It's going to be interesting to see what happens with minutes if we are truly going to push the pace this year. We are going to need some breathers. I don't really want to see a "Goon Squad" type of situation but we can really wear some teams down if we want to. Make the other team have to race back on D almost every possession. Our bench is filled with athletic hustle guys.
When we played slow...we could not wear down a short roster team very well last year. We allowed them to get breathers on the court by not pressing and not pushing the ball up the court. This year we can keep 3 starters on the floor at all times if we want to and maintain good scoring while we keep the intensity high.
Maybe 2-3 man "Goon Squads" instead of 5 would work okay. I know "wearing a team down" might be overrated but it can make a difference if we really keep the pace up and the pressure on.
At the end of the year last year in our biggest/closest games we basically saw a 6-7 man rotation depending on the foul trouble of our bigs. We played our starters plus Cumberland and then 1 big would get around 10 minutes or so. We had 1-2 guys coming in for a couple of minutes in addition to that but it wasn't significant and we weren't wearing anyone down with that philosophy. We became a short roster team. We could get just as tired as any other team that way.
It would be nice if we didn't have to shorten our own roster so much in the big games. It would be great to see a guy like Jenifer giving us 5-10 good minutes. A wing that can give us 10. A big that can give us 10 minutes or two bigs that can give us 5 or so. We aren't wearing anyone down with 6-7 guys. We might be able to with 8 or 9.
If history is any indication we are going to see Washington, Clark, Evans, Cumberland, and Broome getting 30 plus (with no foul trouble). I wouldn't mind seeing SOME of these guys get around 27-28 or so with some fresh legs to help with endurance.