On the Sinclair Community College men’s basketball team, all 12 players get in the game.
“We like to score in transition and we like to (play) press (defense),” said Sinclair Pride coach Jeff Price.
“It’s very tough to do that with a short bench. If you have an eight-man rotation, it severely limits the defenses you can run.”
While winning five of their first six games, Price played every eligible player he had at his disposal.
“We will pretty much roll through everyone in the first half and then at halftime we try to see who is playing well and see what kind of matchups we have that night,” Price said. “Pretty much in the games that we have played, in the second half we’ve gotten into the other teams benches and that’s where we really start seeing the fruits of our labor pay off.”
Price said he gets an idea of what his substitution patterns will be like each game based on scouting reports.
“We knew going into the Clark (State Community College) game that, because they were so small, that maybe our bigs were going to have a tough night and they did. (The) first 10 minutes of the ballgame we’re down 20-2. Then we had to change and re-evaluate. The big guys understood it. None of our players want to lose just for the sake of playing time,” he said.
While everyone gets playing time, Price said he still doesn’t have a set starting lineup.
“We will adjust the lineup according to who practices hard that week and matchups.”
Guard Jared Nolan said Price’s decision to use all 12 players helps with the team’s chemistry.
“It helps us out on our cohesiveness,” he said. “It lets everybody know that we are all capable and important parts of the team. So there really ain’t no jealousy because pretty much everybody gets their chance.”