Small-ball era dawning in NBA

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Small-ball era dawning in NBA
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll...705010333/1127

Chris McCosky: Around the NBA

AUBURN HILLS -- You wonder if this is going to be the year that the transformation becomes complete. Is this year when the new era of small-ball in the NBA really commences?

It's been three years in the making. Ever since the Pistons won the title in 2004, commissioner David Stern has tweaked rules and reshaped the officials' emphases to facilitate a faster, more free-flowing game.

He has steadfastly legislated against the stingy and stodgy half-court, defense-oriented teams like the Pistons and Spurs, and to a lesser extent the Heat and the Rockets. What Stern envisions for his new NBA are teams like the Suns, the Warriors, the Nuggets, even the Bulls.

Fast, feisty, sleek, constantly running and attacking the basket and taking the scores into triple digits.

But a new era cannot commence until one of the new age teams wins a title. Is this the year?

The Suns have been the poster team of the new NBA, and with a healthy Amare Stoudemire, they are certainly looking legit. And, rising from the ashes suddenly are the Warriors, about to dispatch the 67-win Mavericks.

You think Stern is not doing a happy dance? He can barely stand the thought of a Warriors-Suns matchup in the Western Conference finals.

But, the Mavericks aren't dead yet, nor are the Spurs, and in the East, the Pistons are the last old-school team still standing.

If you ask me, I still think the old-schoolers will prevail this year. I still can't pick the Suns over the Spurs in a seven-game series (assuming the Spurs gas the Nuggets here pretty quickly), and I still say the Warriors are one Baron Davis sprained ankle away from falling back to reality.

And I truly believe these Pistons have one more title in them.

But if the revolution doesn't exactly start now, it's coming.

You know how things work in this copy-cat league. General managers are going to start looking to draft and acquire all the speed, quickness, length and athleticism they can. They are going to build their teams smaller, and they are going to build them to play fast and attack the basket.

And why not? It is almost impossible to defend dribble penetration now with the way games are being called. Why not have a bunch of slashers come off high picks with the head down and just barrel to the basket?

(The exception to this, of course, is the team that drafts Greg Oden. You can't draft him and then try to play small-ball, right? Even the Celtics wouldn't do that.)

What do you think turned the Nets' season around? It's when, almost out of desperation, they decided to scrap most of their half-court sets, put the ball in Jason Kidd's hands and told him to go to work. Look at their series with the Raptors. Once Vince Carter decided to attack the rim, the Raptors had no way to stop him.

The Warriors are taking it to the Mavericks because they have better athletes at just about every position and they are in attack-mode from first tip to final buzzer. Their superior athleticism has completely negated the consummate skill of Dirk Nowitzki.

So, teams that are in a rebuilding phase now are going to emulate that. It's a lot easier and affordable to find energetic athletes than another Nowitzki. Teams are going to pick quickness and length over size and strength. And, if the skill differential is slight, they are taking the athlete over the skill guy.

You can bet that the Heat will go that rout. They are going to unload Antoine Walker and Jason Williams. Alonzo Mourning and Gary Payton will probably retire. Then they will unload the likes of Eddie Jones and James Posey (and maybe Udonis Haslem), and surround Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O'Neal with as many athletes as they can.

But here's the key -- there still has to be a balance. You can't be one-dimensional. Sooner or later -- and it's already being done here with the Pistons -- teams are going to be able to find the right defensive scheme to counter all the dribble-driving. They are going to trap more, zone more, sag more and force you to beat them from the perimeter.

The Mavericks have tried to do that to the Warriors, but you can't just suddenly restructure your defense for one playoff series. You have to develop the zones and traps throughout the course of the season, which the Pistons have done under Flip Saunders.

Gregg Popovich has done the same in San Antonio -- with an eye on playing the Suns in the playoffs.

That's why I believe the new era's not starting just yet. I think Pistons and Spurs got one more fight left in them. Call it the rubber match.

But there is a new game on the horizon, you can feel it coming.