Starters Logging Major Minutes Likely Won't Change
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CHAPEL HILL – A college basketball game is 40 minutes. So, with five players on the floor, a coach has 200 minutes per outing to distribute to his team how he sees fit.
Some coaches prefer tight, limited rotations, some like going deep into their benches, and some are in between.
Hubert Davis’ approach has been a topic of discussion through the first 20 games of his tenure at the helm of North Carolina’s fabled program. He doesn’t use the bench as liberally as did Hall of Fame predecessor Roy Williams, though Williams’ last five teams had seven players average 30 or more minutes.
Davis doesn’t really dig much into his bench, and did so less in two games this week than any time during the first 18 contests of the campaign.
In the 400 minutes logged in victories over Virginia Tech (Monday) and Boston College (Wednesday), non-starters played a combined 46 minutes: 22 versus the Eagles, and 24 versus the Hokies. The starters combined to play 354 minutes, or 35.4 minutes per outing.
“You know, it's always good to get a rest, but if coach needs me out there and he keeps me out there I'll stay out there, however long he wants,” sophomore guard Caleb Love said following the BC game, in which he played 34 minutes. “I'll play the whole game, but it's just all up to coach's decision and that's him, that's his decision.”
Love, who entered this week averaging 31.9 minutes per contest, was in for 35 against Virginia Tech totaling 69 in the two games. In addition, RJ Davis and Leaky Black each played 72 minutes, Armando Bacot 71, and Brady Manek 68.
It was apparent the Tar Heels’ legs were tired during their game versus Boston College on Wednesday night. Their bodies and minds appeared so at times, too. But Davis didn’t go to the bench much.
Kerwin Walton logged 11 minutes, Justin McKoy six, and Puff Johnson played five injecting energy into the Tar Heels during his stint on the court. Otherwise, that’s it. But Davis doesn’t to see an issue with his time distribution. He was pleased with the bench versus BC.
“I was really encouraged by the bench,” Carolina’s coach said. “Kerwin went to the free throw line for the first time this year and made all three free throws. Then he was able to hit a three in the first half. And then Puff only played (five) minutes, but I mean his energy and his effort was terrific. I mean he was all over the place getting loose balls attacking the offensive glass. And Justin did a good job in the minutes when he was in.
“I don't really focus on the number in terms of the minutes, I focus on the production and what they did out there on the floor in order to put ourselves, our team in a position to win and I thought Justin, Kerwin, and Puff; I was very proud of them.”
The lack of time for reserves isn’t a new development. Love averages 32.2 minutes, Davis is at 32.1, Bacot 29.7, Manek 26.3, and Black 25.4. With Harris unavailable and Garcia out indefinitely, the only other Tar Heel averaging double-digit minutes is Walton at 16.2, though he has averaged 12.9 over the last 13 games.
McKoy averages 8.4 minutes, and that is pretty much it. And those clamoring for freshmen Dontrez Styles and D’Marco Dunn to have spots in the rotation are not going to get their wishes, or so it seems.
Dunn has played 71 total minutes in 13 appearances, and Style has been in for 61 minutes in 14 games. Most of their time has come late in lopsided wins or losses, very little occurred in a regular part of a contested game.
Minutes are distributed by Davis, even though some staffs designate an assistant to handle substitutions, or at least tracking the minutes played. Often, a bench player’s initial entry into a game is planned in advance of the contest, so that player knows when, for example, the 10-minute mark on the clock hits, it’s his turn to check into the scorer’s table and enter the contest on the next dead ball.
Davis does it all himself, however.
“We don't have a specific substitution coach,” he said. “At the end of the day, it's my decision who plays and how much they play. But the conversation and the dialogue between myself and the rest of the coaches during the game, we've got great chemistry and I can't do it without them.”
Twenty games in, it does not appear Davis is primed to change his approach, so UNC’s iron-man starting five may have to go nearly the distance each and every night until the bench develops more and/or Garcia returns.
And even then, the rotation is likely to remain tight.
UNC's 30-Minute Players The Last Five Years
2020: Garrison Brooks 34.9; Cole Anthony 34.9; Brandon Robinson 30.2.
2018: Joel Berry 33.1.
2017: Justin Jackson 32.0; Joel Berry 30.4.
Note: In 2021, Garrison Brooks led UNC playing 28.0 minutes per game, and in 2019, Cam Johnson led the Heels playing 29.9 minutes per contest.