In these last three games against possible playoff matchups (Lakers, Thunder, Warriors, Ime has shown us what his playoff rotation will look like, barring injury. Starters are obvious: Amen, Jalen, Alpi, Dillon, FVV Main reserves: Tari, Jabari, Adams Others, due to some situational need: Holiday, Tate, Uncle Jeff I wouldn't expect to see more than 9 players in a single game at most, unless we're in the 4th and the outcome is obvious. That's it, guys. I know some of you were hoping Reed's recent play has earned him playoff rotation minutes, but the 2 minutes he's gotten over those 3 games tells us where Ime stands. Same with Cam. Those two will only see the court in blowouts. I'm fine with that rotation. In my eyes, it gives us our best chance at winning this year. Run with those top 8 and give the other guys on the roster a few minutes of playoff experience if the game is out of reach. Reed and Cam will probably have to wait until next year to show their true value.
Agreed those are the 8. I think Holiday could get some minutes just because we don’t have much depth in the backcourt, but that’s the 8-9 man rotation. I’ll just say that I’ve been happy with the growth from most all of our core this season, especially Jalen and Amen. I think Dillon has been a stand out player. Sengun and Bari playing some of their best basketball down the stretch. Lots of guys fighting through injuries and adversity. Fred gets a clean slate and must play well in the playoffs.
I just assumed those that got 10+ mins vs the warriors are the ones in the playoffs rotation. Ime would have to b pretty desperate to play reed any playoff mins.
As long as Ime is willing to go deep into the bench when necessary I have no issue with 8-9 guys, but if I see 40+ starter minutes and bench players logging like 10 minutes, 6, 14 in a loss then I don’t even need to see the game to know Ime was unwilling to trust others. I do not believe in just testing guys to see how they respond when you have capable players on the bench.
Magic number to clinch #2 seed is 1 game...if Lakers lose Tuesday against the Thunder then we clinch #2 seed. I argue we should give our core players restricted minutes for the last 3 games and don't shut them down...we're playing at an amazing rhythm and need to keep it going until the playoffs start (the play-in tournament will our players extra rest). 18-20 minutes for our core players and then shut them down in the 4th quarter.
My hope in the playoffs is minutes will be based more performance. During the regular season, the "process" is magnified in importance compared to results. In the playoffs (especially as a team advances), the process becomes increasingly less important than the actual results on the court. I'm looking at you Fred. Tari, the same applies unless you snap out of this meltdown the last two games, which were two of the most inspirational wins of the season. Please get back in sync! I actually think the core playoff rotation will be 8 1/2 instead of just 8, with Holiday being the 1/2. I really hope Ime doesn't play Fred 35+ mpg in the playoffs, but if the Warriors game is any indication, he will.
I can pretty much guarantee Amen will average 40mpg in any close games. Outside of that others will be there if they are playing well. Basically, any game that FVV or Jalen are shooting very efficiently expect them to play 40mpg. This is actually pretty normal in the playoffs. Teams play their best players heavy minutes because every possession matters.
Exactly. FVV playing 36 minutes like last night when he played soooooo bad is unacceptable. I didn’t even want Holiday on the team, but if he can keep up his 3 pt shooting and continue to avoid the hero ball when inserted he should get a few minutes. I’m not too worried about Tari, I think he will settle down. Last night, I think the moment was just a little too much for him. With high energy guys like him, it is hit or miss and why he is ideally a really great bench player. I really believe Jabari has a clutch gene as does Amen. I’m a little worried the refs will get Amen in foul trouble against the Warriors and Fakers.
FVV for the most part has been the best PG on the team. For performance, he's at about the last 6 games in a row of overall sucking. Even then, his defense has been excellent. I don't think he is defense and setting up the offense should save him when his 1 for 10 from 3 point land. Jalen Green has been much less frustrating for me lately. I'm not seeing the defensive mistakes, especially in the last 2 games. He still makes more turnovers than I like. If Green keeps up the defense, he'll make it very hard to keep playing FVV so much. On Tari, moving ahead of JSJ in the rotation took him a long time. I find it funny that as soon as Ime did that, JSJ got crazy good in a hurry. I'm really happy with both of these players. One of them should be starting.
I mentioned in a loss, so in that case they likely wouldn’t be efficient. Let me put it in another way, if Tari screws around like he did last night, I want to see Jeff Green get minutes. If FVV and or Jalen Green have one of their poor shooting nights + some sloppy play / get abused on defense, I want Aaron and Tate to see the floor. If Adams is not a favorable option, I want Jock to see the floor. I want Ime to trust his bench like Rudy T did, who had no issue after going down 2-0 to bring Chris Jent in for 9 minutes and give him minutes a couple games after that and in a pivotal game 5 played old ass Earl freaking Cureton 14 minutes. Maybe I am unrealistic, but I feel Ime is not the type of coach to just see this as guys getting experience, he wants to win. If it’s all about development, then still guys should feel the pressure of being replaced if they are not bringing it, but I can be more accepting. If it’s clear Ime is going for wins then I don’t want to see 7-8 guys every night regardless of how they play.
I am hoping for a 10.5 man rotation to keep players fresh and ensure the core gets legit playoff experience FVV - JG - Dillon - Amen - Alpi Holiday - Cam (some Shep) - Tari - Bari - Adams I would also see about moving Dillon to a more bench-centric role.... ducks
The surest way for Ime to guarantee he’s still coaching this team 3 years from now is to win rounds 1 & 2. At this point in the season, any development is accomplished by getting playoffs wins, not by giving minutes to players he can’t trust.
If Tari has a bad night, you're just gonna see more Jabari/Brooks/Amen minutes. I think the deep bench minutes will mostly come because of matchups. More Tate against a team like the Lakers that have great wings. More Holiday when we need more spacing and teams are smaller.
1. I would love to lock up this number two seed so we can afford to give Reed 15 to 25 minutes the last four games after that. I think there could be some utility and using him for spot minutes in the playoffs. Designed specific offensive sets to generate three point shots for him and design specific defensive coverages to cover him while he is on the court. 2. if we aren’t going to do that, I do see holiday playing 10 to 12 important minutes. He can occasionally generate his own shot. 3. we need to trust Jabari in the mid range and let him turn and shoot a few jumpers. 4. Going into next year we really want one more person on the perimeter that can create their own shot consistently. And I don’t think they are on the roster. We have guys that may get there in the future but I’m talking about 2025/2026
- Starters get standard minutes - Jabari and Tari will have full rotation minutes - Adams will get 15-20 situational minutes - Holiday will get the spot/leftover minutes If there is some unforeseen injury/foul trouble/severe lack of energy, I think Tate will fill in. I don't see anyone else playing. And Jalen & Alpi need to be closing the games.
I just hope we are willing to play to the hot hand(s) and arent afraid to sit anybody in the 4th. We got a nice balanced Pistons championship type roster - we dont have to force minutes or shots onto anybody - keep em hungry!
