Minutes allocation for stretch run

[Laimbeer]

Not talking about right off the bat, but by the end of the season after the new guys have had a chance to acclimate a little. Let's also assume Motie is healthy.

[whitehops]

first thing you notice by looking at our roster is that we could see a ton of different lineups. Johnson, Morris and Harris can play two positions almost interchangeably which helps a lot.

it's anyone's guess what the depth chart will look like but my guess is something like this:

- Jackson will play 30+ minutes at point, blake will back him up a bit, maybe we see johnson run point at times?
- KCP plays 30+ minutes at SG, johnson is his primary backup and thornton is there for depth behind them in case of foul trouble/matchup-related lineups (ie. we need shooting)

i don't think there's anything too earth-shattering at guard. the forward spots are a wildcard.
it'll be interesting to see who starts at SF and PF between morris and harris. either way they'll backup both forward spots. where motiejunas fits in the PF rotation is hazy and i expect tolliver to be last in line.

at center it'll be interesting to see if dre gets a few less minutes or if SVG wants D-Mo to play center at all. he played center for the rockets but that's because they often went super-small with ariza at power forward.


all i know is that now there is a ton of competition which allows SVG to play whoever he thinks is best and gives us a ton of flexibility with matchups which is key in the playoffs.


P.S. i expect dinwiddie and meeks to be the regular inactives with hilliard/thornton fighting for the last active spot.

[Spider156]

Jackson/Blake/Dinwiddie
KCP/Thornton/Meeks
Morris/Johnson
Harris/Motiejunas/Tolliver
Drummond/Baynes

That's all of our players. I'd imagine Johnson would start next season but not now. I think Stan will start Tolliver for now and Harris will come off the bench with Blake Thornton Johnson and Baynes. I don't think DMO plays tomorrow. If he plays then maybe Blake wouldn't play. Otherwise I'm not sure how you can play 11 people. You can switch things up during back to backs and matchups but it's tough to play 11 people every game. It's nice in case of foul trouble and injuries. I'm excited to watch tomorrow's game.

[DBC10]

RJ will get the bulk of the minutes now with KCP trailing behind him in MPG I suppose. In respect to whitehops, I think Thornton will be the first SG off the bench for KCP. I envision Thornton in the Meeks role where he just floats along and comes off screens to pop a 3 without really playing defense. Plus, he has some added ability to play a bit of combo guard too.

I think the most affected during this is SJ. We have Harris and Marcus who are both positionless forwards that'll either rotate for one another or actually play together in conjunction with either Dre or Montie. I could maybe see Marcus being benched as time goes since he's a good defender, but too much of a "Let me go HAM on these bench fodders" scoring mentality. I think that's his real role.

I'm more interested in how Montie's minutes will be used up. I think he's too good to come off the bench a lot of times when he's actually healthy. He led the Rockets a lot of wins and close ones when Dwight was out and he had to start.

[DetroitPistons]

Jackson should be up to 34ish mpg. He should've been all season but especially now that Blake is back to being our backup, unless Thornton gets backup PG duties which would be ideal imo. KCP, Harris, and Drummond should also be getting 34ish mpg. I would like it to breakdown like this, assuming everyone is healthy.

Jackson (34)/Thornton (14)
Caldwell-Pope (34)/ Johnson (14)
Johnson (16) /Morris (32)
Harris (34)/Motiejunas (14)
Drummond (34)/Baynes (14)

Pretty simple but obviously with the ridiculous versatility we have we can put all kinds of different lineups out there. That is a pretty nasty 9 man rotation though. I hope SVG goes with something like that. Blake and Tolliver will be excellent 3rd string options.

[Scout Taron]

I think SVG's comments will illuminate some of it. There are so many ways that SVG could go about it that it's tough to tell. Our best five players right now are probably:

Jackson, KCP, Harris, Motiejunas, Drummond

But do we want Harris playing a ton of minutes at the 3? I imagined him at the 4 spot.

One of Johnson, Motiejunas and Morris is gonna be reaaaallly marginalized. Just not enough minutes to go around. I guess I could see us start playing our starting forwards less than 30 minutes.

[tmorgan]

I imagine Motie is going to get a lot of touches on offense in the second unit, along with Johnson. There are going to be some defensive difficulties if Motiejunas and Baynes are out there together, though, as that's a serious lack of footspeed on D.

