Will Small Ball officially die this season?

[JTB]

I’m just speculating here but I see the small ball trend slowly but surely fading away personally ! ....watching the lakers vs warriors yesterday (and I know it’s just preseason but look...) lakers bullied this warriors small ball lineup with ease on their way to 66 points in the paint! Reminded me of how badly we were bullied last season vs the bucks, Jazz, an early in the season at the 76ers.

I get it warriors don’t have klay and perhaps wasn’t taking the game seriously enough but I’m telling you guys...preseason or not that warriors team only way of battling the sure efficiency the lakers can have at the rim on any given night is to be efficient on 3s (something they can do no doubt but much harder without klay)

....I say that to say I just think at the end of the day the hawks really need to find a legit good center to pair with Collins  and I hope that’s my guy Bruno! 
 

either way regardless if it’s too early for our young hawks to worry about or not.... there’s two young elite  bigs (giannis & embiid) in the east that the East playoffs will likely  run through for a long time if healthy even when our young thunder cats get in their prime SO it’s a big deal not to rely on this small ball ish in my opinion as the trend is again slowly but surely fading.

i know many wouldn’t like the addition of player like Drummond or Steven Adams but to me sometimes you got to take some subtraction and gain addition in other valuable areas and these two players defensive presence as well as rebound efforts would change the outcome of even this season...but by all means see how the season plays out first before making such a move! However if we are getting bullied still this season I don’t think players who are true centers should be ruled out .

[NBASupes]

Small ball works when you move exceptionally well off the ball

[AHF]

GS starting Omari is a desperate cry for help given their injuries inside.  A depleted GS seems like not the right team to use for drawing big conclusions.    Remember in the past they’ve had Bogut, etc. as options.  And now they started a guy we were eager to ditch.

[Diesel]

3 hours ago, NBASupes said:

Small ball works when you move exceptionally well off the ball

And Can Shoot.

 

[Peoriabird]

7 hours ago, Diesel said:

And Can Shoot.

 

This is the critical piece!

[NBASupes]

13 hours ago, Diesel said:

And Can Shoot.

 

Shout out to the 60 win Hawks

[capstone21]

I put very little stock into preseason ... its about getting the rust off, trying some things and building some chemistry ... the scores and wins and losses don't mean much at all.

[JTB]

I hear you guys but I think the physicality of other teams (certain other teams) may doom us! ....hope I’m wrong 

[AHF]

26 minutes ago, JTB said:

I hear you guys but I think the physicality of other teams (certain other teams) may doom us! ....hope I’m wrong 

That is a legit concern to raise and may well be an issue for our roster (although I tend to think the youth of our team is the biggest challenge for this year).  I just think you are painting with too broad a brush about small ball dying.  I think you need to look at league-wide trends for that and I don't see small ball going away from being an important part of the mix of personnel and play styles.

[HawkItus]

Bucks and LAC maybe your finals matchup with small ball lineups.  Easy on feeding the fat lady small balls.

[JTB]

12 minutes ago, HawkItus said:

Bucks and LAC maybe your finals matchup with small ball lineups.  Easy on feeding the fat lady small balls.

I don’t consider the bucks small ball with Giannis and Lopez in the front court

[JTB]

34 minutes ago, AHF said:

That is a legit concern to raise and may well be an issue for our roster (although I tend to think the youth of our team is the biggest challenge for this year).  I just think you are painting with too broad a brush about small ball dying.  I think you need to look at league-wide trends for that and I don't see small ball going away from being an important part of the mix of personnel and play styles.

I think the need for legit center is still becoming a norm again that’s all. Small ball will forever stay around but you really have to have some special perimeter players to overcome having a journey man center because a team wants to go cheap on the true centers .

 

just my opinion 

[AHF]

Clippers might be your preseason favorites and they have a journeyman center rotation as of today.