A recent forum thread called out the growing trend among NLL teams who are running 8-man rosters. The discussion focused primarily on the concern that this strategy may be exploiting the fact that 2K games can’t accumulate fatigue over the course of multiple games, and every game is essentially a one-and-done. This raised a question: In a league that attempts to be a somewhat accurate reflection of the NBA, just how “realistic” is an 8-man roster, as well as the amount of playing time that some of these players are logging?

This article will make no attempt to pass judgment on the wisdom or fairness of this strategy.  What it will do is compare NBA stats side-by-side with NLL stats, in order to answer some of these questions. Without further ado, let’s look at the numbers:

Behind the Research

At the time this analysis was performed, a total of 299 games have been played in the NBA, which translates to 598 potential roster configurations. In the NLL, a total of 111 games have been played, with 222 roster configurations.

The Similarities

As one might expect, the most common number of players logging minutes in any given game is 10. In the NBA, teams play ten players 38% of the time. In the NLL, ten players step on the floor 34% of the time.

The Differences

But that’s where the numbers start to diverge. In the NBA, the second-most popular lineup consists of 11 players (20% of the time). In the NLL the second most popular lineup goes the opposite direction. 24% of the time, only nine players receive playing time. It should be noted, however, that an 11-player lineup is still common in the NLL, occurring only slightly less frequently (22.5%) than a 9-player lineup.

One number that really highlights the difference between the two leagues is this:

·         In the NBA, teams have played fewer than 10 players just 14% of the time

·         In the NLL, teams have played fewer than 10 players 30% of the time

Running with 8

And the number that many are wondering about: the 8-man lineup. In the NLL, the 8-man roster has been used 13 times. In the NBA, only 5. If it were the same number of games being analyzed it, would still be a notable difference that the NLL has employed the 8-man roster almost 3 times as often. However, it’s even more significant when you consider that in the NBA, almost 3 times more games have been played.

Minutes played

If managers in the NLL employ rosters of less than ten players 30% of the time, and an eight man roster almost three times more than NBA coaches, then would it be safe to assume that some NLL players are logging a lot more minutes than their real life counterparts? In a word, yes.

Consider these numbers:

·         In the NBA, a total of 24 players average 35+ minutes per game of playing time

·         In the NLL, 86 players are averaging 35+ minutes per game of playing time

And

·         In the NLL, 15 players are averaging over 40 minutes per game

·         In the NBA, the number of players averaging more than 40 minutes is… zero