Manage The Minutes & Focus On Health

[Moranis]

Managing minutes can get teams into trouble, but there is no reason to play anyone that is hurt (hurt being different than injured).  If a guy is hurt, give him the night off. 

I do want to see Tillman get some meaningful minutes though. We may need him and I think it would help to get him some real run with Tatum, Brown, etc. See what he'd be like in the actual rotation.

[aefgogreen]

When factoring average minutes, ifa player sits out a game, a zero should be averaged in - thanks for coming to my Ted Talk

[CelticsWhat35]

I don’t care as much about minutes game to game.  If our guys are playing, they should be playing to win.  Sometimes that might lead to 40+ minutes.  It’s going to happen in the playoffs so they might as well get used to it.  I do, however, think there have been plenty of times when a game is in hand and our starters/rotation players are still in.  I think that’s unnecessary.  Going forward, I believe the #1 overall seed is important, but the health of our core is paramount.  I’d rather see days off here and there rather than lowering the MPG.  I think Joe has done a good job of that as it relates to KP and Al, but it’s going to be important for all of the starters as well.

[bdm860]

The Celtics had 2 days off and short hour flight home, if you're going to play Tatum big minutes, that's probably the time to do it.

I also hear Tatum doesn't like sitting:

Celtics forward Jayson Tatum recently said that there have been times over the course of a season when he and members of the team’s front office and medical staff earmark games for him to rest. Then the game arrives, and Tatum tends to push back.

“The front office gets, not mad, but they definitely wish I would rest a little more and sit some games out,” Tatum said. “There’s been times where two weeks in advance we talk about, ‘Let’s take this game off.’ And I’ll be like ‘All right.’ Then the day comes and I’ll be like, ‘[Expletive] that.’ I think that’s just something that’s the kid in me. I always dreamed about playing in the NBA and never want to take that for granted. I just love playing basketball. There’s days they make me not work out. Sometimes, I get mad when [coach] Joe Mazzulla takes me out of the game. I just always want to play.”

Ideally though (me with no medical training) would like to see Tatum play a few minutes less.

Tatum - 35.9 mpg
Curry ('15, '17-'18, '22): max 34.5 mpg
Kawhi ('19): 34.0 mpg
Giannis ('21): 33.0 mpg
Jokic ('23): 33.7 mpg
LeBron ('16): 35. 6 mpg

LeBron's the outlier there (but did he also do the most heavy lifting? Irving missed 29 games).

Before that though, heavy minutes was probably more popular (Kobe and Heat LeBron played 36-39). 

Duncan went from a consistent 38+ mpg till '03, then consistently topping out around 34 mpg in '05 and beyond.  Is that the Spurs getting smarter, Spurs getting better, Duncan getting older (28 in '05), or some combination of them?

For Dirk and KG we see big drops from when they won a ring to the years before.  Dirk was playing 36-39mpg in the 10 years before his ring, went from 37.5 mpg in '10 down to 34.3 in '11 when they won it.  KG was doing 38-40 mpg, 39.4 in '07 to 32.8 in '08.  Better teams (KG definitely), getting older (probably, Dirk was 32 in '11, KG was 31 in '08), teams' getting smarter, or some combination of them all?

All that to say, I like to see my star player top out at 33-34 mpg, but not really concerned with a 25 year old Tatum playing 36.

[Phantom255x]

Managed nicely today

Wish Tillman got some run. I wonder if he’s still dealing with the effects of the injury?

[Celtics2021]

Managed nicely today

Wish Tillman got some run. I wonder if he’s still dealing with the effects of the injury?

Doubt it.  Just no reason to play him against top competition when the team is playing the best they have all year and he’s had like three healthy practices.

[Kernewek]

Imagine thinking 36mpg is 'excessive' for a 25 year old.

Haha.  The most unbreakable record in sports?  Wilt Chamberlain's 45.8 minutes per game career average.

100%. And I get the impulse, no one wants to see guys out with injuries or walking around like Kenny Smith once they finish up, but it doesn't seem unreasonable to want to see professional players playing basketball.

[scaryjerry]

Tatum is actively campaigning to be in the mvp race which is why he’s playing longer unnecessary minutes when the game is in hand and he’s still padding his stats.
Love him and he’s generally a great player but this is clearly happening even though he’s not gonna win mvp and id have him about 6th in the race.

