The article on the mainpage has pushed me over the top.
Since Casey's comments about the day of the C being done so many have jumped on that bandwagon and said, "yeah yeah yeah!"
I'm not sure how many people have actually played at a high level or coached basketball but here is how it goes:
In a game you look for an advantage.
If you find it you capitalize on it until the other team adapts or neutralizes the advantage.
Simple.
You are not guaranteed to gain an advantage by merely going small.
Nor are you guaranteed to negate the possible advantage of another team going small by going small yourself.
What is over looked in the whole small ball circle jerk of the last few days is you need very skilled players at every position and at your traditional big position(s) you need strength, length, and skill.
But it really doesn't matter how you play as long as you have the guys to play it. It was just 1 year ago that San Antonio won with a traditional approach to the size of players but they employed on and off ball movement combined with shooting and good decision making.
Golden State was successful because they had the guys to play a particular way.... just as San Antonio was last season with Tim Duncan and Tiago Splitter up front.
I put this recent trend in the same context as those who state there is only one way to build a team in the NBA and that is a big fat, "Ugh, NO."
There is no shortage of ways to build or play - but however you choose to go about either - you better have the right guys to do it.
What Casey has always failed to grasp is he doesn't have the guys to play small ball nor does he have the guys to play scramble defense..... but that hasn't stopped him from pounding the rock. Every year Casey talks about how he doesn't have the right guys....even when he gets what he wanted from the previous season (If only we had a guy to stop Paul Pierce!!! - lol).
And now we've come full circle on the issue: the job of a coach is to maximize the talent and abilities of the players he has. Casey has failed at this time and time again.... unless you think promoting inefficient volume scoring is a viable and sustainable approach to winning basketball games.
I'm glad GS won. I'm glad D'Antoni and Don Nelson are getting a lot of credit for their trailblazing ways. However, the recency bias is currently overwhelming.
Since Casey's comments about the day of the C being done so many have jumped on that bandwagon and said, "yeah yeah yeah!"
I'm not sure how many people have actually played at a high level or coached basketball but here is how it goes:
In a game you look for an advantage.
If you find it you capitalize on it until the other team adapts or neutralizes the advantage.
Simple.
You are not guaranteed to gain an advantage by merely going small.
Nor are you guaranteed to negate the possible advantage of another team going small by going small yourself.
What is over looked in the whole small ball circle jerk of the last few days is you need very skilled players at every position and at your traditional big position(s) you need strength, length, and skill.
But it really doesn't matter how you play as long as you have the guys to play it. It was just 1 year ago that San Antonio won with a traditional approach to the size of players but they employed on and off ball movement combined with shooting and good decision making.
Golden State was successful because they had the guys to play a particular way.... just as San Antonio was last season with Tim Duncan and Tiago Splitter up front.
I put this recent trend in the same context as those who state there is only one way to build a team in the NBA and that is a big fat, "Ugh, NO."
There is no shortage of ways to build or play - but however you choose to go about either - you better have the right guys to do it.
What Casey has always failed to grasp is he doesn't have the guys to play small ball nor does he have the guys to play scramble defense..... but that hasn't stopped him from pounding the rock. Every year Casey talks about how he doesn't have the right guys....even when he gets what he wanted from the previous season (If only we had a guy to stop Paul Pierce!!! - lol).
And now we've come full circle on the issue: the job of a coach is to maximize the talent and abilities of the players he has. Casey has failed at this time and time again.... unless you think promoting inefficient volume scoring is a viable and sustainable approach to winning basketball games.
I'm glad GS won. I'm glad D'Antoni and Don Nelson are getting a lot of credit for their trailblazing ways. However, the recency bias is currently overwhelming.
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