A few weeks ago a post was made about should Hammond start after the Wake game and the expert answer was it doesn’t matter he plays starter minutes. Hammond has started the last 3 games which have been our most consistent mini-stretch of the season with 2 wins and a “shouldve been a win” game at SMU. All three opponents were better than any of our non-con wins. He has played 35, 33, and 37 minutes respectively in those games. That’s an average of 7 more minutes than he played in the prior 3 ACC games and 6 more than he’s averaged on the season. I’m not counting UVA due to OT, but he played the entirety of the 3 OTs against UVA and single-handedly won the game. You could argue he dragged the team to a win against Syracuse as well. We desperately need Neo to be able to play PG and rest Hammond, but at this point if the goal is to make the NCAAT we likely need Hammond on the floor for 35+ minutes a night which means he’s locked into the starting lineup. I don’t know what happens when TJ comes back, but realistically I think it means Hansberry slides to the 5 and Gurdak goes to the bench.