I'm curious. Can Morey not tell MDA the team just wasted millions of dollars on a player that he's stubbornly not playing? Gary Clark has to get some minutes, especially when he's proven to be effective. This is ridiculous.
The coach can't be forced to play a certain player by management. I'm in favor of giving 5-8 minutes to Clark though.
It is amazing how 2 to 5 fewer minutes a game can play major benefits I think 30 minutes of Supreme Tucker is better than 35 minutes where 10 minutes is merely Adequate Ticket Rocket River
We literally just need to give him a 3 minute breathing break. He's good for 30-32 minutes. MDA, like Thibs, is no good for player health. All his Suns guys were a shell of their former selves after he was through with them. The problem is, you can't ask a guy to cut his best player's minutes while simultaneously telling him his job depends on getting homecourt advantage in the first round. Also, we have not given him a backup PF. Clark will be good, and he is playable for 5 minutes right now, but that's not a fair position to put a coach in.
One thing to consider is that a career role player like PJ has less tread so to speak than guys who went to the playoffs every year playing heavy minutes. Still need to cut down his burden but he has more left in the tank than other guys his age
I would like to know your opinion on the rest of this season plus postseason. On one hand, we are playing like the best team with no CP3, on the other hand, players are showing signs of fatigue which does not bode well for the playoffs. MDA is having to call tons of TOs.
Because we are short of personnel in PF , we have to overdraw Tucker's physical strength. Morey's next job is to trade in a full-sized SF/PF to share Tucker's pressure. With 20-30 minutes of physical strength, Tucker's defensive influence and bottom-corner three-pointers can kill his opponents. 报错
Man, I think I'd have to break it into scenarios: 1) If we trade Knight and a first for an average 3&D wing in early January: we can be as good in the playoffs this season as we were last season. That doesn't mean I think we'll necessary be good enough to defeat the Warriors again. There's their/our luck. There's Cousins' potential. There's unavoidable injuries. How hot each player is when we enter the playoffs. All of that matters, but roughly speaking, I think we'd be able to do it on the back of Capela's improvement + having an even better backcourt rotation to cover up for the weaker Forward rotation. Plus there's STILL the possibility of a buyout option to add, which looks bleak right now, but I guess who knows. 2) If we make a trade near the deadline: could be the same as above, but I would find it miraculous if injuries don't derail us by then. I also think we'll see a weakened Harden in the playoffs. 3) If we don't make a significant change, I hate to say it and I hope I never see it, but I think we suffer at least 1 season ending injury to a key piece and depending on the injury it could affect our next few years heavily. Even if we made it safe and sound to the playoffs, I think we would win 2 games tops against a semi-healthy Warriors team. If we faced the Lakers in the 2nd round, I think we are better but the media pressure would be a significant player in the series. I don't have a problem with players being fatigued when the team needs them. But being fatigued and old is just..... leading to a predictable outcome. MDA is feeling insecure about his own legacy right now, imo we have to protect Harden first and foremost. Whatever we can't do with Harden playing 32 minutes a game is not worth trying for imo.
i can't feel bad for tucker having to log heavy minutes when i look at his ridiculous daily diet. homey scarfing down empty calories literally every single day with these pancake stacks and sugar drinks. once in a while okay, but as an nba athlete every day of the season that's just not right
Harden is the type of player who would play 48 minutes a game if he could. The problem is that MDA is the type of coach who would play him 48 minutes if he could.
Somebody has to be the old man in the group, so I'll step up. How many minutes did Hakeem and Co average in their day? I heard Chamberlain had a season where he averaged over 48 minutes per game. Probably urban myth, but I'll bet it is not far off. I understand the players travel in aeroplanes now!
PJ was out of NBA for many years and didn't play heavy minutes before, so his body's actual age is like 28. Similarly, since I never played in the NBA, my body's actual age is 22.
Wilt Chamberlain did average over 48 minutes per game one season (the year he averaged 50.4 PPG). He averaged 45+ per game for his career. Different times, and a different style of play. Olajuwon's peak was 41MPG in '93-'94 (first championship and MVP season) https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/c/chambwi01.html https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/o/olajuha01.html MLB used to have 3-4 man pitching rotations, where guys like Nolan Ryan threw 200 pitches in a game too. Cy Young pitched a much heavier workload than even Nolan Ryan. Different time and quite a bit of a different game.
No one wants melo, why cant we just use him for 10-15 min on some nights when we need him? 20-25 if he is hot. These situations....white, melo, asik, dragic, parsons, martin... role players who think they are all stars and deserve better treatment when they are millionaire nba players only happens in houston. Dwight howard became a role player during his time in houston so you could add him too i guess. Lowry was the only one who actually deserved better.
