It doesn't work because it's harder to rebound someone that's bigger than you. Historically it's just never worked long term so for a team that's trying to build chemistry we should not be working on our small ball lineup just to get mauled by a Lakers front court because...it's not going to work. Boogie and Wood don't have to be great, they have to be mediocre but they'll never get there watching small ball lineups on the bench. I just don't see an end-game with small ball. At the end of the day, a forward can't play center, they will give up easy buckets against guys like Sabonis and give up easy rebounds (that can lead to easier shots) Switching defense is a lot easier to get down without chemistry and its great if you have a Garnett like big that can guard 1-5, but we don't, not many teams outside of the Lakers and Bucks actually do. This team's only hope is getting better at defense with their bigs playing, no shot at beating the Suns, Lakers, Clippers, Blazers, Nuggets, playing a 6'5 guy at Center in a 7 game series. You can teach and improve defense throughout the year, but you can't teach and improve size.
You are acting like you've seen small ball fail every single time when you know that's not the case. It was not a bad decision to go small because Sabonis was eating Boogie's lunch all night.
This team can’t run small ball like we did last year. That went out the window when we traded RoCo.
Sounds like common sense right? Bigger players should get more rebounds and be better post defenders. But Rockets best defense in this short season thus far has been when Rockets play small ball switch everything defense. This defense is what allows Rockets to get back into the game after giving up huge leads. Not a small sample size either. Last season Rockets catapulted into the top defense in postseason after committing to small ball and not playing anyone over 6'8. The switch everything defense was not just more efficient defensively (generating more turnovers/possessions) but this small ball defense was better rebounding than our current team with TWO players at 6'10. Small ball emphasizes team rebounding over reliance on just center/PF.
No, it simply has never worked in NBA history. It's never been a team playing small ball that wins, it's just never happened. It can win you games but it's not ultimately going to win you championships, unless the big man goes away entirely, it never will. Sabonis actually wasn't eating Cousins lunch last night either. Cousins was tied for the highest BPM on the team last night and led the game in rebounds, he helped the team more than he hurt it. Sabonis feasted on easy matchups at the end of the game, I know at least two times he caught the ball directly in the paint, turned around, and scored. The arguement for small ball works if the other center is hopeless on post ups like Gobert, when its one of the best low post scorers in the league...it can really hurt you down the stretch.
Right, but that lineup isn't going to work against any of the elite teams...so what's the point of committing to it? My argument is that our only hope is building good enough team chemistry playing our bigs, that's Wood, Cousins, and Bruno...if he can prove he can play...or getting another Big (Taj Gibson would have been nice) But I just don't see the point of committing to small ball to ultimately play against Davis, Jokic, Nurkic and get abused down low and on the boards. These guys just have to get better defensively to have a chance because championship teams have playable bigs.
Okay so its just you being totally bias against small ball. Warriors won with their small ball also. They finished games with their "death lineup" He was dude. He had a minus plus minus . Dude had a minus 5 net rating. Where are you getting his BPM from? But even so from watching the game you could tell we were worse defensively with him on the court. Sabonis was indeeed eating his lunch. You are saying this because you saw his put backs at the end of the game. There were plenty of times were our small ball was holding our own against him. This is just a hatred of small ball. And in today's NBA you should have one.
Your tactic has even less chance of success based on precedence. You realize that Boogie and Wood have NEVER been elite defenders in their entire careers right? Placing the defensive onus on these 2 players is forcing a square peg into a round hole, no matter how many games you give them to figure it out. It is more reasonable to find better longer players to surround each of them in a defensive system that has been PROVEN effective. This strategy would hide their flaws instead of exacerbating them.
Also, I will illustrate the point since NBA.com has videos for every play now... https://www.nba.com/stats/events/?G...&title=Sabonis REBOUND (Off:3 Def:8)&sct=plot Look at this rebound, this is a critical possession, great defense by Nwaba...Sabonis just easily gets a put back. I'm sorry but if Cousins is in there that rebound is harder IF not a rebound to him and who knows what we get out of that...instead, crucial possession, instead of being down 2 we're now down 4. https://www.nba.com/stats/events/?G...is 1' Layup (18 PTS) (Brogdon 5 AST)&sct=plot Here is another possession where the Pacers looked to exploit the small switching defense. Now sure, if this is Gobert the guy has no idea what to do...for Sabonis? This is a layup. This happened a few times in the game too. The Bucks would always exploit this against MDA in clutch minutes, they'd just get the player they want on Lopez and he'd just back them down and score 2. Easy for a low post scorer. All this to say is that I want better of Silas to recognize this. I want him to learn from last night and against Vucevic it's a great chance to understand that while switching is great, it doesn't help much to just give up easy rebounds to bigs and easy layups.
Giving up 2's is better than giving up 3's. That is the better lesson for Silas to learn. And making more 3's than the other team is critical too.
I knew someone would bring up the Warriors but Green is not a forward. He's never been in his entire career. He's guarded and played in the paint for his entire career. He's a big through and through and the NBA has always listed him as such, he's always played as such, he's always been a PF or Center. The Warriors also had bigs they played, they never played a small-ball lineup because Green is a big. https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/202101060IND.html His BPM was 2.4, tied with Wall for highest. Also yes, Put backs are the consequence of a big going up against someone much smaller than him.
Well putting better players around them is still playing, fine. But you don't go smaller, it just doesn't work out well for you especially when the other team has good bigs. If the answer is this team is hopeless, sure, we could say that... But if you put that small ball lineup out against the Lakers, Nuggets, Blazers, or Clippers in a series it's going to get mauled for most of the series.
Giving up 2s sucks just as much when there is a minute left on the clock...and it sucks to also give up key offensive rebounds to the other team since teams get easier shots out of ORebs. People always say switching defense but teams will literally lick their chops to exploit it if they have a guy like Sabonis...or Vuccimane...or Nurkic...or Davis...or even Brook Lopez...or Jokic who to be fair not many can guard. Like, that shot is easy for a low post player and we give it to them whenever they want it. It's just as easy as a guard switched on to a big.
What? Green is a forward. That's what he is, he playing next to wiseman. He's played next to bigs for all of Warriors run. Yea that's fine. Tucker is also a 4. Green is 6'5 my guy, you cant just overrule examples that. Small ball has worked. Okay? So what about when Net rating tells you cousins was a -5.6? Like I dont what to tell you. He's never EVER been a good defender in his career. Why is that all you care about when it comes to defense? It's like you are so unwilling to see the other side of this argument because you have inherent bias against small ball.
You could say that but there is also chance Rockets win. Rockets won plenty with small ball switch everything defense last season. Rockets are winning far less with hybrid defense this season. And this season so far, Rockets only get back into games when they go small ball switch everything defense, and that is a fact.
