substitution strategies

how does coach smart come up with his substitution patterns?  on friday, i don't believe dorell wright played in the fourth quarter until past the half way mark.  he is averaging 38:42 minutes per game and only played 28:27 on friday.  what's up with that???  also, lineups with david lee, louis amundson and vladimir radmanovic were seen way too often especially when acie law was out there with those three.  now what i'm wondering is why jeff adrien didn't play.  he is undersized, but he is tough and knows how to rebound, something we need a lot of help with.  louis amundson is good for nothing, because his atrocious free throw shooting percentage cancels out his hustle because he can't ever get put backs because he gets fouled on them and can't make the free throws.  at least, vladimir radmanovic can hit threes and andris biedrins can get rebounds and ekpe udoh and play amazing defense.  jeff adrien needs to take louis amundson's spot in the rotation and louis amundson needs to take a trip to the d league, so he can work on his offensive skills.  now to al thornton, he has the skill set to go in for dorell wright without there being a huge drop off in talent or size at the three.  previously, we'd have to lose a lot of size with reggie williams or a lot of talent with vladimir radmanovic, but with al thornton, he has skill and size.  he just needs to feel comfortable and do him because on friday he looked a little uncomfortable, passing up a wide open layup under the basket that led to a turnover.  there is not very much margin for error here on out if we want a chance at the playoffs.  we have to go no worse than 17-4 to close out the season.

coach smart needs to grow some and stop trying to get everyone minutes and focus on getting the best players minutes.  he needs to shore up the rotation to about 10 men with 8 guys getting the majority of the minutes.  i really like the adjustment of andris biedrins coming off the bench.  our starting lineup should be pg stephen curry, sg monta ellis, sf dorell wright, pf david lee and c ekpe udoh.  our three main guys off the bench should be pg/sg reggie williams, sf/pf al thornton and c jeff adrien and our two sparingly used bench guys should be sf/pf vladimir radmanovic and pf jeff adrien.

the subs need to be made for fouls only (at least in the first half then if we are blowing them out in the second half, you can rest guys just because.  we can only do that in the second half because if you do that in the first half, there is too much time for the opposing team to get confidence and make a comeback).  our team is really young, so their legs should be able to handle the heavy minutes.  this is when subs need to be made:

stephen curry: 2 fouls in the first quarter / 3 fouls in the second quarter / 4 fouls in the third quarter / 5 fouls in the fourth quarter

monta ellis: 3 fouls in the second quarter / 5 fouls in the third quarter

dorell wright: 3 fouls in the second quarter / 5 fouls in the third quarter

david lee: 2 fouls in the first quarter / 3 fouls in the second quarter / 4 fouls in the third quarter / 5 fouls in the fourth quarter

ekpe udoh: 2 fouls in the first quarter / 4 fouls in the third quarter

andris biedrins: 3 fouls in the second quarter / 5 fouls in the fourth quarter

reggie williams / al thornton / vladimir radmanovic / jeff adrien: shouldn't see enough minutes to get in foul trouble

first quarter starting line up: pg stephen curry, sg monta ellis, sf dorell wright, pf david lee, c ekpe udoh

possible first quarter subs: pg reggie williams, pf al thornton, c andris biedrins

second quarter starting line up: pg stephen curry, sg monta ellis, sf dorell wright, pf david lee, c andris biedrins

possible second quarter subs: pg/sg reggie williams, sf/pf al thornton, sf/pf vladimir radmanovic, pf jeff adrien, c ekpe udoh

third quarter starting line up: pg stephen curry, sg monta ellis, sf dorell wright, pf david lee, c ekpe udoh

possible third quarter subs: pg/sg reggie williams, sf/pf al thornton, sf/pf vladimir radmanovic, pf jeff adrien, c ekpe udoh

fourth quarter starting line up: pg stephen curry, sg monta ellis, sf dorell wright, pf david lee, c andris biedrins

possible fourth quarter subs: pg reggie williams, pf al thornton, c ekpe udoh