player "minutes"

p230

New member
Joined
Nov 10, 2008
Messages
634
Reaction score
0
One of the main discussions right now seems to be centered around who beats out who, how much playing time etc. I would like to talk some about the benenfit of a deeper team. I (along with others, I hope) felt that several of our losses were because of lack of depth. Several have talked of Fitz shooting a little better, Cam playing better defense and such. How do you feel this will be affected by the top say 8 players having an extra 4 minutes to rest each game (of game time, not counting the time outs etc.) I personally hope it will traslate to few gassed players, fewer fouls in the game more consistant shoooting down the stretch and more intense defense. I don't think M'Baye has to be a superstar. I do think we need better production from Arent or decent production from Bennett. I think we have an even up chance of making the post season if the happens. Production from the Freshman would be a bonus and take us much closer to the Dance.

Thoughts?
 
Depth comes in many ways. I don't want to see us going 10 deep against KU in a close game. But, if we have blowouts in either direction, you might see our starters get to shave 5-7 minutes off their playing time in those games. Doesn't sound like much, but it adds up. As for the close games, or the average game, simply being able to rest Pledger or Fitz for an extra 2-3 minutes might help. Hard to come up with averages, but there is no doubt the depth this year should help.
 
The 2-3 minutes extra Fitz is on the bench means 2-3 minutes of game time he is not fouling. He seemed to have 4 fouls with 10 minutes to go in the 2nd half alot last year. Take a foul or 2 away and he can play more agressive defense. Also with more depth, if he gets that 2nd foul in the first half, you have the ability to sit him the remainder of the half.
 
The 2-3 minutes extra Fitz is on the bench means 2-3 minutes of game time he is not fouling. He seemed to have 4 fouls with 10 minutes to go in the 2nd half alot last year. Take a foul or 2 away and he can play more agressive defense. Also with more depth, if he gets that 2nd foul in the first half, you have the ability to sit him the remainder of the half.

Bingo. I think Drew will benefit more than anyone else getting the extra minutes rest. I think it will help Pledger as well.
 
Bingo. I think Drew will benefit more than anyone else getting the extra minutes rest. I think it will help Pledger as well.

And Grooms... Let's just say it will benefit everyone.

But the point about Fitz and his foul trouble is spot on. That will be a huge boon.
 
My prediction at this juncture for the early non-con:

200 total minutes:

Osby 25
Mbaye 30
Fitzgerald 22
Pledger 25
Grooms 22
Cam 20
Heild 17
Cousins 12
Hornbeak 12
Arent 3
Bennett 3 (if he redshirts then give more to Osby)
Neal 5
Walkons rest

Once conference play statts up then I think the rotation will shrink and guys like Neal, Arent and Bennett won't see much if any time and one of the frosh guards will be squeezed out of most of their minutes.

We will see...
 
My prediction at this juncture for the early non-con:

200 total minutes:

Osby 25
Mbaye 30
Fitzgerald 22
Pledger 25
Grooms 22
Cam 20
Heild 17
Cousins 12
Hornbeak 12
Arent 3
Bennett 3 (if he redshirts then give more to Osby)
Neal 5
Walkons rest

Once conference play statts up then I think the rotation will shrink and guys like Neal, Arent and Bennett won't see much if any time and one of the frosh guards will be squeezed out of most of their minutes.

We will see...

I might put Grooms at 25 or so simply because the only people playing his spot are likely freshmen. But this seems about right. If Cam has a breakout year he'll be way over 20.

Sent from my SGH-T679 using Tapatalk 2
 
My prediction at this juncture for the early non-con:

200 total minutes:

Osby 25
Mbaye 30
Fitzgerald 22
Pledger 25
Grooms 22
Cam 20
Heild 17
Cousins 12
Hornbeak 12
Arent 3
Bennett 3 (if he redshirts then give more to Osby)
Neal 5
Walkons rest

Once conference play statts up then I think the rotation will shrink and guys like Neal, Arent and Bennett won't see much if any time and one of the frosh guards will be squeezed out of most of their minutes.

We will see...

I seriously doubt the freshman combine for 41 minutes. That is one fifth of the game with 5 returning starters, M'baye and returning Neal who played 12.5 as a freshman and 13.1 as a sophomore. Essentially those guys are replacing Blair's 15 minutes per game and possibly providing some additional rest for Grooms and Clark. I see those guys combining for about 20-25 minutes at most. I think one of them gets all of the backup pg minutes and one gets about 12 minutes a game as a 2/3. I think the third guy has a pretty limited role but will be a huge addition to the team. The reason he will be a huge addition is he forces everyone to constantly work hard for minutes.

I don't think both Bennett and Arent play. M'Baye, Osby and Fitzgerald will get 95% or more of the minutes in the post. The fourth guy will be the emergency guy when OU has foul trouble. I think one of them gets most of the minutes with an occasional reward to the other for hard work in practice.

I think Neal plays more than you think. Neal has had his moments. He scored 10+ against four solid programs, ISU, Missouri, Arkansas and Virginia in his first two years. He had 7 boards on several occasions. He had 8+ against even more teams including OSU and Texas. I am hopeful that Neal will be a much improved role player. I am hopeful he will come off the bench and give a spark by scoring, rebounding and defending.

OU has to get M'Baye 25 + minutes per game. In my opinion, there just aren't enough minutes for all of the freshman, Bennett and Arent to play as much as you are predicting.

With all of that said, I would love to see one of the freshman be so good that he gets close to 20 a game because that will mean OU is pretty good.
 
I seriously doubt the freshman combine for 41 minutes. That is one fifth of the game with 5 returning starters, M'baye and returning Neal who played 12.5 as a freshman and 13.1 as a sophomore. Essentially those guys are replacing Blair's 15 minutes per game and possibly providing some additional rest for Grooms and Clark. I see those guys combining for about 20-25 minutes at most. I think one of them gets all of the backup pg minutes and one gets about 12 minutes a game as a 2/3. I think the third guy has a pretty limited role but will be a huge addition to the team. The reason he will be a huge addition is he forces everyone to constantly work hard for minutes.

I don't think both Bennett and Arent play. M'Baye, Osby and Fitzgerald will get 95% or more of the minutes in the post. The fourth guy will be the emergency guy when OU has foul trouble. I think one of them gets most of the minutes with an occasional reward to the other for hard work in practice.

I think Neal plays more than you think. Neal has had his moments. He scored 10+ against four solid programs, ISU, Missouri, Arkansas and Virginia in his first two years. He had 7 boards on several occasions. He had 8+ against even more teams including OSU and Texas. I am hopeful that Neal will be a much improved role player. I am hopeful he will come off the bench and give a spark by scoring, rebounding and defending.

OU has to get M'Baye 25 + minutes per game. In my opinion, there just aren't enough minutes for all of the freshman, Bennett and Arent to play as much as you are predicting.

With all of that said, I would love to see one of the freshman be so good that he gets close to 20 a game because that will mean OU is pretty good.

I hope Neal proves me wrong.
 
i don't think neal or arent play much at all ...

Minute wise, I would agree but I do think they will have important roles. It might not be more than 5-10 min per game but I have a feeling they will both help this year. A lot comes down to how active and tough Aren't is inside and if Neal can consistently knock down shots.
 
Well Kruger has proved me wrong thus far. We will see what happens on Friday and in the Old Spice tournament.
 
Back
Top