Hear me out here.
Playing fast works, of course. But we want to also keep the stars healthy and fresh. Cool. Let’s look at a proven path for how we can have the best chance at both.
Last year? Knicks reduced Hart/Bridges/KAT/Brunson/OG minutes significantly (20 mins per game combined). Won the Finals.
On the other side, not one Spurs player averaged more than 31 minutes per game.
Year before? Shai (34) and JDub (32) were very well managed and 7 other guys played 20+ MPG. That’s insane balance.
Pacers were a pretty similar picture, and one of the fastest teams in the NBA.
Cavs went from 48 to 64 wins two years ago REDUCING Mitchell and Garland’s minutes by around 4 MPG.
Maybe the method that contributes to winning deep into the playoffs is flattening minutes, playing deeper lineups, developing younger guys down to 12-15 on the bench, and resisting the urge to play stars 42 minutes every close game.
Analytics actually steers us in that directions.
But everyone would complain about that too, saying that “analytics have killed the game” because stars don’t get to play 40+ minutes anymore.
In the end, everything gets blamed on analytics, but maybe it takes a new approach to find the real solution…
Saying it for the 10,000th time. Analytics sped the game up and made it sporadic, which has led to a major increase in NBA injuries. The pace and rapidness of play is taking a toll. Hoopers aint chess pieces and robots.