When Popeye, Murphy, and Foyle (Foyle said he hopes to return mid-December, if not then sometime in January) come back, who will be the odd man out in the front court? I don't think it will be smart for all six (including Cardinal, Cliffy, and Dampier) to get equal playing time. I'm thinking the obvious choice is Popeye Jones. If he was healthy he may have been getting playing time all through the season but Cardinal has been playing way too good to be benched for someone who hasn't shown much of anything in a while. It is nice to be in the predicament of this front court depth though, so though the coaches have a little bit of added pressure they have to be happy with their situation.
Musselman has always been good distributing minutes. And I agree, not a bad situation to be in. You have to believe that Murphy and Dampier will get most of the minutes, especially in crunch time. Foyle will be the first off the bench to replace Dampier and Cliff to replace Murphy. Cardinal will get time in between and if he can continue to produce, their front court will be lethal. Jones will have to prove himself, but I'm sure he will get some good minutes.
I would like to see how Cardinal produces when given even more reduced minutes. I don't think Cliffy is exactly used to coming off the bench so maybe Cardinal can steal some minutes away from Cliffy if he struggles in the new role once Murphy comes back.
I doubt Jones gets much playing time behind the other 5 frontcourt players- Foyle, Cliffy, and Cardinal have proved to be too good to be not playing as substitutes. Cardinal provides energy and hustle, while Cliff provides veteran leadership and good defense. Foyle plays great defense and is a regular league leader in blocks. It will be hard for Jones to get time, if any at all. But I agree with Rudeezy; their frontcourt's going to be lethal.
