clarification of substitution rule

[bebanovich]

I would like to hear what plan B is--always a fan of innovative thinking

I think I would continue the 5-man substitution pattern for the better part of the first quarter. Calling for a defensive match-up every minute is not the most macho thing to do and, in my experience, most coaches I have faced eventually cave to their macho instincts - regardless of their gender (macho is probably not the best word here). I think crowd frustration would add to the mix.

I also think that, although the match-up strategy would be more disruptive to our style, it would also be disruptive to our opponent's style.

After a war of wills, my intial thinking is that I would go to a 2-2-1 substitution pattern. At the first whistle, sub 1 and 2, at the next 3 and 4 and the next 5. After 25 seconds or so, I would repeat the pattern. In theory, as long as I substituted in the same order, the shifts would work out to be roughly the same length for all players.

This is certainly not ideal, but it initially seems much more
desirable than an unofficial timeout for the opponent every 45
seconds.

[Edited by bebanovich on Dec 5th, 2004 at 07:12 PM]