To create a small ball team would be foolish. Small ball is an option when the other team has inferior big men and you want to score (judging that your team doesn't have offensively-gifted bigs). When you're playing a team with solid bigs (AKA most teams that battle for a championship) you need to be able to defend them.
Rethinking our roster in light of Finals small ball
- Thread starter Qman
- Start date
Coach Ellis
Well-Known Member
Small ball Warriors lineup
5 - Green
4 - Iguadola
3 - Barnes
2 - Thompson
1 - Curry
Jazz regular lineup
5 - Gobert
4 - Favors
3 - Hayward
2 - Hood/Burks
1 - Exum
Question #1.) Can the Jazz defend against this lineup? I think they are athletic to, but the key two matchup a would be Favors/Iguadola and Exum/Curry. Rudy can handle Green and I think that some combination of Burks/Hood/Hayward could slow down Barnes and Thompson. Iguadola is more athletic than Favors and a better shooter, but I think Favors could handle him. Exum would have to use his length and help defense to slow Curry down. When Steph struggles, so does the whole team.
Question #2.) Can the Jazz then use their size to exploit the Warriors on offense. I don't think Green/Iggy can match up with what Gobert and Favors bring to the low post. Especially if Rudy improves his strength and shooting. They'd kill GSW on the boards, which should lead to more 2nd chance opportunities. My guess is that the Warriors would "go big" to match up with what the Jazz do.
5 - Green
4 - Iguadola
3 - Barnes
2 - Thompson
1 - Curry
Jazz regular lineup
5 - Gobert
4 - Favors
3 - Hayward
2 - Hood/Burks
1 - Exum
Question #1.) Can the Jazz defend against this lineup? I think they are athletic to, but the key two matchup a would be Favors/Iguadola and Exum/Curry. Rudy can handle Green and I think that some combination of Burks/Hood/Hayward could slow down Barnes and Thompson. Iguadola is more athletic than Favors and a better shooter, but I think Favors could handle him. Exum would have to use his length and help defense to slow Curry down. When Steph struggles, so does the whole team.
Question #2.) Can the Jazz then use their size to exploit the Warriors on offense. I don't think Green/Iggy can match up with what Gobert and Favors bring to the low post. Especially if Rudy improves his strength and shooting. They'd kill GSW on the boards, which should lead to more 2nd chance opportunities. My guess is that the Warriors would "go big" to match up with what the Jazz do.
Chris
Well-Known Member
I think too much is being made of the small ball that we're seeing in the Finals. What I see is two coaches playing chess with their lineups and rotations. There's still plenty of room in the League for height and length, assuming they are paired with some measure of hustle and at least a hint of athleticism.
This is the essence. Who adjusts to whom? If your brand is better than their brand, you win.
But the OP did say to not change out the gobert plan, but to consider where the emphasis goes on the next player acquired. Do you favor more robustness in a current strength: athletic bigs or do you increase your ability to take on the trending smal ball? Unfortunately, at the 12th pick , I simply go to best player available to maximize trade options when the time for fine tuning occurs. Jazz will start moving piecies a year from now once the competitive landscape is understood at a playoff-caliber level.
LogGrad98
Well-Known Member
Contributor
20-21 Award Winner
2022 Award Winner
2023 Award Winner
2024 Award Winner
This.
The key to wins in the current finals series has been controlling tempo and/or being able to adapt to what the opponent is throwing at you. In this case small-ball has been the antidote to cleveland slowing down the pace. But it isn't the end-all be-all secret finals formula. It is merely the adaptation that GS used that seems to work. At least for one game.
Bingo. the point isn't that Gobert is 7+++ feet, it's that he has lateral speed, he can turn and compensate, he has gotten so much better at knowing when and where to jump, etc... a small lineup against Gobert means giving up the paint completely on offense, now you might still win if you are a fantastic shooting team.
Let's not get carried away witht he whole small ball thing.
LogGrad98
Well-Known Member
Contributor
20-21 Award Winner
2022 Award Winner
2023 Award Winner
2024 Award Winner
Here is how we defend this lineup:
1) Slow it down. Play the half court sets. Protect the ball and reduce options for fast breaks.
2) Defend the perimeter. Let Gobert/Favors shore up the rim, and take away the 3. Let them challenge the bigs inside instead of the 3 ball. In the end this will force them into a lot of long 2's or mid-range contested shots, the absolute worst shots in the game.
