Big difference between those teams and our bulls team, is that our best players are a lot younger. Duncan was playing 40 minutes a year when he was physically peaking. Spurs won 3 championships with their best guy playing heavy minutes. Same with KG, even though he didn’t win he took his teams far. You’re not riding a 35 year old the same way you are a 22 year old.

“If he wants to push them, then do it when it matters, not when it doesn’t”

I can agree with that, but as of right now I see more positives, one of them being Rose’s improved stamina, than negative.

I agree with Gotnext, the only real reason for leaving in rose and deng is to keep them at 40 min shape, which they will have to do in the playoffs. they’re young, without a lot of experience (unlike the MJ era) and can handle those kind of minutes. And if they average roughly 40 min a night now, then according to you, they will be able to extend that to 45 min in the playoffs. I don’t know about you, but I would love to see how opposing teams handle 45 minutes of derrick rose

I would much prefer this kind of process, really. It would be more satisfying to have Rose rise above the other names, rather than having him pegged 60% into the season and ride it out for the win …

“Doc rode his big 3 for 38 during the championship year, and Pop rode Duncan for almost 40 and then 42 in the playoffs every year before the last championship, when he was at his best. ”

That was during the playoffs, not the regular season. I’ve illustrated above that neither team (nor the Jordon-era Bulls) ever pressed anyone to 40 minutes a game.

Thibs may get away with pushing some players to the limit, but I don’t know of any reasonable explanation for having Rose and (especially) Deng in at the end of games which are well in hand. If he wants to push them, then do it when it matters, not when it doesn’t.

Watching Rose since he was a rookie, one of the few negatives I saw was his lack of endurance, which resulted in a lot of poor late game decisions. He didn’t have many games like that and they happen less and less frequently now. But as we saw in Atlanta, when he threw that pass in traffic instead of going to the hole or wait for a better option, mistakes will cost you games . He didn’t even play 40, and that was a playoff like game. He was clearly running out of steam. Keep in mind that he improved on a lot of areas during his career, so he most likely understands he still needs to improve his endurance. Like you said 40 is the minimum in the playoffs, and I believe he wants to be above that.

The obvious risk is injury. However Deng and Rose are still young, and both them and the coaching staff believe that they can handle the workload. I wouldn’t be surprised if they end up playing even more minutes in the playoffs. Players completely trust Thib’s system, and the key to a championship according to him is to become a 48 minute team. That being said, it wouldn’t be too far fetched to imagine that someone like Derrick Rose lives by those words.

Doc rode his big 3 for 38 during the championship year, and Pop rode Duncan for almost 40 and then 42 in the playoffs every year before the last championship, when he was at his best. Both teams had pretty quick points but neither carried best player tags, so it’s important that Rose is able to play 40+ quality minutes which he has struggled to do consistently especially in the playoffs. So the point is, your best players have to play a lot of minutes for your team to win.

Thibodeau has proven to be everything we expected and then some. He always seemed to be more focused about working out the kinks in his system than worrying about upgrading his roster. You can’t doubt his technique, maybe when it backfires. For all we know maybe we are that weak when Deng isn’t in the game, but I’m convinced that Thibs knows exactly what he’s doing and knows better than anyone how far he can push his players.

“I believe being quicker than your opponent is an advantage,…”

Sure, but on what possible basis are you arguing that playing Rose and Deng late in a blowout is going to help make them “quicker” in the playoffs? On what basis do you imagine that playing Deng 40 min. a night will make him quicker in the playoffs?

If an NBA player is fit enough to play roughly 35 minutes a game at a high level, then he is prepared to extend that to around 40 under playoff conditions.

When the Celtics last won the title, not one of their players averaged 36 mpg during the season. When the Spurs last won the title, no one averaged over 34 mpg. Were either of those teams at a “quickness” disadvantage?

Deng is averaging more than any of the players on the Jordan-era Championship teams. Why?

Thibs is taking his “one game at a time” mantra quite literally in the context of playing time. I hope that it doesn’t backfire, but whatever happens, there is zero evidence that pushing the envelope like this will give players any physical advantage over their opponents in the playoffs.