Living the Fantasy: More Minutes Please

By NBA TV's Rick Kamla
I was talking with NBA.com’s Rob Peterson about this week’s article and he suggested writing about what I want for Christmas.After an inexplicably long pregnant pause—during which I pondered a kinder, gentler Jersey in the new year, the expulsion of bully cops from planet earth, and world peace—I told him I wanted more minutes for this guy, that guy, and the other guy. Thus, we are bringing back the More Minutes Team for you and yours this holiday season.By the way, that glimpse inside the spontaneously creative world of internet sports was brought to you by NBA.com, where bad rotations happen.
Freaks, most NBA coaches have rotations that at least make sense. You may not agree with the exact amount of playing time that each player is getting, but for a variety of logical reasons the rotation is effective. Bottom line: if the team is winning, the coach has the right rotation, whether it jives with the fantasy world or not.However, there are coaches in the NBA who—for a variety of illogical reasons—aren’t the playing the right guys the right amount of time. And these confused coaches don’t have the wins to justify the lame rotation.Of the 10 players covered in this article via the More Minutes First and Second Teams, only three play for teams that have their acts together: Lakers, Warriors, Raptors. The others are toiling for teams that are either heading for the lottery or struggling mightily.[Heady Disclaimer: Before I go any farther, I feel compelled to admit that I’m not privy to practices or locker rooms, and although I watch as much hoops as (in)humanly possible, I don’t see EVERY play of EVERY game. As such, there may be a behind-the-scenes, unreported angle that is legitimately creating a reduction in minutes for a player who I’m pumping up for more.]That said, I trust my read on this league and I don’t trust every coach in this league so we press on with my wish list for this holiday season…also known as The More Minutes Team.

More Minutes First TeamC – Al Harrington, Warriors: The artist formerly known as Baby Al is having a solid season, averaging 14.4 points and 5.4 rebounds while shooting 47 percent from the field, 41 percent from deep, and 79 percent from the line, yet Don Nelson has limited his minutes to 27.1 per game. Last year he averaged 32.3 minutes in Golden State following his trade from Indiana.
Nellie, what’s up with that?I first talked about this on last Saturday’s fantasy show and in some sort of strange coincidence, Al logged 31 minutes as the sixth man in a win over Memphis on Monday, and then he scored 25 points in 31 minutes as a starter in a win over my Wolves on Wednesday. I don’t know what was causing the reduction in minutes, but my guess is that Harrington will be safely into the 30s the rest of the way, be it off the bench or as a starter. It might be a good time to buy low here.F – David Lee, Knicks: Livewire Lee clocked 29.8 minutes per game last season, which I thought was much too low. This year, he’s humming along at 25.6 minutes per game and I am outraged and offended. The double-double dude from a year ago has had some rough games, but Lee, Zach Randolph and Jamal Crawford have been the most consistent Knicks this season.So why can’t D Lee join Zach and Jamal in the 30s?Lee is producing in spite of the increased pine time, averaging a rock-solid 10 points and 7.3 rebounds while sniping 54 percent from the field and 84 percent from the line, so it’s tough to understand what Isiah Thomas is thinking with his rotation.Lee should be getting every minute behind Zach and Eddy Curry at the four and five. With Z-Bo (33.9) and Eddy (29.1) eating up a combined 63 of the 96 minutes available at those positions in a regulation game, the remaining 33 should go to Lee—barring foul trouble or injury. Wednesday’s 22 and 11 double-double in 38 minutes was very encouraging, but I simply do not trust Isiah to consistently give big minutes to Lee as long as Zach and Eddy are healthy. I hope I’m wrong.F – Paul Millsap, Jazz: With Mehmet Okur on the shelf with a shoulder injury, this should be Millsap’s time to shine. Unfortunately, Jerry Sloan is taking a page out of Lawrence Frank’s book by playing one of the Collins twins over a better player for some mysterious reason(s). Frank has since corrected his error, finally starting the athletic Sean Williams and Josh Boone over the un-athletic Jason Collins and Malik Allen in Tuesday’s loss to Sacto. Now it’s on Sloan to follow suit.Okur has missed the past five games. Over that stretch, Millsap has averages of 6.2 points, 5.4 rebounds, 1.6 blocks, and 1.0 steals in 19 minutes. Over the same stretch, Jarron Collins is averaging 6.8 points, 3.2 rebounds, 0.0 blocks, and 0.4 steals. That’s right, ZERO blocks in five games from a dude who’s 6-11.Sloan recently told reporters he likes Collins in the starting lineup and Millsap’s defense off the bench. Oh, well, that explains everything. Huh? What was that, Jerry? I can’t hear you through the insanity. Freaks, I realize Sloan is going to the Hall of Fame as a head coach and deservedly so, but this is one of the worst rotation decisions I have ever seen. Did I mention that Utah is 1-4 in their last five games? Could someone please tell Jazz owner Larry Miller to send a space shuttle to Planet Sloan so we can bring Jerry back to earth? Thanks so much.G – Bonzi Wells, Rockets: I have the solution to all of the Rockets’ problems and his name is Bonzi Wells. Yao Ming recently ripped the team for being soft. Rick Adelman recently lamented his team’s need for a third scorer. Done and done. Bonzi is tough as nails, always has been, and he still brings the dynamite in his briefcase when he goes to work.Through Wednesday’s work, Bonzi was averaging 22.4 minutes on the season. Our hero logged 31 minutes in Wednesday’s loss to Orlando, posting 17 points, six rebounds, and three assists. But