Who do you guys think among our rookies will be included on the final playoff roster? Johnson? Capela? McDaniel? Papa?
Pretty sure zero, but if McHale honestly watches Dorsey and Capela and goes with Dorsey, he's a fool.
There is no "playoff roster" anymore. They did away with it following the lockout. All 15 guys are eligible.
They're all eligible, but as for the actual rotation, none of the above. Much as I would like to see Clint steal some of Joey's minutes, the rotation will definitely be the starting five with Prigs, Brewer, Smith, and Dorsey.
8 man rotation, might do some small-ball lineups with Ariza/Brewer at the 3/4 as well, I could see minutes working out like this: Howard (32)/Smith (16) Jones (30)/Smith (12)/Brewer (6) Ariza (35)/Brewer (13) Harden (40)/Brewer (8) Terry (28)/Prigioni (20)
i agree this is the 8 man rotation for the playoffs. except i think the minutes will look slightly different: Howard (32) / Smith (30) Jones (30) Ariza (40) / Brewer (28) Harden (36) Terry (24) / Prigs (24) that being said, i'd prefer a 9 man rotation with clint getting some run so we can protect the rim when dwight is out. i just don't think mchale does it.
he averaged 36:54 MPG. so, sure, take one minute away from what i gave brewer and give it to harden. i don't think he's playing 40mpg in the playoffs because he won't have any gas in the tank late in the game. mchale's been good about managing his minutes. ariza has gone into the 40's when needed.
We would be lucky if Howard and Harden can be limited to 32 and 36 minutes, respectively. Last year, Harden played like 39mpg and Howard was near that at 38mpg. We are going to need them on the floor at all times unless a blowout happens. This is how I see the rotation panning out: Howard (36) / Smith (12) Jones (26) / Smith (16) / Ariza (6) Ariza (34) / Brewer (14) Harden (36) / Brewer (12) Terry (22) / Prigs (20) / Harden (6) Unless Prigs and Terry are playing out of their minds, I can see Harden at the point to end games with Ariza/Brewer picking up the point guard. We might even see some Johnson if the opposing pg is too much for Terry/Prigs. Minutes Totals: Harden - 42 Ariza - 40 Howard - 36 Smith - 28 Brewer - 26 Terry - 22 Prigs - 20 lol 7 man rotation!!
i would agree that howard SHOULD play 36mpg, but i think they choose to save some minutes in order to keep him fresh for later in the series, or the second round... unless we are down in the series, then all minutes restrictions are off! harden played a lot in last years playoffs, youre right, but i think mchale learned from that. he couldn't finish games last year. last year he played 38mpg in the regular season, and that carried over to the playoffs. this year he played 37... i think its fair to give him 37 or 38, but i doubt he gets up into the 40's because we will need him fresh to close the games.
None of them should play any meaningful minutes. Yes Dorsey sucks, but don't get carry away by Capela against the Hornets either.
Harden played 43.8 minutes last year in playoff against the Blazers and 40.5 the first season against the Thunder. With out current guards situation, he could play 44-45 mins this year in the playoff.
