"Hopefully [the minutes] won't affect me negatively down the road." - Gasol Over his final two seasons with the Lakers, Gasol averaged 33.8 minutes in 2012-13 and 31.4 last season. At 34.7 minutes a game this season, Gasol is tied for 20th in the NBA, and he's the oldest player in the top 50. According to Basketball-Reference.com, over the past three seasons there is only one other player who was 34 as of Feb. 1 of that season and averaged more than his 34.7 minutes: former Lakers teammate Kobe Bryant. While Gasol understands the situation that he and his teammates are in due to injuries, he did acknowledge that he can feel the difference when playing between 35 minutes a game and 43 minutes a game at this point in his career -- and at this point in the season. "Especially like when you get done playing four [games] in five [nights] with the traveling," Gasol said. "The schedule is tough. It's hard. It's been really hard as of late for us. We just got to get through it the best way we can, and that's what we're trying to do. With the 43, you definitely feel it more with the type of schedule we've been having." http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/bulls/post/_/id/21726/can-gasol-sustain-this-heavy-workload ============================================================= This sort of thing has become routine for the Bulls. Each year they lose key players to injury (this is Rose's third knee surgery in four years), leaving some to question if it may be a result of Tom Thibodeau's coaching style. In an era when players' minutes are monitored more closely than ever, Thibodeau continually plays his players higher minutes than the rest of the NBA. Butler leads all players in minutes per game this season at 38.7. Pau Gasol, at age 34, is averaging almost 35 per game (his highest in three years) and Rose's minutes have gone up each month of the season — 23 to 25 to 30 to 34 to 32 (before getting injured). These aren't new trends for Thibodeau, either. Butler ranked second in minutes per game last year, and Joakim Noah averaged 35 minutes per night. Noah had to get knee surgery in the offseason and has seen a decline in his numbers this season. In 2011-12 and 2012-13, former Bulls forward Luol Deng led the NBA in minutes per game with 39.4 and 38.7, respectively. Thibodeau is not necessarily responsible for players' injuries — much of it could be freak accidents. But in recent years, player health and minutes per game have become much more closely linked than in the past. The Spurs have gone to great lengths to limit playing time for guys like Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili during the regular season. This year, LeBron James is averaging 36.4 minutes per night — the lowest number of his career. Teams are simply scaling back minutes for their best players. http://www.businessinsider.com/tom-thibodeau-playing-bulls-too-many-minutes-2015-3 ================================================== There's evidence that heavy minutes are wearing certain Bulls players down, particularly Butler, who began the season as a possible MVP candidate. From November to January, Butler's minutes have hung around 40 per night, but his points per game and field goal percentage have decreased each month. According to the Wall Street Journal, Butler has run an NBA-high 126 total miles this season. http://www.businessinsider.com/chicago-bulls-slump-leads-to-thibodeau-quesitons-2015-2
Obviously! Thanks Bullsville Every year when the playoffs begin, we were injured, and not only injured but played out, spent due to the high level of play we did during the season. Tom wants to win every game and obviously he will run players into the ground to do it.
For their part, neither Thibodeau nor his teammates seem concerned about the workload Gasol has accumulated this season. "He's a professional," veteran point guard Aaron Brooks said. "He's played a lot of years, so he knows his body. If he felt he needed a little bit of rest, he's old enough to make that decision, so I don't think his game has diminished at all throughout the season. He's getting stronger." That's exactly the mentality that Thibodeau wants his players to have. Since the start of training camp, he has praised Gasol for getting himself into great shape and being able to handle the heavy workload. With the Bulls so shorthanded, Thibodeau has to lean on Gasol more than usual. "We know for us it's the defense, the rebounding, trying to keep our turnovers down, playing inside out and sharing the ball," Thibodeau said. "If we do those things, we're going to have a chance to win. And that's what we got to believe in because that's all we have right now is the guys that are here. We got a lot of guys out, just find a way to scratch out wins, hold the fort until we can get some guys back and we go from there." The fact that Gasol is playing some of the best basketball of his career isn't lost on him. "I'm happy that I'm capable of doing that," he said of the double-double mark. "It feels good. It feels good to be able to perform at this level and have career highs and a career year at this point in my career."
He's played 40 minutes 5 times this season. He's having the best season of his career the way Thibs is using him. But... FIRE THIDIOT!
Gasol's MPG seem right in line with the other all-star game starters this season. All star game voted starters Lebron (36.3) Anthony Davis (35.8) Melo (35.7) Blake (35.4) Wall (35.3) Lowry (34.9) Pau (34.8) Kobe (34.5) Marc Gasol (34) Stephen Curry (33) Gasol had options as to where he could play. On the Spurs and Thunder he would have been more of a role player, had lighter minutes but would not have had the career resurgence / starter on the all-star team season he's having this year. I bet when its all said and done Gasol will be really pleased he got to have another all-star level season, thanks to his own skill and Thibs' use of him. Thibs is once again getting the most out of the guys on his roster.
Gasol's a consummate gentleman and professional as well as a great team member. The OP may be a subtle plea to Thibodeau to give him a break. If it doesn't work, I'd like Gasol to go direct to Thibodeau and tell him that either Thibodeau manages the minutes better or Gasol will do it himself.
I don't get the sense that Gasol really works hard out there. He seems to play at half speed and uses his height to great advantage. It's not like Jimmy leading the league in miles run on the court. I bet Gasol is among the fewest miles for his minutes.
That's a great point Denny. He's 77th in Miles Per Game. http://stats.nba.com/tracking/#!/player/speed/?sort=DIST_PG&dir=1
Let me get this straight. Gasol at age 34 with 13 years of NBA experience and a sterling reputation thinks he's being overused, but you guys think Pau is misguided because he's only moving 2.2 miles per game? Well you guys should stop posting and run and tell him what you've found.
What are you still doing here? For the love of God, go tell Gasol about your miles per game discovery!
I have no beef with his minutes. If he wants to play less, he can work that out with Thibs. I think he already has.
