Dubs out, Lebron/Davis pairing, Jokic emergence. Does it mean the end of small ball?

[John B]

With Durant/Klay injury, CP3/Harden inevitable splitup, does it mean end of smallball and 3pt chucking? AD teaming with Lebron, the emergence of Jokic, do teams start getting big to defend? Personally I like it. What does it mean to the rest of the NBA and how they draft this Thursday? Should Spurs priotize drafting a big man to help beefup the middle? Thoughts?

[cutewizard]

giannis tooo

[BackHome]

Every playoff team made a mad run to get centers last year the trend will continue

[horseshue]

Pg, 3 long wings and a defensive center is all you need.

[exstatic]

The thing is, they changed the rule about fighting through screens, so shooting threes will remain easy unless they change it back and allow defense to be played.

[sananspursfan21]

Please I hope so. Part of why I fell in love with basketball in the first place was how there was a place for the big guy. I loved watching work in the post. This stupid small ball and hoisting threes 5 seconds into the shot clock is snoozeville, population low basketball IQ teams like the Rockets

[John B]

Please I hope so. Part of why I fell in love with basketball in the first place was how there was a place for the big guy. I loved watching work in the post. This stupid small ball and hoisting threes 5 seconds into the shot clock is snoozeville, population low basketball IQ teams like the Rockets
Dubs and Rockets are the biggest culprits. D’Anthony exarbated it.

If so, would Demar mid-range game not going to be as bad? Still hoping he’s hoisting 500 shots a day

[sananspursfan21]

Dubs and Rockets are the biggest culprits. D’Anthony exarbated it.

If so, would Demar mid-range game not going to be as bad? Still hoping he’s hoisting 500 shots a day

I’d like to think so. The midrange game isn’t as inefficient as everyone says. If you become a wiz at it, you’re hitting at a good clip, I don’t see how that can be inefficient unless you’re shooting two steps inside the arc. And I’m not in the DeMar hate camp, I actually like him and thought he had a solid first season on the squad. I agree with those that say we have limitations with him as the #1 option but I don’t think we should up and trade him for anything that comes along. I think we’ll see the value of a solid mid range game rise again :)

[John B]

I’d like to think so. The midrange game isn’t as inefficient as everyone says. If you become a wiz at it, you’re hitting at a good clip, I don’t see how that can be inefficient unless you’re shooting two steps inside the arc. And I’m not in the DeMar hate camp, I actually like him and thought he had a solid first season on the squad. I agree with those that say we have limitations with him as the #1 option but I don’t think we should up and trade him for anything that comes along. I think we’ll see the value of a solid mid range game rise again :)
I think Spurs can score enough mid-range, and occasional 3’s, and if within low 100’s, no problem. It’s the defense that kills us. I really hope Dubs injury, Rockets falling off would slow the game down

[GreekSpursfan]

Teams will still shoot a thousand 3s so no.

[koriwhat]

Please I hope so. Part of why I fell in love with basketball in the first place was how there was a place for the big guy. I loved watching work in the post. This stupid small ball and hoisting threes 5 seconds into the shot clock is snoozeville, population low basketball IQ teams like the Rockets

:tu

[lefty]

Dubs and Rockets are the biggest culprits. D’Anthony exarbated it.

If so, would Demar mid-range game not going to be as bad? Still hoping he’s hoisting 500 shots a day

Agreed but at least GSW shoots in rythm and has good ball movement

Houston does.... whateverball

[lefty]

Ultimately as long as they don’t change the rules, it won’t go away.

Unfortunately

[TD 21]

No. But as I've been saying for a few years, eventually the balance of power will shift back to big men, albeit not the traditional style of yesteryear.

It's because most of the elite young players are bigs. Since prime is often regarded as 27-32, I'll define young as 26 and under in this case: Antetokounmpo (more big wing in style, but center like physical tools), Davis, Jokic, Embiid, Towns.

Some perimeter player(s) will likely unexpectedly emerge and join this group, but still. It's not like the previous generation, where most of the best young talent was concentrated on the perimeter.

[phxspurfan]

Pg, 3 long wings and a defensive center is all you need.

not to mention a large media friendly market that BSPN/ABC can latch onto, a coach that won't do stupid shit with lineups/substitutions or timeouts, purchased referees and an owner willing to spend money

[HarlemHeat37]

These playoffs featured traditional bigs on prominent teams(Jokic, Embiid), mid-range specialists on the best teams(Kawhi, Durant) and elite defensive teams(Raptors, Bucks) at the top..other than the Rockets, who are basketball poison, the best teams in the post-season mostly gave the fans what they wanted, and the refs allowed physicality for most of it..

[itzsoweezee]

Absolutely not. Three point shooting is more important than ever. The Lakers will win only if they pack that team with role players that can shoot, Giannis is surrounded by three point shooters. The rockets, nuggets, blazers, jazz, bucks, raptors, sixers, all shoot a lot of threes and will continue to do so.

The Spurs desperately need three point shooting in their major rotation minutes. If that isn't fixed, it's another first round exit (or a trip to the lottery) next season.

[weebo]

Guard the 3, funnel drives to your big men, and force contested two's.

[John B]

Absolutely not. Three point shooting is more important than ever. The Lakers will win only if they pack that team with role players that can shoot, Giannis is surrounded by three point shooters. The rockets, nuggets, blazers, jazz, bucks, raptors, sixers, all shoot a lot of threes and will continue to do so.

The Spurs desperately need three point shooting in their major rotation minutes. If that isn't fixed, it's another first round exit (or a trip to the lottery) next season.
Agree. But you just illustrated the traditional in and out game, surround the bigs with shooters, not gunning 3 pointers 5 seconds into the shot clock. 3 points has always been part of Spurs games, but Spurs attempted the least yet highest percentage finding the best shot. And since the biggest culprits are out (Dubs/Rockets) the rest of the league don’t need to play catch up. And with more big men with better all-around skills, I think we’ll see better ball movement this coming season.

[Millennial_Messiah]

Agreed but at least GSW shoots in rythm and has good ball movement

Houston does.... whateverball

Houston basically plays streetball, pick-up basketball, duck pond basketball, LA Fitness in the hood basketball.

[3&D_TBH]

Small ball isn’t dead, and at the same time the center position will also remain alive and well. Ideally you want to build a team that can play both of those styles and many more. Versatility is the watchword. Easier said than done, though. Draymond type players aren’t exactly growing on trees.

[MultiTroll]

All I can say is thank goodness that phaggot Cousins did not get rewarded. I rewatched the 4th qtr closely, esp the last 3 minutes and that idiot got away with all kinds of bullshit. I'm sure among Casual Phan / ABC / Lakers-Warriors sheep there would have been massive worship of Cousins and the notion that a return to big was necessary.

That having been said I'm all for legit talent returning to the C position. But I think it's gonna continue to be mobile bigs, or at least those that can hoist trey on the regular like Greek, Embiid and Joker.

Don't see Polte being on a Champ team at all. At least not as a starter. Glad to be proven wrong.