03-30-2021, 02:40 PM
(03-30-2021, 02:31 PM)JamesConway Wrote: Total minutes played this season:
James Johnson 504
Josh Green 253
Tyler Bey 32
I fully agree that player development does not exclusively happen in-game (has anybody argued that?) but the difference in numbers is just too glaring for me to give the Mavs some slack here.
No, I think they aren’t doing a good job developing those guys.
Especially Bey‘s case is hard to understand. He didn’t even play 10% of Johnson‘s minutes despite the latter performing rather poorly throughout the entire season and both being forward-types.
Also Green‘s minutes have come „by accident“ for the most part during the covid-period. Without he probably also sees less than 100 minutes up until game 40+
I can understand some angst about Green's minutes, especially when Iwundu was getting spot minutes after the covid timeline but I think in Bey's case there's a lack of trust in him reliably spacing the floor at the NBA level and I think those concerns have plenty of merit. I also think that those Iwundu stretches recently could have just been us showcasing him for the deadline.
It's funny because I think some of these rookies would have ended up getting more minutes if we didn't go through the covid stretch. If you assume our record would have been better if we had a legitimate roster during that month and felt a little more secure about our spot in the playoffs then we probably wouldn't be playing such a short rotation today and getting a better look at those guys.
To me, it's always been a case by case basis with Rick and rookies so I feel like there's something he's seeing in practice that we aren't that makes him uncomfortable using those guys in game time situations and I choose to trust that decision making.