Coaches tend to have different priorities than GMs. If I were to rank the organization's goals for this season it would go something like this:
Ensure that we pick high in the 2018 draft
Maximize the value of all tradeable assets
Develop young players into core pieces of the rotation
Continue to establish an environment of trust between the players and the coaching staff
There are probably more but those seem like the key points. The head coach is looking at that same list and inverting it. His job is to work with the players he has now and establish habits which will benefit the team long-term. That means he has to reward players who play hard in practice and use a quick hook if he sees that a young guy is either unable or (worst case) unwilling to carry out the gameplan. It means he needs veterans on the floor for the inevitable moments when the kids start to get off track and he can't just call a timeout.
Personally I would prefer that this season be used entirely to develop the future of the team. I would play our productive vets (Hill, Temple, Koufos) starters minutes in hopes that a playoff team will see them as vital parts to their post-season run and offer us something of value for them. That means the young guys have limited roles for now and they get to stay on the floor longer only if they're really having a great game (like Buddy was against the Clipps). I think it could be argued that Skal is getting too much slack for the way he's been playing for instance. That's only hurting his confidence and his perceived value. There's no benefit.
Bogdanovic is the one guy caught in the middle. He's not a veteran but he's not a kid either. He's got a long-term deal already and I don't think anyone in the organization wants to see him traded. I think he should be getting all the playing time he can handle and he should be leading the team in shot attempts. Willie should be playing a lot too. He's either a core player or a trade piece and neither scenario benefits from keeping him on the bench.
So looking at what Joerger has done so far with the minutes distribution, I don't see much to complain about. Fox and Skal should actually be getting less minutes at this point in the season I think. Bogs and Koufos should be getting more. Buddy and Zach are about right. Coach has a lot of different agendas to juggle and he's doing a reasonably good job of keeping everyone involved right now. Sending a few guys down to the G League helps. Establishign an actual starting lineup would probably help more. What I'd really like to see right now is a starting lineup with Hill, Temple, Bogdanovic, Kosta and Willie all getting 33+ minutes per game. Then we find takers for Hill, Temple, and Kosta and bid them a tearful goodbye, thank them for their services, and slide a better prepared trio of De'Aaron, Buddy, and Skal back into the starting lineup. Remember we came into this season with 9 players on rookie deals. There's no way we could have reasonably expected Joerger to find minutes for all of them. We can afford to be patient with all the kids. They may be our future but they're not ready yet and they may actually learn more from watching on the bench right now and talking through the plays with the coaching staff.
Ensure that we pick high in the 2018 draft
Maximize the value of all tradeable assets
Develop young players into core pieces of the rotation
Continue to establish an environment of trust between the players and the coaching staff
There are probably more but those seem like the key points. The head coach is looking at that same list and inverting it. His job is to work with the players he has now and establish habits which will benefit the team long-term. That means he has to reward players who play hard in practice and use a quick hook if he sees that a young guy is either unable or (worst case) unwilling to carry out the gameplan. It means he needs veterans on the floor for the inevitable moments when the kids start to get off track and he can't just call a timeout.
Personally I would prefer that this season be used entirely to develop the future of the team. I would play our productive vets (Hill, Temple, Koufos) starters minutes in hopes that a playoff team will see them as vital parts to their post-season run and offer us something of value for them. That means the young guys have limited roles for now and they get to stay on the floor longer only if they're really having a great game (like Buddy was against the Clipps). I think it could be argued that Skal is getting too much slack for the way he's been playing for instance. That's only hurting his confidence and his perceived value. There's no benefit.
Bogdanovic is the one guy caught in the middle. He's not a veteran but he's not a kid either. He's got a long-term deal already and I don't think anyone in the organization wants to see him traded. I think he should be getting all the playing time he can handle and he should be leading the team in shot attempts. Willie should be playing a lot too. He's either a core player or a trade piece and neither scenario benefits from keeping him on the bench.
So looking at what Joerger has done so far with the minutes distribution, I don't see much to complain about. Fox and Skal should actually be getting less minutes at this point in the season I think. Bogs and Koufos should be getting more. Buddy and Zach are about right. Coach has a lot of different agendas to juggle and he's doing a reasonably good job of keeping everyone involved right now. Sending a few guys down to the G League helps. Establishign an actual starting lineup would probably help more. What I'd really like to see right now is a starting lineup with Hill, Temple, Bogdanovic, Kosta and Willie all getting 33+ minutes per game. Then we find takers for Hill, Temple, and Kosta and bid them a tearful goodbye, thank them for their services, and slide a better prepared trio of De'Aaron, Buddy, and Skal back into the starting lineup. Remember we came into this season with 9 players on rookie deals. There's no way we could have reasonably expected Joerger to find minutes for all of them. We can afford to be patient with all the kids. They may be our future but they're not ready yet and they may actually learn more from watching on the bench right now and talking through the plays with the coaching staff.
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