![]() ![]() For as much of a mismatch as said approach may have created in their advantage, there was an identically detrimental gap on defense.Ī 3 playing the 4 may have been able to beat a traditional power forward offensively, but he’d often find himself physically overwhelmed along the defensive interior. Traditionally, small ball teams are elite offensively and lackluster on the opposite end. In 2014-15, Draymond Green and the Golden State Warriors changed the game. Power forwards would be overwhelmed by an athletic disadvantage while attempting to defend a small forward with range, and centers would have trouble against floor-spacing power forwards. In the past, this unorthodox approach created a positional mismatch on the offensive end of the floor. More times than not, this approach helps teams create space and pull interior defenders away from the rim to defend more athletic and rangy scorers than their power forward counterparts would normally be. In some cases, the power forward takes over at center, thus creating two offensively exploitable matchups down low. Generally speaking, the small forward shifts to power forward. Rather than having a point guard, shooting guard, small forward, power forward and center, coaches opt for a, “Smaller,” approach. There are many definitions of the phrase, “Small ball,” but it generally refers to a team that plays a five-man lineup that defies conventional standards. The current trend was born in the modern era, with teams fully embracing the value of the positionally ambiguous forward.Īs of the 2015 NBA Finals, the unorthodox approach has officially taken over. You could make a case that previous decades featured small-ball rotations, but not quite like it is today. If there’s one concept that can be regarded as contemporary, it’s small ball. Not everything that happens can be traced back to one precise moment in time, but the cyclical growth often finds influence in previous eras. Small ball has captivated the NBA, but what does that really mean? More importantly, how has it happened?Ī common theme in Ogden’s Opus is acknowledging how the NBA continuously evolves. ![]()
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