The Greg Popovich Minutes Plan vs. The Tom Thibodeau Minutes Plan

Howard, Asik, Parsons, Harden, Garcia, Lin, and Beverley are locks for minutes.

I think 3 of Smith, DMo, Jones, and Casspi also get minutes. I think Rockets will be between the two as they try to keep the pace up next season.

 

It's a lot of minutes but what do you expect? Serious question.

Depending on how many blowout games the Rockets have next season, maybe Harden can dial down to 37.0 if he's lucky. But maybe not.

MJ was the master at resting on the floor without hurting his team. Harden is smart and will learn to do similar. It comes with the territory.

 

I hope we limit Dwight Howard to about 32 mins per game. This will keep Howard fresh and Asik somewhat happy at least, since he would be able to still get a good amount of minutes.

 

I don't understand why we'd want to distribute minutes like Thibodeau. If anything you want the scrubs to get more minutes so they can improve and figure out the system. Thibodeau won't pull his starters when he or his opponents have a 25 point lead. He's crazy.

 

spurs plan doesn't work for the rockets. their big 3 have played together for a decade, and their chemistry is already at max.

 

The TT plan for the first half of the season to maximize getting the chemistry working, then slide somewhat into the Pop plan so our guys are rested for the playoffs.

 

I keep thinking about the late season losing streaks we've had the past two seasons and, IMHO, a lot of it has to do with fatigue due to the large number of minutes our starters played during the regular season. I believe that limiting the starter's minutes will help this team close out the season on a positive note instead of what we've seen the past two years.

 

Agree with you on this in particular. At least a couple of times last year it made no sense at all IMO.

 

sloan used to cut down on minutes for his stars as well. it expends their careers and their primes. howard and harden could be good for the next 7-10 years if they play about 32mpg vs 36mpg. 4 minutes doesn't seem like much, but as sloan explain to dwill, it adds up to 1 game off every 9 games or about 9 games off each season.

so i wouldn't follow thibs logic and play them nearly 40mpg, but i also wouldn't sit them on back to backs like pop does (because they're not old). sloan had it best, cut down on 4 minutes per game and you will still be competitive in each game while remaining fresh for the playoffs.

 

The great thing about this thread is CH was able to turn an NBA common practice for all-time into a Plan named after a current coach. The so-called Tom Thibodeaux Plan that every coach throughout history has used except when Pops needed to start resting Duncan

 

They should all play 34 min/game, Hakeem's old number.

In all seriousness, playing 30-32 minutes seem good for adequate rest--both Asik and Lin made it all the way through the season in that range without missing a game, really impressive for the key C and PG positions.

Of course in close and overtime games, they can occasionally play more minutes as needed.

 

Yeah, he's lucky some of his players are so durable. I believe Luol Deng was playing close to the whole game a few years ago. That's unbelievable.

 

Minutes Per Game 2012-2013
1. Luol Deng-CHI 38.7
2. Kobe Bryant-LAL 38.6
3. Damian Lillard-POR 38.6
4. Kevin Durant-OKC 38.5
5. Nicolas Batum-POR 38.5
6. James Harden-HOU 38.3
7. Stephen Curry-GSW 38.2
8. LeBron James-MIA 37.9
9. LaMarcus Aldridge-POR 37.7
10. Paul George-IND 37.6
11. Jrue Holiday-PHI 37.5
12. Monta Ellis-MIL 37.5
13. Al Horford-ATL 37.2
14. Carmelo Anthony-NYK 37.0
15. David Lee-GSW 36.8
16. Joakim Noah-CHI 36.8
17. DeMar DeRozan-TOR 36.7
18. Joe Johnson-BRK 36.7
19. Deron Williams-BRK 36.4
20. Chandler Parsons-HOU 36.3

Minutes Played 2012-2013
1. Damian Lillard-POR 3167
2. Kevin Durant-OKC 3119
3. Monta Ellis-MIL 3076
4. DeMar DeRozan-TOR 3013
5. Kobe Bryant-LAL 3013
6. James Harden-HOU 2985
7. Stephen Curry-GSW 2983
8. Paul George-IND 2972
9. Klay Thompson-GSW 2936
10. Jrue Holiday-PHI 2926
11. O.J. Mayo-DAL 2913
12. David Lee-GSW 2907
13. Luol Deng-CHI 2903
14. Brandon Jennings-MIL 2897
15. Evan Turner-PHI 2892
16. LeBron James-MIA 2877
17. Russell Westbrook-OKC 2861
18. Kemba Walker-CHA 2859
19. Deron Williams-BRK 2842
20. Nicolas Batum-POR 2807

 

Just messing around with the minutes in a 10-man rotation (and letting whoever wins between Motie and Jones take the PF minutes), building in 10 minutes of twin towers and 10 minutes of small-ball.

Howard 30 Asik 18
Asik 10 D-Mo/Jones 28 Parsons 10
Parsons 22 Casspi 18 Garcia 8
Harden 32 Garcia 8 Brooks 8
Lin 28 Beverley 15 Brooks 5

Harden 32
Parsons 32
Howard 30
Lin 28
Asik 28
D-Mo/Jones 28
Casspi 18
Garcia 16
Beverley 15
Brooks 13

 

A very nice summation HP. Thanks. You saved me the trouble.

 

I like the idea as well, but highly doubt that we'll see many games with Harden playing 32 minutes, although I wish it were possible to do (and produce wins). Maybe we'll get lucky and have several blowouts. Howard won't want to play 30 minutes, either. You probably assume the same thing I do, that those two guys would fight sitting down like crazy, but were your idea possible (and guys like Casspi, Jones, and Donuts play well enough to allow it), I'd love to see McHale do it. Heck, I'm just hoping Harden will play "only" 36 MPG and Howard 34.

 

Of course they'll want to play. I'm sure Parker wanted more minutes when he got limited to 32. It's up to the coach to prevail on the players that it's the best thing.

I'm not sure it will produce fewer wins though. Probably on a game-by-game, yes -- a particular game that could have been pulled out with an extra effort from Harden, or whatever. But long-term, starters may give better quality minutes with more rest, and back-ups may give better quality minutes with more experience, and fewer injuries may be worth a couple of wins too.

Unfortunately, in my line-up, I'm not completely confident that Motie/Jones, Casspi, or Brooks will be worth the minutes I gave them.

 

Well, maybe McHale will prevail! (if something like this seems to work) I'm far more confident of AB earning 13 minutes a game, than I am of either Jones or Donatas proving to be a solid answer at the 4. Like Garcia, he impressed me in the series against the Thunder. Whether that will translate into earning regular minutes in the rotation is something we'll just have to see, of course. Brooks was solid in that series when he saw time, IMO. Heck, if he can just hit a 3 at a 40% clip, he'll get minutes.

 

I like it for the most part. I removed Brooks and gave his minutes to Beverley. I don't see Asik and Howard together. I also expect The loser of DMo/Jones to get some backup 4 minutes with Casspi. I put all of Parsons minutes at the 3. When he or Casspi are on the court together, they are hybrid 3/4's.

I think the Rockets are going to destroy weaker teams this year. The Rockets should have one of the better starting lineups. Asik and Beverley are two of the best backups in the game. I think Harden and Howard only get major minutes against good teams.

 

If they are winning at a 75% clip (61-21 is not improbable) it will be much easier to limit player minutes. McHale also is a highly respected figure amongst NBA players, and will probably have more latitude than the average head coach in this area. And finally, I predict that the Rockets with their fast pace and talent level will have 35-40% of their games next season in the bag at the 8 minute mark in the fourth quarter. More wins equates to happier players. Good times for all!