I'd expect to see a lot less of our 7-10 guys in some of the crucial games coming up. I'll be amazed if they get close to 10 minutes, unless there is serious foul trouble. Don't know why u guys expect them to break in to the line up of our top 6 and play big minutes. think boys.
You may be right and far be it from me to second-guess Barnes but I'm not sure I understand the rationale behind such a strategy...beyond the crucial games you mention. From the outside looking in, I would think that now would be a good time to be asking more from our bench, i.e. building depth to at least two more guys. We have a killer stretch coming up to end the regular season and, personally, my uninformed gut tells me to use a solid rotation of 8-9 guys...now, as we approach the home stretch of the season. Rest our racehorses a bit when we can, give some quality minutes to the 8 and 9 guys while coaching the heck out of them to truly contribute, so we enter the tourney knowing we have a bench that can help us win. A lot of folks feel we got knocked out of the tourney last year because Alexander fouled out and there was a significant drop-off with his replacement.
I would think that a rotation of 9 would increase our chances in the tourney. Tell those guys on the bench that this team''s fortunes in the tourney rest with them...how they do when they are on the floor. Time to step up and win it for us, etc. We have eight regular-season games left, then the SEC tourney, then The Show. That's a lot of games for a rotation of 7 who have already played the vast majority of minutes in 23 games.
I mean, what are we gonna do when, for example, Schofield goes down with an injury and Williams fouls out, God forbid, when it's all on the line with five minutes left? And we're playing a quality opponent who have been rotating their own 9 and maybe aren't as gassed as our 7?
Just some thoughts from a fan. All that said with this obvious caveat: Barnes knows what he is doing and I trust him.