This is exactly the reaon teams don't play small ball for championship..

You guys are r****ded. They're beating us at our own game. Our guys aren't cutting and making shots. Lakers are.

 

The funny thing about this is the team played much better when they went EVEN SMALLER.

IF you play small ball against a defense that's running you off the three point line you have to attack off the dribble. Tucker and Covington can't do that. The best lineup was with at least one of them on the bench.

At this point they might as well go full guard ball with only one of Tucker or Covington on the court. Attack every time the Lakers close out hard.

 

One of the arguments for the small ball three point offense is that it lures the other teams big rim protector away from the basket. What we're seeing the Lakers doing is not taking the bait. The Lakers are playing zone or switching enough that Davis doesn't go out to far chasing Covington, Green or Tucker. Instead he's staying close enough to intimidate drivers. That was a major adjustment they made in response to how many points in the paint we were getting.

 

The Celtics do but they have more athletic players.

You could argue that the Celtics are not favorites just a another Top 4 team.

Closer to the Sun than the Rox.

 

I'd say the whole, Warriors having good shooters take the bulk of their shots, was the key to their success not token 7 footers.

 

I am pretty sure small ball has nothing to do with height, it is a play style. In the playoffs each team has ended up trying to replicate small ball. The Lakers are doing "Small ball", it just happens to be that most teams can be better at it than us.

Small ball is about spacing. You remove the center from the lane on offense to pull their center from the paint which creates all sorts of miss matches. The ideal "small ball" would be the tallest possible players who can switch and shoot. Small ball will be the future of the league.

 

Small ball could work if you didn’t have to pay 40 million dollars a year to somebody who actively harms your teams chances to win

 

I was going to make a thread to say this same thing. But you said it better here.

Small ball is a misnomer, it's Skillball. We want 5 guys on the court that can score and defend against every position. The Lakers are playing small ball too it's just their version of Harden is a 6'9 Lebron, and their version of PJ is a 6'10 AD. They're not only bigger but they're better at the guard skills that form the foundation of small ball.

At the end of the day the better team is winning a 7 game series. That's what we're seeing.

 

Covington has been one of the Rockets' best players in the playoffs. You switch him out with Capela, I don't think we are better.

 

The Lakers are a really good team. The Rockets haven't looked great against them. You should also ask if they'd look any better with Capela rather than Covington on the floor. Are we forgetting what that offense/defense looked like earlier in the season?

The Lakers have two top 5 players in the league, one of whom has a case for GOAT, and vets who know how to defend. The Rockets' best chance to beat them, with the roster of players they've had during this season, was to go small. I still believe that.