SacKingZZZ wrote:-= original quote snipped =-
But game in game out it's Ron who is really stealing their minutes. I guess the blame can be thrust onto the shoulders of Theus if you really look at it. Ron spends a good amount of time at PF so Theus can smallball to get Salmons/Garcia minutes.
Ron being here really takes away minutes from 4 different players, Salmons,Garcia,Shelden, and Hawes. Ron plays the 3 and 4 so he is either sticking our 3's on the bench or guys that play the 4 or 5 because when Ron is at the 4 Theus will play Mikki or Brad at the 5. Sure you could bench Mikki but that would still only free up a few more minutes here or there for Hawes/Shelden since they would be most likely splitting the minutes, most likely Theus' answer would be to smallball even more so John can get more time. Plus I think Theus has given up using John/Garcia at PG so they will only see minutes at the 2/3, that means there will be a guy like AJ or Lue gettin those backup minutes at point.
But Spencer, for instance, should only be getting so many minutes anyway. The way to develop really young guys like that isn't to just play them as much as possible. If it were than, trading Brad would really be the best option there. If we didn't have Mikki, the minute breakdown could be.
PG: Beno - 34mins, Johnson - 11 mins, Garcia - 3 mins
SG: Martin - 35 mins, Garcia - 13 mins
SF: Artest - 9 mins, Salmons - 30 mins, Garcia - 9 mins
PF: Artest - 26 mins, Shelden - 18 mins, Spencer - 4 mins
C: Brad - 34 mins, Spencer - 14 mins
If we got rid of Ron, it would be like...
PG: Beno - 34 mins, Johnson - 11 mins, Garcia - 3 mins
SG: Martin - 35 mins, Garcia - 13 mins
SF: Salmons - 35 mins, Garcia - 13 mins
PF: Moore - 30 mins, Shelden - 18 mins
C: Brad - 34 mins, Spencer - 14 mins
Spencer gets 4 fewer minutes, Shelden's minutes don't change, Salmons gets 5 more minutes and Cisco gets 4 more minutes. Ron can teach the young guys things about the game. Mikki can teach them how to yell "and 1!" every time they go to the basket.
And just for fun, without Brad, it would be like...
PG: Beno - 34 mins, Johnson - 11 mins, Garcia - 3 mins
SG: Martin - 35 mins, Garcia - 13 mins
SF: Salmons - 33 mins, Garcia - 12 mins, Artest - 3 mins
PF: Artest - 32 mins, Williams - 16 mins
C: Moore - 30 mins, Hawes - 16 mins, Williams - 2 mins
So really, I wouldn't say that it's fair to say that version is really better than another. But the fact remains that we never needed Mikki, really.