Roster and Minutes Projections

[JCSunsfan]

So, based upon what we know now, I would be interested in your predictions for the roster come November. Who will be in the regular rotation and who will be warming the bench. Also, list players in your predicted order of minutes played. I'll start.

Regular Rotation
1. Marion. Never gets tired
2. Bell. Warrior
3. Nash. Hard to keep him off the court, but Barbosa will allow breathers.
4. Stoudemire. He could be higher in minutes, but I'll be conservative.
5. Barbosa. Won't start but will get lost of minutes.
6. Hill. Will start, but they will be carefull.
7. Diaw. People will complain about his production, but when you are 7th in the rotation, your stats will suffer.
8. Thomas. This is a wild card. DAntoni doesn't play him as much as he should.

Situational Minutes (ends of blowouts, special matchups, injuries)
9. Tucker. They want this guy to succeed and think alot of him.
10. Strawberry. If he makes the roster, special situations might give him a chance to shine. He's great insurance if they are somehow able to move Banks.
11. Banks. He might get "showcase" minutes early, but if he is not dealt, there is no place for him in this rotation.

Will never squeak the sneaks
12. Marks. I wonder about this guy. We never really saw him play last year. There are alot of opinions on how bad he is, but how would we even know. Kerr obviously thinks alot of him. He might get more minutes than we expect. He could sneak up past Banks in minutes.
13. Piatkowski

 

[carey]

Pretty much.

 

[Suns_fan69]

I'll take a stab (while I wait for a build here at work)

1. Marion - Even with Hill it'll be hard to supplant Marion as he'll just end up taking minutes at the 4 spot at Diaw's expense
2. Bell - By far our best perimeter defender so will see a lot of playing time
3. Stoudemire - Only foul trouble can keep him off the floor and I hope he'll be a lot more controlled defensively as the season progresses.
4. Nash - With Hill I think we'll finally see Nash's minutes come down a bit
5. Barbosa - I had a hard time deciding between Hill and Leandro in the 5 and 6 spots. I think ultimately LB's youth and health so far probably wins the minutes
6. Hill - Most likely in the starting lineup, and most likely crunch time minutes. Probably split a lot of the rest with LB.
7. Diaw - I don't think there'll be a steep dropoff in minutes in the 5,6,7 spots but Diaw will get the short end of the stick.
8. KT - Should start, should see heavy minutes but D'antoni is probably too stubborn for that.
9. Strawberry - Assuming he makes the roster I actually think he's got a greater chance of getting minutes than either Tucker or Banks, based on his ability to play point.
10. Tucker - A lot of wing rotation guys ahead of him. Will likely get garbage time and maybe a bit more on back to backs if they rest Hill like orlando did.
11. Banks - I'm not a Banks hater per se, but I just don't think he's a fit with this team. In particular Strawberry brings the same effort on defense and is a better distributor.
12. Marks - In the grand scheme he might actually see more minutes than 9-11 based on the fact that he's the only big for garbage time. Call it the Pat Burke syndrome.
13. Piatowski - Street clothes!

 

[Stargazer]

I have a hunch that Diaw will have a much better season this year. I think he'll play his way into the starting rotation.

 

[azirish]

With the foot problems Marion is having, I'd expect his minutes to go down if for no other reason than precaution.

 

[fordronken]

Here's what I'd like to see minuets wise:

Nash - 32
Bell - 32
Hill - 25
Marion - 36
Stoudemire - 38
Barbosa - 37
Diaw - 30
Thomas - 20
Tucker - 15

 

[scoutmasterdave]

Here's what I'd like to see minuets wise:

If we're talking about minuets, I'd like to see Bach, Haydn, Handel, and Beethoven given a chance.

 

[fordronken]

If we're talking about minuets, I'd like to see Bach, Haydn, Handel, and Beethoven given a chance.

I sure know how to trivialize my point before I get to it, don't I?

 

[fordronken]

Let me try again.

Nash - 32
Bell - 32
Hill - 25
Marion - 36
Stoudemire - 38
Barbosa - 37
Diaw - 30
Thomas - 20
Tucker - 15

 

[Griffin]

Let me try again.

Nash - 32
Bell - 32
Hill - 25
Marion - 36
Stoudemire - 38
Barbosa - 37
Diaw - 30
Thomas - 20
Tucker - 15

Every year someone tries to predict the minutes and every year their total exceeds 240

The above scenario can only happen if some players are out for significant time due to injuries. Or we play lots of overtimes.

 

[fordronken]

Every year someone tries to predict the minutes and every year their total exceeds 240

The above scenario can only happen if some players are out for significant time due to injuries. Or we play lots of overtimes.

I swear I did the math and it came out to 240. I'm apparently a mess today.

 

[Bufalay]

37 minutes for barbosa is too many.

 

[azirish]

Let me try again.

Nash - 32
Bell - 32
Hill - 25
Marion - 36
Stoudemire - 38
Barbosa - 37
Diaw - 30
Thomas - 20
Tucker - 15

265 out of 240 minutes.

There is no way Tucker or any deep bench guy gets 15 minutes. 5 would be huge.

Other thoughts:

Stoudemire is unlikely to get 38 minutes.

IMHO, there is a direct tradeoff between Diaw and Thomas. We can assume that Hill will start at SF with Marion moving over when Hill is out unless they use Bell to get three point shooting.

Barbosa and Bell will lose minutes due to Hill. Bell was used at SF and this will be reduced and thus the minutes with Nash, Bell, Barbosa on the floor at the same time will be less.

 

[Treesquid PhD]

Nash 31 Marion 36 Bell 34 STAT 34 Hill 22 Diaw 28 Barbosa 30 Thomas 12 Tucker 10 Banks 3

 

[azirish]

Nash 31 Marion 36 Bell 34 STAT 34 Hill 22 Diaw 28 Barbosa 30 Thomas 12 Tucker 10 Banks 3

I think D'Antoni will try to limit Hill to 25 and fail.

IMHO, Tucker, Banks, and Strawberry will play but rarely in the same games.

 

[Treesquid PhD]

I think D'Antoni will try to limit Hill to 25 and fail.

IMHO, Tucker, Banks, and Strawberry will play but rarely in the same games.

probably, but I don't think Hill will go over 30 though.

 

[playstation]

barbosa is going to play the 3rd most minutes next year. he played 33/gm last year, i'm guessing that'll be up to the 35-36 range this year (as will amare's). its going to be A LOT of barbosa, bell, hill, marion, amare this year. fun to watch...not beating the spurs

oh, also, leandro will be our #2 scorer next year behind amare. book it

 

[azirish]

barbosa is going to play the 3rd most minutes next year. he played 33/gm last year, i'm guessing that'll be up to the 35-36 range this year (as will amare's). its going to be A LOT of barbosa, bell, hill, marion, amare this year. fun to watch...not beating the spurs

oh, also, leandro will be our #2 scorer next year behind amare. book it

I think Leandro''s minutes will be dependent on how much he improves on defense. Right now he is barely average. Because of his quickness and length he's a lot better than Nash, but he can't keep in front of other quick guys and he's not strong enough to play a physcial style. If he upped his defense, he could be playing more because he's a terrific offensive threat.