Pitching on 3 Days Rest

[LongTimeFan]

I think an NBA team needs a coach to watch the long term health of the players. Last year we peaked too early trying to get early wins.

http://www.nba.com/lakers/stats/

Gasol is down and now Bynum is missing games. Do you notice the starters averaging about forty minutes a game already?

http://www.nba.com/celtics/stats/

Whereas the Celtics are sleeping in on game day and averaging closer to 30 minutes a game.

McHale made an interesting point about the Celtics this year. The season is like a marathon, and this team has the bodies to carry the stars. LA is already stressed.

[Triple M]

Last year we got off to a Usain Bolt-esque start and it took a lot out of us. After losing 7 of 9 after our torrid start we really didn't get back to sharp play until that west coast trip around the all-star break, and you can recall what happened after that. So yes I would agree the Season is a marathon and having the depth we have this year will go a long way in saving the legs of our starters.

[BeanTownBrawler]

They need to play Ray fewer minutes. If he can average 30 or less for the season we will be golden for the playoffs.

[sully00]

Ray is actually the last guy the team needs to limit mins per game with. Anyone that has ever been involved in competitive sports should understand how this works. There is obviously a physical limit to the human body, but you can't train the human body to one type of condition to then expect it to due something else at the most important point. You don't train to sprint and then run a marathon. You can't play Ray Allen 30 mpg all season long and expect him to play 40 and be effective in the postseason. The other problem with shutting guys down early in games is that no lead is safe in the NBA especially on the road. A sure way to cause and injury is to have one of these old farts shut it down early in the 3rd and sit on the bench too long and then panic at the 6 min mark in the 4th because the bench pissed away the lead.

What you want to do with guys as they age is eliminate the games played, sit these guys out whole games that is how extend their effectiveness. Last year Doc built Ray's mins up month to month and then would have tapered him down over the last two months in preparation for the post season, without KG and Leon and the failure of Marbury he was unable to taper Ray and Paul down in March.

If Doc's plays Ray 30 mpg now and still has to go to 38-40 in March to protect home court it isn't going to mean **** come the postseason.

You want them to build up their mins to about 36-37 a game and then start to taper them back down over the least two months and maybe have them sit out a half dozen throughout the year. You want to sit them or limit them if they have a boo boo especially with Paul more than Ray because he has a history of compensating because of one injury and getting another. I don't really want to see KG and Sheed play more than 72 regular season game if possible.

But what cost Boston in the postseason wasn't mins in the regular season, Doc actually did all right even with the injuries, what cost them was the mins played against CHI in the first round because they didn't have a bench and ended up playing an 8th game worth of mins because of the overtimes. Everyone young and old was shot by Game 6 against ORL.

[bdawg]

may I make another assumption that if the players has been playing 30 mins consistantly for the whole year, it is hard, REALLY hard to increase mins and play in the playoff atmosphere for consitatnt 40+ mins for a month?

just an assumption....

[LongTimeFan]

We're going to know by the All Star break. LA was at 40 minutes a game before Bynum went down.

We'll see if they come back from this. And our starters are still sleeping in on game days.

[ParticleMan]

last year we started out winning a lot but we played a lot of close games, which was stressful. it's sort of the way the lakers are starting out. doc said last year that our early record was fake, we weren't actually playing that well but we managed to eke out wins. this year i think it's different, really we played only 1 competitive game, and it was only due to exhaustion.

[DunkOnFace]

Limiting minutes as players age in general is a good idea. But these guys are human beans, not machines, so it's pretty case sensitive when it comes to who needs what type of rest. MPG doesn't matter as much to me as making sure that each player is getting the rest when they need it, however much that may. Doc, the staff and the players should always be communicating as to just what that entails, although it might not always show in the minutes guys are getting.

With this type of bench, there shouldn't be a need to put too much wear on any of the starters during the season. And if it comes down to it, I'd rather have a 2 or 3 seed and fresh legs than a 1 seed with half the team draggin ass.

[sully00]

We're going to know by the All Star break. LA was at 40 minutes a game before Bynum went down.

We'll see if they come back from this. And our starters are still sleeping in on game days.

Not to disappoint you but almost every team in the league talked to the same guy and is doing something similar, if they haven't done away with shoot around they are doing it at noon instead of 9-10 am.

What is going to matter is what time they go to bed. For KG and Ray not an issue, Sheed, Quis, and Big Baby a concern, the Captain somewhere in the middle.

I wonder if Perk tears it up in the clubs? Seems like a family man.

[Celtic Esquire]

I was concerned about Ray playing too many minutes this early in the season, but Doc (or maybe it was DA?) made the point that Ray's minutes aren't necessarily a concern because his game isn't dependent on him taking a pounding (Pierce) or being physical with other players (KG, Perkins).