Sully needs 30+ minutes every game

[GreenWarrior]

sully needs to grow a couple inches...and stop being a center.

he was covered by hawes tonight, c'mon let's be real here.

Yah right, he was covered by Hawes? We're you watching the same game? It seemed like he took every rebound, and scored 24 points on a guy maybe 5 inches taller than him.
That hook shot he had in the middle of the paint got Hawes shook.

hawes is soft.

not saying I don't like sully, I do. I would just like to see him at PF against PF's. but right now I see him against the real good teams as being mediocre. particularly against teams with height and length. 

[DesertDweller]

Sully is a beast but first things first. let that finger fixed 100% and then give him all the minutes he can handle!!!
this year is shot as far as advancing but needs to be utilized for Rondo to mesh with the players most likely to be the core next year like Olynyk, Pressey, Johnson, Bradley, and of course, Sully.
what players need to dealt with like Green, Faverani, Humphries and Wallace.
yes, I said Green, because I don't think he'll be part of this team much longer!!!

[NikoZea]

sully needs to grow a couple inches...and stop being a center.

he was covered by hawes tonight, c'mon let's be real here.

Yah right, he was covered by Hawes? We're you watching the same game? It seemed like he took every rebound, and scored 24 points on a guy maybe 5 inches taller than him.
That hook shot he had in the middle of the paint got Hawes shook.

Do you watch the games? He has a lot of good games against good teams. He just doesn't get consistent 30-34 minutes a game to who

hawes is soft.

not saying I don't like sully, I do. I would just like to see him at PF against PF's. but right now I see him against the real good teams as being mediocre. particularly against teams with height and length.

He has good games against bad teams, he just doesn't get consistent minutes. The way he plays he doesn't need length or hops to rebound or score. Only his bulk and no doubt improving strength.

[NikoZea]

sully needs to grow a couple inches...and stop being a center.

he was covered by hawes tonight, c'mon let's be real here.

Yah right, he was covered by Hawes? We're you watching the same game? It seemed like he took every rebound, and scored 24 points on a guy maybe 5 inches taller than him.
That hook shot he had in the middle of the paint got Hawes shook.

hawes is soft.

not saying I don't like sully, I do. I would just like to see him at PF against PF's. but right now I see him against the real good teams as being mediocre. particularly against teams with height and length.

[Tr1boy]

Op where u been. He is a starter getting 20 plus pts a game.

Its just againt certain lesser matchupz he can dominate

[NikoZea]

Op where u been. He is a starter getting 20 plus pts a game.

Its just againt certain lesser matchupz he can dominate

My point is he needs 30+ a game. And Robin Lopez and LMA aren't exactly lesser (14/10). Valanciunas and Amir Johnson aren't(25/20). Andrew Bogut and David Lee aren't (21/11). Gortat, Emeka and Kevin Seraphin aren't (22/11). And last time I checked, Love and Pekovic aren't either (24/11).

I brought this up because Sully gets major production when he gets his minutes. It also helps his development to get as much experience in a year where grooming our young players should be our biggest concern.

He just needs more than 30 every night, regardless of what Stevens think is the best matchup.

[Chris]

I brought this up because Sully gets major production when he gets his minutes. It also helps his development to get as much experience in a year where grooming our young players should be our biggest concern.

I would argue that he gets his minutes when he gives major production.  Right now Sully is still pretty inconsistent.  Some of it is because of injuries, sometimes matchups, I think he has had tired legs at times, a number of times he has been in foul trouble, and some of it is just being young.  But there have been plenty of times when he simply wasn't playing that well, and Stevens has gone with more minutes to players who were playing well. 

Once Sully becomes consistent enough to earn 30 minutes every night, he is going to get them. 

I honestly also think that he is not yet in the type of shape to be able to play 30+ minutes at a high level every night.  I don't think he will be able to until he transforms his body a bit. 

[Boris Badenov]

I brought this up because Sully gets major production when he gets his minutes. It also helps his development to get as much experience in a year where grooming our young players should be our biggest concern.

I would argue that he gets his minutes when he gives major production.  Right now Sully is still pretty inconsistent.  Some of it is because of injuries, sometimes matchups, I think he has had tired legs at times, a number of times he has been in foul trouble, and some of it is just being young.  But there have been plenty of times when he simply wasn't playing that well, and Stevens has gone with more minutes to players who were playing well. 
 

Chris, I think the data might support your view.

First, let's start with the fact that Sully's per-36 production is  higher when he plays >30 minutes. These are per-36 points and rebounds, and shooting percentage:

>30  19/11 on 47%
<30  14/10 on 36%

Here's where it gets interesting. Coming off the bench Sully's numbers are higher overall (again I'm showing per-36 points and rebs):

Starter 29mpg, 16/10 on 41%
Bench  21mpg  20/10 on 47%

So, it's clearly not as simple as "start him and play him a lot of minutes, and he's productive." It's more subtle, and I think you can see Stevens' role in bumping his minutes when he's playing well, and cutting them when he's not playing well.

You can see this by looking at situations where Sully starts but Stevens cuts his minutes, and situations where Sully comes off the bench but ends up playing more minutes. I think in both case these are situations where it's likely to be the coach's call based on how Sully is playing, rather than a preset role.

For instance, Sully has two games this year where he came off the bench and played 30+ minutes. His per-36 figures in those two games are 25/11 on 55% shooting.

In contrast, when Sully starts and plays <20 minutes, meaning that Stevens has elected to pull him after giving him the starting nod, Sully's per-36 numbers are 15/10 on 39% shooting.

As Chris says, I think Sully still has ups and downs. But it looks like Stevens is doing a good job of giving him lots of minutes when he's being productive. I think the numbers fit that story better than a simpler one where his production just goes up when he gets a bigger preset role.