Pre-Season Q and A Part III

How will the minutes be handled?

JMeeks writes:

Along with how McKay is introduced in the middle of the season, is the question of how Fred will manage minutes.  There are at least nine guys who should see playing time during the heart of the season, but Hoiberg has always been a coach who leaves players on the court for long stretches, letting them play through poor shooting or mistakes.  Will there be less tolerance of that?  Will playing time be determined by defensive matchups?  My uninformed hunch is that he was watching the Spurs on their run to the title, and how they managed to get so many people on the court and get production out of everyone.  He could get Georges rest around the middle time out breaks of each half, similar to how Popovitch handles Duncan at the quarter breaks. Or play some with a full second unit, like the Spurs did effectively in the playoffs last year.  Even Popovitch says its a feel thing, but it seems like it would be difficult to effectively play call a game and manage minutes outside of obvious score/foul situations.  

GreenIvy writes:

Talk about a loaded question.  My answer is I have no freaking clue.  What I do know is that Fred will play his best players for the most minutes.  College basketball is different from NBA basketball in terms of rotations.  First off the game is an entire eight minutes shorter.  Secondly, they aren’t playing nearly as many games and in all reality their bodies probably recover easier.  If the NBA is a marathon, college basketball is a sprint.  If you aren’t keeping your top 7-8 players out there for “starter” minutes you are doing a disservice to your team.  This is why I think Calipari ends up scrapping the platoon system come conference play.  No matter how much talent you have, some of your talent is better than the rest.  Will there be times to expand roles and save some legs?  Sure.  I just don’t see Hoiberg using a 9 or 10 man rotation.  The one advantage he will have this year is encouraging a more aggressive defensive approach, especially with the guards.  I think we will know more once Matt and Abdel return and we see the minutes adjust accordingly