"Short-bench = tired" is a fallacy. Coach K won multiple NCAA championships
with 8 players or less at 10 min/gm. The 1992 version had 5 guys at > 30 mpg and only 7 at > 10 mpg. That team went 34-2 and was one of the greatest teams of all time. At least 3 other renditions of NCAA champs had "short benches" and they did just fine as well.
These guys are young. And during the regular season they have 3-4 days off between games. They will be fine.
Our problem is that our best players are not playing for significant numbers of games. With Lawal we certainly beat St. Mary's. And against WFU neither Lawal nor Johnson. Even with Lawal's 18 mins vs Stanford they weren't prime mins and still not Johnson.
With a healthy roster we have at least 1 more win if not 3. That's the issue, not minutes per player.
Thread Replies (5)
I’m looking forward to the game but question for board gurus….
-- TBone McGaw
Jan 14, 2026 at 12:48 PM ET
TBone McGaw
•
01/14/26 12:48 PM ET
For nostalgia reasons, I recently saw the box score for the 1973 NIT win.
-- delmarva hokie
Jan 14, 2026 at 03:19 PM ET
delmarva hokie
•
01/14/26 03:19 PM ET
It's just an anecdote. But there are tons of other days points with hall of
-- King of Hokies
Jan 14, 2026 at 07:16 PM ET
King of Hokies
•
01/14/26 07:16 PM ET
"Short-bench = tired" is a fallacy. Coach K won multiple NCAA championships
◄
-- King of Hokies
Jan 14, 2026 at 03:00 PM ET
King of Hokies
•
01/14/26 03:00 PM ET
He will play 9 tonight most likely
-- hokiepro
Jan 14, 2026 at 02:26 PM ET
hokiepro
•
01/14/26 02:26 PM ET
Valid points/questions IMHO**
-- MDHokie79
Jan 14, 2026 at 01:44 PM ET
MDHokie79
•
01/14/26 01:44 PM ET