STATE YOUR CASE: Should playoff-bound teams rest their stars at the end of the regular season?
BY SEAN O’SULLIVAN
staff writer
Playoffs really come down to one thing: momentum. All you have to look at is the Los Angeles Kings last year. They won the Stanley Cup as an 8-seed, but they were the hottest team going into the playoffs.
And how do players and teams lose momentum? Resting and changing the starting lineup right before the playoffs. Players shouldn’t go cold into the important games. They need to go in hot, playing right up to the end of the regular season.
Kevin Durant is the player that makes the Oklahoma City Thunder tick, and yet he’s going to end the season on the bench. He’s young – he doesn’t need to rest. The Thunder are making a mistake sticking him on the bench so close to crunch time.
The fact is that players need to keep playing to stay loose. Keeping your best players on the bench is doing more harm than good, especially this time of year.
– sean.osullivan@aggiemail.usu.edu
Twitter: @seansy89
BY CURTIS LUNDSTROM
sports editor
I’ve got no issue with teams that have clinched a spot in the postseason resting starters.
Yes, it has it’s cons – aka the “rust factor” – but we’ve all seen what injuries to key players does to teams. It’s better to go into the playoffs fully staffed and healthy than without key performers.
Resting your stars right before the playoffs guarantees you have them healthy for the most important part of the season.
In one-and-done sports like football, it’s a risky move, but in sports that are structured with playoff series, the rust factor becomes less relevant. Teams have a little margin of error to shake of the rust. Such is the case with the NBA.
The Oklahoma City Thunder will be just fine in the first round, as will the New York Knicks, despite sitting Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony for the teams regular season finales.
Like I said, better to have your stars on the active roster than injury reserve than be without them.
– curtislundstrom@gmail.com
Twitter: @CurtSport07