Minutes Played by Starting Lineup

[HuskerActuary]

Since we have a relatively weak bench right now, I wanted to look at the number of minutes our starters have played and compare it to our conference brethren to understand whether we have a potential problem brewing with tired legs.

 

We are #2 in the conference in starters' minutes played. We're only 2.3 minutes above the average, though.

 

Rank/Team	Average Minutes
1. Northwestern	30.3
2. Nebraska	29.8
3. Michigan	29.6
4. Penn St.	28.9
5. Maryland	28.7
6.Minnesota	28.3
AVERAGE	27.5
7. Purdue	26.9
8. Ohio St.	26.9
9. Wisconsin	26.8
10. Rutgers	26.6
11. Indiana	26.1
12. Illinois	25.7
13. Michigan St.	25.5
14. Iowa	24.6

 

[hskr4life]

1 hour ago, HuskerActuary said:

Since we have a relatively weak bench right now, I wanted to look at the number of minutes our starters have played and compare it to our conference brethren to understand whether we have a potential problem brewing with tired legs.

 

We are #2 in the conference in starters' minutes played. We're only 2.3 minutes above the average, though.

 

Rank/Team	Average Minutes
1. Northwestern	30.3
2. Nebraska	29.8
3. Michigan	29.6
4. Penn St.	28.9
5. Maryland	28.7
6.Minnesota	28.3
AVERAGE	27.5
7. Purdue	26.9
8. Ohio St.	26.9
9. Wisconsin	26.8
10. Rutgers	26.6
11. Indiana	26.1
12. Illinois	25.7
13. Michigan St.	25.5
14. Iowa	24.6

 

 

Would be interested in seeing a few things...

 

1.  Do these change in games played against P5 competition?

 

2.  Wha were last years end numbers for all Big 10 teams?

 

Feel like under 30 is common.

[HuskerFever]

19 minutes ago, hskr4life said:

 

Would be interested in seeing a few things...

 

1.  Do these change in games played against P5 competition?

 

2.  Wha were last years end numbers for all Big 10 teams?

 

Feel like under 30 is common.

 

And while we're at it:

 

3. Percentage of starter points vs. total points.

[Norm Peterson]

Keep in mind, that's with Roby being in foul trouble a lot. If Roby wasn't a frequent object of officiating attention, that average probably moves north of 30.

[HuskerActuary]

2 hours ago, hskr4life said:

Do these change in games played against P5 competition?

 

Excellent question. It was easier for me to look at it against top-100 teams, so I hope that works for you. The sample size is still small - each Big Ten team has played between 4 and 7 top-100 teams so far. But here are the results. Using this data, NW and Nebraska are significantly ahead of the rest. 

 

Rank/Team	Average Minutes
1. Northwestern	32.7
2. Nebraska	32.6
3. Michigan	31.2
4. Maryland	30.5
5. Wisconsin	29.0
6. Penn St.	29.0
AVERAGE	29.0
7. Ohio St.	28.4
8. Purdue	28.3
9. Minnesota	28.2
10. Rutgers	27.6
11. Illinois	27.4
12. Michigan St.	27.3
13. Indiana	27.3
14. Iowa	26.8

[HuskerActuary]

2 hours ago, hskr4life said:

2.  Wha were last years end numbers for all Big 10 teams?

Here are the numbers for the 2017-2018 season. I like the top-100 filter so that's reflected here - this only includes top-100 opponents.

 

Rank/Team	Average Minutes
1. Penn St.	30.1
2. Wisconsin	29.5
3. Maryland	29.4
4. Purdue	29.3
5. Michigan	29.2
6. Nebraska	29.0
7. Northwestern	28.2
AVERAGE	27.7
8. Ohio St.	27.6
9. Rutgers	27.3
10. Indiana	26.7
11. Minnesota	26.3
12. Michigan St.	26.0
13. Iowa	25.7
14. Illinois	23.5

[Handy Johnson]

I for one am looking forward to giving Iowa a SOUND beating at Carver Hawkeye arena in a couple weeks...

[cornfed24-7]

34 minutes ago, Handy Johnson said:

I for one am looking forward to giving Iowa a SOUND beating at Carver Hawkeye arena in a couple weeks...

They're the team in conference play I most enjoy see us beat

[cornfed24-7]

They're my Colorado

[B-town hoopsfan]

Roby and Allen’s minutes aren’t terrible at like 27 and 28 minutes each however our seniors are in the 30s so that could end up being an issue down the line. I don’t see that really changing either. 

[hskr4life]

19 minutes ago, B-town hoopsfan said:

Roby and Allen’s minutes aren’t terrible at like 27 and 28 minutes each however our seniors are in the 30s so that could end up being an issue down the line. I don’t see that really changing either. 

 

How many minutes do NBA guys play?  I don’t watch so I don’t know.  30 minutes doesn’t seem like much for a college student.

[jayschool]

2 hours ago, hskr4life said:

 

How many minutes do NBA guys play?  I don’t watch so I don’t know.  30 minutes doesn’t seem like much for a college student.

