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

[Scraptor]

Anyone who has been expecting Lowry to get lowered minutes is just dreaming.

But things are actually going in reverse!

Lowry's minutes have gone up
DeMar's minutes have gone up
Jonas's usage% has gone down (to be fair his minutes are up)

Maybe this is opposite season. We need to ask for the opposite of what we want.

[Rudy Bargnani]

I don't mind lowrys minutes per game being high if they'd thrown him some more DNP--rest games.

Obviously this is a challenge with cojo struggling and delon being hurt.

Hopefully Lowry can get a game off soon.

[DanH]

Through November 23rd last year, Lowry averaged 35 MPG. From Nov 23rd on, he averaged 37 MPG, 2 more than he did at the start of the year. If that pattern holds, Lowry is on pace to average over 40 MPG this season.

Yay!

[Barolt]

I wrote about this on the front page last week. I know that everyone thinks it's too early to start worrying, but why wait until we have an actual problem, like Lowry hurt or unable to shoot again, before we start considering implications?

[planetmars]

I don't mind lowrys minutes per game being high if they'd thrown him some more DNP--rest games.

Obviously this is a challenge with cojo struggling and delon being hurt.

Hopefully Lowry can get a game off soon.

I actually prefer less DNP's but just less minutes. Lowry sucks after long rest days. Either way, he's probably going to continue to be in the high 30's and will only get rest days when he bangs something up like he always ends up doing whether Wright is back or not.

[Jangles]

If it ain't broke, why fix it!?

-Casey, probably

[slaw]

Well, Joseph is off ~7 MPG cause he has been so terrible he can't stay on the floor. When he wakes up it will reduce the need to throw Lowry out there for some of those minutes. Derozan is up 1MPG through 14 games. So, yes, him minutes are "up" but they'd also be up if he played 46 more seconds. Not sure with DD it's material, plus, he's been on fire, so he's been left out there a lot, which makes sense.

[KeonClark]

So many teams do a 10 man rotation. Our 10th man is really good. He gets a lot of dnps, but his apperances every game would shave minutes for both KL and DD. Like it doesn't seem like rocket science here

[Axel]

So many teams do a 10 man rotation. Our 10th man is really good. He gets a lot of dnps, but his apperances every game would shave minutes for both KL and DD. Like it doesn't seem like rocket science here

Powell needs to get more minutes even with Carroll looking much better the last two games. CoJo and Lowry together is looking like less and less of an option to me.

Funny that it was nearly a year ago exactly that I started this thread and the same topic is starting to creep back in. Two years ago Lowry had a complete flameout. Last year had the historic shooting slump. Who knows what's in store for this April.

[DanH]

So many teams do a 10 man rotation. Our 10th man is really good. He gets a lot of dnps, but his apperances every game would shave minutes for both KL and DD. Like it doesn't seem like rocket science here

What was really encouraging in the most recent game was how long Casey left the bench units in. Longer bench stretches means fewer minutes for DD and KL and more chances to get Norm into the lineup. Letting JV run out with the bench for short stretches when one of DD or KL are sitting can really extend how long we can go without both guards in the game.

As much as I've railed against it, I wouldn't be opposed to a no-DD-no-KL bench unit. The key would be to run JV out as the starter with the unit and run with a 4-out lineup - Pat or Carroll at the 4; 2 of Carroll, Ross and Powell on the wings and Joseph at point. If you can make a lineup like that work, you have THREE bench units that work, and you can rest any of your big three at various points of the game.

[S.R.]

They are riding Lowry like a rented mule, which I take to mean they have no plans to re-sign him next summer.

j/k

maybe

[Lupe]

Is managing minutes what will get Lowry to finally have a good performance in the playoffs? Cause he actually had a drop in minutes from 13-14 to 14-15 and his playoff performance in the former was way better.

[Axel]

Is managing minutes what will get Lowry to finally have a good performance in the playoffs? Cause he actually had a drop in minutes from 13-14 to 14-15 and his playoff performance in the former was way better.

Possibly. There are 14 pages of this thread and I don't think that the single statement you made entirely sums up the point of concerns.

Health, development, peak performance - all different aspects of the concerns that could impact April production.

[DanH]

Is managing minutes what will get Lowry to finally have a good performance in the playoffs? Cause he actually had a drop in minutes from 13-14 to 14-15 and his playoff performance in the former was way better.

It's a matter of risk. He got to the playoffs healthy in 13-14. Not so in the past two years (though better last year than the year before). Playing more is a risk factor for health. He obviously has to play a bunch - but he certainly doesn't need to play more than anyone else in the entire league.

[Lupe]

It's a matter of risk. He got to the playoffs healthy in 13-14. Not so in the past two years (though better last year than the year before). Playing more is a risk factor for health. He obviously has to play a bunch - but he certainly doesn't need to play more than anyone else in the entire league.

Just seems like such a negligible reason. I'd like his minutes to go down but only because I want to see Powell and Wright (when he comes back) play more in the regular season. I don't think dropping a couple minutes is going to have any impact on his health, injuries are generally freak accidents particularly the ones that Lowry's had which weren't wear and tear but came from isolated incidents (like the elbow last year when he slammed it hard after a fall).