Minutes Played

[CuseJacket]

Revisiting the hot topic of depth and minutes distribution...

Last year I posted this: Substitution Pattern & Minutes

Long story short, my opinion is that total minutes played is overblown.

As of today, top 10 in ACC games
MINUTES PLAYED Cl GP Minutes Avg/G
1. Andrew White III-SU SR 13 514 39.5
2. Tyler Lydon-SU SO 13 498 38.3
3. Matt Farrell-ND JR 13 479 36.8
4. Steve Vasturia-ND SR 13 475 36.5
5. Davon Reed-UM SR 12 434 36.2
6. Ben Lammers-GT JR 12 428 35.7
Michael Young-UP SR 12 428 35.7
8. Ky Bowman-BC FR 13 462 35.5
9. Tyus Battle-SU FR 13 461 35.5
10. Jamel Artis-UP SR 12 421 35.1

NCAA min per game: http://www.ncaa.com/stats/basketball-men/d1/current/individual/628/p1

• The Tusculum game dropped Lammers from #86 to #108, our highest mpg player.
• Looking at last week's top 100 I noted "K, Beilein, Self, Boeheim, Larranaga, Brey, Tubby Smith, Alford, Ollie, McKillop, Fisher all have 1+ players in the top 100 playing 34.3+ minutes per game."

Opinions? What drives the fear of GT's individual minutes per game?

 

[Peacone36]

I think it would be different if it wasn't our 7 footer that was playing all those minutes. With how we have seen big men break down the last 10-12 years all over the many landscapes of basketball and given how important he is to our success I think the fear is valid. HOWEVER, he's, what?, 20? 21? Overall he doesn't have a ton of mileage and given my own recklessness at that age and legendary ability to still work,play ball and play socially I think he will be fine.

 

[alagold]

Well Ben is not carrying any extra weight which helps. But it is still a concern with no decent backup and now Q hurt.

 

[lv20gt]

To me it's not just minutes logged, but how Lammers is being used. He's obvious the biggest piece on our defense but he's also the centerpiece of the offense, and I promise you any puns are unintended. I was always told that if you had to rest while playing you rest on offense, but Lammers can't. He has to be setting constant screens, fighting for position, and then facilitating the offense from the high post. It;s not just 35 minutes per game. It's 35 high usage minutes on both ends of the court.

That being said, winning goes a long way to countering the effects of fatigue.

 

[jeffgt14]

Meh he's fine.

 

[CuseJacket]

To me it's not just minutes logged, but how Lammers is being used. He's obvious the biggest piece on our defense but he's also the centerpiece of the offense, and I promise you any puns are unintended. I was always told that if you had to rest while playing you rest on offense, but Lammers can't. He has to be setting constant screens, fighting for position, and then facilitating the offense from the high post. It;s not just 35 minutes per game. It's 35 high usage minutes on both ends of the court.

That being said, winning goes a long way to countering the effects of fatigue.

I can see that to an extent. I struggle with, what does he do on offense that is more demanding than the others who get big minutes? I recognize the offense runs through him a lot at the high post, but it seems when he's up there he's not moving a ton. Setting screens within the key, holding the ball watching cutters, etc.

Do you think playing zone on D helps offset any perceived challenges for him on offense or for our other guys?

My original post was meant to ask about all guys on our team not just Lammers e.g., Okogie, Q, etc. Not directed at you only, just interested.

 

[YlJacket]

Zone helps for sure. Less movement, fighting through screens and having to move quickly on help rotations. In short a lot less energy and stress. Data point is syracuse with multiple players on that minutes list

However, I still would like to see him with less minutes and just as much less stress for how much is on his shoulders. Can 35 min work - sure. But I will be surprised (quite happily) if it doesn't show an effect down the stretch run. Usually does at some point.

I do recognize the options are limited though for sure