Posted by ggallagh on 4/4/2013 12:45:00 PM (view original):
it depends... there was just another thread on freshman starts. Each freshman is different, but in general they need to start 80-90% of the games prior to the conference tournament. I've seen the number 21 of 26 games mentioned before, which would fall around the 80% mark. However, If they fall below that % at any time during the season (80-90%), they will have a WE drop. You can recover most of the WE drop by starting them until their % starts improves to whatever magic number they want (80-90%).
i dont think this is all the way right. i regularly start freshman only 20 of 26 games without problems, and have forgotten and missed the first 7, with no problems. i havent noticed the variation you see in promised start expectations, that you do with promised minute expectations
the rule of thumb i would use is 20/26 is fine. you could push it harder by screwing up early, and compensating later, as the player generally needs you to meet the promise after he complains, to be in the clear (assuming its early enough). seems like there are a few times the players check promises in the year, maybe 3-4 of em or something, and if he complains in any one but the last, and you meet it from then on, you might always be ok - but im not confident enough to take the risk. so i play it safe, and dont start them for 6 games (plus CT/NT)