It's a bit different when two of your starters have ankle injuries and one has back problems. You rest them as much as you can. Just ask Brady.
i would agree that team chemistry and player conditioning is important, but a hobbled great player may be worse than a healthy backup. this is the coaches call and why i say its a bit silly for us to be debating this sorry jean, the sec championship doesnt mean much anymore. players, recruits and fans will remember how far a team got in the ncaa tourney more than if they won the sec. one win or maybe two in the ncaa tourney is no big deal but a elite 8 or certainly final 4 appearance does a helluva lot more for the program
Since forever. I would MUCH rather make a run in the NCAA tournament than win the SEC. If we win the SEC, and lose in the 1st round of the tournament, who cares? I will view the year as a disappointment because success is measured based on how far you get in the tournament. I'm not saying this means that we should bench all of our starters from here on out. But, I'd definitely be sitting Tyrus until he's healthy...even if it costs us a game or two.
CJ is redshirting. These are 18 to 22 year old kids that aspire to play 82 games in a season in the NBA. If they are injured, they wont play. But I guarantee you that we will try to win every game. These kids know how to win and will find ways to do it.
I do agree winning the SEC is important. I don't think that is minimized even with the NCAA tourney looming. BUT...you have a couple of players at 75-80% with two games that may not require your best on the floor. I'd look at giving the starts (beside TT) about 50% of the playing time. Tyrus should probably sit out the next game to heal and then work into the final game to get back into his rythym. Play guys as needed in the tourney...
Ok, I think a lot of folks here may have an interesting debate on this point. I seem to believe that winning the SEC championship still means something but others don't. The bottom line is yes, "fans" especially our "fans" seem to remember what Mr. Brady has done for us last. And, the SEC west championship coupled with a first round flame out didn't sit well with our fans. BUT, I'd argue that ultimately, the success of any college athletic program is measured FIRST by how you do in your conference and how much success you have there. Although "march madness" is a little different in the how much hoopla surrounds it, this should not change. We have a chance to earn an OUTRIGHT SEC basketball championship... first one since 1985. You don't think the SEC championship trophy is going to look good on our resume, or be a measure of success for our squad? I guess it's all relative... would posters rather say have 3rd or 4th place SEC team that goes say to the sweet 16 or elite 8 once in a while (say 'Bama from a few years ago), or a team that wins the SEC title and then says wins two games in the tourney (ala Kentucky the last few years)? I'd argue consistently winning the SEC and being champs of your conference still means more than being a "streaky" tourney winner sometimes. I'd rather be a program that wins its conference, rather than sacraficing a championship for one further round. I know these are all hypotheticals, but I honestly think that "rest" does not make for a longer NCAA run for THIS team, due to still an inexperienced squad with relatively little backcourt depth. I'd hate to see us lose a chance to do something our school has not done in 21 years, which is win a SEC championship, because you think that somehow a fully rested D.Mitch might mean you go to the final four--the odds are still against this team going that far. You're making some big assumptions. "Rest our squad" by starting Voogd, and we go to the elite 8?, vs. somehow "win our conference" and risk losing in the first round. Not likely in either case.
TGer'nLHornLand brings up some very valid points. For me, I would rather see LSU finish first in the SEC than see LSU go to the Sweet 16 or Elite 8. However, I feel this team, no matter how young, can do this. They have already made me proud but it would be the cherry on top to have them go far in the tourny. It's unlikelty they'll go to the Final 4, but I think they can do it if they play the right teams.:geauxtige
my final word on this subject. with no tt and tm and dm at 75% or less this team wins one NCAA tourney game max. if these players are not held out or substantially limited, this poor of a showing is risked. with these three players at 100% (i know that MAY not be possible), final four is POSSIBLE. this scenario includes more than just a one round difference in the tourney. if you believe this scenario is possible, then you should agree that the injured players should be held out til the ncaa tourney or til healthy.
I would rather see an SEC championship banner than a Final Four banner in our gym. They have already proven themselves to me. Back on the main topic though. I would make sure we have the regular season SEC championship clinched, then rest our guys. The SEC tourny doesn't matter to me this year.
I'm pretty pleased with our team to date; if we lose in the NCAAs because of injuries it's hard to fault Brady. If we can win the regular season outright, lose the SEC tourney because of injuries and then not flame out in the NCAAs, I would be disappointed but ok with losing in the first round. Brady has had some tough luck with injuries. Unless the team completely falters the rest of the season I think Brady has earned himself an extension. We have to have some success; either win the SEC regular season, NCAAs, or SEC tourney, in that order. I also hate that the regular season and winning your conference has lost importance; I still believe in a college football playoff, but you have to be very careful not to kill the importance of the regular season.
