Scotts should out Pop Pop! Start our bench: T-rob, Barton, Joel, Wright, Mo get the start, let em run and gun (all out...balls out sprints!) for 5 minutes to start the game. If its a TOTAL FAIL, then the starters play 43 minutes and recover. If its a WASH and the score is even, then we win the game, cause our starters come in as Pop makes his rotation and we dominate. If its a WE LEAD, then we all go out and buy Powerball tickets cause it goes down like that!
Which is why I prefaced my comment with: "If I was coaching and foul trouble wasn't an issue..." So, other than foul trouble, why shouldn't this happen? You mentioned the extra TV timeouts. Plus, there are no back-to-back games, no road trip longer than 2 games, extra days off between games. I'd take it on a game by game basis. If the game is anywhere near being close, any of our starters who isn't in foul trouble will play 44+ minutes. This is what you work for all season. These guys are young and in great shape. Why rest them now? Why give up an advantage (starters) and turn it into a disadvantage (bench) unless you absolutely have to. Will all 5 starters average 44 MPG for the series? Of course not (especially Lopez). There will be foul trouble. Some of the games might not be close at the end, and both teams will empty their benches, but their could also be overtime games, too. If the game is close, I want any starter who isn't in foul trouble on the court as much as possible. Just go back and look at the Houston series. In the games that were close, Lillard, Batum and Aldridge all averaged over 44 minutes. Even including Games 2 and 5, Lillard averaged 44.7 MPG for the six game series, Batum was at 43.0 MPG for the series and Aldridge at 41.2 MPG. And that was against Houston, whose bench is nearly as bad as ours. Against the Spurs, and their superior bench, I want to see as much of our starters as possible. Use Freeland and Robinson to back up Lopez and Aldridge (but not at the same time) and Mo when you want to go small (for a few minutes here and there). Let the other guys play if the game isn't close, otherwise keep the starters on the court as much as possible. BNM
If I was the actual coach I'd have a much better idea of how much rest these guys actually need. So, getting back to the actual thread topic let me say it this way: IF we need a sub (for rest, injury, foul trouble, whatever) then I would happily play Claver.
I'd like to see Barton. He can get some cheap baskets and be really pesky on defense. Give him 3 minutes and see what happens.
The first time in the second round for 14 years is the perfect time to give an unproven player minutes.
I definitely think Claver will get some burn against the Spurs but it would sure help if we could get a big lead in a playoff game and use the bench. Victor is one of the best defenders on the team.
Exactly. He could be used to help hold a lead. Something our bench is weak at. He's proven himself to be a player that does not make mistakes and plays solid D.
Went ahead and fixed that. You really think we should take him out of the freezer and throw him on the grill without letting him thaw out?
I want more minutes for the bench, don't want our starters to be after 40++ minutes in crunch time against the Spurs' starters that played 30-35. We have a good bench. T-Rob can even get some minutes together with Freeland and I think it would be a good lineup. Either Claver or Wright would probably play anyway and while I like Wright more than before, I'm not sure he's the better option.
We do not have a good bench, it's thin and it's pretty awful. Our starters are young and in their prime, it's win or gone fishing time, so give it all you've got and see how far it can take you, you've got 4-5 months to rest.
Agreed 100%. Dame averaged 44.7 MPG in the Houston and was at his absolute best in the 4th quarter and overtime. He had plenty of life left in his young legs to hit that 25 ft. fade away series clinching 3-pointer with 0.9 seconds left in Game 6 of the Houston series. We don't have a good bench. We dont' even have an average bench. Our bench was better this year than last year (worst in NBA history), but still dead last in bench scoring during the regular season. The Spurs NEED to rely on their bench - and they have a GOOD bench. Duncan is 38, Manu will be 36 in 10 days, Parker is 32. These guys can't keep up with our young guys. That's our biggest advantage in this series. It would be foolish to give that up. Again there are extra TV timeouts during the playoffs. That's extra opportunities for our guys to catch their breath without coming out of the game. There are no back-to-back games in the playoffs. So, that's at least one day off, often two days off, to recuperate between games. Our longest road trip is 2 games from here on out. Our young guys haven't played since Friday. The much older Spurs played on Sunday. I WANT Aldridge, Lillard, Batum, Matthews and Lopez to play as many minutes as possible/necessary in each and every game. They've worked hard to get here. Batum led the entire league in miles covered in the regular season. He's probably in better condition than any other player in the league. Let him run the Spurs starters into the ground and then go to work on their bench. Aldridge has played big minutes his entire career. He played more minutes under Nate than under Stotts and it's never hurt his performance - especially with the extra timeouts and extra days off between games during the post season. Lillard is 23 and, as mentioned, just came off a series where he averaged 44.7 MPG. Have you ever seen him ask to come out of a game? No, he's young and hungry and WANTS to be out there competing. Again this is our biggest advantage during this series and we need to fully exploit that advantage if we want to win this series and advance to the Western Conference Finals! BNM
Two days off? I thought all our games v. the Spurs were every other day? It would be nice if we could tire out the Spurs over the course of the series, but that's pretty hard to do when their starters only have to play 28 minutes.
