[Dirkenstien]

Quote Murphy3: "To compound things, the Mavs were often playing 'small ball' which only increased the center's responsibilities defensively."

I dont necessarily agree with this. The only responsiblity that would be further implied for the center in this instance would be the defensive rebounding.

Playing small ball doesn't exactly mean worse D or more penetration due to the fact that the overall defense of the team comes down to the individual defenders defensive capabilities. Therefore regardless of how big the man is defending on the perimeter, if they are quick enough to cover their man and not let him penetrate without drawing a charge, then the only liability through the defensive perspective would be that the offensive player, (our opponent) in this case, would be more capable of jacking up shots due to their height advantage. Resulting in more responsibility on the center to grab the rebounds of those shots that dont fall.