Wednesday, April 9, 2008

random thought

Could the impending transfers of Rico Pickett and Justin Tubbs, along with the NBA draft testing by Richard Hendrix and Ronald Steele (and possibly Alonzo Gee) be GOOD things for Mark Gottfried?

Follow me on this one: the best thing one can have, as a basketball team, is an eight-or-nine-man rotation, one where everyone knows his role (scorer, defender, rebounder, whatever — everyone has to know what his main contribution SHOULD be each night) and no one complains about minutes.

Well, here's the list of people who averaged more than 10 minutes of playing time per night in 2008 for Alabama:
• Hendrix (30.6)
• Mykal Riley (31.5)
• Alonzo Gee (30.1)
• Brandon Hollinger (25.5)
• Pickett (21.2)
• Demetrius Jemison (23.0)
• Senario Hillman (14.0)
• Mikhail Torrance (12.2)
• Justin Tubbs (12.3)
• Yamene Coleman (10.9)

That's 10 people, for the record. And it's leaving out the fact that Ronald Steele didn't play a minute this season. And of those 10, only Riley is a senior. Which means that 10 guys (counting Steele) will be expecting at least 10 minutes of action per night in 2009.

Throw in the fact that JaMychal Green (likely a one-year wonder) is almost certain to want playing time, and you have 11 guys. Plus, we don't know what the freshman class will bring in addition to Green.

Can you imagine a coach as lost as Mark Gottfried was this season competently sorting out everyone's minutes, considering the 16-car pileup he delivered this past season? I say no.

Just a thought.

wlh

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