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I think players are going to have up and down minutes throughout the season, as JC adds various different ingredients each game, but, after seeing 4 games, I have come to this guess as to how the minutes are going to end up being divied come late February, when the bench shortens, figuring 200 minutes per game, with the real unknown being how RB plays:
SN - 34
Lamb - 33
Oriakhi - 30
Drummond - 30
Daniels - 28
TO - 18
RB - 15
RS - 9
NG - 3
Others play minor minutes, if at all.
Just my wild ass guess, to be sure.
Why?
The team will go as Shabazz goes. He is the general. He is the most essential guy on the team. He will get big minutes, because he must.
Lamb will get his 30+ because he is the man on the O end. He will be a zone buster and a heart breaker.
Other than Drummond, Oriakhi is our best post defender and rebounder. He will need to be out there for size and authority. Olander has improved greatly, but he doesn't have the defensive presence that Alex does.
Daniels - 28 may seem generous, right? Well, he played 26 against Wagner, and in fact I think 28 may end up being too low. This kid IS the steal of the decade for us. He's instant impact, he's a great shooter, and his defense and boarding are coming around quickly. This kid is now, to me, capable of being a 1 and done along with Drummond.
Tyler O - 18? This is the toughest one to call. He's solid, but I can't see any guy above him on my list giving up minutes to him. If it was Tyler from last year, I'd say he'd be doing a great impression of bench hardware this year. His improvement buys him some minutes.
The Boat show gets 15 backing up Shabs unless he's just Khalid-esque in terms of ability to create, in which case it's hard to predict where his minutes will come from, if not from Napes, as I can't see a Napier/Boat backcourt out there too long each game.
RS gets 9. I love the Roscoe. I dearly do. He represents the heart and soul of the program in a lot of ways. But Drummond and Daniels committing this summer was the worst thing that could have happened to his PT, as Drummond pushes AO to the 4 and Daniels is competing directly with him for minutes at the 3. Given that it seems that Drummond will be a force by the end of the year and that Daniels is looking every bit a top 3 recruit in the nation right now, I can't find minutes for Scoe. If you look at the stat line from Wagner, you wonder what Smith did while he was out there. 1 point, 1 board, 3 fouls in 17 minutes. DD had 11 pts, 5 boards, 3 blocks, and a steal in just 7 minutes more, and hit both his 3s. I'll add that Roscoe seems to not have changed his game much since March. I feel very badly for this kid, as it now seems very likely he could very well go from almost 26 minutes a game last year to substantially less this year. I hope he toughs through it, as PT will almost certainly open back up in 13 and 14.
NG -Love this kid's effort. Like his game and his rebounding nose. Just not seeing who gives up minutes for him. 2 points, 3 boards, and a TO in 12 minutes doesn't merit minutes going to him from any guy above him. His best bet at finding time would be to be a dead-eye 3 shooter. Other than at Opening Night.
Much can happen to change this, but, after seeing Drummond go under the basket for a sweet reverse, block two shots, rebound hard, and so on, I don't see how the minutes are going to shake out much different at the top.
It's nice to have our cup running over, I just worry that there'll be a psychological effect on one or more players, and maybe on the team as a whole, if everybody doesn't embrace their role, and specifically if that role is reduced from last year.
By the way. Have to say this. Given how the summer panned out, the most important thing that happened to Connecticut since March was a player leaving, thereby making room from either Drummond or DD, essentially converting a guy who was going to see teen minutes per game at best into a guy who is a top 3-5 recruit in the country.
SN - 34
Lamb - 33
Oriakhi - 30
Drummond - 30
Daniels - 28
TO - 18
RB - 15
RS - 9
NG - 3
Others play minor minutes, if at all.
Just my wild ass guess, to be sure.
Why?
The team will go as Shabazz goes. He is the general. He is the most essential guy on the team. He will get big minutes, because he must.
Lamb will get his 30+ because he is the man on the O end. He will be a zone buster and a heart breaker.
Other than Drummond, Oriakhi is our best post defender and rebounder. He will need to be out there for size and authority. Olander has improved greatly, but he doesn't have the defensive presence that Alex does.
Daniels - 28 may seem generous, right? Well, he played 26 against Wagner, and in fact I think 28 may end up being too low. This kid IS the steal of the decade for us. He's instant impact, he's a great shooter, and his defense and boarding are coming around quickly. This kid is now, to me, capable of being a 1 and done along with Drummond.
Tyler O - 18? This is the toughest one to call. He's solid, but I can't see any guy above him on my list giving up minutes to him. If it was Tyler from last year, I'd say he'd be doing a great impression of bench hardware this year. His improvement buys him some minutes.
The Boat show gets 15 backing up Shabs unless he's just Khalid-esque in terms of ability to create, in which case it's hard to predict where his minutes will come from, if not from Napes, as I can't see a Napier/Boat backcourt out there too long each game.
RS gets 9. I love the Roscoe. I dearly do. He represents the heart and soul of the program in a lot of ways. But Drummond and Daniels committing this summer was the worst thing that could have happened to his PT, as Drummond pushes AO to the 4 and Daniels is competing directly with him for minutes at the 3. Given that it seems that Drummond will be a force by the end of the year and that Daniels is looking every bit a top 3 recruit in the nation right now, I can't find minutes for Scoe. If you look at the stat line from Wagner, you wonder what Smith did while he was out there. 1 point, 1 board, 3 fouls in 17 minutes. DD had 11 pts, 5 boards, 3 blocks, and a steal in just 7 minutes more, and hit both his 3s. I'll add that Roscoe seems to not have changed his game much since March. I feel very badly for this kid, as it now seems very likely he could very well go from almost 26 minutes a game last year to substantially less this year. I hope he toughs through it, as PT will almost certainly open back up in 13 and 14.
NG -Love this kid's effort. Like his game and his rebounding nose. Just not seeing who gives up minutes for him. 2 points, 3 boards, and a TO in 12 minutes doesn't merit minutes going to him from any guy above him. His best bet at finding time would be to be a dead-eye 3 shooter. Other than at Opening Night.
Much can happen to change this, but, after seeing Drummond go under the basket for a sweet reverse, block two shots, rebound hard, and so on, I don't see how the minutes are going to shake out much different at the top.
It's nice to have our cup running over, I just worry that there'll be a psychological effect on one or more players, and maybe on the team as a whole, if everybody doesn't embrace their role, and specifically if that role is reduced from last year.
By the way. Have to say this. Given how the summer panned out, the most important thing that happened to Connecticut since March was a player leaving, thereby making room from either Drummond or DD, essentially converting a guy who was going to see teen minutes per game at best into a guy who is a top 3-5 recruit in the country.