the fantasy world can’t celebrate yet because Tracy McGrady was held out of the second half by the team’s coaches and trainers due to a sore knee. In other words, I’ll believe it when Adelman plays both McGrady and Bonzi more than 30 minutes in the same game.Here’s how Adelman finds the minutes. He benches power forwards Chuck Hayes and Luis Scola, who aren’t giving him much anyway, sliding Shane Battier (who played some four in Memphis) to that spot, freeing up major run for Bonzi at the three. I always thought Adelman was a Bonzi guy and vice versa, so I just don’t understand the limited run.That said, I strongly advocate picking up Wells right now, as the Rockets might shut down T-Mac for a spell.G – Kyle Lowry, Grizzlies: I can understand playing Damon Stoudamire 15-20 minutes a night off the bench, but he should not be starting ahead of Lowry. If you know your team isn’t going to make the playoffs (and that’s the reality in Memphis), then why rely on veteran guys who impede the development of up-and-comers like Lowry?Through Wednesday, Lowry was averaging more minutes than Damon (26.2 - 21.4), but that split needs to be more like 30-18 or 32-16. And some nights it is, like this past Saturday when Lowry played 31 and Damon played 17. However, in Wednesday’s win over the Spurs (how futuristic is Rudy Gay, by the way) Lowry played 14 minutes while Damon played 34.I like Marc Iavaroni as a head coach, and I get the fact he has three points guards who all need to play (Mike Conley is due back soon), but Lowry should be hovering around 30 minutes night in and night out. Period.More Minutes Second TeamC – Andrea Bargnani, Raptors: Assistant GM Maurizio Gherardini thinks Bargnani’s recent struggles are due to exhaustion and perhaps he’s right. But his recent dip in minutes is also due to the fine play of Kris Humphries, who was stolen from the Jazz for obvious draft bust Rafael Araujo. (Utah’s front office does a nice job, but what in the world was that?)Reigning Coach of the Year Sam Mitchell is coaching the heck out of his beat-up bunch of Raptors this season, making him a candidate to repeat as COY. But I just want to go on the record saying that Humphries should be playing over Rasho Nesterovic, NOT the first overall pick in the 2006 NBA Draft. Bargnani has to see the floor when he’s right, he just has to. Hang in there, Bargnani owners, because he’ll be back in the good graces soon enough. Now get some sleep, Andrea. F – Craig Smith, Timberwolves: One of my favorite deep sleepers coming into the season played just 24 minutes in Wednesday’s loss to Golden State, and he had only three fouls. Ryan Gomes logged 28 minutes off the bench, scoring eight and rebounding six, while Smith had eight and five, respectively, in four fewer minutes.The Wolves were in Miami on Monday, where Randy Wittman started former Heat player Michael Doleac over Smith, who had topped the 30-point mark in two of the previous four games—including 30 and 10 in Milwaukee on Saturday.What is going on here? How do you get benched two days after dropping 30 and 10? What does C Smith have to do to get more time? Freaks, Gomes is a nice player, but Smith could become a beast. Why don’t the Wolves understand this and structure their rotation as such?F – Al Thornton, Clippers: So lemme get this straight. The Clippers waive Ruben Patterson to reportedly free up time for Thornton, and then Mike Dunleavy Sr. starts Richie Frahm at the three on Tuesday night? I’m Ron Burgundy?In the last three games, Thornton has logged 22, 26, and 11 minutes, averaging 7.3 points and 3.7 rebounds over that stretch. I was all psyched to pick up Thornton, who gives you the fantasy gold—blocks, steals, and threes. But as it stands, he’s back on waivers and I’m closely monitoring the situation.G – Louis Williams, 76ers: This dude is talented. He’s a third-year combo guard who can get to the bucket and stroke it from deep, but he’s averaging only 21.5 minutes. To me, it’s okay if you wanna start Willie Green over Lou, but then you gotta make it right by giving Lou more minutes. Through Wednesday’s game Willie was clocking 29.2 minutes per game.Stats don’t always tell the story, but in this case the stats are at least telling. Green is averaging 13 points and 2.1 assists, while shooting 43 percent from the field, 37 percent from deep, and 79 percent from the line. In a word: yawn. Williams is averaging 10.5 points and 3.6 assists in 7.7 fewer minutes. And Williams is shooting quite a bit better than Green, as Lou is netting 45 percent from the field, 44 percent from three-point range, and 78 percent from free.Mo Cheeks obviously does not subscribe to the theory of getting your best five players on the court because Lou brings more to the floor than Willie. Williams is gamely playing through a fracture in his right big toe these days, so his minutes may be justifiably limited because of that. But that recent injury does not explain a year-long bad rotation in Philly.Let Lou play! Let Lou play! Let Lou play!G – Jordan Farmar, Lakers: It’s impossible to argue with what Phil Jackson is doing with this year’s Lakers, who are 15-9 as I peck away. Hey, if the finicky Kobe Bryant is happy with the Lakers, who the heck am I to be critical? Because Phil’s rotation is working to perfection and because Derek Fisher is a stud, I’m not fired up about Farmar’s paltry 20.6 minutes per game.The point to make here is that Farmar is ready to start and play big minutes, which I can’t believe I’m saying based on what I saw from him last year at this time. Through tons of hard work by Farmar and great tutelage by the coaching staff, he is averaging 9.3 points, 3.0 assists, 2.8 rebounds, and 1.3 steals in the limited time, while shooting 48 percent from the field and 41 percent from beyond.Simply put, Farmar is the Lakers’ sixth man, a candidate for Most Improved Player, and a future fantasy stud. Just add minutes.Ho-ho, ha-ha, and PEACE