It's going to be very interesting to see how this comes together. It's also going to be a big challenge for coach SVG, as we've dealt our pick and definitely want to win games immediately. Exciting, though!

The offensive firepower of this team just went way, way up. SVG is a defense first coach -- don't forget that. REALLY interesting.

[Pharaoh]

Everyone but RJ should see less minutes now we've got depth.

Eventually (so next season):

Dre 33, Baynes 15
Harris 23, DMo 25
Mook 28, Harris 10, SJ 10
KCP 33, SJ 15
RJ 33 & ? 15

Quality 9-man rotation

[Blkbrd671]

I think SVG's comments will illuminate some of it. There are so many ways that SVG could go about it that it's tough to tell. Our best five players right now are probably:

Jackson, KCP, Harris, Motiejunas, Drummond

But do we want Harris playing a ton of minutes at the 3? I imagined him at the 4 spot.

One of Johnson, Motiejunas and Morris is gonna be reaaaallly marginalized. Just not enough minutes to go around. I guess I could see us start playing our starting forwards less than 30 minutes.

i think if you look at it, since day 1 of the season, we had intended on having meeks in the rotation. When he got hurt, SVG adjusted the rotations and even shortened it causing KCP, Mook, and even RJ to play extensive minutes. With the acquisition of thorton, he fills that role, Mont takes baynes minutes and our forwards and guards mpg drop down to more managble minutes. We can't continue to play kcp and mook the minutes we do and expect them to be ready to go in the playoffs. Those mpg add up , especially in the playoffs.

I do think SJ is going to benefit a ton from this, he's pretty much been our anchor int he 2nd unit , and with Harris and mont, he's going to have less pressure on him and more talent around him. Hilliard is going to have to find a way to force his way on the court.

[ComboGuardCity]

In the past 48 hours, we acquired 2 very valuable assets. However, the shape of our team is now very murky. How do you see our "playoff" lineup once the dust settles? Further, looking past this season, how do you guys see our future lineup?

NOW:

RJ 32/Blake 10/SJ 6
KCP 32/Thorton16
Morris 32/SJ 16
Harris 32/DMO 16
Drummond 32/Baynes 16

MINUTE BREAKDOWN:
1. RJ:32
2. KCP: 32
3. Morris: 32
4. Harris: 32
5. Drummond: 32
6. SJ: 22
7. DMO: 16
8. Baynes: 16
9. Thorton: 16
10. Blake: 10





Next Year:
RJ 32/Augustin 16
KCP 32/Johnson 16
Johnson 16/Morris 25/Harris 7
Harris 25/DMO 23
Drummond 32/Baynes 10/DMO 6


MINUTE BREAKDOWN
1. RJ: 32
2. KCP: 32
3. Johnson: 32
4. Harris: 32
5. Drummond: 32
6. DMO: 29
7. Morris: 25
8. Augustin 16
9. Baynes 10


Marcus is going to have to accept less minutes in the future. It'll be interesting to see how he responds.

Already made a similar thread. Everyone will get their minutes.

[Liqourish]

R. Jackson 32/S. Johnson 8/S. Blake 8
K. Caldwell-Pope 32/M. Thornton 16
S. Johnson 20/M. Morris 28
T. Harris 30/D. Motiejunas 18
A. Drummond 30/A. Baynes 14/D. Motiejunas 4

KCP 34
Jackson 32
Drummond 30
Harris 30
Stanley 28
------------------
Morris 28
Motiejunas 22
Thornton 16
Baynes 14
Blake 8

[need4detroit]

Steve Blake is the weakest link...

[Todd3]

My guess:

RJ 33m/Blake 15m
KCP 28m/Thorton 20m
Morris 24m/Stanley 24m
Harris 30m/Motiejunas 12m/Morris 6m
Drummond 32m/Motiejunas 16m

I think Baynes could end up the odd man. We're going to need to get a good evaluation of Motiejunas at both spots to determine his worth in FA, and that will be impossible with Baynes in the rotation.

[zeebneeb]

My guess:

RJ 33m/Blake 15m
KCP 28m/Thorton 20m
Morris 24m/Stanley 24m
Harris 30m/Motiejunas 12m/Morris 6m
Drummond 32m/Motiejunas 16m

I think Baynes could end up the odd man. We're going to need to get a good evaluation of Motiejunas at both spots to determine his worth in FA, and that will be impossible with Baynes in the rotation.

Dude, cmon already.

