In the Pelicans loss, he let Clemons play most of the 4th quarter eventhough he started. He should have played more and could have won In the Denver and Sixers win, he played about 6 to 9 minutes I think. I noticed at the end of the 3rd quarter in the Sixers game, it seems he was walking towards the dugout and it seems MDA was looking for him to sub and he did not see. Maybe overreaction on my part but I want him to play more The probable reason: Full cast play EG more maybe trade bait
D’Antoni just doesn’t know how to manage player rotations and minute distribution. that’s all you need to know. I have no doubt in my mind that come April and May well be back to a 7 man rotation .
Why not let him contribute more, he is a guy love to sacrifices for his team, but he is at 27,average 7.7pts, 9.9min per game. Thats not Austin Rivers.
It’s bc Rivers and Westbrook are horrible together. The Rockets and Rivers need to agree to a S&T this offseason.
The only thing that make sense is he felt a need to give the reply to clemons with the team now that GG is back. Clemons was assigned to play with Vipers so The rotation should be getting tightened up
It’s only been a few games since we got our full roster.... who cares? That will sort itself over time. The lineups that are working the best will play. We just beat down two playoff teams and still you guys find things to complain about
I do feel bad for Austin. He takes a huge pay cut to come back because he loved playing here and now he barely gets to play. Honestly, with the emergence of Ben McLemore as a viable option and even the play of Clemons as the end of the rotation guard it's a shame Eric Gordon can't be traded. I didn't actually feel like our guard depth was hurting without him even though he's clearly better than everyone after Harden/Westbrook. Meanwhile, Tucker is playing way too many minutes and our SF/PF rotation is looking pretty thin.
because Dantoni prefers to play 8 guys or less in the regular season while everyone else is playing 10 guys to give their superstars a rest. Our team relies on the playmaking of Harden and Westbrook so heavily and the defense of Tucker, we don't have any minutes for any of our min deal guys. Also this team is so guard heavy and the reason why people here have been exclaiming for a PF to take Tucker's minutes.
i don't know what MDA is thinking; especially since Gordon has been out all year and it made all the sense in the world to increase River's minutes to fill that gap. Did Rivers sh#t in coach's cobb salad or something?
I love Clutchfans. MDA is neglecting our developmental talent like Clemons and Hartenstein! MDA is shutting out loyal vets like Rivers! Worst coach in history
I actually think he's a great coach (EVEN THOUGH HE DOESN'T GIVE HARTENSTEIN ENOUGH MINUTES). I just feel bad for Austin.
48 minutes at each position... PG - Westbrook(31)/Harden(17) SG - Harden(16)/Gordon(30)/Rivers(2) SF - House(12)/Mac(18)/Rivers(18) PF - Tucker(30)/House(18) C - Capela(33)/Hartenstein(15) That is how you spread the minutes for our 9 man rotation. Rivers should easily get around 20 minutes per game.
he doesn't fit well with westbrook. he was perfect with paul and harden because but of those guys are shooting threats. if austin could consistently hit 3's he'd play more.
MDA’s coaching will continue to defy logic. I will cheer my ass off once he’s gone and replaced by a veteran assistant with a new vision.
22.6 minutes per game isn't exactly "not playing". The dude is off a bit lately and maybe a little less playing time for a bit will fix it. Legs might be gone or something. ....But when no one seems to be able to put it in the basket, Rivers steps up... often. We will need that again soon enough.
Russ rests on back to backs and Ego still on minutes restriction, so there's room. In Dec, couple games was only James and Austin hot on the three's. Partially some of the big leads evaporate so quickly where MDA has to put Harden back in. If luxury rest Harden a bit more. Knock on wood no more injuries, but if it happens, having good guard depth is a 'good ' problem to have.