Minutes for the new guys.

[rammad90]

There have been numerous post regarding getting Fats more minutes, getting Fermin more minutes, or getting the new guys more minutes in general.

I thought earlier that given a chance Josh Banks would do well with more minutes. I did so because just watching him play I saw enthusiasm, hard play, and a guy who seemed like he just needed confidence. I thought the confidence would come with some minutes where the HC didnt pull hm based on a mistake. Plus he was an upper classmen it was now or never.

I get it we all want to see players who may be able to help get a chance. However, some time giving young guys minutes wont help and maybe even hurt development.

I was watching Shaka's Marquette team whip up on Notre Dame. They have a 3rd year player, a big who only played 40 minutes as a freshmen . Oso Ighodaro is his name, he averages 29.4 minutes this year with 10 plus points about 6 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 2 blocks, and 1 steal. This at 6'10. This kid a former 4 star (some services) big only played 40 minutes as a freshman. Supposedly he busted his hump even day in practice that freshman year and summer.

Which begs the question, do we really need the young guys on the court if the coaching staff believe that they arent ready?

Thoughts?

 

[G-Man]

Both us fans and the coaching staff would like a few lopsided wins where they could play those guys 10+ minutes and get some needed experience.

I can appreciate Mike making it a point to put the freshmen in for a cameo in tighter games. However, from what I’ve seen Fats and Christian are not good enough yet. We don’t want to hurt our chances at winning.

It’s easy to say Billups couldn’t be any worse than Shriver. Well, Billups may not play the 4. Or maybe he doesn’t have a good handle on what we’re running. Kids can be talented but not ready.

I’d like to see Banks get some of Watkins minutes.

 

[CrozetRam]

Banks has earned more minutes. Fatts playing more is an investment in getting him better with more experience and a hedge against him bolting for some P5 school after this year

 

[HBK]

Banks has earned more minutes. Fatts playing more is an investment in getting him better with more experience and a hedge against him bolting for some P5 school after this year

Fats is an example of why I don’t pay much attention to some kid’s recruiting ranking. Fats has lots of potential, but he’s not ready to be a consistent contributor. He played two minutes tonight, had a turnover and took a very poor shot about 7-8 seconds into the shot clock.

 

[Mistachill]

The question is more complex than being presented.

If Billups is not playing because Treveon Graham is starting and Vince Williams is coming off the bench, that's one thing. The issue is who is playing ahead of him and is their contribution or potential contribution more important than investing minutes in Billups now with the hopes of paying dividends down the road? It's not like we're functioning like a well oiled machine streamrolling to an lock at-large bid.

None of us are privy to what is happening in practice and the kids could be screwing up so bad that MR can't put him out there for extended minutes yet. We heard that was the excuse for not playing Maynor more as a freshman. Eventually the guy ahead of him was so bad we had no choice but to play Maynor and he didn't look over matched.

Part of the deal with playing freshman is accepting that they are going to make mistakes. I think we all agree that we're now playing for the A-10 tournament. Does it make more sense to play the kids with the higher ceiling in the hopes that by March they'll be ready to contribute? And keep in mind, I don't think anybody is advocating giving them 30+ minutes per game. But certainly more than zero or two.

 

[2012Ram]

It's not like our current rotation is so good that we shouldn't change up or we're playing for an at-large at this point. If I were Mike I'd be getting the new blood as many minutes as possible since it'll be them that determines whether or not he keeps his job in the coming seasons.