Buying Time

Just had a conversation with a coach and we were commenting on a brilliant piece of coaching we saw on Sunday. As a coach you must be able to use the time of the game to your team's advantage by buying time for your starters to get a rest while limiting your exposure by playing reserves.

Watching the NBA game you will see starters go out in the last minute or 2 of a quarter and not return until the 9 minute mark of the second or fourth quarter. Coaches use the extended timeout at the end of the quarter and the first mandatory time out (first whistle under 8:59) to get that four to five minutes of clock time and extra 5 to 8 minutes of REAL time rest for their starters. When the Jazz played the Bulls in the NBA Finals, NBC made a point talking about player rotations and getting rest for John Stockton. They put up a graphic that he missed 4 minutes of game time and got something like 16 minutes of real time to rest.

At the college level you will see players subbing out right before the media timeouts (1st whistle under 16,12,8, &4 minute marks of each half) to extend their regulars rest. Often times coaches in college will feel out the game and see if they can buy additional time for a starter on the bench if the team is holding or extending a lead with the reserve in the game.

At the high school level there are no mandatory timeouts so finding these moments is more difficult but coaches should become experts at managing the game. Hypothetical case in point: There's a dead ball under a minute in the first quarter and you're going to be on defense and you know you're opponent is going to hold for the last shot of a quarter, why not put a sub in who won't kill you defensively and sub out a start who has a foul. How often have your starters picked up a pointless second foul on a drive or a rebound scrum on defense at the end of a quarter. There is a huge psychological boost for a player who starts a quarter not in foul trouble, they play more freely and aggressively, qualities that you want out of your players. The use of subs is critical in managing the game. Use the sub and their energy and keep your starters out of foul trouble. It will always come in handy to have your best five on the floor at the end of the game.

Oh and that brilliant piece of coaching we saw yesterday. With his starting point guard in foul trouble and his playing rotation a little out of whack, Kevin O'Neil of USC called a timeout right before an upcoming media timeout because his guys were gassed. So he in essence created two timeouts in a row for them to help their recovery. Unfortunately Nebraska hit a 3 late to beat USC but by managing the game, the Trojans made the game come down to the last possession.