How Should L.A. Clippers Manage Minutes in the Season's Final Weeks?

Despite using a 10-man squad for most of the season, Los Angeles Clippers’ head coach Vinny Del Negro should consider shrinking Lob City’s rotation heading into the final games of the regular season. 

With more time in between contests and less travel in the postseason, games tend to become more grind it out affairs. Although the Clippers’ depth might suffer in the playoffs, the appeal of playing elite players like Chris Paul and Blake Griffin more minutes is key. 

Considering that opponents will have their stars on the court for longer periods of time in the postseason than in the regular season, Los Angeles would be smart to match the oppositions' star power. 

With only a combined 240 minutes available per game, the reality is that some role players could completely fall out of the rotation. 

Who should get more minutes? Who deserves less time? Who might fall out of the rotation entirely? 

All statistics gathered from NBA.com and Basketball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted. All statistics accurate as of March 31, 2013. For the sake of simplicity, all suggested minutes have been rounded to the nearest whole number.

Ryan Hollins

Average minutes per game: 10.2

Suggested minutes: 3.0

Breakdown: Although Ryan Hollins contributes energy and solid defense to the Clippers’ second unit, there is no reason that he should be getting extensive minutes with DeAndre Jordan and Lamar Odom in the fold. 

Proponents of Hollins might point to his per 36 minutes numbers of 10.7 PPG and 8.2 PPG. Those are solid, but ultimately they are more ideal than realistic. In short spurts, Hollins can be effective, and that is exactly how the Clippers should utilize him this postseason.

Barring a major injury or foul trouble for any of Lob City’s main lineup, Hollins is best kept playing very limited minutes.

Ronny Turiaf

Average minutes per game: 10.9

Suggested minutes: 3.0

Breakdown: Like Ryan Hollins, Ronny Turiaf also brings a lot of energy and an adept post defense for the Clippers. 

Offensively, Turiaf brings next to nothing other than the occasional dunk or layup. Outside of the restricted area, Turiaf has attempted just 16 shots. He’s converted just 12.5 percent of those attempts. 

Turiaf is by no means a liability on the floor. The Clippers simply have better low-post options.

Willie Green

Minutes per game: 16.5

Suggested minutes: 3.0

Breakdown: Presuming that Chauncey Billups is healthy, Willie Green should resume his typical role on the bench. 

Green has been the consummate professional for the Clips all season. He starts games without Billups in the lineup and plays limited to no minutes when Mr. Big Shot is in uniform. 

Billups’ health is a big if. Presuming that he is able to get healthy in time for the playoffs, Billups should reclaim his role in the starting lineup and relegate Green back to the bench.

Grant Hill

Minutes per game: 15.5

Suggested minutes: 3.0

Breakdown: When the Clippers signed Grant Hill last offseason much of Clipper Nation expected the Duke product to be the versatile wing that Lob City has so desperately needed.

Fighting off injuries for most of the season, Hill has played in limited minutes. His 15.5 minutes per game are the lowest of his career. 

Hill still has value as a veteran leader and above-average team defender. However, the reality of the rotation situation is that Hill has less value than both Matt Barnes and Caron Butler. 

As such, Hill should expect to fall out of the rotation for much of the postseason.

Lamar Odom

Minutes per game: 20.0

Suggested minutes: 18.0

Breakdown: Although Odom is a talented pick-and-roll defender and one of the better rebounders on the team, he should see a cut in minutes in favor of DeAndre Jordan. 

The Odom v. Jordan debate has been long chronicled, and moving forward Del Negro should focus on giving either Odom or DJ more minutes in preparation for the postseason. 

There is no doubt that Odom should be the first big off the bench in the playoffs, but having him finish off close games is a suspect decision by the coaching staff.

Chauncey Billups

Minutes per game: 19.1

Suggested minutes: 12.0

Breakdown: The Clippers will certainly need all of Chauncey Billups’ postseason experience. 

Mr. Big Shot’s 140 postseason games and NBA Finals MVP will add tremendous value to a team serious about pursuing a ring. There is no doubt that the Clippers could have used Billups last postseason against the San Antonio Spurs.

Despite his history, Billups has fought off nagging injuries all season. His 14.1 PER is the worst since 2000-01. 

Billups certainly deserves more burn than Willie Green in the playoffs. Nevertheless, it would be refreshing to see Eric Bledsoe’s playoff minutes rise, even if it comes at the expense of Billups.

Caron Butler

Minutes per game: 24.4

Suggested minutes: 19.0

Breakdown: Caron Butler's toughness and team defensive presence were invaluable for the Clips last postseason.

Although Butler has lost a step over the years, he demonstrated a tremendous amount of leadership and resilience while defending Rudy Gay during Lob City's first round matchup with the Grizzlies. His decision to stay in the lineup and play with a broken hand was a testament to his Tough Juice nickname.

Butler is a fast starter, scoring an average of 4.2 of his 10.4 PPG in the first quarter of ball games. He has the second highest first quarter scoring average on the team, just behind Blake Griffin’s 6.8. 

The Clippers rely on Butler to set the tone early before being spelled by Matt Barnes. Although Del Negro tends to sit Butler during crunch time, his toughness and veteran leadership are integral parts of Los Angeles’ success.

Matt Barnes

Minutes per game: 26.0

Suggested minutes: 23.0

Breakdown: Matt Barnes’ postseason minutes should be very close to his regular-season minutes. 

