calumnus,
You are so in favor of this idea that with 20 players you can have two full 5x5 scrimmages simultaneously, that you can't see the forest for the trees. Mathematically, what you say is true. On the other hand, humanly, a basketball team will only be able to do it when all 20 players are present, healthy, and completely able to perform, and only then as long as they remain healthy enough to play while the scrimmage lasts. If one player out of the 20 suffers an injury, as innocent as a leg cramp, requiring the scrimmage to stop, while he recovers and the scrimmage can resume, then the scrimmage must stop, while coaches and players wait for the player to recover. Surely, you remember that Jaylon Tyson showed up for his first game, he immediately suffered painful leg cramps. Play did not stop to wait for his return. A substitute came into the game, and the game could resume. A scrimmage with 10 players and NO ONE on the bench is different, isn't it?
With a 20 man roster playing in two scrimmages at the same time, there are no subs sitting on the bench ready to enter the game and take the injured player's place. If any player has a more serious complaint, like an ankle sprain, or maybe he is ill with the flu, you can't continue the scrimmage, or hold it at all, and there goes the fantasy of having two 5x5 scrimmages simultaneously on any scheduled day. It is mathematically possible, but humanly, highly unlikely. The reason is humans are not always reliable in situations full of risks, of which a basketball scrimmage is one of those situations, and all 20 players will have to start and finish every minute of every scrimmage. If one single player gets hurt, do all the players go home? Do you continue with just one scrimmage?
Realistically, I think that to hold two 5x5 scrimmages simultaneously, you would need much more than a 20 man roster, perhaps 25 or even more. Your bench will have to supply subs for each side in a 5x5 scrimmage for any player who gets hurt or needs a break from the action for whatever reason. And in your proposal, you have no bench.
The main point I made in previous posts, which you either missed, or chose not to discuss, was that often players do get injured in practice. Do I have to remind you of Cal's poor performance in the NCAA under Cuonzo, because Ty Wallace got injured in a scrimmage, and was unable to play in the NCAA? Or Jabari Bird's back spasms, likely not helped much by the intense scrimmages which Cuonzo employed? How often would you say a player like MSF would be able to scrimmage? Not much, but we sure needed him healthy for games. Ben Braun's teams used to scrimmage a lot, and there were quite a number of his players injured in scrimmages and had to miss games. Just about any modern Cal team you look at, had players injured who missed games due to injury or illness. Stuff happens.
You say that "no one said that Madsen had to watch two scrimmages or two 5x5 drills at the same time". Barsad exactly said it, and that is why I highlighted it in bold type for anyone reading it. And I never said anything about 5x5 drills. We are not discussing drills. We are discussing scrimmages, not drills.
Also, it is essential for the head coach to see both scrimmages. He needs to know the capabilities of all his players, because you never know when that player might be called upon to play a role in a game. That is why I told the personal anecdote. You mentioned North Carolina's JVs. JV's have played a role at Cal. You may have heard of Bob Dalton, one of the heros of Cal's 1959 NCAA Title season. As a soph, Dalton was languishing on the JV team in the early season, but Newell had a need, and sensed that Dalton could give Cal what they needed at the small forward spot. He turned out to be a great defender, guarding both Oscar Robertson in the NCAA Semi, and Jerry West in the Final. A good coach has to know all his players, not just the usual rotation. That is one thing, the main thing I would argue, that scrimmages are for. Evaluation.
To reiterate, the coach must watch the scrimmages, with the assistants maybe concentrating on particular aspects that Madsen wants more data on, along with instruction during timeouts.
There are studies that show that players get injured more often in games, than in practice, but there are also studies that show the opposite. The point is, plenty of players get injured in scrimmages. I don't like too much scrimmaging, but all coaches have to have scrimmages. The scrimmages are mostly for the coach and his staff. They have to become totally familiar with each player so they can select a rotation, and from that select a starting 5. They have to determine which players are best at defense, and on offense, and what roles to play in different situations. And what roles are the remainder of players best suited for? And much more.
Finally, I really resent your accusation that I don't want walkons. Can you show me where I wrote that I did not want walkons? I never did. In fact I never even used the word "walk-on" in any of my posts in this thread.
I LOVE WALK-ONS. i WANT WALK ONS, the more the merrier. Walkons are the heart of a team. They sacrifice their bodies to be part of a team, and seldom get game minutes, or much respect from some fans. So if you really want all these scrimmages, you had better get more walkons than Cal has every had.
Back in the days when freshmen were not allowed to play on the varsity, my father walked on and won a spot on the 1930 Cal Frosh team. I grew up watching, listening, and dreaming Cal basketball, and in 1959, I tried to make the Cal Frosh as a walkon. The tryouts were 3 full afternoons of scrimmaging. 60 freshmen showed up to try for 18 roster spots, with 17 of those players already signed to a scholarship. That left 43 of us trying for that one spot. I played the best basketball of my life, against the biggest players I had ever faced, and I was the 3rd leading scorer out of 60 players. The coaches told me they really liked how I played, but at 135 pounds, I was too small for college ball. They told me to work out, lift weights, get bigger and stronger, and come back next fall for the Varsity tryouts.
