Pacers and OKC are using 10-11 man rotation in playoffs

TNT crew prety much implying why knicks can't play fast and keep up with the pacers. Fatigue setting in

 

Pacers are harder to emulate, the whole team is full of Udoka mindset players but offensively stronger and more disciplined.

The Knicks can be built.

 

And he got the W

 

I said this before and I stand by it to this day. Going deeper into your bench is always better. Remember when in the playoffs against the GSW during Harden days when Durant went out? We was neck and neck in that series and both sides were exhausted. Durant going out forced Kerr to start using his bench and doing that turned the series. So yes no named guys are better than a completely exhausted star and always will be.

Now there are some caveats to this. You should be developing guys through out the season to prepare them to be used during the playoffs. Also the bench should be utilized before crunch time. An exhausted star will always be able to rise better than the bench when its narrowed down to a few minutes. A good coach would have their stars resting more before it comes down to that time though so in the final moments it may just come down to which team has more rested stars. LeBron, Jordan, Kobe, doesnt matter who, everyone is still human and fatigue is inescapable.

 

You develop guys for the regular season but you trade for players that round out your playoff rotation.

 

Indiana played with a 9 man rotation in these first 2 games.

In game 1 OKC played 9 players in the first half with major minutes and inserted Keinrich Williams for less than 2. They used 9 players in 3rd quarter and took Hartenstein out and used 9 players 4th quarter with garbage minutes for 2-3 other players coming in late in the 4th.

OKC played 9 players in the first half of game 2 but relied on a 7 man rotation in that 3rd quarter and 8 players in the 4th.

OKC certainly threw Several players in the mix and found several combinations that worked for them and this included playing 9 or 10 guys. But I think it’s important to distinguish rotation players with situational substitutions.

A rotation usually means a group of players who consistently play substantial minutes in either a recurring starting or supporting bench role. Indiana’s rotation this series includes 9 core players including bench players (TJ, Sheppard, mathurin, toppin) these are trusted players who played in this role and performed well in the regular season.

OKC also has 8 core rotational players with Keinrich and Wiggins playing situationally. Situationally means players inserted in specific points in the game in response to the circumstances or flow of the game. But who do we have that could play in either these roles?

We have 8 core rotational players all season with Aaron filling that 9 man rotation for 62 games and Reed or Cam thrown in that mix at certain points in the reg season. Reed and Cam aren’t consistent rotational players. They were played off and on and could not be trusted so they don’t play in the playoffs. But besides Holliday who do we have good enough to be trusted in the playoffs? The only other guy I could see playing situationally was Tate. His injury definitely hurt us as I thought he could be an extra defender against Butler or Podz. But we didn’t have anyone else that could either play in a rotation or situationally in the playoffs.

Udoka did insert Holliday game 2, 5, 6. He came in situationally due to foul trouble with Amen in game 2 and Jalens injury game 5 but he did play extended minutes that game and again in game 6. I think it came down to our bench isn’t as deep as we think and we need to retool and improve upon this in the off-season.

 

Some people thought Mathurin was better than Jabari Smith.

 

Troopers like Nembhard are either the lowest of 2nd rounders or undrafted....they roll up the field and it happens that they replace higher lotto picks and they sorta lose their jobs.

The Rox should have done that with KPJ and JG but instead gave up on the 2nd rounders.

Mathurin prolly isn't ready for ECF but he can still survive on a mediocre team.

Jarace unfortunately hasn't played much at all.

 

What specific 2nd round players did they give up on that should have replaced KPJ and Green?

 

And that maybe the best bet in the long run but anyone who had eyes and watched the rockets this season knew that wasn’t our model for the first season competing

 

OKC played with an 8 man rotation last night in game 4 with Joe deployed situationally.

 

Joe almost got 10 minutes.

Who knows... if they had played their bench more, maybe they win biggly j/k

Up 3-1 now tho

 

What's a udoka mindset player?

These players pass without hesitation and push the ball, opposite of Udoka players.

 

Very hardcore players, I think they are more seasoned ....although they have couple of young ones as well.

Carlisle and his staff are better and more balanced.

 

Cam, Landry, Tate and Holiday should have played more. I think we all agree

Also, Buddy going off in game 7 is unforgivable

Watching OKC and their use of depth is frustrating considering we had a chance to do the same but chose not to.

Seeing Randle dribble from the 3point line and bumble his way through the paint reminds me of our boy Alpi. It doesn’t work!!!!! Get the man the ball at the post, or close to the basket. One, two dribble and thats it!

But even if Ime expanded his bench, his offensive ineptitude would still have cost us

Rant over!