Tamba playing above the rim could be a huge help.
I kinda agree with the mental thing, but I think there were trust issues as well. Barnes go to play late against Michigan was Fulk, although he had been getting bullied all game, and I think it was just because of the trust factor.
It's honestly my personal biggest gripe about Barnes. Some coaches ride the hot hand, and he isn't that guy. Fulky was a great big against Longwood because he had a size advantage but is also athletic enough to stay with their smaller forwards so it made sense we saw less of Uros/Jonas and even BHH in that matchup.
But then against Michigan Fulky was at a disadvantage. Uros was playing his best game in awhile and Aidoo/BHH both were extremely productive for the limited minutes they got. But Barnes went to trust instead of matchup, played the same small ball lineup that he always does to try and close it out. We weren't hitting 3s and lost the ability to defend the paint as well as rebound, Michigan took advantage of the TOs and TV breaks to keep fresh and punished us to end the game for going small.
Last year he did it with Bailey. The year before he would stick with Bowden for too long.
It also delays some players from developing faster. Practice is one thing, but a lotta guys need that game action too. If you stick with playing the same 6-7 guys even against weaker opponents and in blowouts then you're just delaying development of your young talent.
Great example this year...ZZ averaged 18.1 mpg in our first 10 games. Ended the year averaging 22.1 (doesn't seem like a big difference, but 4 additional MPG in those early games would have netted 40 more minutes of court time and effectively been as if ZZ played an additional 2 games)
BHH started the year strong averaging about 17 mpg in the first 6 games. Then didn't really get action on a consistent basis until end of February then he finished the year averaging 18 mpg in the last 9 games. But that stretch of games between those periods he only saw the court for 10+ minutes in just 8 of the 20 games. More minutes = more film = more development
Olivier is another great example...he played in 30 games his first year and only averaged 11.4 mpg, then as a sophomore that dipped to just 7.1 mpg. You can argue the "he didn't earn playing time" if ya want...
But his per 40 numbers say otherwise
FR: 11.4 ppg, 10.6 rpg, 1.7 bpg
SO: 13.1 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 1.4 bpg
To me if you're going to recruit high talent players, top 100 guys specifically then you need to maximize their minutes on the court as part of their development. Can't just rely on what you see in practice.
