Shaq and back to back games

[Kablansky]

Anyone else notice the SIGNIFICANT drop in production in the second game of a back to back for Shaq? There are more back to backs this season then I have ever seen before. I think Porter sees and knows this, which is why he only played 10 minutes.

It's a shame for the older teams like the Suns that the television market is now dictating the schedule

 

[TJ]

You cant make too many judgements about last night's game. Shaq was told he would have the night off, but at the last minute, Barnes had to take a leave to be with his family, which meant Shaq didn't get his night off.

because of this, Shaq was not in the right mindset to play, which is why he was rather ineffective. IMO, if we are paying a guy $20 mil/year, he should play back to back games and be productive.

 

[nashman]

Give me a break he only played a little and got in foul trouble on some real ticky tack crap, Amare was going off or Shaq would have played more minutes. This is a non issue this early in the season.

 

[atikiN]

IMO, if we are paying a guy $20 mil/year, he should play back to back games and be productive.

IMO if we are paying a guy $20 mil/year he should help us make a run for the Championship. And if that means sitting out a couple of back to back games so the big fella isn't too beat up for the playoffs, then that's just fine by me.

 

[jagu]

I'll take a rested Shaq for the playoff push and run rather than the 5th game of the season.

 

[Irish]

Porter's plan to rest Shaq is not a bad idea. Clearly the team thinks he gets injured when he gets fatigued and hope to cut down on his minutes. I don't see how repeating his salary over and over makes that a bad plan.

 

[elindholm]

Back-to-back games are dictated by travel schedules, not television coverage. Teams on the road will usually have the schedule compressed to cut down on travel expenses. You'll note that the vast majority of back-to-backs league-wide are played by road teams.

 

[Kablansky]

Give me a break he only played a little and got in foul trouble on some real ticky tack crap, Amare was going off or Shaq would have played more minutes. This is a non issue this early in the season.

I was merely point out, in the 2 back to back games this season his statistics are dramatically lower. In addition, the number of back to back games this season is much greater than in years past.

 

[Covert Rain]

I was merely point out, in the 2 back to back games this season his statistics are dramatically lower. In addition, the number of back to back games this season is much greater than in years past.

Overall the winning percentage of teams as a whole are worse in back to back games. When you get older I am sure that it amplified. It's too early to tell but overall I would say this is a non issue.

We need Shaq to contribute and be healthy going into the playoffs. Anything else is just gravy.

IMO, if we are paying a guy $20 mil/year, he should play back to back games and be productive.

The guy statistically is in the top 10 overall in centers and top 5 in some categories. I would say we are getting our monies worth so far. We knew we were getting an older (but still effective) version of the old Shaq.

 

[Irish]

Back-to-back games are dictated by travel schedules, not television coverage. Teams on the road will usually have the schedule compressed to cut down on travel expenses. You'll note that the vast majority of back-to-backs league-wide are played by road teams.

If it was random, then every team should have the same number of back to back games, holiday games, and Thursday games. They don't.

Considering how much goes to salaries, I'd think travel costs are the least of the team's problems. 30 years ago, perhaps, but salaries are much much higher and relatively speaking travel costs have not grown nearly as fast.

 

[elindholm]

If it was random, then every team should have the same number of back to back games, holiday games, and Thursday games. They don't.

That's not how randomness works. That's like saying that if a coin is random, every ten times you flip it you'll get exactly five heads and five tails. Of course that isn't true.

Over the long term, the Suns have the same number of back-to-backs as everyone else. There is no television advantage to having them play on consecutive nights. Holiday games are different, but those aren't back-to-back situations.

Considering how much goes to salaries, I'd think travel costs are the least of the team's problems. 30 years ago, perhaps, but salaries are much much higher and relatively speaking travel costs have not grown nearly as fast.

That's true, and it's probably just a holdover. On the other hand, the players probably appreciate being away from home as little as possible. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that keeping road trips short is a courtesy the league makes a practice of extending to its players.

 

[PetryJr]

If it was random, then every team should have the same number of back to back games, holiday games, and Thursday games.

That makes no sense at all.

 

[Irish]

That makes no sense at all.

Random means "no peeking" and of course the league does. I bing this up in that this year the Suns have a huge number of back to back games, suggesting it is intentional on the part of the league. Eric suggests thet teams ask for it, but I'm not convinced. In a race that promises to be as tight as this year's, it is ftrustating when you team gets so many extra tough back to backs.

 

[elindholm]

I bing this up in that this year the Suns have a huge number of back to back games, suggesting it is intentional on the part of the league.

Have you compared the Suns' number of back-to-backs to what other teams are facing this year? Is the difference really that big?

Eric suggests thet teams ask for it, but I'm not convinced.

I didn't suggest any such thing. Where did you get that idea?

 

[YouJustGotSUNSD]

What was more interesting than Shaq playing was that Robin didnt play AT ALL vs Indiana.

wtf?

 

[nowagimp]

You cant make too many judgements about last night's game. Shaq was told he would have the night off, but at the last minute, Barnes had to take a leave to be with his family, which meant Shaq didn't get his night off.

because of this, Shaq was not in the right mindset to play, which is why he was rather ineffective. IMO, if we are paying a guy $20 mil/year, he should play back to back games and be productive.

You have to also understand that shaq worked out prior to the game because he thought he had the night off. He would not have done a workout prior to the second of back to backs if he knew he was going to play.

 

[Errntknght]

I counted 22 back to backs for the Suns... that is rather high but probably some teams have more. One thing for sure the league does not try to balance them - a number of years ago I wrote a program that counted them for every team and the range, IIRC, was 11 to 25 with an average of 18. I also calculated the point difference due to being the second game of a b2b and it was about the same as home team advantage - which is typically a little under 3 pts.

 

[Black Jesus]

What was more interesting than Shaq playing was that Robin didnt play AT ALL vs Indiana.

wtf?

agreed, but Amundson played real well and you couldnt take Amare out EVER.

 

[dbUNIT16]

Shaq was not needed. I'd rather have a rested Shaq later in the season than see him play 25 minutes against a lowly Pacers team.

YouJustGotSUNSD, it is indeed interesting that with Shaq hardly playing, Lopez still couldn't get off the pine.

 

[Errntknght]

With Leandro and Goran outrebounding him - not to mention Boris and Amundson, its understandable that Robin isn't being rushed into action...

 

[elindholm]

I thought Lopez was unavailable?

 

[SunsTzu]

I thought Lopez was unavailable?

He got a DNP coaches decision so I'm pretty sure he was available.

 

[Covert Rain]

I am starting to suspect that Lopez might not performing in practice or something. We went from the preseason word that he would be a regular contributer to him sitting a few times now. Starting to wonder if they think the guy is ready.

 

[nowagimp]

Lopez has a rebounding rate of one every 10 minutes so far. Amundsen has 2 every 5.8 minutes, three times as many as lopez. then there are the fouls. I think the kid is not NBA ready, his brother Brook looked pretty inexperienced the other night as well. On the plus side Barnes looks good so far. I guess that rookies are mostly not NBA ready, should have known that.

 

[elindholm]

I guess that rookies are mostly not NBA ready, should have known that.

Well, big men taken in the middle of the first round are never ready, that's for damn sure. The league-wide success rate drafting a big outside of the first five picks has to be less than 10%.