Why is going small > going big?

[bballnoob1192]

it's just how well the team plays with their lineup that forces the other team to adjust. the GSW already showed they can beat cavs with mozgov going off for career highs. The better team always forces the adjustment IMO. remember how the lakers forced teams to start going for bigmen to counter Gasol/odom/bynum? They couldn't run a small team against the lakers cuz the lakers bigs were great at clogging the lanes. The GSW goes small cuz almost everyone on their team can hit a three at a decent to great percentage, so teams have to go small to compete against them. Clogging the lane with bigs does you no favor against the warriors.

[redboy]

going big works much better when you have a big that can post up and take advantage of their size. many of today's nba's centers don't really have that ability

[StephHamann]

Ask Madonna Pippen and Jordan

[Timmy D for MVP]

You have to have the right personnel, and since it's a copycat situation everyone is rushing to get smaller and more flexible. You need two guys who can punish the small lineup and there aren't too many teams out there who carry two guys who are valuable enough to avoid the trend.

[SCdac]

Imo, it's a combo of strategic basketball in the moment + using the personnel available (less elite post players, more shooters nowadays) + adapting to general trends and rule changes in the NBA game. As mentioned, sometimes it just works to replace a defender like Splitter with a more versatile offensive player in Diaw, or in Golden State and Phoenix the past 10 years we've seen alot of small ball, but barring major injuries to AS's/Super Stars and changes to the league I think a 'traditional lineup' is still the most effective. Even Dirk by the time he won a championship was taking much less three's than his Nellie days and posting up in the midrange with more confidence and experience. But, on the other hand, one could make an argument that the big man/post up positions are dying imo

[SpanishACB]

It seems the notion was when the other team goes small ball, the opponent need to match it. But why does the opponent not go the other way; going big?

i.e when GSW plays Draymond Green at center, why not counter with...say playing Mason Plumlee and Brook Lopez together.

because outfield players get many more touches than interior players

if you have smart outfield players capable of passing the ball to the post (a forgotten skill), and skilled bigs, good ball movement to force advantageous matchups, you should be able to score 2 on crazy percentages vs small ball, but they're not even trying.