Nurse Riding Starters Too Much?

[canz55]

The bench isn't good at all but Nurse is walking a tight rope right now between trying to get a couple of wins and decimating our early season stamina.

A couple of significant injuries to either Fred and/or one of OG, Barnes, GTJ and our season is basically done.

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[WuTang_OG]

Ya but what else he supposed to do. Its still early need to get wins

[vulture]

Third straight year he’s done this. Two years ago we were running a seven man rotation until half the guys got hurt and we had to run more Boucher, TD and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson which worked out because that trio really worked. Then last year a similar thing happened except we just ended up losing lots of games until everyone got healthy but then covid.

Not surprised to see the wear and tear injuries starting to creep up. Nurse gotta balance his lineups better and let the bench play through things a bit more.

Agreed. At some point you just have to let these guys play through some stuff, but last night the quick hook was warranted when you give up 8 points in 2 mins in 2 stints.
The blazers wanted that game and they put their starters in to start the 4th.

[KrazyP]

Our depth hasn't been as dependable as we hoped, which puts more pressure on the starters to produce. Last game the starters gave us 101 points the bench gave us 12...12 points.

The starters played ~200 mins....the bench played a sporadic ~35 minutes. How is the bench suppose to produce points while they are barely playing?

As a rookie coach, Nick Nurse was given a team with 8-9 starting level players. I think this might have warped his perception of what a bench player is.

Basketball is a game of rhythm and runs...if you throw a bench guy out there for cold for 2 mins and then yank him immediately because the other team made a couple buckets.....the bench is never going to be able to provide you anything.

Dragic was playing 27 mpg last year on a relatively competitive Heat team. Now all of sudden he's not worthy of playing at all? There is no legitimate reason why VanVleet should be leading the league in minutes.

[seanbig]

The bench isn't good at all but Nurse is walking a tight rope right now between trying to get a couple of wins and decimating our early season stamina.

A couple of significant injuries to either Fred and/or one of OG, Barnes, GTJ and our season is basically done.

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The question is not IF, but when they will be injured. Nick can't help himself.

There should be a poll when FVV is injured again. I suspect likely before Christmas, likely another shoulder injury

I feel like Nick's championship run validated his " play everyone 35+ minutes " theory, even though Kawhi was doing load management and hobbling.....

[Duffman100]

I'm not a huge Flynn fan. But he went out there and produced in a short period and then didn't get any more burn.

We need to start letting our bench guys fail and maybe lose games. Keeping them on a short leash isn't doing anyone any good.

I agree completely - Flynn needs to be given more rope. Banton has been amazing, but he doesn't yet have the playmaking chops Flynn showed last season. I think Flynn can run the second unit if given the chance.

BUT - I understand NN's reasoning as well. Last night Fred was +6. Flynn was -7 in 2mins of action. The team just falls apart without Fred on the court.

I was having this exact thougth last night. I love Banton, but having someone like Flynn next to him makes sense. Banton off the ball isn't a terrible idea.

[Pooh_Jeter]

The minutes players who had contracted covid last season were playing was borderline criminal. The overuse of Siakam when the season was lost directly resulted in his labrum injury. FVV and OG have both had issues with soft tissue injuries and are being overworked.

The team rightfully coddled Kawhi, yet with everyone else there doesn't seem to be proper care taken. Why are you running the team into the ground for a play in spot? Play in for what?

[seanbig]

Exactly.....if we played regular minutes we would be fighting for the tank trophy
Our talent isn't there
Nick's fighting for his record, and in the process going to get OG, and FVV and possibly scottie injured...but he doesn't care

[rrdjutriurt]

Nurse has no choice because our bench has been so weak it's killing us on defence and most of the time on offence as well. Opposing benches have been scoring at will. Hopefully as they get healthier things will get better because right now they are playing G-League ball. Yuta where are you?

[C_Money]

The bench will play better if given more minutes. Like wtf is Flynn supposed to do in 2 minutes and 30 seconds before he gets subbed out.

[rrdjutriurt]

Our bench players are net minus 69 points in just the last two games so lets hope your right.

The bench will play better if given more minutes. Like wtf is Flynn supposed to do in 2 minutes and 30 seconds before he gets subbed out.

[Los_29]

We have one of the best medical staffs in the entire league. If playing starters heavy minutes was bad then Nurse wouldn't be doing it. They are also pretty clever in how they distribute the minutes. Scottie gets a few breathers in the first half, one in the 3rd quarter but then will often play the entire 4th quarter or close to it. In the 4th quarter though there are far more timeouts called which gives him additional time to rest.

[Michael Bradley]

Nurse has always done this. It doesn’t matter if the roster was 10-12 deep, he’d find a way to only play 8 guys max. It’s his most annoying trait as a coach.

[gbball]

Flynn can and should sub in for Fred for at least 5-10 minutes a night and Banton can be used interchangeably with Og/Barnes/Siakam. We can stagger front court minutes until Precious, and Yuta are back. Wholesale lineup changes aren't feasible until we get more bodies back or call up some of our gleague players.

[DelAbbot]

FVV had groin issue and comes back to play 40 mins. I think Nurse is losing the plot.

Play more Flynn (to develop him) and rest FVV.

[bluerap23]

The minutes players who had contracted covid last season were playing was borderline criminal. The overuse of Siakam when the season was lost directly resulted in his labrum injury. FVV and OG have both had issues with soft tissue injuries and are being overworked.

The team rightfully coddled Kawhi, yet with everyone else there doesn't seem to be proper care taken. Why are you running the team into the ground for a play in spot? Play in for what?

Do you have a source on the bolded?

[Marmoset]

Our depth hasn't been as dependable as we hoped, which outs more pressure on the starters to produce. Last game the starters gave us 101 points the bench gave us 12...12 points.

It's a bit of chicken and egg though. If they don't play, they're not going to produce. In this game some guys didn't look great, but why did Flynn only get three minutes? And of course Dragic didn't play at all.

Bench was -38 last night!

In very limited mins.

If the rope were any longer we would have been completely buried.

Our inexperience beyond the starters is really hurting right now.

But how do we solve that? If the starters have to play 40 minutes a night just for us to have a chance, our season is already toast (as far as playoffs). That's not sustainable and there will be injuries to these guys at some point.

Masai himself said this is a development year. If that's true, let's play these guys and let them develop. Find out if they are a part of our future or not.

[Johnny Bball]

I'm not a huge Flynn fan. But he went out there and produced in a short period and then didn't get any more burn.

We need to start letting our bench guys fail and maybe lose games. Keeping them on a short leash isn't doing anyone any good.

There's no maybe.

And I've never believed it was good management to give someone so much rope they can hang themselves.

As for Nurse is injuring players... those people have no idea what they are talking about, they have no clue why Thibs teams got injured yet they think they do, they blame every injury on Nurse like it's fact, and none of that is true either. They just want to bitch and moan.

[Starr1]

Nurse will regret not playing Flynn sooner or later.

[Johnny Bball]

Nurse will regret not playing Flynn sooner or later.

Flynn has been horrible. He had a great chance this year and came out of the gate just terrible. This isn't a profession where everything is just handed to you.