The Great 2010 Blogosphere Challenge

                  

There remains an unwritten rule in the Lig. 

It is a rule so taken for granted that its insidious nature is rarely discussed. 

It is common sense: you start your five best players (at each position.)

And yet.  And yet...

Imagine the possibilities.  Think of the limitations this unspoken dogma has wrought on our beloved game.  The Cult of the Starter exponentially limits the strategies coaches can employ.  Case in point: the Houston Rockets.  It has become demonstrably clear that Tracy McGrady plays better without Yao on the floor.  At the same time, Yao has consistently vanished in fourth quarters.   

Imagine the havoc the Rocks would wreak if Tracy came off the bench.  Yao could power through the first and third quarters.  Tracy could enter in the second and play most of the rest of the game.  He could alter the entire style, tempo, and handle just as his opponents begin to dip into their benches.  As the other team began to tire, Tracy would just be beginning...And in the fourth, when Yao has worn down, here's this Tracy kid still fresh.  Would it work this smoothly?  Who knows?  It is not even considered.

Would TJ benefit by coming off the bench without the pressure to get his teammates involved?

Would Joey D have drafted Milicic if he thought Melo would be fine playing behind Tayshaun?

Do Melo and AI really play all that well together?

Don't Manu and Terry benefit their teams most by coming off the bench?

Would David Lee's game really benefit from starting? Ben Gordon?

Is the Cult of the Starter necessary? Unchangeable?

How many matchup problems could shaking up one's starting line-up create?

Imagine the creativity.

So here, I challenge my brethren bloggers.  Let us drain the Kool-Aid.  Join me, burn the cloaks.  Disband the Cult of the Starter.  Let's call it the 2010 Blogosphere Challenge.  In the next two years, how far can we go? 

Here are a couple of suggestions to begin:

1) Change the vocabulary.  Reserve need not mean B-team.  Think of the traditional land war.  Did armies necessarily send their best in the first wave of infantry?  Why did they often save their most able men for later in the afternoon?  And lose the 6th man handle.  Cosmetic?  Of course, but names do matter and 6th man necessarily implies less than best.  And there's nothing us bloggers like to do more than come up with nicknames. 

2)  Reserve two spots on each All-Star roster for reserves.  One to be voted on by fans, the other to be selected by coaches.

3)  Unleash the power of the blogosphere!  Wreak havoc!  Speak the possibilities!

In the next two years, how far can we go?  Is the culture so ingrained that TJ neccesarily feels slighted to come off the bench?  How resilient is the Cult of the Starter? 

We don't know.  It's impossible to gauge the blogosphere's influence. Most importantly, blogging is in its infancy.  The possibilities still seem endless.

Comments

[Sports Tsar]

so are these talking points for blogs to consider? a call to arms to stop using certain vocab?

George
http://sportstsar.com/

[JG]

The success San Antonio has had bringing one of their top two guys off the bench supports the hypothesis ... although you'd hate to make the rest of the league more Spurs-like.

[WRG]

Intriguing concept with provocative questions. The Milicic argument is a strong one: The teams that draft for need always seem a step behind teams that take the best player available.

But there are really, really good reasons for having five great starters, ranging from the benefits of building a commanding lead to the hierarchy it fosters in a team. Guys -shouldn't- be content playing 20 minutes; getting a starting spot is strong motivation.

And do away with terms like "reserve" and the 6th man award? Hmm. Couldn't the blogosphere better help the mission by recognizing more bench players?

[phdribble]

Brilliant point about hierarchy. It really speaks to how central the concept is to the culture of the Lig (and bball in general.) The game has evolved around this concept...but is it necessary or a crutch?

Harness the creativity of the blogging brethren.

Chicks dig the 6th Man

[goathair]

No matter what efforts are taken, there are always going to be 5 starters, and that will always be more prestigious than coming off the bench. I think it'd be interesting to see who the 5 players who end the game are. That's the true measure of a players importance.