Texas Tech at LSU: 2020-21 storylines for Big 12/SEC Challenge matchup

Riding McClung and McCullar

It is very easy for a coach to fall into a comfort zone of playing his best players the most amount of minutes, especially when trailing or in a close game. No coach can be faulted for assuming his best players provide the best opportunity for his to team win. Coach Beard to some effect is attempting to go this route, yet is not fully committing to it.

Aside from the fact that the success the Red Raiders have been experiencing has been with eight players averaging double-digit minutes, nine prior to Joel Ntambwe leaving the program. Even now with their eight-man rotation of double-digit players, freshman Tyreek Smith averages over eight minutes while tallying up double-digit minutes in seven games. To round out the team effort philosophy, Clarence Nadolny averages over seven minutes and has logged double-digit floor time on four occasions.

It has been a minimal increase for Mac McClung as his playing time has increased by an average of one minute over the past two games to 34 per game, while at the same time Kevin McCullar’s average has increased from 28 minutes to 34 minutes per game over the two-game losing streak. Over this time, the second-leading scorer Terrance Shannon’s minutes have decreased around 2 minutes during the two-game skid, which directly counters the strategy of playing your best players more.

In addition, key role players; Marcus Santos-Silva and Micah Peavy have seen their minutes decrease by four and three respectively. The additional seven minutes being taken from Santos-Silva and Peavy is justified by wanting to your best on the floor, but Coach Beard must decide if his best are playing their best during these extended minutes.