Its weird. The site i posted the possessions per game from only let me go back so far. I went as far back as it would let me. i found a either site and you are correct. Not sure about the wilt days but early Jordan days were right around 106 per game. Was full court defense played though? At any rate, my eye test says athletes are much more explosive than yesterdays athletes. This explosion exerts more effort and energy. Yes im sure most athletes today CAN play 18 minutes straight. Will their last five minute be just as good as the first five? Not likely in my opinion.
Luka played 47 last night in a single OT game. Pretty decent game too. played basically the entire second half and OT. Kidd plays him a TON. All it takes is one injury... I could see if it was a game 7 but jeez that is a lot of wear in a regular game
Lots of minutes for sure. Luka has a style that seems to allow that a bit more? No question he carries the team.
For fuck sake, look at what I was responding to. My opinion wasn't valid because I obviously hadn't played basketball. I was responding in kind to someone who can't handle it when others scoff at ridiculous hot takes. It wasn't me who made it personal STOMP
yes, as much as today What yesterday are you referring to? George Mikan's? MJ's? It reads like you're saying MJ's and if so I would strongly disagree. MJ, Clyde & Dominique (among others) are top shelf run/jump athletes in any era. From that same time, Hakeem & David Robinson are the most athletic Bigs I've ever seen. STOMP
mjs era was absolutely athletic. They were the turn from the non athletic 60’s and early 70’s. At least my eyeball test from watching limited footage. But it seemed they used to run up the court and then play a half court game taking time to get the ball into the paint. Running and Dunking wasn't really a thing until Dr.J came along. Up till then it was feed the ball in the paint. I will say i didn't start watching basketball in the reg until about 86-87, so I'm not certain. point being there isn't any player from any running era that i know of that was being played 18 minutes straight on the regular. Im sure there are anomaly games, but the suggestion was this could be done regularly as a rotation. I hard disagree. All players would be gassed those last 3-5 minutes. Being gassed leads to lazy defense. Lazy defense leads losses. not buying this at all. Basketball players are thoroughbred sprinters. Not long distance runners.
From start to finish an average NBA game takes place over a span of about 2 hours and 20 minutes or 140 minutes. Subtract out halftime (15 minutes) and we're down to 105 minutes, so the 24 minutes of each half takes place over about 52:30. Prorating the 18 minutes of game time we're talking about to time that is actually passing comes out to almost 40 minutes (39:24). While NBA game time is a series of bursts of action with regular even longer breaks between, those breaks for Free Throws and Time Outs mostly happen at the end of the Quarters and Halfs. Those 18 minutes we're debating happen when actual game time is least condensed... there is nothing straight about it. As I've acknowledged repeatedly, rest is an important factor for any player's effiency. Of course it's not ideal for any athlete to get less rest over a significant span then those they're going against. As almost all of us agree though, this roster is not ideally constructed. Not only do they feature two 6'2 190 lb ball dominant PGs as their best players, but they feature the smallest collection of players in the rotation since I started watching in the 70s... they have the smallest rotation in the league. Opponents regularly successfully post up their SG on Dame or Ant. With such decided lack of size, to maximizing their positives Portland has to be both constantly pushing the pace and featuring the most complimentry blend of talents. For me these are the biggest reason to bring Ant off the bench. As it's been consistently demonstrated when Dame's been out with injury, Ant is much more effective with the ball then off & the Blazers are certainly more effecient on both ends with at least one of their two PGs are playing. While we can debate their ceiling as a pairing, the Blazers are not good when both Ant and Dame are off the court. Thats my impression, I'm sure someone here knows of websites that detail various lineups that could confirm or refute this. While less then ideal, I truly don't believe this hypothetical role would tax a 23 year old stud like Ant much more then his current one. That and much more has been done umpteen times before when training/nutrician we're nearly what they are today and the grind of daily NBA life was much harder. For instance it wasn't until the mid-90s that the Blazers got their own private plane and I'm pretty sure they were the first team to do so. Bringing him off the bench would give him more run in his best role and the team their most potent lineups. STOMP
I find it funny that you still think you've a leg to stand on with your silly soft views. In the past 9 games, Oregon's 23 year old PG Will Richardson has played all but 7 minutes of the last 9 games. Forget 18 minutes straight, for all intents and purposes he's playing the entire 40 every game. He was so completely gassed in his last game vs OSU that he scored the final 6 of the game. Somehow if anything his efficiency has gone up as reflected by his highest PER & 2nd highest TS% of his 5 years at Oregon. Of course Altman would rather not be playing him so much, but the other options aren't good so he's doing whats best for the team and letting the young man run. https://www.oregonlive.com/ducks/20...is-keeping-oregon-mens-basketball-afloat.html https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/will-richardson-1.html STOMP
