10-Man Rotation? Pat Riley was always famous for trimming his rotations down to eight men for the playoffs. During the season, he'd dig deeper into his roster, but once the games started counting, he'd divvy up the available minutes among his starters and his three best reserves. I'm very curious to see what Coach DiLeo does with his own substitution patterns in the first round. After the jump we'll take a look at how he handed out minutes in the more important games during the regular season. Since Elton Brand's injury, the Sixers have used, for the most part, a 10-man rotation:
Six players average better than 20 minutes, and ideally in this series, 5 would average over 30: Iguodala, Miller, Thad, Dalembert and Lou. Fouls are going to dictate how much time Dalembert plays, he averaged 24.8 minutes per in the regular season. In their biggest wins of the season (@ LAL, @ Portland, vs. San Antonio), they really ran with an 8-man rotation of the five starters plus Lou Williams, Reggie Evans and Marreese Speights. They used other players, but not for more than 10 minutes. If I had to guess, I'd say DiLeo is planning to trim his rotations further in this first round, but I doubt he'll have that luxury. Going in, you know Theo is going to have to play heavy minutes as Dalembert's backup/foul replacement. He'll probably go to Reggie Evans more often than he should. Personally, I think Evans' only value in this series are the six fouls he has to commit on Dwight Howard, and that should only take about six minutes of game action. The big question mark for me is how much DiLeo will call upon Marreese Speights. I mentioned earlier that I like Speights at PF if Orlando goes with their big lineup. But otherwise, I just don't know if you can trot him out there when Rashard Lewis is the opposing PF. He does have those six fouls to give, so I suppose you could rotate him in at the five. I think he's another candidate to have his minutes cut. Here's my best guess at the minute distribution for game 1:
Anyone think DiLeo will try to cut the rotations further? Maybe get down to the traditional 8-man rotation for the playoffs? Latest Posts• Game One Keys • First Round Prediction • Perspective On The Magic • Thoughts From Day 1 Of The Playoffs • 10-Man Rotation? • Run, Run, Run • Die By It • First Round Matchups: The Centers • First Round Matchups: The Power Forwards • First Round Matchups: The Small Forwards • Clean Slate • Orlando Magic Daily Weighs In On The SerSearchBlogs in The NetworkSixers BlogsPassion and Pride Sixers 4 Guidos Liberty Ballers Recliner GM PhillyArena Heard In The Cheap Seats | ||||||||||||||||
It will probably never happen but with Rashard Lewis on the other end I really don't see the point of putting Evans on the floor. Marshall/Lewis will be far more interesting, especially since Marshall can do more offensively where we're likely to struggle. Even if he doesn't score he'll stretch the defense, which is never a bad thing.
Yeah, I've grown tired of asking for it. I think if we do see Donyell, it'll only be in a desperation situation, down by 10 with 6 minutes to go or something.
If he insists on playing Reg, then just give half of his 12 minutes to Donyell. His value, even taking into account misses on wide open looks, is highly under
understated.
You have 10 too many minutes.
48 X 5 = 240. You have 250 minutes allotted.
I'll go with...
* Iguodala: 43
* Miller: 40
* Thad: 39
* Lou: 23
* Dalembert: 25
* Willie: 25
* Ratliff: 15
* Evans: 13
* Speights: 9
* Ivey: 8
I wouldn't bet a penny on it though, because I don't have a damn clue.
You have 10 too many minutes.
48 X 5 = 240. You have 250 minutes allotted.
I was banking on double OT. :)
If it can get that far, I'd like our chances. We have better athletes, plain and simple.
Of our 5 key players, I would group them as:
All-Star: Iggy (even though he's never officially been one he is in my book)
Young and talented: Thad, Lou, Sammy
Veteran Presence: Miller
We pretty much know what we're getting from Miller. I think for us to make a serious run in this playoffs, we need two of the other four to step it up big time (i.e. play out of their minds, take their game to a new level). Whether it's Iggy becoming a legitimate superstar or one of the other three playing like an All-Star, I think if we could get two such "leaps" we could make things interesting.