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Showing posts from January, 2016

Can Kristaps Porzingis Change the State of Small-Ball?

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The NBA has always been a copycat league. If a formula works for one team, every other coach tries to follow suit. The evolution of small ball has taken over the league a lot faster than many anticipated. Teams that used to thrive off posting and toasting have remodeled their roster in order to keep up with the rapid tempo that the Golden State Warriors have established. The Indiana Pacers have Paul George playing the power forward. The Memphis Grizzlies have Matt Barnes starting over Zach Randolph sometimes. The Washington Wizards have made some incredibly wacky lineups, throwing Jared Dudley at center. It was only a season ago that those teams would rely on their bigs to make plays, but they are now playing a completely different sport. A team that is not following this trend is the New York Knicks. Against the Joakim Noah-less Chicago Bulls, Coach Derek Fisher had the mentality to play bully ball. On his first substitution he put in Kevin Seraphin, Kyle O’Quinn, and Lance Thomas to