with 2 or those 4 marginally manning the 5 spot. As things get tougher it is very possible that Williams, Brown, and Freeny will see their minutes reduced even more.
The Bruins should have beaten Northwestern by double digits and possible by as much as 20. According to Cronin they ran out of gas. That situation IMO is only going to get worse. Without Clark the Bruins are really working hard to cover the 200 floor minutes effectively. They are thin. Even with Clark the rotation is slim. Brown and Freeny give solid credible minutes and both are capable of perhaps more than that on any given night. But by and large both those guys along with Williams are mostly just holding the fort until the starters get their rest and come back in.
Booker is lately making some strides toward becoming a player that can be relied upon but he still has a ways to go. Jamerson plays hard but yesterday in 12 minutes he got 1 rebound and 4 fouls. If he had played 15 minutes he could have very well fouled out.
Back in the day it wasn't uncommon for highly ranked teams to have an effective rotation of only 6 or 7 guys. Perhaps the Bruins are going to have to do that as well. Michigan, Michigan State, Illinois, and Nebraska are all looming. It would greatly further The Bruins' cause if they can beat one or two of those teams and win all the rest which is also not going to be easy. MacLean said the Bruins are right now in the tourney but I think they could still miss it if they lose too many of their remaining games and have an early departure in the conference tournament. They can't afford to let up for even an instant and Clark needs to come back soon and healthy, Booker needs to continue to rapidly improve, and Williams, Freeny, Jamerson, and Johnson all need to continue to play solid. Even if all that happens the Bruins still have their work cut out for them and a tough row to hoe ahead of them.