07-23-2021, 01:07 PM
I put together the accompanying matrix to correlate the SWBB players with the available minutes played each game at each position. It is not a prediction of how I think that playing time will be allocated this season. It’s much too early for that. It's more to illustrate the difficulty in managing playing time in a season. If this array show nothing else, it demonstrates the challenge that Tara and her staff will have in developing and evaluating an effective player rotation this year. Of course, a depth chart changes as the season progresses from the preseason to the beginning of conference play, to the midseason, and during the tournament. The matrix below represents one rough guess for the PRESEASON allocation of minutes.
In assigning minutes, I took into consideration the player's value to the team to determine how much of the two hundred game minutes to allocate to each player, and then to adjust the position player's allocation in keeping with the 40 minute limit per position. The playing time is based on the assumption that the coaches need to have time to evaluate new players, develop veteran players, and assess team-chemistry.
The resulting matrix illustrates the challenges of managing a team that has an embarrassment of riches and a seventeen-player rotation. Of course the actual minutes a player gets will be determined in the moment by Tara wherein intuition, game situations, and player development comes into play.
Correlation of position, players, and minutes in the preseason:
POINT GUARDS — Jana/Jenna/Jordan — 17+13+10=40
SHOOTING GUARDS — Anna/Lacie/Jzaniya — 17+17+6=40
WINGS — Lexie/Hannah/Elena/Aggie — 17+14+6+3=40
FORWARDS — Haley/Fran/Brooke/Alyssa — 17+12+7+4=40
POST — Cam/Ashten/Kiki — 17+14+9=40
All this could come dissolve quickly if Anna becomes the point guard, Lacie or Hannah find their way onto the starting five, one of the freshmen makes a Cam-like run as a starter, or Tara alters the traditional positions in the coming season.
In assigning minutes, I took into consideration the player's value to the team to determine how much of the two hundred game minutes to allocate to each player, and then to adjust the position player's allocation in keeping with the 40 minute limit per position. The playing time is based on the assumption that the coaches need to have time to evaluate new players, develop veteran players, and assess team-chemistry.
The resulting matrix illustrates the challenges of managing a team that has an embarrassment of riches and a seventeen-player rotation. Of course the actual minutes a player gets will be determined in the moment by Tara wherein intuition, game situations, and player development comes into play.
Correlation of position, players, and minutes in the preseason:
POINT GUARDS — Jana/Jenna/Jordan — 17+13+10=40
SHOOTING GUARDS — Anna/Lacie/Jzaniya — 17+17+6=40
WINGS — Lexie/Hannah/Elena/Aggie — 17+14+6+3=40
FORWARDS — Haley/Fran/Brooke/Alyssa — 17+12+7+4=40
POST — Cam/Ashten/Kiki — 17+14+9=40
All this could come dissolve quickly if Anna becomes the point guard, Lacie or Hannah find their way onto the starting five, one of the freshmen makes a Cam-like run as a starter, or Tara alters the traditional positions in the coming season.


