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Message: [QUOTE="Bigpetunia, post: 2532538, member: 1772"] If I were a coach, I would only want the gutsy kind of players on my team who hate to be shut down, who want to contribute even if they're hurting. Nevertheless, allowing such warrior-type players to make these decisions is not always in their self-interest, nor in the best interests of their teams. What this ultimately boils down to is a question of goals. Is the primary goal for this season to go undefeated, or to win a National Championship? To me, the former is [U]meaningless[/U], and all effort should be focused on the latter. Of what possible consequence can it be if this team loses at South Carolina? So what if it loses to Louisville? In neither case does it matter a whit. Our favorite team will desperately need Lou, Gabby and Crystal six weeks from now. In the interim, their contribution, however desirable, has little impact on The One True Goal. The heretofore underachieving bench players clearly need more trial-by-fire experience, and need to face the demand that they step up and make the contributions of which they are capable. By the way, they ARE capable. They aren't here for no reason. I'd be in favor of killing two birds with one stone. The injuries the stars are dealing with can best be served by rest. I say grant them rest, whether or not the players seek it, and even if they're peeved by it. Come tourney time, they and their team will be better off! [/QUOTE]