3) Attack their attackers. Force their big guns to play some D themselves. Post up Favors on Iggy. Iggy cannot stand against that and will expend a ton of energy trying to slow down Favors. Do the same with Exum against Curry. Hell with that lineup I would clear out and let Exum back down Curry nearly every possession until they start doubling and tripling. Also, use alternate ball handlers. Let Burks or Hayward bring the ball down to set up the offense. Dudes that primarily focus on offense can be thrown off their game when they are forced to play defense.
The bigger danger really for us would be how to break their zone, as they would undoubtedly run zone at us until we prove we can break it. We need some long ball folks for that, so hopefully Exum steadies his shot and Hayward as well. Hood/Burks should be fine for that but if they are really the only options that doesn't bode well.
And I think you are right, that GS would end up going big to try to offset what we are doing. With those lineups I could see Gobert averaging nearly 20 boards be game (if we are talking about a seasons series or a playoff series). Favors wouldn't be far behind. As good as those guys are on the boards (and Hayward is no slouch either we know) GS would suffer badly on rebounding and would have to bring Bogut or someone back in to help on the glass.
Red
Well-Known Member
https://espn.go.com/nba/playoffs/20...nals-stephen-curry-officially-race-finals-mvp
"......The Cavaliers went small, likely because Timofey Mozgov looked out of sorts defending Golden State's drag screens and in generally keeping up with the Warriors. He also was flummoxed by double-teams, something he rarely sees. Curry set about attacking the cracks in Cleveland's downsized, offense-oriented looks. "They made an adjustment," Curry said. "Didn't play Mozgov pretty much at all in the whole game. So they tried to match our lineup."
The Cavs couldn't do it. While the move gave Cleveland a little life offensively, it ultimately was overmatched playing Golden State's style. The scene was a bit surprising in a Finals that, for the first few games, had been slow and grinding. Now it's suddenly a look into where the league is headed, how spacing and speed claim priority over size in many situations. "It's just not a series for bigs right now," Kerr said.
That's another reason the game served as a reminder of just how revolutionary Curry is. The smallest guy on the floor can dictate so much of what happens, mostly with his outside shot. He might not be better than LeBron James today, and might not be tomorrow. His rise still represents a changing of the guard in basketball. Small can prevail over large, unlike in the NBA of yore. The future is here. It's smaller and quicker than the past."
"......The Cavaliers went small, likely because Timofey Mozgov looked out of sorts defending Golden State's drag screens and in generally keeping up with the Warriors. He also was flummoxed by double-teams, something he rarely sees. Curry set about attacking the cracks in Cleveland's downsized, offense-oriented looks. "They made an adjustment," Curry said. "Didn't play Mozgov pretty much at all in the whole game. So they tried to match our lineup."
The Cavs couldn't do it. While the move gave Cleveland a little life offensively, it ultimately was overmatched playing Golden State's style. The scene was a bit surprising in a Finals that, for the first few games, had been slow and grinding. Now it's suddenly a look into where the league is headed, how spacing and speed claim priority over size in many situations. "It's just not a series for bigs right now," Kerr said.
That's another reason the game served as a reminder of just how revolutionary Curry is. The smallest guy on the floor can dictate so much of what happens, mostly with his outside shot. He might not be better than LeBron James today, and might not be tomorrow. His rise still represents a changing of the guard in basketball. Small can prevail over large, unlike in the NBA of yore. The future is here. It's smaller and quicker than the past."
We may need to revamp, and re-release the Jazzfanz.com official jump to conclusions mat for the 2015 off season.
Coach Ellis
Well-Known Member
The Cavs are dumb. They can't play the same game as the Warriors. Golden State operates at a much higher level when playing small ball. The counter to that is to go bigger, slow things down and manhandle their smaller lineups. Force them to abandon the paint and shoot longer, contested shots. Should have kept Wiggins. He'd be their best non-Lebron offensive and defensive player by now.
People may say this concern is dumb and we will be fine being big, but I bet there is a lot of discussion of this issue at Jazz HQ. Personally, I tend to agree with the idea of sticking with your best talent and working around that which is Gobert now for us, Curry for GS. Could be an interesting series in a few years, real big vs real small. Cavs are really neither right now.