Bench Minutes

[ZagMania]

Great game by all the starting 5, we really pulled away in the 2nd half when Few kept all the starters in for just about the whole half.

But with a huge game tomorrow night is anyone else concerned with the lack of bench play. I usually agree with the idea that these are kids capable of playing more minutes without fatigue than we give them credit for, but the three guards all played nearly the whole game, and AD played 34 minutes.

I know part of it was that Micah had 3 fouls in his first 5 minutes of play, but in the last five minutes of the game when we had control of the game I was wondering why Few didn't give our starters a break and insure fresh legs for Saturday.

Anyone else thinking this?

[malmer7]

i WASN'T thinking about it, but now because of your post i am, oh crap, we're definitely going to loose!!! what are we going to do?

but really - tomorrow is a great opportunity to showcase what we can do in march, but other than that, yesterday's conference game was more important so i am okay with playing our starters more.

at the beginning of the season weren't we all complaining that few wasn't playing a core group of guys enough? now is the time to get the key guys their minutes and watch them gel - it's a beautiful thing!

[Baldwinzag]

They're young, in great shape, and conditioned to play basketball everyday of their lives.

In the WCC tournament we play on back-to-back nights and some teams have to play three games in three days, same goes with other Conference tourneys. At this level, rest is overrated unless an injury occurs. 24+ hours or rest are plenty. Even if the Zags had to play Memphis tonight, I still believe they'd be fine.

I'm confident we'll be well-rested and mentally prepared for tomorrow's big game. If we lose to Memphis, I assure you it won't be due to tired legs.

[gamagin]

good questions, but

Great game by all the starting 5, we really pulled away in the 2nd half when Few kept all the starters in for just about the whole half.

But with a huge game tomorrow night is anyone else concerned with the lack of bench play. I usually agree with the idea that these are kids capable of playing more minutes without fatigue than we give them credit for, but the three guards all played nearly the whole game, and AD played 34 minutes.

I know part of it was that Micah had 3 fouls in his first 5 minutes of play, but in the last five minutes of the game when we had control of the game I was wondering why Few didn't give our starters a break and insure fresh legs for Saturday.

Anyone else thinking this?

I disagree with your premise that the game was in hand. It's never really in hand with the sharpshooters Portland has, IF they suddenly turn hot. They were certainly trying.

I think Few was wise not to let up because of the threat this team poses. It's a form of respect, too.

re resting the starters, my guess is they needed to put in a full game to get ready for Memphis.

Finally, imo, the starters did get small rests when Foster replaced JH and Ira and Meech put in replacement time, too.

In other words, the game didn't really end until the whistle blew and the substitutions were made as part of the plan to play the starters the whole game allowing for breaks during the contest.

That's likely to be what happens vs memphis Sat. and we've just completed a dress rehearsal, is they way I look at this.

Go Zags !

[zaggernaut]

It did seem as if everytime we started to pull away late in the second half, Portland would hit a 3 to keep it in range. Also, looking ahead, this hopefully seems to be the last week until the WCC tourney that Few will want to rely on his starters putting in big minutes in back to back games. It will be interesting to see how they play down the stretch against Memphis and whether or not they look tired because Few will probably be relying on his starters to put in big minutes again for the Thurs/Sat or Fri/Sun games when the NCAA tournament rolls around.

[GoZags]

Micah's foul trouble and Meech's recovery from his foot injury limited their time on the floor last evening.

[sullyzag66]

Micah was visibly upset when Heytvelt, with four fouls, replaced him with 4 plus minutes left. He returned to the bench and threw a towel or something, then sat glowering the rest of the game. I don't know if he was upset with his play or his playing time.

[UberZagFan]

Uber doesn't think the issue is whether the starters have the stamina to play that many minutes but whether not playing some key bench players will make them rusty or lose their confidence.

Uber wondered aloud (actually he just said it aloud) how could Micah walk out of that gym believing the staff has confidence in his play? 14 minutes went by in the second half before he saw the floor.

Meech was a different story due to his foot.

The last thing you want is to have to go to your bench when players get in foul trouble (and they will against teams like Memphis --remember UConn?) and have those players be thinking in the back of their heads that they are only in because so-and-so has 3 or 4 fouls.

[ZagMania]

Hate to bring this up again, but I'm just trying to find a reason why Bouldin, Pargo, Gray, and Daye looked so out of sorts last night. Just seemed like a lack of energy and desire from these guys. I chalked it up to a longer, athletic Memphis defense until the second half.

But then I saw Micah, Meech, Ira, and even Josh (who didn't play too many minutes against Portland due to foul trouble) go at Memphis with so much more energy than our 4 heralded starters. You could just notice we were playing at a different speed and with a sense of urgency in that second half that MB, JP, and AD couldn't bring.

Maybe Memphis was no longer trying against our bench players, but I have a hard time believing Meech and Micah skillsets would work against Memphis when Bouldin's and Austin's couldn't. Our starters outside of Josh just looked lethargic to me. Maybe the minutes they all logged a few days prior in Portland may have had something to do with it.