about resting for next season are nonsense. They work year around and are well aware of how to take care of their bodies. They also know that career-ending injuries can happen at any time: 1st minute of the game or last; off-season training or even a car wreck (ask Chandler Parsons). So don’t ask these guys to give up a shot to play in the postseason. That’s what they play for. The minutes will resolve themselves when Dame and Nurk are able to play. That should be soon.
I been telling ya this for months. Why ya wanna get slaughtered in the 8th seed is beyond me. But to each it’s own
You thought Dame played one game in Feb with heavy minutes? If we can't even agree on the FACT that Dame was getting overworked, there really isn't any point here to even bringing up my opinions.
It always amazes me how quick some (many? most?) people are to throw in the towel, be it for the game or for the season. You can tell who the competitors are and who the quitters are. I love that our guys still believe they can make the playoffs, and make noise in the playoffs, no matter how poorly the season has gone.
A. This team with a healthy Nurkic and Collins is a vastly better team than what we’ve seen all season. B. The Lakers look to be the likely opponents and the Blazers play them well. Witness the win in LA on the emotional Kobe remembrance night when nobody gave the Blazers a chance. C. LeBron and Davis aren’t immune to injuries. D. Damian Lillard.
