Playoff rotation

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Published: March 16, 2011

It is getting to that time of year where it is time to speculate on playoff rotations. On most cases, playoff rotations get shortened to 8 or 9 men simply because of the increased magnitude of the games as well as the long layoffs between games. Since Monty is a rookie head coach, we have no idea how he will handle his shortened rotations, how many minutes he will play his starters, and so on. However, his decision to play Chris Paul the entire 2nd half the past two games speaks volumes about what Monty intends to do in the playoffs. It appears that Paul will play the entire 2nd half while getting a 5-6 minute rest in the first half. It also suggests the possibility of other starters mainly, West and Okafor, reaching the 40 minute mark come playoff time. Monty’s toughest take will probably be how he distributes minutes between Jack, Belinelli, Green, and Ariza. Certainly matchups will dictate Monty’s decisions on who to put on the floor. However, it is noteworthy that Jarrett Jack typically only plays well when receiving significant minutes(25+).

 

Obviously the playoff rotation will consist of the 5 starters(paul, belinelli, ariza, west, and okafor) as well as the 3 main bench players(jack, landry, green). It is highly likely that a possible 9th man will be included for a limited role (5-6 min). That role will likely be served by either Aaron Gray or Jason Smith, determined by how each one plays the rest of the season along with specific matchups. We all saw how Gray fared when matched up with a superior athletic big in what people call “The Birdman.”

This is how I see the minutes being distributed:

PG:Paul(42) Jack (6)

SG:Belinelli(26), Jack (16), Green (6)

SF:Ariza(34), Green (10), Belinelli(4)

PF:West(38), Landry(10)

C:Okafor(34), Landry(9), Gray or Smith(5)

 

thoughts? opinions?

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