OK, we've lost four of our last five, each loss coming down to a single possession with time running out... in other words, we have been 1 made shot or 1 forced miss by the opponent in each game from winning all five (being 21-8, rather than 17-12). But between missing wide-open 3's or allowing killer second chance points by not boxing out, this team hasn't been able to muster the energy to make winning plays, and it's costing us.
I believe the key players are now exhausted, it's hurting us down the stretch, and this is due to (1) lack of quality depth for backups, and (2) egregious overuse of the big three.
Here are the top minutes-played for the entire conference... notice anything?
Player ............Minutes.......Team
S Thompson.....36.7.........OSU
T Tinkle.............36.3 ........OSU
P Pritchard .......35.3......... UO
R Franks............34.4 ....... WSU
E Thompson......34.2 ........ OSU
J Nowell ............34.1 ........UW
J Seuing ............34 ............Cal
G. Matthews......33.6..........USC
R Martin.............33.2...........ASU
KZ Okpala..........33 ............Stan
Z Cheatham.......32.3.........ASU
Barefield.............32.............Utah
K Wilkes ............31.5 .........UCLA
Is it any wonder our big-3 are gassed, not getting to shooters, not blocking out and allowing offensive boards?
I support coach T and give him credit for clearly raising the level of this program- in the 20 years before coach T the OSU RPI average finish was 170 in the nation... horrible. He's got us in the top 100 and has raised the talent level significantly. HOWEVER... he really needs to hand off substitutions and rotations to an assistant, who runs from a set-minutes/rotation pattern script like they do in the NBA. This would (1) give kids a comfort level, knowing what they can expect night to night rather than playing time just appearing and disappearing at random each night, and (2) would enforce a level of self-control for minutes played that Tinkle obviously does not have the discipline to stick with in the heat of battle.
Next year, when we have a much deeper team, they really need to go to set rotations, NBA style, if they want to get the most out of the talent and not wear-down the stars...
I believe the key players are now exhausted, it's hurting us down the stretch, and this is due to (1) lack of quality depth for backups, and (2) egregious overuse of the big three.
Here are the top minutes-played for the entire conference... notice anything?
Player ............Minutes.......Team
S Thompson.....36.7.........OSU
T Tinkle.............36.3 ........OSU
P Pritchard .......35.3......... UO
R Franks............34.4 ....... WSU
E Thompson......34.2 ........ OSU
J Nowell ............34.1 ........UW
J Seuing ............34 ............Cal
G. Matthews......33.6..........USC
R Martin.............33.2...........ASU
KZ Okpala..........33 ............Stan
Z Cheatham.......32.3.........ASU
Barefield.............32.............Utah
K Wilkes ............31.5 .........UCLA
Is it any wonder our big-3 are gassed, not getting to shooters, not blocking out and allowing offensive boards?
I support coach T and give him credit for clearly raising the level of this program- in the 20 years before coach T the OSU RPI average finish was 170 in the nation... horrible. He's got us in the top 100 and has raised the talent level significantly. HOWEVER... he really needs to hand off substitutions and rotations to an assistant, who runs from a set-minutes/rotation pattern script like they do in the NBA. This would (1) give kids a comfort level, knowing what they can expect night to night rather than playing time just appearing and disappearing at random each night, and (2) would enforce a level of self-control for minutes played that Tinkle obviously does not have the discipline to stick with in the heat of battle.
Next year, when we have a much deeper team, they really need to go to set rotations, NBA style, if they want to get the most out of the talent and not wear-down the stars...
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