Thursday, December 17, 2015

There is logic to Beard's substitution pattern

Our top four scorers (by points/game) are Marcus Johnson, Josh Hagins, Jalen Jackson, and Lis Shoshi. Hagins and Shoshi start. Johnson and Jackson do not. So, why not? Why would you not start your 1st and 4th leading scorers? A couple of reasons. First, because there are many other aspects to the game than scoring, and the players starting may do better in those aspects. More likely, however, is the fact that with this combination, Beard can have two of his top four leading scorers on the court at all times. So, however he mixes and matches the rest of the rotation, he does not sacrifice offense to any noticeable degree as long as two of those four are on the court. That is a nice option to have.

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