Discussion: Strategy vs. IU
Okay, now that we've won the regular season outright...does this change your strategy vs. IU?
NCAA Tournament seeding is the only thing that is hurt by a loss and there isn't a huge difference beween a 2 and a 3 seed.
However, a chance to pay IU back from last year. A chance to beat Crean. And just the fact that these are 18-22 years olds and "how much rest do they really need?" are all valid points.
What are your thoughts? Discuss.
My thought, treat it like any other game...with one caveat. If you have ANYONE who's banged up. You sit him. But screw the "trying to avoid injury factor." You can always get hurt or injured so I don't let that change my thinking. However, for someone like Morgan who's a little banged up. I may lean on Horford for 28 minutes and Bielfeldt for 12.
I think you play it close to a normal game. Keep in mind they will have almost a full week off until the conference tournament starts. You don't want to give everyone the day off then come out rusty in Indy.
That being said I don't think we need to run Stauskas/Robinson/Levert 35+ minutes. Keep a good rotation with Albrecht, Irvin, and Bielfeldt to keep the starters minutes between 25-30.
NCAA Tournament seeding is the only thing that is hurt by a loss
But that's a big thing. I don't think we're absolutely guaranteed a top-3 seed. If we were to lose to IU and then lose in the quarters or semis of the BTT, I could see us dropping to #4. We'd be 22-9 or 23-9 in that case.
Play to lose? Get off my court!
Crean is a schmuck, run up the score as high as possible. Payback time for last years loss in AA.
I'm guessing the players will be motivated to play well and win, none moreso than Nik Stauskis who only scored six points in the previous game against IU.
You are waaaay over-thinking it. As a coach, do you ever want a team to not play their best?