<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">When the fourth quarter began on the Grizzlies' latest triumph, coach Mike Fratello didn't go with a lineup of starters or the best at defense and grit or the smallest and quickest. He went potpourri. What do you get when Bobby Jackson, Mike Miller, Dahntay Jones and Jake Tsakalidis form a group with lone starter Shane Battier? In a 113-106 victory against Cleveland last Saturday, the Griz benefited from a serious momentum swing. Tsakalidis eventually won a jump ball that wound up in Jackson's hands. The veteran backup point guard promptly launched a 3-pointer from 30 feet and rocked FedExForum when the shot fell good. That's not Karl Malone finding John Stockton but, as Fratello works out his substitution patterns, expect the unexpected -- except for anything that resembles a solid 10-man rotation. The other constant factor -- albeit three games into the regular season -- so far is that Fratello has played only eight players at least 10 minutes in each game. Instead of a steady reliance on two units Fratello's philosophy is clear: Performance equals playing time. And, he'll run a tight ship. "I'm just not locked into saying I'm playing 10 guys every night," said Fratello, whose team hosts the Seattle SuperSonics tonight in FedExForum. "Right now, we're not going to use a 10-man rotation. There are some nights 10 guys may have played. But I'm not ready to put that in stone. "We're trying to win games. The experiment comes in the exhibition season. You earn playing time with the way you practice and your performance on the court." </div> Source
Excellent. I liked the way Hubie ran the bench but it doesn't fit with Czar's coaching style. I'm just hoping this doesn't mean that Hakim will rot at the end of bench with Antonio Burks. I don't expect him to play 30 minutes a night, but i think Hakim's work ethic in practice and his abilities deserve at least 10-15 minutes every night.
