Small is the New Big: The new brand of NBA basketball

  

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     When the Steve Nash/ Mike D'Antoni led Phoenix Suns won 62 games during the 2004- 2005 season, everyone was definitely entertained by their run and gun, fast- paced style of basketball. They did everything so differently that they just surprised everyone on how they  succeeded. Yet, the reality was, regardless of their success during that season and even the following seasons, no one really believed that they could win it all. They were described as only good enough for the regular season but not built for the playoffs. True enough, they never made it to the finals. On the other hand, teams that were built the conventional way like the San Antonio Spurs, Boston Celtics and LA Lakers won championships during the Steve Nash era of Suns basketball. Yet, this whole plan of D'Antoni and company to change things up a decade ago catapulted a new wave of basketball that defines what NBA basketball is in the present. The way the game is being played nowadays is the end product of a system that no one ever believed could ever work. Like it or not, small is the new big.

     Alvin Gentry, lead assistant of the Golden State Warriors and now coach of the New Orleans Pelicans, said minutes after winning the title that with the way the Warriors won the championship, it vindicated Mike D'Antoni as a coach and as a basketball genius. The myth that a jump shooting team can NEVER win a title has been busted by the Splash Brothers and the versatililty that GSW displayed all throughout the season and the post- season. Just look at it this way, all four teams that made it to either the East Finals or West Finals played small ball in one way or another. They were at their best when they did so. I never thought in my wildest dreams that I would see lineups from both teams in the finals of having players who stood 6'8 and below playing head to head in the most crucial parts of the finals. And yet, it was so fun and exciting to watch. The display of adept shooting, incredible spacing, crisp passing and high flying dunks just added more spice into it than ever before.           Whether we like it or not, the game has simply evolved period. (I am pretty sure though that Knicks President Phil Jackson will never agree with this whole small ball thing at all)

     Anyway, does this mean that the game will really lose the essentials like having a big, dominant center in the post or the bruiser POWER forwards, or even the rugged, grind it out teams that made the game really physical? Honestly, I do not really think so.

     It will actually depend on the younger breed of players. For the past how many years, even the tall players want to play like guards. Look at KD, 6'10 and all, and yet, handles a ball like a 6'2 guard. Ryan Anderson is 6'10 and yet, he shoots the three like a 6'4 deadshot. Then, big men do not have any post game whatsoever. They may try to develop their post skills but they just don't seem to like it so much. They would rather have a high pick and roll and an eventual dunk or alley oop ala DeAndre Jordan or Dwight Howard. Look at Anthony Davis and how he can basically do anything and dominate everything as well. Jahlil Okafor, the third overall pick during the recently concluded draft would probably come in his rookie season as already one of the best post up players in the NBA. This is just to emphasize how much the young guys have really veered away from the post game. Karl  Anthony Towns, Kris Porzingis, Willie Cauley Stein and Myles Turner are all really big but are not post players. In fact, Turner made a decent amount of three point shots while playing for the Texas Longhorns. Porzingis, who is around 7'1, is really known more for his ability to knock down outside shots.

     The fact that teams have been given the leeway to zone has also paved the way for small ball to work. In other words, more than the aspect of style, it has become more of a necessity as well.
Positionless basketball and versatility among players are now the most sought for in the League. You can basically go with a lineup that does not have a big man but the lineup in itself has length and versatility and still be very successful. Small ball is truly the way to succeed in the NBA nowadays. And it all started because of how one man thought that he had the perfect point guard with the right mix of athletes and shooters to put on a show that would change the game forever.