Good one on ESPN by former Grandland writer Zach Lowe, who I think is one of the best writers on Grandland before it went under. It's not insider, but it's a long piece so here are some snipits...
Pretty good stuff. http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/14209124/is-small-ball-dominance-golden-state-blip-trend
- "That's not something we're going to do," Vogel said of using [Paul] George at center. "But whether or not it's insane, I actually don't know."
- During a wave of injuries decimating Boston's big men last season, Stevens decided to use Jonas Jerebko at center with Jae Crowder at power forward. And it worked. "It was quick and fast and hard to play against," Stevens said. "There were things we struggled with, but that's part of the game. I never lose sleep over size," Stevens added. "I lose sleep over speed and skill."
- Kidd has already (briefly) used a big-man combination of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jabari Parker, and Kidd is confident the Greek Freak can guard most centers -- with help from a swarming defense. "You're going to see more of that," Kidd said. There just aren't a ton of back-to-the-basket scorers skilled enough to scare teams out of guarding them with smaller guys.
- One obvious antidote Golden State has so far survived: Bigger teams need to slaughter small-ball opponents on the offensive glass. Oklahoma City has rebounded 32 percent of its own misses so far, the highest mark in the league by a mile, and the Thunder surge toward 36 percent -- a ridiculous number -- when Kanter is on the floor, per NBA.com research. "It's just a matter of maintaining integrity on the boards," Budenholzer said. But there's a flip side here, too: If a big-ball team crashes the glass and comes up empty, the small-ball enemy will be racing down the court on a 5-on-3. "If you don't get that rebound, you're in for a long night," Kidd said. "You might go on a 6-2 run, but we're going on a 10-0 run with 3s and layups." Kanter would be helpless defending Golden State's super-small groups in the half court; can you imagine the carnage if the Warriors jumped out on the break three possessions in a row?
- Studies of rebounding in the SportVU era have found that most boards are snatched about 8 feet above the ground, where players of any height should be able to battle for them. "A guy like Gobert will get some you can't reach," D'Antoni said, "but the others, you should at least have a fighting chance." That's especially true for the Warriors, a ferocious gang-rebounding team. Again: If you're going to build a smaller team, you'd better find taller wings who love to play inside.
Pretty good stuff. http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/14209124/is-small-ball-dominance-golden-state-blip-trend
