Pop himself should play
^ this, tbh
We all remember what happened to Manu a few years back in a meaningless game. Rest the starters. If there's any rust, we'll shake it off in the first 12 of Game 1.
40 min of Ayres all the games till the plyoffs.
u want him to get injured? right?
Manu shouldn't play one second for sure... TP and Tim can play a little...
Its tricky,Manu and Duncan would have sat out 9 days while Parker would have played 33 minutes total 16 days.
Parker had like 18 days off or whatever of no real basketball activity. Then he sat a couple games the past month. Duncan has played a lot of games, but of course his minutes are managed well. During that 19 game win streak there were only 9 games he played 30+ minutes and he had a handful where he played 25 and under. Manu has played in 66 games and hasn't really done the b2b thing. I don't see any harm in playing them. A freak injury can happen the last game just like it can happen the first game of the playoffs. Duncan/Manu have 3 days off already, it gets risky sitting them for 5-6 more days and losing their rhythm.
I would like to see Marco get his rhythm back hopefully though. These last 2 games would be the perfect opportunity for that.
The week of rest and preparation is such a wonderful luxury. It'd be stupid to play our starters for more than 20 minutes on Monday.
I wouldn't play Tim, Tony, or Manu AT ALL until the playoffs. This is the time to give the bench some burn while the Big 3 get some rest.
I would play the big 3 the first half of the Rockets game then sit them until the playoffs.
This... this is all I think about regarding playing starters in a meaningless game at the end of the season. Bench every starter. Period.
wouldn't risk it, just get the bench well accustomed to hou in preparation for round 2, and bench anyone important till round 1 game 1. you have absolutely nothing to gain with the 1st seed throughout all locked up, and you have absolutely everything to lose by risking injury playing key players these last 2 games.
I don't know... I'd like to see the Big Three have some rhythm going into the playoffs. I wouldn't mind seeing them get some burn against the LOLakers, if nothing else, tbh.......... It's a tough call, though, as there are obvious risks. See: 2011.![]()
Can't control injuries, they're part of the game... heck, somebody could get hit in the eye by a bottle in a club... you try to make sensible decisions to keep away from rust while not pushing the engine to the max...
That's what's going to be in these last few games...
Meanwhile, Scottie Brooks continues to take the opposite approach and runs Durant out there for 40+ minutes yet again in a relatively meaningless game (and given how badly the Thunder match up with the Heat, one the Thunder should have lost to try to give Indy the best chance possible of coming out of the East). And they lose anyway. If Pop did that in a similar situation, this board would be hanging him.
It's different though, their stars are young...
Who cares about Scottie Bricks he never won a ring, Pop did that approach in 2011 and the last game of that season Grant Hill parachuted on Manu and guess what Spurs didnt win.
The Thunder haven't clinched the second seed yet.
When Duncan was Durant's age, Pop played him more minutes than Durant plays now.
They'd have to lose out to two lottery teams (Pelicans have dropped eight straight), though I guess Pop and Brooks are just cut from two different cloths. Only argument to average 40 minutes a game in April is to get conditioning up for the playoffs, when he'll see the bench even less than that.
My thought was more one where if there was ever a night to give Durant off, it would have been the Indy game (first game of a B2B no less) if for no other reason than to hurt the Heat's chances.
Let's see how much he plays in the next two. If he plays 40 minutes in those games, I'll agree with you.
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