Small Ball Discussion

So I've been hearing a lot of talk about the small ball that was played in the Finals this past year. And it got me wondering, can the Heat play against the Lakers, the way they did with OKC? I had a couple of debates against some of my friends who hate the Lakers. And my main point (a valid one) the only reason why the Heat were able to constantly switch and use small ball defenders against OKC is because they had no true post presence. Ibaka and Perkins had no back-to-the-basket moves. Heat recognized that and took full advantage putting Battier, Lebron, Jones on players like Ibaka, like Perkins.

So I just wanted to get some general feedback from you guys. Is small ball really the new way to go? teams like the Suns, OKC, Miami, etc....

Miami better not try that crap against us because they'll get destroyed. They didn't have to face a legit superstar bigman like Dwight Howard in last year's Finals. They played against two role players in Serge Ibaka and Kendrick Perkins. I think Philly with Bynum now can give them a run for their money. They have no size at all. They signed an over the hill Ray Allen instead of addressing their huge hole inside. Why they did that is beyond me.

Perkins and Ibaka are both below average defenders so they can get away with playing LeBron as PF and an injured Bosh as center...

the Lakers are way too slow at either forward spot sadly. With Nash and Howard you have the two best open court player at either position. Kobe is also a great open court player. Its Artest and Pau that do not allow us to be a fast breaking team.

Can we win against small ball? yes but we could have been playing our own brand of small ball that would be unstoppable.

The heat have an advantage. James and Bosh are clearly going to smoke Artest and Gasol. and we really cannot keep running with the Heat. We need to be able to slow the game down for a half court game or we are in trouble.

Small ball will fail against a good defensive team. They're dependent on fast break opportunities and making jump shots in the half court set. Against our team neither Miami or OKC will be able to do those things enough to win, given we're healthy.

Fast breaks come from defense creating turnovers. We happen to have a guy named Nash who is going to limit our turnovers greatly when it matters. Defensively LA has Artest and Howard, two defensive game changers. Making jump shots against us is the only way to score against us consistently and we'll take that chance considering our offense doesn't have to come from outside where the percentages fall.

Small ball is neutralized by our team because we're built almost perfectly against it.

Miami played small ball because they have 2 of the best "smalls" in the league and no center at all. If they had D12 or Bynum on their team they would play a different style. It worked for them. But there is a reason why outside of Jordan's Bulls small ball has never won titles.

Small ball works if you have guys who play big...if they defend and rebound like a mad man and you got 3 point shooters to space the floor. Example, David West and Hibbert are rock solid PF/C combination for the Pacers & Chris Bosh wasn't playing in the series, Miami just put Joel Anthony on Hibbert and Battier on David West and it worked. Battier played big. HE banged, he rebounded, he was physical, he took the beating in the paint. If you have a smaller guy and if he plays big small ball works. Same happend in Finals you got Battier matched up with Perkins and Battier kept Perkins off the boards very well

You look at the 08 Finals, KG matched up with Pau, James Posey is a SF but he banged and hung in there with LO in the 4th Q. Hes a smaller guy but he played big.

Not saying every small ball strategy works...look at the 09 Finals, Rashard Lewis on Pau and he got destroyed

When we signed Nash, I was under the impression that we'd will play a lot of zone in general... not only against Miami. Zone = first step to beating LeBron.

OKC not ever going to a zone (or not practicing it enough to use in-game) is one of the reasons why they lost the finals IMO.

Miami's small ball lineup is definitely a concern. Bosh doesn't do THAT bad of a job of defending Dwight. I think he's probably better than Joel Anthony. What's a bigger problem? Having Bosh guard Dwight or having Bosh force Dwight to the perimeter on defense? I think Dwight's defense is a lot more valuable so that's a concern for me.

thkthebest wrote:Miami's small ball lineup is definitely a concern. Bosh doesn't do THAT bad of a job of defending Dwight. I think he's probably better than Joel Anthony. What's a bigger problem? Having Bosh guard Dwight or having Bosh force Dwight to the perimeter on defense? I think Dwight's defense is a lot more valuable so that's a concern for me.

Pau Gasol will guard Bosh. Dwight will guard Anthony near the rim. Pau will play up on Bosh and force him to attack the basket where Dwight will swat his crap into the 18th row.

thkthebest wrote:Miami's small ball lineup is definitely a concern. Bosh doesn't do THAT bad of a job of defending Dwight. I think he's probably better than Joel Anthony. What's a bigger problem? Having Bosh guard Dwight or having Bosh force Dwight to the perimeter on defense? I think Dwight's defense is a lot more valuable so that's a concern for me.

Do you honestly think Bosh can guard Dwight Howard? He'll get destroyed.