What happened? A diagnosis

[The Jom]

. . . I think teams do all of the following things during the regular season (plus more that I don't know about because I'm not a bball professional): develop players, try different lineups and gather data on those lineups, attempt to keep players healthy, work through injuries, keep players in shape, and pace the team to keep them healthy and fresh mentally and physically. And they try to win games while managing all that other stuff. . . .

Like this list. I’d add (on occasion) try to motivate players (especially young ones) by increasing or decreasing their minutes/roles. Maybe that fits into the category of “develop.” Maybe it is “jacking around.” I don’t know. But head games do seem to get played, especially by some coaches. And sometimes it even seems to work.