By: Brian Suk
The sport of basketball has been around for ages. Thus, there have been many ways the game has been played. Whether at a fast tempo, or a grinded out game, teams have been implementing new techniques and strategies for years. Is 2015 the era of small ball? With the recent title win of the Golden State Warriors and their uncanny small ball strategy, this question has arisen multiple times. Is a smaller and faster lineup more beneficial these days?
Many teams in the league, including the Golden State Warriors, Washington Wizards, Oklahoma City Thunder, and San Antonio Spurs have been successful with their implementation of small ball. What is small ball exactly? It is when a team leans away from the traditional 2 guards, 2 forwards, and one big man strategy, and leans more heavily on its guards and plays a much faster, up tempo basketball. Usually, this comes from having 3 guards in their lineup, one fast forward, and an athletic center who can run the floor. Fast breaks become much more common as well.
There are many pros to this strategy, such as having the ability to score more. Since fast breaks increase, and since a small ball normally has several good shooters, this leads to more points. This strategy can also have an effect on the opponents by wearing them down if they’re not used to the fast tempo. Fastbreaks can also lead the opponents into more fouls, which could get them in foul trouble. Also, mismatches can occur with a slower player on the opposing team getting matched up with a more athletic player.
Despite these advantages, there can be disadvantages as well. One big glaring problem is the rebounding. Since the team gets smaller, it is generally much more difficult for them to secure rebounds against the bigger opposing players. Another big weakness is on the defensive end of the floor. Since they are clearly outsized, teams can get easily bruised by the towering size of the opposition. This can lead to stamina decrease as well. However, certain teams can get past this, as the Golden State Warriors showed. By having Draymond Green playing the center position, his unique ability of hustle and ability to grab rebounds among taller players allowed Golden State to be successful. So one way to get past the disadvantages is to have some good defensive players on your team. Teams like the Indiana Pacers are completely reshaping their roster and changing to small ball due to their past failures with the traditional big man style(consecutive 2013 and 2014 conference final losses). But we’ll see if this indeed helps them or not. Overall, small ball is a risky strategy that if you have the right pieces, it can be successful. Or you just might end up with more bruises than you bargained for at the end of the day.
