Running Horford 34 minutes when we’ve got Theis on the bench makes zero sense. Horford should be given load management just like Duncan in the early/mid 2010s. Save the 34 minute games for close-out or elimination games in the playoffs.
Ime is getting through to the fellas, but consistently running 4-5 guys for over 35 minutes of a game, particularly your starting 35 year old PF, is not going to lead to the right results come playoff time. What eventually happens is what happened to JB tonight. Hopefully he’s ok.
So much disinformation here.
Horford is only averaging 28.5 minutes a game this season.
In January Horford averaged 26.5 MPG
In February Horford averaged 27.9 MPG
This made sense before we had Theis. Stevens probably made that trade specifically to get Horford’s numbers closer to 20-24 MPG so he can keep performing at a high level in a sustainable manner. Why Theis is not being used is utterly perplexing and if we keep running Horford this much, he’s far more likely to become injured and then Theis will playing anyway, but instead of having both, we’ll only have one…
Smart is only averaging 32.7 MPG this season.
In January Smart averaged 30MPG
In February Smart averaged 29.2 MPG
Timelord is averaging 29.8 MPG this season
In January Timelord averaged 32
MPG
In February Smart averaged 31 MPG
Tatum's minutes decreased to 34.3 MPG in January but he's a 23 year old superstar. That's what they play.
Brown minutes decreased to 33.9 MPG in January but he is a 25 year old superstar and that's what they play.
I never said he’s averaging them at over 35 MPG. I said he’s consistently running 3-4 of them over 35 minutes, which he is surely doing every 2-3 games. That should barely ever be happening in the regular season excluding OT games or positional standing/rivalry games. I love Ime, but we gotta use Grant, Derrick and Daniel 25-30 MPG so our core is not utterly exhausted come the playoffs, and more injury prone.
And minutes played had zero to do with Jaylen's sprain. He just didn't plant that well because of the speed he was playing at. It's not even closely related to how much he plays.
Perhaps if he’s more rested, he plants better? It’s a fact that people are more likely to make mistakes when they are tired. Obviously the more minutes one is playing basketball, all else equal, the more tired they are compared to playing fewer minutes.
I just worry Ime’s running the core too ragged for the regular season and we will fall flat come playoffs against equally talented people who are more well-rested. Ultimately, I think we can go all the way as the four seed so long as we are healthy. We’re only one game out from the four seed with 18 games left, with the Bucks and Cavs clearly both falling into a funk, so why the urgency? Play Theis tonight and if we lose as a result, we are still probably going to get that four seed if we keep running Theis the rest of the season except in a universe where we play Theis lots, Horford will be more effective and more likely to keep the minutes high come the playoffs. Just like the Suns need a healthy, rested Chris Paul come the playoffs, we need a healthy, rested Horford come the playoffs.
