I definitely agree with you , this is a bug, probably a side effect of the way the coach is designed, however there is a simple way to deal with it which no one has suggested in this thread yet.
If you want a player to get 48 mins, you need to put the player in as backup and reserve, but leave the starting position blank. The reason this works is because in blowouts, the coach naturally likes to sub out starters, but if the player was only slotted in as a backup, then the coach will be far less likely to take him out of the game.
A few details about this method:
- If there are no foul outs or injuries to your team, your player will be nearly guaranteed to get 48 mins. If you do have an injury or foul out, it can mess up the depth chart a bit; your player will still likely get 48 mins, but it's not guaranteed.
- The method works for up to 2 players. More than that, you have to modify the method, because if you leave 3 or more starting positions blank, the coach will just use a random lineup. For your case(3 players), what I would do is select the 1 or 2 players you need to get 48 minutes and use the blank starting method for them, while with the 3rd player, fill him in as a backup, starter and reserve. I've noticed as long as you use the blank starter method for 1 player, your other players will also likely get 48 minutes if you set them as starter, backup and reserve.