[Celtics2021]

Tatum is actively campaigning to be in the mvp race which is why he’s playing longer unnecessary minutes when the game is in hand and he’s still padding his stats.
Love him and he’s generally a great player but this is clearly happening even though he’s not gonna win mvp and id have him about 6th in the race.

You say some odd things sometimes, and this is definitely up there.  Tatum wants to be in the MVP race because he’s the best player on the best team and has the self-confidence to believe he should be in the discussion.  But he’s playing fewer minutes than last year and the same as two years ago and the same as three years ago when he was recovering from Covid all season and using an inhaler.  This is how many minutes he plays, because he’s a well-conditioned athlete who keeps up his condition in part by playing 36 minutes a night.  His minutes have nothing to do with his desire to be considered amongst the best in the game.

[Roy H.]

Tatum is actively campaigning to be in the mvp race which is why he’s playing longer unnecessary minutes when the game is in hand and he’s still padding his stats.
Love him and he’s generally a great player but this is clearly happening even though he’s not gonna win mvp and id have him about 6th in the race.

You say some odd things sometimes, and this is definitely up there.  Tatum wants to be in the MVP race because he’s the best player on the best team and has the self-confidence to believe he should be in the discussion.  But he’s playing fewer minutes than last year and the same as two years ago and the same as three years ago when he was recovering from Covid all season and using an inhaler.  This is how many minutes he plays, because he’s a well-conditioned athlete who keeps up his condition in part by playing 36 minutes a night.  His minutes have nothing to do with his desire to be considered amongst the best in the game.

Yeah, I don't understand the "padding his stats" argument.  If anything, Tatum has been more deferential to JB and KP lately, letting them get into the flow of the offense.  I don't see him out there hunting stats.

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

last thing we need is a team with no legs left in a game 7 4th quarter of the finals like we saw in 2010. and blowing a double digit lead thanks to that, doc's rotations and the refs letting LA win it at the FT line. 

[Kernewek]

last thing we need is a team with no legs left in a game 7 4th quarter of the finals like we saw in 2010. and blowing a double digit lead thanks to that, doc's rotations and the refs letting LA win it at the FT line. 

The big three was 32, 33, and 34 in 2010, I believe. The only guys that compare this year are Holiday & Horford.

[ozgod]

We're 7.5 games ahead of the Cavaliers in the East with 25 games to go. We also own the tiebreaker over Cleveland. Cleveland isn't catching us. We're also about 5 games ahead of the West 1 seed so there's a cushion.

Tatum played 43 minutes on Saturday Night. There really shouldn't be a reason any of our main guys are playing 38+ minutes a night going forward. Also need to make sure Porzingis and others are healthy and as fresh as possible for a long postseason run. I would start load managing a bit and reducing minutes. It's about April through hopefully June. Don't need to run these guys to the ground now.

You'll be pleased to know that other than Jrue and DW they are all playing less minutes than last season. And Jrue and DW are playing like 32-33 mpg. KP is playing less than 30mpg and the Jays around 33-35mpg. That 43 min game you refer to, Tatum played 8 min in the first Q, 12 in the 2nd, 12 in the 3rd and 9 in the 4th. The game was tight until the Cs pulled away in the 3rd so it was probably the flow of the game that kept him (and DW) in there. I don't think they can be rigid and say "after 35 min you're coming out no matter what the state of the game is". I think there will be an ebb and flow to it.

We have enough depth in our top 6 that there should be no reason to actively load manage anyone other than Al or KP, it's just happening by default due to our depth. The top six are playing 27-35mpg I think that's fine, some players like playing to stay in rhythm. Obviously if someone has a niggle or an injury we have the luxury of holding them out and I think Joe has done that through the season.

And imagine if they started to hold players out, we went on a losing streak and staggered into the playoffs out of rhythm I'm sure the knives would be out for Joe as well 

[SHAQATTACK]

I ll,be happier when we are up 14 .5 games 

[LilRip]

Tatum is actively campaigning to be in the mvp race which is why he’s playing longer unnecessary minutes when the game is in hand and he’s still padding his stats.
Love him and he’s generally a great player but this is clearly happening even though he’s not gonna win mvp and id have him about 6th in the race.

As someone who has Tatum on his fantasy team, he’s definitely not padding his stats.