[dirno2000]

Avery really didn't play that much small ball. In fact, he didn't really use it at all in '06-07 until the playoffs started. Remember when everyone said Avery didn't use the strategy that won him 67 games? It's not about whether Avery played too much or too little small ball. He was throwing out lineups he had no clue about, when the team was already four games away from elimination.

True, that didn't become an issue until last year when he often used Bass instead of Diop with Dirk. We're seeing that with about the same frequency but the wing positions have gotten smaller due to Barea's emergence.

You didn't mention Barea, Bass, and Singleton ARE in the rotation. Really, the only one that doesn't see the floor anymore is Green (which is currently my only knock on Carlisle).

We'll see what Rick does in the playoffs, but if you aren't going to use the young 'uns in the season, don't use them in the playoffs. Last year, Avery randomly inserted Barea into the second quarter of Game 4, and he hadn't played in almost two months.

I'll give you Barea but Bass was already in the rotation and Singleton wasn't here.

I don't think it's unusual, when things are going as poorly as they were for us at the time, for a coach to throw something against the wall and see if it sticks. That's the beauty of the seven game series. I wouldn't say that cost us the series, or even the game, anymore than I would say that going small at the beginning of the GS series did.

Dirk is so incredibly efficient, it's almost scary. I don't see how anyone could be upset about his production right now.

I'm not complaining but people still talk about how Avery tried to turn him into Tim Duncan. I think his strength is the mid-range game and, from what I can tell, Carlisle hasn't tried to change that.

Yeah, I think Dirk said something about a weak side shooter, but the real killer was that the mediocre point guard Avery was screaming at the Hall of Fame point guard every time down the floor. Now, the boys have the freedom to push the ball when they have the chance.

We can argue about to what extent but I think they've always had that freedom. Most coaches will take the easy two if it's there. And Carlisle, a mediocre forward, still screams out plays to his HOF point guard. The most glaring example was late in the 3rd quarter of the Lakers game when Farmar stole the ball from Kidd as he was turning around to get the play from the bench at the other end of the floor.