The Cruel, Unrelenting, Back-Breaking, Knee-Busting Anti-Logic of the NBA Schedule http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/14757066/nba-schedule-breaking-players Really interesting read. My quick summary: The more you dunk, the less quality sleep you get (due to flight miles), and the more minutes you play, the more likely you are to get injured. The Spurs were brought up as an example of a team that intentionally doesn't dunk a lot and rests its players. This issue is especially important for Portland as we have the longest flights in the NBA. Damian Led the league in mpg his rookie year. This year he's averaging 36.1. McCollum is averaging 35.0. Everyone else is below 30.
The recent play of Gerald Henderson is going to help with both CJ and Dames rest...Mo Harkless as well..We actually played Hendo, Harkless, Crabbe, Aminu and Davis for a stretch against the Rockets..I don't remember seeing that before
lol, I think Dame's minutes are down, and it sounds like the Blazers fly 20,000 less miles each year, so it's actually good news.
So there's been an 82-game schedule for 50 years, and games missed in the 1980's is much less than in the 2010's. A few things (I think) contribute to this: 1 - Players are worth much more now and are encouraged to take more time off to preserve their careers 2 - Players bulk up more now, becoming less like the skinny basketballers of the 1980's and more like football players 3 - Defense got more intense; our play by play dunk data only goes back to 2005, post Knicks/Pistons revolution 4 - If you play harder defense, you get more tired on defense; if defenses play harder against you you get more tired on offense Frankly, the league would do well to stop trying so hard on defense, to quit bulking up so damn much, and to just PLAY more. I know my opinion is probably unpopular, since a lot of you guys love your hard, physical defense. But if you played a little less defense, the games would be higher scoring again.
All star appearances should help by reducing the amount of physical contact required to get a whistle from the refs, though.
I have no problem with your philosophy, but try to convince an NBA head coach of it (remembering that D'Antoni and Westhead don't count anymore).
Best way to pace a team is to have a bench that can actually stay on the court without forfeiting the game. Fortunately, we've got that now
Yeah nobody should be playing more than 32 minutes a game anymore. ETA: even with a 43-minute game, Dame's only playing ~34.5 MPG over the last 14 games (11-3 in that span)
Yes, very much so. What wasn't brought up in the article is that it's F-ing stupid for Batum to play for the French Team every D-A-R-N offseason. Rest is critical in the offseason.
I disagree with your conclusion about playing defense so hard (I'd just run a larger rotation). However, to support for statements, I would point out that they didn't play anything close to modern defense in the old days. I just watched game 5 of Magic Johnson's first finals when he went off. Dr. J would get the ball about 4 ft INSIDE what is now the 3 point line, and his defender would still sag 4 feet back to protect the drive - ridiculous. I've seen this type of thing on a lot of vintage footage.
A larger rotation really amplifies the drop off in player quality though; teams want to win, so they aren't incentivized to play more guys if the guys on their bench suck. Maybe contract the league by 6 teams, THEN play 10 guys a night.
No, by Vintage I was meaning the 1970s, and it wasn't different. Bust out your bell bottoms and give this short video a quick watch:
I've wanted the NBA to have a better minor league system that has no restrictions on guys sent down or brought in...If you have the rights to any D league player in your minor league system, you would be able to bring in a replacement when a guy like Vonleh goes down or send Alexander, Connaugton and Montero down to get playing time. I'd also like to see a full 15 man suited up roster that eliminated the DNP practice..
