Interesting article from Grantland:
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/...-playoff-teams
It looks at this season's experiment with "small ball" while noting that in the second round of the play-offs, only two teams that played a lot of it are still in the race
"That leaves New York and Miami as the only true small-ball outliers left, and the Heat have the benefit of the world's greatest player, a totally unique multipositional cyborg who defies almost everything we know about basketball players. The playoffs have reinforced two very basic NBA realities we sometimes forget in anointing this the Era of Small Ball:
1. Size is really important, at all positions. I think Jarrett Jack just hit another midrange pull-up over Ty Lawson.
2. A big guy who can actually play both ends of the floor at a B-plus level is the most valuable non-superstar commodity in the league. This is why Josh Smith is getting a max deal this summer, no matter how distasteful you might find it. This is why Al Horford, earning a flat $12 million per season through 2015-16, is rising up through the informal "best contract in the NBA" rankings every league exec keeps in his head. It's why David West is underpaid, even if the real reason he's underpaid is because he signed his current deal while recovering from an ACL tear. It's why Tyson Chandler, when healthy, is easily worth his $14 million annual salary, even though dunking on pick-and-rolls constitutes 80 percent of his offensive game."
The Raptors have two very competent big men, in JV and Amir. I know many here don't think Amir is a starting caliber PF, but I would say he is definitely a B-plus level big.
"If teams are indeed going small more often, it's not because they've figured out that small ball is better in some objective, all-encompassing way. It's because they've realized playing small is better for teams who simply don't have enough competent big men."
This article would tend to support those RR members who are arguing for another dependable big to fit into the rotation. I like Grey, but definitely not a B-plus big because of he lack of speed and mobility compared to other bench bigs he must play against.
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/...-playoff-teams
It looks at this season's experiment with "small ball" while noting that in the second round of the play-offs, only two teams that played a lot of it are still in the race
"That leaves New York and Miami as the only true small-ball outliers left, and the Heat have the benefit of the world's greatest player, a totally unique multipositional cyborg who defies almost everything we know about basketball players. The playoffs have reinforced two very basic NBA realities we sometimes forget in anointing this the Era of Small Ball:
1. Size is really important, at all positions. I think Jarrett Jack just hit another midrange pull-up over Ty Lawson.
2. A big guy who can actually play both ends of the floor at a B-plus level is the most valuable non-superstar commodity in the league. This is why Josh Smith is getting a max deal this summer, no matter how distasteful you might find it. This is why Al Horford, earning a flat $12 million per season through 2015-16, is rising up through the informal "best contract in the NBA" rankings every league exec keeps in his head. It's why David West is underpaid, even if the real reason he's underpaid is because he signed his current deal while recovering from an ACL tear. It's why Tyson Chandler, when healthy, is easily worth his $14 million annual salary, even though dunking on pick-and-rolls constitutes 80 percent of his offensive game."
The Raptors have two very competent big men, in JV and Amir. I know many here don't think Amir is a starting caliber PF, but I would say he is definitely a B-plus level big.
"If teams are indeed going small more often, it's not because they've figured out that small ball is better in some objective, all-encompassing way. It's because they've realized playing small is better for teams who simply don't have enough competent big men."
This article would tend to support those RR members who are arguing for another dependable big to fit into the rotation. I like Grey, but definitely not a B-plus big because of he lack of speed and mobility compared to other bench bigs he must play against.
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