Small Ball a Recipe for Success?

[GoBobs]

If you look around the league right now there aren't a lot of dominant centers and power forwards. Almost every team has a great point guard though. Players that can handle the ball are more successful then ever without the hand checking rule.

Some of the best teams right are winning without traditional dominant centers or power forwards. The heat don't have a great center. They have bosh at PF who his more of a stretch guy. The Thunder don't have a star center. Ibaka is more of a defensive specialist at PF. Both these teams have a great SF that can face up, dribble penetrate and pass or shoot from the outside.

The only team I can think of playing at a really high level with two dominant big guys is Memphis.

In general more successful teams now rely on players mobile enough to get to a scoring position then they do on players strong enough to carve out position in the post. 3pt shooting has become more important to team success to spread the floor for these guys. You see guys at PF like Bosh and Ibaka shooting the corner three.

I think we need to consider this when we think about how we want to build our team. Speed, ball handling ability and passing ability are more valuable then ever. Filling a roster with players fitting traditional roles is less important then getting guys that can play.

I wouldn't be at all afraid to play a 3 guard roster on most nights. Something like:

Kemba
Oladipo or McLemore
Henderson
MKG
Bismack

Or one that started two small forwards instead of a traditional PF like:

Kemba
Henderson
MKG
Porter or Bennett
Bismack

[Bogg]

Generally speaking, you're better off playing a tweener or a second small forward who can actually play than you are just throwing a big stiff out there at the four. However, having two traditional bigs who can both play is a huge advantage that causes matchup problems for other teams. Going small-ball is all about having an elite guy to lead the way, though, or you just wind up mired in mediocrity.

[Marvin's A Martian]

If you're going to rely on those lineups I hope there's a deep bench behind them because putting faith on the young legs may not end well in an 82 game season. And to second what Bogg said, Small-Ball is centered around an Elite Player, mostly at the 2 or 3 position of which we have neither. If we draft Noel we may as well put him and Biyombo at the 4 and 5 and live with that.

[Catch 22]

Small-ball is not a recipe for success. Small-ball is a recipe for coaches to utilize a roster lacking quality depth and size at the PF/C positions. The only team that I see making small-ball look successful is the Miami Heat, and having 3 top-10 players along with the help of generous whistles from referee officials factor into their success more than playing small.

[dnbman]

Yeah, I don't think of "small ball" as a strategy so much as a reality that some teams must face. It's one thing if you have tons of great shooters on your team and score 120 points per night. But even teams that could do that (the Suns of a few years ago) had troubles in the playoffs. A seven game series is a grind. You can't rely on out running the other team that many times in a row, especially if you've relied on it for 82 games already.