Would you rather have a strong starting five and no bench or an average starting five and a deep bench?
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Hey Coach,
This is an easy question. While a strong starting 5 lineup may win a ball club more games than not, a coach always has to be aware of that thing they call the injury bug! How many times has it ruined potentially great teams or teams that had a premier starting 5 with a weak bench? One too many times…
An average starting 5 has the opportunity to get better throughout the season and gel once the chemistry kicks in. Say this doesn’t happen…well that’s what a deep bench is for. To mix and match and get the right combination with the best 5 on the court, regardless who starts.
A numbers coach would and should definitely opt for a deep bench, and one that can carry a team throughout the season so the stars of the team can shine during playoffs. Play the numbers, not the chances!
Peace
Hello Czar.
I must say, that neither of these options would apply to me, I’d rather have two average players in the starting lineup that are accompanied by three great players and have a deep enough bench that challenges the starting lineup in scrimmages sufficiently.
So to speak, if I had say (DJ Augustin, Ray Allen, DeMar Derozan, Dirk Nowitzki, Brook Lopez) for a starting line up, I’d settle for (Chris Duhon, Jason Terry, Ronnie Brewer, Taj Gibson, Nenad Krstic, Sasha Vujacic, Hilton Armstrong) as the bench.