Barnes is a tenacious defender and has the ability to stretch the floor with his three-point shooting. Barnes is no Reggie Miller from behind the arc, but his 34.4 percent average from downtown is the second best of his career. 

His versatility and ability to contain quick guards and long forwards will be key. Whether Lob City is matched against the Golden State Warriors, the Denver Nuggets, the Memphis Grizzlies or someone else, Barnes will be among the Clippers’ top perimeter stoppers.

Eric Bledsoe

Minutes per game: 20.7

Suggested minutes: 26.0

Breakdown: The Clippers cannot afford to let Eric Bledsoe play just 20.7 minutes this postseason. 

Bledsoe’s energy and defensive ball-hawking will be instrumental in leading Lob City’s second unit, and locking up opposing guards. 

Bledsoe excels at slowing down some of the West’s best point guards.

Denver’s Ty Lawson scoring average of 17.4 per 36 minutes drops to just 5.5 with Bledsoe on the floor. When Bledsoe heads to the bench, that number jumps to 22.7. 

The Oklahoma City Thunder’s Russell Westbrook faces similar issues.

Westbrook’s points per 36 minutes drop from 23.6 to 20.6 with the Kentucky product on the floor. Without Bledsoe on the court, Westbrook’s numbers increase to 25.4 points per 36 minutes. 

Bledsoe offers more versatility than either Willie Green or Chauncey Billups as well. 

The Clipper faithful have dreamed of a Chris Paul and Eric Bledsoe hybrid backcourt. Even a small ball lineup featuring Paul, Bledsoe and Jamal Crawford would be a refreshing change. 

Del Negro needs to start giving Bledsoe more minutes now, and prepare him for heavier minutes this postseason.

Jamal Crawford

Minutes per game: 29.5

Suggested minutes: 25.0

Breakdown: The Clippers third leading scorer Jamal Crawford will need to play efficiently this postseason. 

After a miserable year on the Portland Trail Blazers, Crawford is enjoying a renaissance season. His PER of 16.8 is second only to his 18.4 PER in 2009-10 when he won the Sixth Man of the Year Award as a member of the Atlanta Hawks.

Crawford’s ability to coexist with Eric Bledsoe or Chris Paul as a member of either the second unit or the crunch time unit will give Lob City an added offensive dimension this postseason. 

Crawford cannot get in the habit of taking contested low-percentage mid-range shots, however. The combo guard is shooting just 43 percent on mid-range jumpers. 

He is much more effective when he is taking the ball to the hoop. The man with the smoothest crossover in basketball converts 53.6 percent of his field goals in the paint.

More high percentage shots will only improve this team’s already potent offense.

DeAndre Jordan

Minutes per game: 24.3

Suggested minutes: 27.0

Breakdown: Despite DeAndre Jordan’s liabilities from the free-throw line, his value on offense and as a rim protector is significant to Lob City’s success. 

Curiously, Jordan plays an average of just 5.0 minutes per game in the fourth quarter, 3.3 less than Lamar Odom. 

Coach Del Negro prefers the versatility of a crunch time unit featuring Paul, Crawford, Barnes, Griffin and Odom. In 47 minutes of fourth quarter action, this unit has an awful net rating of minus-11.2. 

Replace Odom with Jordan and that unit has an astronomical net rating of plus-73.0. The numbers indicate that Jordan is an upgrade over Odom.

Where Jordan is deficient is in his free-throw shooting. In a tight road loss to the San Antonio Spurs, Gregg Popovich elected to intentionally put DJ at the line.

To Del Negro’s chagrin, Jordan converted just one of his eight attempts from the charity stripe. In a two point road loss, it is hard to believe that if a couple of those shots had fallen then the Clippers’ might have earned a hard fought win in San Antonio. 

Jordan’s misses support Del Negro’s decision to put him on the bench in favor of Odom.

Given this situation, the coaching staff should be giving DJ more crunch time minutes in the final few games in order to better prepare him for the rigors and the pressure of postseason basketball.

Blake Griffin

Minutes per game: 32.6

Suggested minutes: 38.0

Breakdown: Playing a career low in minutes per game, Blake Griffin can expect to get much more burn in the grind that is postseason basketball. 

Griffin is no stranger to heavy minutes, averaging a career high of 38.0 during his rookie campaign. During last postseason, Griffin played 35.7 minutes per game. 

Despite the Clippers' superb depth, they cannot afford to have BG sitting on the bench.

He was limited last spring by nagging injuries that he sustained in the first round against the Memphis Grizzlies. Barring any injury, Griffin should continue to enjoy a lion’s share of the minutes of the Clippers’ key players.

Chris Paul

Minutes per game: 33.4

Suggested minutes:  38.0

Breakdown: The Clippers will only go as far as Chris Paul takes them this postseason. 

Given the general malaise that the Clippers have been in since the All-Star break, Lob City needs CP3 to be more aggressive down the stretch. 

Although Paul’s numbers on either end of the All-Star game are nearly the same, his change in plus/minus is indicative of the Clippers’ 2013 downturn. 

Before the All-Star break, Paul was boasting a plus/minus of plus-7.4. Since his MVP performance at the All-Star game, Paul’s plus/minus has dropped to a pedestrian plus-1.9. 

Numbers certainly are not everything, but there is no doubt that CP3 is the engine that makes this team go.

If he can put on some of the vintage performances that he enjoyed as a member of the New Orleans Hornets, or even last postseason against the Grizzlies, then the Clippers could be set for a deep playoff run.