... with the lineup and minute distribution for Saturday's game.
A couple of issues play into why TO reduce and why NOT TO reduce the number of players in the rotation.
1. Coaches typically don't mess with lineups while they're winning. Cal has historically not altered much after January until after a loss. Off the top of my head, I remember Diallo and Whitney both getting fewer minutes and even moving out of the starting lineup after a Jan loss. (I'm sure there are others, but those pop into mind.)
2. Unfortunately, if Thiero returns Saturday, it will be our FIRST game with the entire lineup. Cal usually reduces rotation in late January. However, I understand him wanting to tinker with the rotation a few more games to figure out who's going to rise to the occasion.
Here's my guess of what we'll see on Saturday.
-I think Edwards doesn't start, and his minutes get reduced to the 12-14 min range. (These will obviously increase if he does well while he's in the game.)
-Reed & Rob no longer come off the bench at the same time. One of them starts the game.
- The mins for the trio of Bradshaw, Z, and Ugo get paired down to mainly two players. I'm guessing Bradshaw and Z get the minutes. Ugo only gets mins if one of the bigs gets in foul trouble. (Cal really needs to figure out what Z can do on both ends of the floor.)
- Thiero will get some mins to figure out where he now fits. If healthy, he'll get more of Edwards' minutes.
The lineup I want to see get alot of run is: 3 guards, Mitchell, and Big Z. I understand that we're just getting to see all the pieces at one time. I'm sure Cal wanted to do this in Dec, but circumstances didn't permit it. I'm ready to roll with a rotation of: Our 4 guards, Mitchell, Bradshaw, and Z. That's 7 players. Thiero & Edwards can battle for the 8th spot.
Regardless of rotation, I expect to see changes in the distribution of minutes moving ahead.
