PlayerRep said:
EverettGriz said:
Gaining experience for bench players is what the noncom schedule is for. TDC needs to play his best 8 guys now, six of them the vast majority of the time. Few teams, even top 25 teams, go more than 7 or 8 deep this time of year.
Nope, just not true. Experience often continues throughout the season. Many teams play more than 7 or 8 players. It depends on the quality of the depth and how close games are. Yes, some teams play relatively few players at this time of the season.
Villanova has 8 players averaging over 20 minutes. No one averages 32.
Maryland has 7 over 15 and 2 just under 10. No one over 32.
Okla has 9 over 8, with several at 33.
Iowa has 10 over 9.8 and none over 30.
Xavier has 9 over 9.7 and none over 30.3 and only 2 over 25.6.
Lets look at these teams you've listed and what they've done as the season has progressed (getting into conference).
PlayerRep said:
Villanova has 8 players averaging over 20 minutes. No one averages 32.
First off, Villanova has 7 players averaging over 20 minutes, not 8. They also have 2 players averaging over 31 minutes a game. Not 32, but 31 is pretty close. And that's even with them blowing out so many teams (getting a lot of inexperienced players good minutes) early in the season non-conference. The Griz and most Big Sky teams don't have that luxury where they destroy the majority of teams they face in non-conference. Look at what Villanova does in close games and you'll see they play 7 or 8 players 10+ minutes and that's it. Just like the Griz usually.
In fact now that they are in conference they have 2 players averaging above 32 mins a game, since those games are closer. They (like most teams including the Griz) have narrowed their rotation down to 8 players getting good minutes with 3 getting 30+ a game.
PlayerRep said:
Maryland has 7 over 15 and 2 just under 10. No one over 32.
Same thing...they blow out a ton of teams in non-conference, get a bunch of guys extra minutes and then once conference starts they narrow it down to a 7 or 8 man rotation. In fact they now have 3 players with 32+ minutes per game in conference since it's tougher competition and closer games. Oh and also the Griz have 7 players with over 15 minutes a game with Dunn just under 15 to make it almost 8 (He'll certainly be above 15 soon as he continues to shake the rust off). So not that different from the Griz really.
PlayerRep said:
Okla has 9 over 8, with several at 33.
They only have 5 players averaging 15 or more. The Griz have 7 and an 8th coming along soon with Dunn. You should probably let Oklahoma know they need to play their bench more to be successful
They're another team that has narrowed it down to a 7 or 8 man rotation once conference started too. Now they have 7 players with 10 or more minutes and the rest are 7ish or less. They have 2 players above 35 mins a game in conference including one at 37.8 minutes.
PlayerRep said:
Iowa has 10 over 9.8 and none over 30.
Very misleading there. One of them has only played in 6 games (one who averages above 9). And would ya look at that? Once they got into conference and are playing much tougher opponents and closer games more consistently they've narrowed it down to a 7 man (10+ minutes) rotation! That includes 2 over 30 minutes (including one over 32), and 2 just barely under 30 minutes a game.
PlayerRep said:
Xavier has 9 over 9.7 and none over 30.3 and only 2 over 25.6.
Xavier is about the only one on your list that seems to be doing what you think the Griz should be doing. They have 9 people with 10+ minutes in conference play as well (9.7 or 10 mins, close enough).
So...to sum up....
Teams use non-conference games for getting players experience, seeing what they have, and top 20 teams get to do a LOT more of that since they are busy beating the piss out of other teams most of the time. Mid-majors like the Griz don't have the luxury of playing nearly every non-conference game at home and blowing out the opponents & playing 9 or 10 guys tons of minutes most games.