Hawks minutes breakdown to start the season

[TheNorthCydeRises]

PG - Bibby ( 24 min ) . . Law ( 20 min ) . . Murray ( 4 min )

G - JJ ( 36 min ) . . . Murray ( 12 min )

F - Williams ( 30 min ) . . Evans ( 18 min )

PF - Smith ( 34 min ) . . Horford ( 8 min ) . . Solo/Hunter ( 6 min )

C - Horford ( 26 min ) . . Zaza ( 22 min )

minutes breakdown by player:

JJ - 36

Smith - 34

Horford - 34

Williams - 30

Bibby - 24

Zaza - 22

Law - 20

Evans - 18

Murray - 16

Solo/Hunter - 6

The big thing about this, are Bibby's minutes. He won't be happy at all playing 24 minutes a game. But if Acie and Flip are playing anywhere near how they're playing this preseason, you can't keep them off the floor, in order to play Bibby. But in those 24 minutes, Bibby has to be hella aggressive offensively. Just make your open shots.

Zaza being able to play 20+ minutes would be huge as well. Marvin's time will depend on how well he plays, along with how well Evans plays. If Evans struggles a bit, Marvin will see his minutes increase dramatically.

It'll be real nice if our bench is good enough to play a total of 82 minutes a night ( roughly 34% of the minutes each game ). It may not sound like much, but it would be huge for this team to get solid bench production like that.

[Gray Mule]

I believe our bench is capable of playing that many minutes and holding their

own against our NBA competition.

The real question is, will they get the opportunity?

Knowing Woodson, if they goof, here comes the starters back in and those who goofed

will not see the floor again, perhaps for many games. He has shown himself to be a

proponent of playing his favorite players, who are on his starting team, major minutes

night after night.

Can Woodson change? Sure he can. But, will he? That's the question that we can only

wait and let him prove it to everyone. Every player is important. Every player has

usable talent. If he doesn't, he needs to be gone. If he stays, he should be used.

That's just the opinion of one old man. That's what I believe and, until someone proves

me wrong, I'm sticking to it.

:cheers:

[bronnt]

I pretty much agree with this, but with just a couple of exceptions.

1) I will be SHOCKED if JJ is only averaging 36 minutes at any point in the season. He's averaged 40 minutes per game over the past 5 years and is pretty much always near tops in the league in minutes played. In fact, I'm pretty much certain that only AI has averaged more minutes than JJ over the past three years. Despite having Flip Murray, his minutes will almost certainly not dip below 38, and that's cement-bottom.

2) I like the call on Marvin. A lot of people are projecting an increase in his minutes now that Childress is gone, but I see the possibility of his minutes actually getting pinched. There's a good possibility that JJ plays at the 3 a bit this season with Flip taking over at the 2 and Bibby/Acie playing point. And Josh Smith might also take some minutes at the 3 (hopefully not too many-I think we're really starting to see that he's a better 4) when we get Horford and Zaza on the floor together. And Mo Evans will get his minutes in there as well. Unless Marvin can step up his level of play, he'll lose some floor time.

3) I feel like you might be overreaching on Zaza's minutes. He definitely deserves more-I think a lot of his struggles last year were due to playing hurt-and he usually plays better when he gets a chance to see the floor early. And he's also looking really good this preseason. In fact, I'm going to predict that one of the keys to the Hawks returning to the playoffs is how much Zaza can step up his game. But Horford also is a big key, and I see him getting the large increase in minutes (35-36, perhaps) that he also deserves, and we all know Zaza doesn't exactly get along with Woodson. Zaza is probably going to average around 18-19 minutes, which is a step up from last year, but short of what he ought to have.

PS-Solo might actually grab a few more minutes this year, also limiting Zaza's opportunities.

Edited October 19, 2008 by bronnt

[Swatguy]

I pretty much agree with this, but with just a couple of exceptions.

1) I will be SHOCKED if JJ is only averaging 36 minutes at any point in the season. He's averaged 40 minutes per game over the past 5 years and is pretty much always near tops in the league in minutes played. In fact, I'm pretty much certain that only AI has averaged more minutes than JJ over the past three years. Despite having Flip Murray, his minutes will almost certainly not dip below 38, and that's cement-bottom.

2) I like the call on Marvin. A lot of people are projecting an increase in his minutes now that Childress is gone, but I see the possibility of his minutes actually getting pinched. There's a good possibility that JJ plays at the 3 a bit this season with Flip taking over at the 2 and Bibby/Acie playing point. And Josh Smith might also take some minutes at the 3 (hopefully not too many-I think we're really starting to see that he's a better 4) when we get Horford and Zaza on the floor together. And Mo Evans will get his minutes in there as well. Unless Marvin can step up his level of play, he'll lose some floor time.

3) I feel like you might be overreaching on Zaza's minutes. He definitely deserves more-I think a lot of his struggles last year were due to playing hurt-and he usually plays better when he gets a chance to see the floor early. And he's also looking really good this preseason. In fact, I'm going to predict that one of the keys to the Hawks returning to the playoffs is how much Zaza can step up his game. But Horford also is a big key, and I see him getting the large increase in minutes (35-36, perhaps) that he also deserves, and we all know Zaza doesn't exactly get along with Woodson. Zaza is probably going to average around 18-19 minutes, which is a step up from last year, but short of what he ought to have.

PS-Solo might actually grab a few more minutes this year, also limiting Zaza's opportunities.

Bibby=30 minutes for sure.

[DrReality]

At least we have some options that we have not had in the past. Whether Woody uses them is another story.

See Sekou's new article about "small ball." I like.

[macdaddy]

Marvin will have to have an impact to keep his minutes up. I see Evans getting more as he brings defensive intensity that Woody (and everyone) likes. So I see Evans getting more and Marvin getting less probably.

[Admin]

Marvin will have to have an impact to keep his minutes up. I see Evans getting more as he brings defensive intensity that Woody (and everyone) likes. So I see Evans getting more and Marvin getting less probably.

It has been said by many (including Woody) that Marvin has been our best perimeter defender so I doubt that Marvin's defensive intensity will be a reason why he gets fewer minutes. If anything it's his level of aggression on offense and his ability to keep the defense honest that will affect his minutes. If he can be a reliable 3pt shooter but also continue to get to the foul line and play solid D I see no reason for his minutes to decrease and in truth I'd expect them to increase a bit.