so its very easy to take specific players out of consideration within the context of a "put the best team on the floor" sort of algorithm.
its harder to write a whole separate algorithm based upon equalizing minutes amongst backups and reserves. (but maybe we should do that)
its even harder to write an algorithm which both tries to put the best team on the floor and distributes minutes... for how do you quantify that tradeoff.
fwiw its not clear to me that a nba coach really pays close attention to minutes. He pays closer attention to how tired a player is and what his foul situation is, and how he is matching up with the opposing team.
it is precisely because he is not thinking "oh i need to get so and so some minutes" that you see this big difference in minutes between starters and backups generally... cause once someone has moved in the coaches mind to being better the coach leans towards having him in the game if he isn't too tired, having foul problems, or he needs a different sort of lineup for some reason. A smart coach might think ahead and say.. oh.. if i don't give him a rest now he's gonna get tired at the end of the game so i better do that.
i really don't mind debate... i've just spent time thinking about this problem a lot so I tend to have a lot of opinions.
Last edited by BB-Forrest at 4/3/2008 7:35:21 PM