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Rotation patterns if Lucas is going to be our guy

joaqhawk

Sophomore
Gold Member
Sep 11, 2007
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So I'm one of the guys that was frustrated with the lack of PT Mickelson got. None of that matters though, as I am not Coach Self and do not choose the kids' playing time. While I may get frustrated at times, I'd also never want to trade Self for anyone. So I have come to grips that the lineup we've seen as of late is what we will probably be rolling with the rest of the season, and I'm cool with supporting it.

Assuming that the recent PT trend continues and Lucas is going to be our starting 5 man and get 20-25 mpg I think there are a couple of things that would make our rotation slightly more efficient.

1) Play Mason and Lucas the least amount of time together as possible (maybe 15 mpg together instead of 20). Obviously their time on the court will overlap quite a bit as they are both starters, I'm only suggesting that coach make a concerted effort to try and minimize it when possible. Having Lucas' defender clog the lane really takes away from Mason's offensive game (not to mention everyone else's). If Greene is in the game his defender can't leave his side so it frees up the slightest bit of more room inside the 3pt line for the team to operate.

So, anytime Lucas is on the bench, try and have Mason out there, if Lucas comes in that might be a good time to give Mason his quick 3 minute breather for the half. It may mean that they are on the court 15 mpg together rather than 20, but those 5 min would be a more efficient usage of substitution patterns. It's small but could help.

2) Ellis is arguably our best player, but our worst defensive big in the paint (he is one of our better defensive bigs when defending outside of the paint on the perimeter). I love the guy and want him on the floor as much as he can handle, but when we play teams that have a traditional lineup and a couple of big bodies it almost forces us to have Mick (who coach refuses to play) or Lucas out there if Ellis is too. Diallo has length but gets pushed around too easy.

So # 2, anytime Ellis is not on the floor, Lucas should be getting rest as well. A combo of Bragg/Diallo/Traylor (I wish I could include Mick) provide just as good of a defensive presence as Ellis and Lucas playing together. However, without Ellis' 3 pt threat, Lucas' lack of offense creates an even bigger conundrum when coupled with one of the other 3 bigs. So if Ellis isn't in the game, it would be a good time for Lucas to be getting a rest as well.

That's it. Just 2 simple things I'd like to see. Lucas's rests overlapping with Ellis', and to make an attempt to formulate a substitution pattern so Mason and Lucas' bench time each game overlap with each other as little as possible.
 
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