Managing Minutes - short term vs long term or short sightedness vs vision?

[JimiCliff]

One thing to consider too is that its going to be hard to lower our top players minutes when Masai uses the last 5 spots on developmental players. Especially when injuries hit.

They went into detail about it in the last raptors republic podcast.

Psst...Dwane...the bold is a clue for you...

[Chr1s1anL]

Psst...Dwane...the bold is a clue for you...

Head coaches don't handle development. They have too much stuff to do on a day to day basis. That's why you have assistances. If you have a problem with development you should look at Stackhouse and Magloire.

[Rudy Bargnani]

Good post and good discussion. I think minutes per game is important for Lowry but total minutes are perhaps more important. For example resting Lowry tomorrow vs philly would make me a lot more comfortable with him playing 35 mins per game when he dresses. We don't tend to see a lot healthy scratches on the raps though. As others have posted this may be due to 2 starters being out with injuries.

That said caseys quote in the original post is spot on--monitoring lowrys minutes is important as the season progresses.

[Toilet Joe]

It's still early in the season. Most teams are still in top shape, fighting (hoping) to get themselves a playoff spot and we still need Lowry playing plenty of minutes. But if the game is a blow-out, then I see no reason for our key players to not be resting. I can see Lowry having reduced minutes mid-season, at least I hope he does.

[3inthekeon]

Simply looking at minutes played without considering pace gives a skewed view. Raptors are a very slow paced team, 27th of 30.

[Chr1s1anL]

Simply looking at minutes played without considering pace gives a skewed view. Raptors are a very slow paced team, 27th of 30.

Very good point. That's hasn't been brought up yet.

[planetmars]

Lowry isn't your traditional PG that looks for a pass first.. he drives hard to the rim and plays tough on defense. His weight loss will help, but if he's not healthy by the time the playoffs role around then the Raptors have no chance at all to get to the 2nd round. He's vital to the team's success.. it's just simple.

So if he plays hard now and gets injured we are screwed.

I'd prefer to have him have rest especially against easier teams (and there are plenty in this league).

So definitely don't agree with option 1. I like the two guard line up with CoJo.. so wouldn't necessarily cut back on that, but I definitely think Wright should get some burn. He needs some experience in the NBA (D League doesn't count), and now is the time to get it when the season is early and teams are still trying to figure sh!t out.. and it's not like they will definitely lose if Wright plays even 5-7 mpg. He was drafted as a senior for a reason.

I just don't understand why Wright has seen only 2.5mpg in 4 games. It's not like Wright is so raw that he can't be trusted. He's 23 fricken years old! Just so frustrating.

[Barolt]

I really feel like if we aren't going to play Wright, we should've drafted someone younger. If you're just going to put them in the D-League, might as well draft a project player instead of a guy who's going to be pushing 25 before he gets regular run.

[3inthekeon]

The 2 PG lineup with Cujo allows Lowry to hang around the perimeter when Cujo does the ball handling. In fact Lowry also gets a break on O with DD who also does a lot of ball handling. And yeah, it's on D where Lowry can't pick his spots as to when to expend energy.

One other consideration - Raps style has a lot of play stoppages. Raptors take more FT's than almost any other team. They also give up slightly more than average FT's to opponents. All of these are breaks in play.

So to simply compare minutes to someone like John Wall, who is constantly the primary ball handler on a team with a fast pace, that doesn't foul much or get fouled much is simplistic.

[raptors999]

The 2 PG lineup with Cujo allows Lowry to hang around the perimeter when Cujo does the ball handling. In fact Lowry also gets a break on O with DD who also does a lot of ball handling. And yeah, it's on D where Lowry can't pick his spots as to when to expend energy.

One other consideration - Raps style has a lot of play stoppages. Raptors take more FT's than almost any other team. They also give up slightly more than average FT's to opponents. All of these are breaks in play.

So to simply compare minutes to someone like John Wall, who is constantly the primary ball handler on a team with a fast pace, that doesn't foul much or get fouled much is simplistic.

They also start slow and have scores ng droughts. Lowry minutes aren't as much of an email issue as have heavily the Raptors rely on him to bail out the team. Its alot like Brown and Lebron in Cleveland

[CB4Champ]

Axel..WOW!!!

[raptors999]

I really feel like if we aren't going to play Wright, we should've drafted someone younger. If you're just going to put them in the D-League, might as well draft a project player instead of a guy who's going to be pushing 25 before he gets regular run.

Bobby Portis

[Axel]

One other consideration - Raps style has a lot of play stoppages. Raptors take more FT's than almost any other team. They also give up slightly more than average FT's to opponents. All of these are breaks in play.

The flip side to this, if there are a lot of stoppages, then sitting Lowry 2 mins of game time can get him 5-7 mins of real time rest.

I don't agree that Lowry gets to really rest in the 2 PG lineup. CoJo is doing a lot of the driving but Lowry is still moving to get open and our primary scoring option. Plus, he is now guarding a bigger player; which would be more physically demanding.

[Axel]

Head coaches don't handle development. They have too much stuff to do on a day to day basis. That's why you have assistances. If you have a problem with development you should look at Stackhouse and Magloire.

Head Coaches handle who gets on the court during games. Playing time is huge for development. That's on Casey.

[Axel]

One thing to consider too is that its going to be hard to lower our top players minutes when Masai uses the last 5 spots on developmental players. Especially when injuries hit. .

Bruno is really the only one that fits that though.

Bebe can play; proven, no more debate.

Wright can play; unproven but senior PG was NBA ready as a prospect.

Bennett should be able to find a role in this league.

Unless you are counting James Johnson, not sure who makes up these 5 developmental spots?