Is this the end of small ball?

[Vermont Green]

I guess you could look at it that way. But I look at how we went small to match Miami which played right into their strengths.

They were able to get into the paint at will. If you face Miami again and now keep KP and Rwill out there. It's totally different.

All true, so I interpet your thread title to mean "Is this the end of being forced into playing small ball because we now have a bigger front line[/i]?" The answer to that question is 'yes' but it doesn't mean the end of small ball completely. "small ball" is still tactic for any NBA team if they think it gives them an advantage.

Yeah, this is how I see it.  When we had Horford and RWill both healthy and playing well for the second half of the 2021-22 season, we were a historically good team.  At the start of 2022-23, RWill was hurt and they got to playing with White as the starter in place of RWill, not because they wanted to, but because they had to.  RWill never really got back to playing like he did in 2021-22, or at least not consistently.  They tried to get back to that after the players begged them too but between Horford being a year older and RWill still not being the same, that line up didn't click and they went back to the small line up with White.

I feel that both Porzingis and Horford can play PF.  To me, it is not so much the position but you need one of your bigs to be able to score, to be someone the defense has to pay attention to.  RWill is a lot of things but not that.  You wouldn't want 2 RWills on the floor the same time but Porzingis is going to be able to play with anyone, Horford, RWill, Grant, whoever.  I don't see any issue with this at all.

[cman88]

I definitely think the trade signals a change in philosophy, not just because you’ve added Porzingis but, perhaps even more so, that the team seemed comfortable moving off Smart.

The basic principle under Ime was “switch everything” and they had the personnel for it. Smart was a PG who could body up centers, you had a massive Brown and Tatum at the 2 and 3 spots, and two agile big defenders.

They are going to be more of a Budenholzer-style, drop defense this year. It doesn’t necessarily mean worse; the stats suggest Porzingis was an elite pick and roll defender last year, I suspect because he was so massive at the rim. (7-3 height tends to help make up for subpar footspeed.)

The concern I have is more so on offense. When the offense was really humming last year, you had guys all over the place who could pass, dribble, playmake, cut, and shoot. Smart, for all his limitations shooting from deep, was great in that environment.

This is going to be different. I’ll wait before fully passing judgment, but I can’t imagine KP is the same type of passer as Smart. Will the ball be whipping around, with tons of movement, with him and, say, Timelord on the floor? If the ball stagnates, it won’t matter that KP can shoot. Guys just won’t be open.

The thing I’m hopeful for is late-game offensive execution when the team has a lead. So many of us were ready to tear our hair out when the Celtics went stagnant late in games. Things get tight, and when the jump shots don’t go in, that leaves you vulnerable to comebacks. (Particularly when the other team has long rebounds off of your missed 3s and then scores in transition.) KP will help there because he’s, statistically, such a good post scorer. That type of offense isn’t the most efficient, but it has low variance; KP is unlikely to go completely ice cold shooting close to the rim in crunch time. This is going to become extremely important in the playoffs, I figure, when everyone tightens up and you need a consistent source of offense.

idk, ball was only whipping around from October - December and in small spurts in the playoffs. so even with the 3 guard lineup its not like celtics really had alot of movement. how many times did we see smart or tatum just walk the ball up. wait until 10-15 second and make either one pass for an iso shot or take the shot themselves.

That is something they need to prioritize either way. playing faster, moving the ball more. and cutting off screens. Brown/Tatum/ everyone honestly can play much better if there are constant screens and movement. Too often, I think they just relied on how good Brogdon/Brown/Tatum were at ISO scoring.

We couldn't beat the zone because no one moved....pretty easy to defend when one guy is going ISO for 15 second and everyone is just standing around the 3 point line. On the other end we were watching constant screens by bam and their undrafted 3 point shooters getting wide open shots.