Pope plays the most minuets on the team and is 3rd in the league in minuets played and now he is going to be the starter getting the fewest minuets?

Really?

[mercury]

I can't visualize a set rotation.... this is going to be about matchups... Baynes vs bigger 5s etc.
I don't see DMO playing much Center initially until SVG is comfortable having him go up against the big boys.
I think it would be wise to have the new players settle in a one position for now until they are ready to take on extra responsibilities.
So I like Pharaoh's idea of looking at next years breakdown.... by then someone will be traded for a PG which changes everything.

[joedumars1]

My guess:

RJ 33m/Blake 15m
KCP 28m/Thorton 20m
Morris 24m/Stanley 24m
Harris 30m/Motiejunas 12m/Morris 6m
Drummond 32m/Motiejunas 16m

I think Baynes could end up the odd man. We're going to need to get a good evaluation of Motiejunas at both spots to determine his worth in FA, and that will be impossible with Baynes in the rotation.

Dude, cmon already.

Pope plays the most minuets on the team and is 3rd in the league in minuets played and now he is going to be the starter getting the fewest minuets?

Really?

I actually don't think Thornton is going to play much. 12-15mpg maybe

[Todd3]

My guess:

RJ 33m/Blake 15m
KCP 28m/Thorton 20m
Morris 24m/Stanley 24m
Harris 30m/Motiejunas 12m/Morris 6m
Drummond 32m/Motiejunas 16m

I think Baynes could end up the odd man. We're going to need to get a good evaluation of Motiejunas at both spots to determine his worth in FA, and that will be impossible with Baynes in the rotation.

Dude, cmon already.

Pope plays the most minuets on the team and is 3rd in the league in minuets played and now he is going to be the starter getting the fewest minuets?

Really?

??? omg why are people here so sensitive when it comes to KCP lol?

You're answering your own question. For starters, playing that many minutes is not a good thing for any player. The whole advantage to adding depth is to reduce the workload of your starters, so they can be more effective in the minutes they do play and be fresher on b2b's - a major problem of this team. In order to take advantage of this new depth, these new guys are going to have to play, and there are only so many minutes/positions to go around.

KCP was playing that many minutes before out of necessity, not because it was ideal. Now that we have more talent/depth, other guys' minutes are going to have to decrease to accommodate them. Last year KCP avg about 33-34 mpg to start the season, and then reduced it to 31 mpg when Meeks (who avg 25 mpg) was added to the rotation. The only way KCP got 31 and Meeks 25 when there's only 48 min total at their position was because KCP played some SF. An option we don't have now with Morris/Johnson taking all the minutes there. So if Meeks got 25 last year and Thorton figures to be used in the same role, you have to figure he is probably going to get about 20 mpg. Which leaves 28 left at SG for KCP, but that is only 3 less mpg than he played last year with Meeks, so I don't know what you are getting so upset about.

I think ~30 mpg is the right amount of minutes for him with the way he plays. That way he can go all in 110% on defense, but still have energy left to put in his jumpshot on offense. As opposed to just wearing himself completely on defense for 37 mpg and having no energy to make his 3s. That's why he is better from midrange. He doesn't have enough lift from 3pt range because he's worn from the excessive minutes and energy expended on the other end. Using Thorton for the other ~20 mpg will likely be necessary for spacing anyways. Adding shooters to the rotation won't make much difference if they are only playing 10 mpg. KCP and Morris' minutes need to be decreased for their sake, and the shooters we've added need to play enough to make a difference for the teams' sake. In the end the goal is doing what is best for the team to win, not what allows your favorite player to play as much as possible.

[Pharaoh]

With quality depth starters shouldn't average more than 33 minutes - if you've got quality depth those guys have earned more than 15 minutes per

With SJ being the main back up at SG & SF next season I'll break it down again:

Dre 30 - fresh legs
Baynes 15-18
DMo gets spot minutes

Harris 30
DMo 18
Mook gets spot minutes

Mook 32
SJ 16
Harris or KCP can slot in depending on match ups

KCP 34 - Best defender
SJ 14 - gets SJ up to 30!

RJ 33
? 15

We essentially have 6 starters playing approx 30 minutes per, which keeps them all fresh

[ducler]

I was wondering: what lineup I will use in my game presentation today...
Someone has an idea to help me?

[The Moose]

just read the Q&A pistons.com did with SVG, and it sound like Baynes might be out of the rotation when D-mo is ready, SVG talks about him being the back up 5