April 18--To rest or not to rest? NBA teams have debated that internally all season.
Should you give your stars big minutes, like the Cavaliers have done with Kyrie Irving (36.4 per game) and LeBron James (36.1)?
Or do you go the "Pop" route, a la Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, and sacrifice regular-season victories for the hope of fresh postseason legs?
No Spurs player exceeded Kawhi Leonard's 31.8 minutes per game -- and Leonard suited up just 64 times. So the team's overall minutes leader was Danny Green, whose 2,312 did not crack the NBA's top 50. Tim Duncan just played 2,227 minutes -- and everyone around the league noticed.
"There are times when you're like: 'Man, I wish I was playing more minutes.' But then you have the example of the Spurs," Hawks forward Kyle Korver said. "If they didn't restrict Tim Duncan's minutes, would he still be playing right now (in his 17th season)? I understand that people pay a lot of money to watch you play, but if you get an extra three years of Tim Duncan, would you sacrifice that?"
Korver, the 3-point shooting maestro, said of the minutes conundrum: "There's not a winner in this argument."
Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau, of course, never has been shy about doling out major minutes to his top players. Last season he played Jimmy Butler 60 minutes in a triple overtime game and then joked: "That's my favorite TV show."
Butler led the NBA in minutes per game this season, at 38.7. But that was for 65 games. So his total time on the floor was 2,513 minutes, not even the most on the team.
That distinction belongs to Pau Gasol, who logged 2,681 minutes. That's 14th in the league behind little brother Marc Gasol (2,687) in 13th. That's Pau's highest minutes total since 2011-12 with the Lakers.
But other than Gasol, the Bulls enter this postseason relatively fresh. Butler played nearly 300 fewer minutes this regular season than last because of injuries. Joakim Noah, because of injuries and restrictions, shaved nearly a 1,000 minutes off last season's total of 3,030. And Taj Gibson's total fell to 1,692 from 2,505.
"Everyone has had time off, at least a little bit," Bulls guard Aaron Brooks said. "I look at it kind of like San Antonio, where the vets take breaks. The younger guys got more of a chance to get a rhythm. So that makes us a deeper team and hopefully that works for us in the playoffs."
The Hawks and Warriors are two of the teams that believe in Popovich's push to rest vets.
Paul Milsap was the Hawks' top minutes man, but he ranked merely 45th in the NBA with 2,390 and 40th at 32.7 per game. Korver averaged 32.2 and Al Horford just 30.5.
Korver, who played two seasons for the Bulls from 2010-12, said Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer frequently chats with his players about fatigue.
"A lot of coaches say they have an open-door policy, but do they?" Korver said. "Bud really does listen to what you have to say and is very mindful of how you feel. There are real conversations.
"Thibs is not trying to break anyone by any means; he wants to win championships. He feels it's his responsibility as a coach to find that line and maximize what he has on his team. There's not a wrong way; there are lots of different methods."
Elton Brand, another former Bulls forward now with the Hawks, said he believes that regular-season rest does lead to a better performance in the playoffs.
"But not just rest the last two games (of the regular season)," he said. "You can't play catch-up. But if you do it periodically throughout the season, sit when you have four games in five nights ..."
Thibodeau is not one to rest able-bodied players voluntarily, but perhaps he didn't need to this season. The injuries and restrictions took care of it.
"Derrick Rose and Jimmy Butler," Turner Sports analyst Charles Barkley said, "those guys are probably fresher than most guys going into the playoffs."
tgreenstein@tribpub.com
