This is stupid as hell, cutting 4 minutes a game IS NOT equal to shortening the season by seven games. Reminds me of the folks who believe a Dwight's fantastic practice FT shooting should translate into excellent in-game FT%
No because guys like Lebron and Durant are still going to play 40+ minutes a night, you need to eliminate how many nights they do that. I'm against this because all of the records. We are going to need a asterisk now for all of the records, even if it is a minor change.
I don't really know what they expected to get out of ONE preseason test game. It could still be a good idea, but not because it will rest the star players in any way. Stars will still play the same amount of minutes except for the very rare game where someone would play more than 44 minutes in regulation. You just get less bench player minutes, which means the starters are on the court for a greater % of the game, but the exact same amount of minutes as they currently are. I don't even think it would mean much for the records considering no one averages more than 38.7 minutes per game last year. 2014 NBA minutes per game leaders
Significant in that season-ticket holders get an equivalent of 7 games less entertainment for the money they spent. But, the star players will play the same minutes, so they won't get any less wear-and-tear than they did before. The reserves will get fewer minutes, which is bad for them because they don't get as much experience and their contributions (and salary) are less important to the team. I suppose it's a win for coaches, who have to think hard for 4 minutes less each game. It shouldn't matter to stats and records either, unless a player isn't ever sitting. The starters will play the same minutes as before, so they'll get the same stats they'd have gotten otherwise. It'll complicate the calculation of per-48 minute stats. Anyway, I don't see the value in shorter games. Fewer games would make sense.
It depends on what the objective is. If the objective is to reduce the minutes star players play, then it's pointless. However it could increase the quality of games by cutting out the minutes that are going to backups. People pay to see the stars, so are you really going to miss not watching 4 minutes when primarily backups would be on the court?
Why don't they just start capping minutes then. I'm not saying they should do this. Just saying if they want star players to play less then just limit their play.
