Reply to thread

Message: [QUOTE="diggerfoot, post: 4683148, member: 1673"] “More substitutions could very well mean less injuries to star players.” This statement is true according to Aristotelian logic, but does not lead to the conclusion you think. To understand why it must be realized that, for UConn and likely most programs, practices are both more demanding and far more numerous than games. Thus injuries are statistically more likely to happen outside of games, such as the ones that put Brady and Bueckers out last season. We hear about how star players get injured in practice; other player injuries during practice will not generate as much attention. If you play only star players during games, then by simple logic only star players can be injured during games, but they are still more likely to get injured outside of games. By extension of this same logic, if star players practice less then we will reduce their chance of injury that much more. Minimizing that risk is more effectively done through practice than games. You cannot have your star players practice less if you want to build morale and a winning program, so the chief means of reducing injury to star players is off the table. Similarly, a winning program is not maintained through minimizing risk for a few during games, particularly when that risk is not the main cause of injuries. Whether there should be more or less substitutions thus depends more on other factors. This assumes risk to normal health. If a player does not have normal health, such as a Brittany Hunter, then they must be practiced and played accordingly. [/QUOTE]

Verification: First name of men's bb coach