Quote:
Originally Posted by turin
It does get tiresome seeing teams stack up talent like this. Yeah, it may not be the best fit at times, but talent is usually what wins. Having said that, my money is still on Denver. I'm rooting for them to win it all. I'd love to see a solid team that plays team basketball anchored by a big just tear through everybody and put a stake through the heart of the midget 3-ball, analytics fanbois. The Lakers got the ball rolling with their big lineups last year winning a title. Denver winning would likely solidify a transitional wave of copycats in the NBA moving more towards size and defense. It's long overdue imo. I just wish the Mavericks would get ahead of the trend and lead the way instead of being followers.
|
I mean... kinda? Not really?? They played big lineups in the regular season and were successful, yes. But in the finals, Dwight and Javale were liabilities. They dominated when they sat both of those guys and went with AD at center. Javale racked up DNP's in the finals, and even Dwight got only garbage time in game 6 (1:06 mins total.)
For the record, I'm not for or against "midget 3-ball." You should play to whatever the strengths are of your roster. Denver plays the way they do because they have an all-time great big in Jokic. And yes, I am already comfortable saying that Jokic is an all-time great. Ditto Lakers, Sixers, and Jazz.
The point is, you play bigs if your bigs are good. If they're not good, but you have a roster full of shooters, then you're probably better off with "midget 3 ball."
I do think a lot or people have taken the wrong lesson in the last decade or so and just assumed that you're better off with no bigs and always playing small ball. I obviously don't share your critique of Carlisle and the Mavericks being guilty of this trend.
I think the real lesson of analytics and the 3 point revolution of the last decade is that every person you put on the floor needs to contribute on both ends of the floor. In the previous era, the Erick Dampiers of the world could be starters for championship contenders just be being big and protecting the paint on defense. But in today's NBA, you can't really afford to play 4-on-5, on offense or on defense.