Damn right. Especially when the college players are 23, 22, 21, 20 and 20 years old (Copeland, JPJ, Glynn turns 22 in March, Zay turns 21 on Feb. 3, Tom).

[khoock]

2 hours ago, hskr4life said:

 

How many minutes do NBA guys play?  I don’t watch so I don’t know.  30 minutes doesn’t seem like much for a college student.

Good ones probably average about 30-35. 

 

They should all be fine though. Only playing two games a week. Remember last year the schedule was condensed so they could play the BTT at Madison Square Garden.

[throwback]

40 minutes ago, khoock said:

Good ones probably average about 30-35. 

 

They should all be fine though. Only playing two games a week. Remember last year the schedule was condensed so they could play the BTT at Madison Square Garden.

Good point, it'll be a big difference this season. We're also benefiting from the earlier start date for the season (5 days) and the extra almost full week (6 days) in the NCAA calendar. Add in the "uncondensed" conference schedule (7 days) and the 2018-19 regular season schedule has 18 extra days in it, while playing the same number of games ... all of which should help a team relying on its starters to play a larger than average number of minutes.

 

2018-19

Nov 6 - Dec 31 = 13 games / 56 days / 4.31 days per game

Jan 1 - Mar 10 = 18 games / 69 days / 3.83 days per game

 

2017-18

Nov 11 - Dec 31 = 15 games / 51 days / 3.4 days per game

Jan 1 - Feb 25 = 16 games / 56 days / 3.5 days per game

[HuskerFever]

7 minutes ago, throwback said:

Good point, it'll be a big difference this season. We're also benefiting from the earlier start date for the season (5 days) and the extra almost full week (6 days) in the NCAA calendar. Add in the "uncondensed" conference schedule (7 days) and the 2018-19 regular season schedule has 18 extra days in it, while playing the same number of games ... all of which should help a team relying on its starters to play a larger than average number of minutes.

 

2018-19

Nov 6 - Dec 31 = 13 games / 56 days / 4.31 days per game

Jan 1 - Mar 10 = 18 games / 69 days / 3.83 days per game

 

2017-18

Nov 11 - Dec 31 = 15 games / 51 days / 3.4 days per game

Jan 1 - Feb 25 = 16 games / 56 days / 3.5 days per game

 

We sure did have a good record on short-turnaround games though! Last season I almost preferred we played with short rest (aka "forget the in-depth game plan and just go out and play").

 

I bet that experience helped our team in the offseason.

[Dean Smith]

25 minutes ago, HuskerFever said:

 

We sure did have a good record on short-turnaround games though! Last season I almost preferred we played with short rest (aka "forget the in-depth game plan and just go out and play").

 

I bet that experience helped our team in the offseason.

There is rarely if ever  a “forget the in-depth game plan and just go out and play.” More time between games allows for more time to plan and implement but coaches are scouting for a game ahead of time and not waiting for the last one to get over. You diminish the work the coaches put in with statements like that. Teams that have a deeper understanding of the game can pick things up quicker and hopefully that’s what Nebraska has. 

[HuskerFever]

9 minutes ago, Dean Smith said:

There is rarely if ever  a “forget the in-depth game plan and just go out and play.” More time between games allows for more time to plan and implement but coaches are scouting for a game ahead of time and not waiting for the last one to get over. You diminish the work the coaches put in with statements like that. Teams that have a deeper understanding of the game can pick things up quicker and hopefully that’s what Nebraska has. 

 

Oh, I'm not saying that the coaches aren't planning for the opponents well ahead of time. I'm talking about the players having less time to get into the weeds and just take what scouting report they have and go out and play.

 

We've had some rosters seem to be too 'academic' in their approach, and when we started having shorter turnarounds, I feel like the players were a little looser and found ways to make plays in transition.

[nustudent]

Not worried about minutes.   These are college kids.   There have been plenty of Duke/Kansas type teams that don't go more than 6 or 7 deep.  Far bigger concern is who fills a role if there is foul trouble.  Getting Harris back will help reduce a few of those minutes too.

[atskooc]

Harris has started doing some conditioning, but he's sill out indefinitely. 

[Cazzie22]

I am concerned about starter minutes.  Hopefully, the reserves get some minutes against SW Minnesota.  We shouldn’t have starters playing 30 or more minutes.

[Bill Clay]

I like our bench and think they can contribute but aren't given the opportunity because our starters are really good. I agree with the sentiment that these guys are young enough and the minutes won't matter. Like nustudent said there are plenty of examples of good teams that ride their starters.  

[HB]

20 minutes ago, Bill Clay said:

I like our bench and think they can contribute but aren't given the opportunity because our starters are really good. I agree with the sentiment that these guys are young enough and the minutes won't matter. Like nustudent said there are plenty of examples of good teams that ride their starters.  

 

Welcome to the Board, and glad you survived the fall from the Nakatomi Plaza.  

[Huskerpapa]

Welcome Bill Clay - 

 

 

Edited December 28, 2018 by Huskerpapa

[uneblinstu]

Count me in the camp as not worried about starter minutes.

[khoock]

Not worried as well. Especially since they are all upperclassmen and are used to the grind/ have had multiple offseasons in the conditioning program.