Reynolds made “bad mistake” playing Lyons so much against San Diego State

January 23rd, 2012, 5:20 pm · 6 Comments · posted by Frank Schwab

It’s easy to see how Air Force would push guard Michael Lyons a little more than it should right now – Lyons is a competitive, talented player who doesn’t want to come off the floor, and both of the Falcons’ games since he’s been back have been close in the second half.

But Falcons coach Jeff Reynolds said he played Lyons a little more than he would have liked when he got 27 minutes against Wyoming, then Lyons barely came off the floor against San Diego State on Saturday.

“I made a really bad mistake the other night – I played him 38 minutes,” Reynolds said. “He’s not ready for that.”

Lyons is coming back from a high ankle sprain and Reynolds said he is only about 75 percent healthy right now. With forward Taylor Stewart out with a leg injury, the Falcons could use Lyons on the floor as much as possible, but Reynolds said his playing time needs to be capped at about 27 or 28 minutes while he continues to get stronger. Lyons shot just 1-of-11 from the field against the Aztecs, scoring four points.

“He’s just got to get back in the flow, and that’s going to take some time,” Reynolds said.

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About this blog …

I'm Frank Schwab, Air Force beat reporter for The Gazette. I've been at the paper since 2003, and covered the Broncos for seven seasons. I covered the University of Wisconsin in the late 1990s, so I'm well versed in running football teams (Ron Dayne) and defensive basketball teams (Dick Bennett). I love to chat on www.twitter.com/GazetteAirForce, and will respond to comments and emails at frank.schwab@gazette.com.

For more coverage, visit The Gazette's Air Force Academy Sports page

FalconFan5 says:

January 23, 2012 at 11:50 pm

I have to agree. Michael was not a factor against SDS and I believe other players could have made a better contribution to the team. Michael is clearly not back to near 100% as yet and certainly not ready for 38 minutes. Also, I think our freshmen are showing that AF is ready to play a more up tempo game.

The Bird says:

January 25, 2012 at 7:43 am

If I were Jeff Reynolds I would be much more concerned that my other starting guard Todd Fletcher played 31 minutes vs SDSU and was held scoreless!! Fletcher carried the team in Lyons’ absence and since his return of late has been a “non factor” in the Air Force offense. I’m not convinced these players know what their roles are on this team.

January 25, 2012 at 8:52 am

Jeff, you have FIVE assistant coaches which could and should assist you in the management of your players playing time…..or are they just taking up space on the bench with their clipboards?!?!?

January 25, 2012 at 10:46 am

Good point Bird. Seems like our assistant coaches spend more time at timeouts counting and trying to identifying players on the other team.

FalconLover says:

January 25, 2012 at 4:55 pm

The head coach makes the calls on who plays and who doesn’t…not the assistants. They can make all the suggestions in the world but they don’t control the game. That’s why they are called ASSISTANTS.

Frank Schwab says:

January 25, 2012 at 5:07 pm

I don’t think the problem is that Reynolds said “Oh my, I’ve played Lyons 38 minutes? Why didn’t anyone tell me?” I think AFA was in a tight, winnable game and he wanted his best player to stay on the floor as long as he could. I think in hindsight he thought that was a mistake. It wasn’t that an assistant didn’t tap him on the shoulder and let him know.