The bench players always have their rhythm messed up, and they are not effective as well. Lowering the starters minutes 5 mpg will solve that problem.

As for the starters rhythm. I am not saying that you have them out their for 5 minutes and then you sub them out. They will play consistent minutes still.

In your scenario the starters play 35-40 mpg, and in mine they play 25-30 mpg. I made this point before that out of that 35-40 minutes the starters are not playing to their full ability for 5-10 minutes because of fatigue. Those 5-10 minutes is the difference of our 2 scenarios, so in both cases the starters play 25-30 minutes of "energized basketball". (35-10=25, 40-10=30) The difference is that in my scenario the rest of the minutes are strongly utilized by the bench, while in your scenario some are utilized by the bench yet some are not used to their full ability by the starters.

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It's not just the minutes, it is the consistency. Because a player playing 20 minutes for 3 straight games and then not getting into the action in the 4th is still averaging 15 mpg, but his rhythm is going to be off. Same could be said about time distribution within the game. How many times we've seen Delfino play very well and contribute in the 1st half only to have his behind glued to the bench in the 2nd?

Their is obviously no middle ground here because either the starters are not in rhythm or the bench is not in rhythm.

I say that bench gets this mass amount of minutes in the regular season to improve. Once they improve they will have a better chance of making an impact during the playoffs when their minutes are cut.

I agree. But there has to be consistency - like Stuckey knows that he's starting the 2nd quarter or comes in 10 or 14 minutes into the game. Dyess comes in 10 minutes into the game. J-Max comes in at a certain point. That way they know that they are there and they'll get the minutes. Same thing in the second half.

well from the way our "stars" have played in the last two ECF's they have shown they aren't "owed" any mins... with two of our guys playing for team USA this summer they better all learn how to play with what mins they get.

they need time to get in the flow.... ok well they will have solid mins in the 1st and 4th quarters (unless a blow out) but in the 2nd and 3rd quarter they better learn that there mins there are no longer "there's" but the teams... and the team working on being a better team for the playoffs. That is two fold, building a bench we can trust, and two a starting 5 that has some gas left to play with.

Now That's IT!!!! Nail has been squarely hit on the head. And I'm telling you most NBA starters need 30+ mpg to be effective. Fatoine Walker is a perfect example, his game is only remotely consistent and effective when he's playing 30+ (not that he's that good to begin with). This is why I have a problem when people start talking about bringing in "All-Stars" to ride the bench, chances are they won't deliver playing 18-20mpg

Eleven player rotation.

Start Billups, Rip, Tay, JMAX, Sheed

Sheed gets 28 minutes, at center. The other 20 minutes at center go 10 to Samb, and 10 to Dyess.

JMAX gets 28 minutes at power forward. The other 20 minutes go 10 to Dyess and 10 to Amir.

Prince gets 28 minutes at small forward. The other 20 minutes go 10 to Amir, and 10 to Mejia.

Rip gets 28 minutes at shooting guard. The other 20 minutes go 5 to Mejia and 15 to Afflalo.

Billups gets 28 minutes at point. Stuckey gets the other 20 minutes.

These are averages. Neither Mejia nor Afflalo have to play every game, nor get many minutes in every game they do play. Prince might play more in close games, less in blowouts, etc. I would like to see Sheed and Dyess simply sit out some games that are part of back to backs. Maybe even Rip, Tay, and Billups could sit out a game or 2 also during the season, again, during back to back situations. A DNP counts as zero minutes toward your average the way I am calculating this.

Sub pattern. Here is a basic sub pattern for this 11 man rotation. The starters play the first 10 minutes of the game, the whole 2nd quarter, and the last 6 minutes of the game. Then you simply have the 6 subs play the rest, basically rotating which one is sitting.

Here are some possible sub units when all 11 players play in the same game:

Stuckey, Afflalo, Amir, Dyess, Samb

Stuckey, Afflalo, Mejia, Amir, Dyess.

Here is a sub unit that can't happen with all 11 players playing their average minutes:

Stuckey, Afflalo, Mejia, Amir, Samb. (Because there are only 20 minutes for the subs, so if Dyess is ever off the floor when the subs are in, he can't get his 20 minutes.)

Here is sub unit on a night when Sheed is sitting out a game on a back to back:

Dyess gets the start. Amir and Samb are the only two backups at center and power forward, so they play side by side the whole 20 minutes:

Stuckey, Afflalo, Mejia, Amir, Samb. Mejia gets 20 minutes at small forward while Afflalo gets 20 minutes at shooting guard. So Sheed's usual 28 minutes go 8 to Dyess, 10 to Samb, 5 to Mejia, and 5 to Afflalo.

If Tay misses a game, Amir starts. His minutes increase by 8 for that game. Samb covers his 10 minutes that Amir usually plays as a big. Mejia gets 10 more minutes at backup small forward and does not play any backup shooting guard-giving Afflalo 5 more minutes for that game.

If Billups sits a game, Stuckey starts, and gets 8 more minutes than usual. Mejia plays the 20 backup point guard minutes. Afflalo increases his minutes by five to cover all the backup shooting guard duties. Amir plays all his 20 minutes as a backup small forward, so Samb gets 10 more minutes as a big.

Or course, some nights, the starters will extend their minutes rather than give the other bench players more time when someone is sitting out a game.

One more thing for the moment. I do like the idea of Dyess trading some of his minutes with Sheed, giving us a 2nd unit of Stuckey, Afflalo, Amir, Sheed, Samb. Or with JMAX, giving us a 2nd unit sometimes of Stuckey, Afflalo, Amir, JMAX, Samb.

I don't really have much to contribute to the rotations thread...I think Lee covered most of the possibilities. Maybe put Mike Curry in a couple?

If you're gonna include Mejia and Samb in rotations, you might want to start a Sioux Falls rotations thread. I just can't see either guy making the roster. Mejia's too green and Samb's gonna get thrown around like a rag doll out there with his weight.

Mejia impressed as much as anyone (other than Stuckey), in the summer league. If you don't like Mejia, do you like Afflalo?

For how raw Samb is suppose to be, he managed to be as much as a force as anyone he played in the same game with as far as bothering / rejecting shots. And his rebounding was fine too. Rag dolls don't get rebounds-they get pushed away. Further, Samb has only been playing basketball for about 4 years, and has aready gotten pretty good in such a short time. Just how do you know how much more he might progress by the end of camp?