Small Ball has no place in this league. Sorry "IT"

[GreenWarrior]

It's my one gripe with Danny Ainge, his love affair with under-sized players. Size wins in this league.

the Bucks did exactly what you should do if you dare play such an undersized player. and they took advantage of him all night.

the way I see it, at best all "IT" ultimately offers is breaking even. if he scores 20, he's probably costing the team 20 on the other end.

I can't stand the disadvantage "IT" puts us in on the defensive end as soon as he is put in the game. if you have to double a guy because one guy on your team is at a major disadvantage just because of his size the trade off is not worth it. if he averaged 40 pts. then I'd live with it, but that's not happening....

hopefully we don't invest too much in this guy. also i'm not blaming "IT" solely for this loss but just an overall analysis of why "IT" is a waste of time.   

[BudweiserCeltic]

Not every team has a logjam of big guards like the Bucks do in both the PG and SG positions.

That aside, that being the case, Stevens should never go small with IT as a PG particularly against a team like the Bucks and particularly with bad defenders on our front court to ago along with Thomas. We should have gone big throughout full game.

This is not on Ainge, this is on Stevens.

[KeepRondo]

The Bucks tried to take advantage of that match up but I didn't see anything that made me think we got a problem. The only thing I thought was bad for IT were his turnovers today. Besides that he was pretty good.

[Chris22]

We should have gone to the zone earlier.

[Who]

This is why IT has no future as a starter in this league. Too vulnerable defensively. Offensive game is quite selfish as well. Very good in the bench role though. Spark-plug scorer.

[makaveli]

so if you think this game was on IT, if we were to count games that way, so far he won us like 4-6 games and costed us 1-2. take that.
the clippers and the bucks both had like 40 point qtrs and combined for 240 points. that's not one mans fault.
bradley is the one to take a look at. He did score 15-16 in the first half, but mayo killed him.

[GreenWarrior]

Not every team has a logjam of big guards like the Bucks do in both the PG and SG positions.

no, they don't. but when it comes down to it the goal is to win a championship, not a lot of games. and when it comes time for the playoffs this is what every team will do. "IT" is a waste of time.

That aside, that being the case, Stevens should never go small with IT as a PG particularly against a team like the Bucks and particularly with bad defenders on our front court to ago along with Thomas. We should have gone big throughout full game.

I agree that this was a bad game for Stevens. really questionable substitutions through out.

This is not on Ainge, this is on Stevens.

never said this loss is on Ainge. we can win games with "IT", we're not winning a championship with "IT" though. and yes this loss was on Stevens.

[MBunge]

Not every team has a logjam of big guards like the Bucks do in both the PG and SG positions.

no, they don't. but when it comes down to it the goal is to win a championship, not a lot of games. and when it comes time for the playoffs this is what every team will do. "IT" is a waste of time.

That aside, that being the case, Stevens should never go small with IT as a PG particularly against a team like the Bucks and particularly with bad defenders on our front court to ago along with Thomas. We should have gone big throughout full game.

I agree that this was a bad game for Stevens. really questionable substitutions through out.

This is not on Ainge, this is on Stevens.

never said this loss is on Ainge. we can win games with "IT", we're not winning a championship with "IT" though. and yes this loss was on Stevens.

Plato would love today's NBA fan.  They're so obsessed with some fantasy of what the perfect team and perfect player looks like, they have no time for teams and players as they actually exist.

Mike

[Csfan1984]

I used to think like the OP last year. Now I think it's not an even split for IT vs opponents scoring on average. IT is efficient in scoring at very high level. If he had the height and D he is an All-star. He does give up a lot on D. Yet I won't say a team can never win a championship with him as a starter because if you pair him with good defensive bigs they would make up for the D. I agree it would be nice if this team had more size. However it's all about the size in the front court not  PG or SG. IT would be fine starting with Pelicans, Jazz, Blazers, Bulls, Grizzly and so on  with other "good front court teams".

[GreenWarrior]

Not every team has a logjam of big guards like the Bucks do in both the PG and SG positions.

no, they don't. but when it comes down to it the goal is to win a championship, not a lot of games. and when it comes time for the playoffs this is what every team will do. "IT" is a waste of time.

That aside, that being the case, Stevens should never go small with IT as a PG particularly against a team like the Bucks and particularly with bad defenders on our front court to ago along with Thomas. We should have gone big throughout full game.

I agree that this was a bad game for Stevens. really questionable substitutions through out.

This is not on Ainge, this is on Stevens.

never said this loss is on Ainge. we can win games with "IT", we're not winning a championship with "IT" though. and yes this loss was on Stevens.

Plato would love today's NBA fan.  They're so obsessed with some fantasy of what the perfect team and perfect player looks like, they have no time for teams and players as they actually exist.

Mike

it has nothing to do with "perception". show me a team that has won championships in this era of the NBA playing small ball. or won championships where their best player is also the smallest player on the court.

[chambers]

Didn't the Heat win a championship or two with Small ball?

He's the only guy we've got that can run pick and roll and can punish the opposing bench.

OJ Mayo was pretty hot and our help defense was weak.
With any kind of rim protecting power forward we'd fair much better when this happens.

[GreenWarrior]

I used to think like the OP last year. Now I think it's not an even split for IT vs opponents scoring on average. IT is efficient in scoring at very high level. If he had the height and D he is an All-star. He does give up a lot on D. Yet I won't say a team can never win a championship with him as a starter because if you pair him with good defensive bigs they would make up for the D. I agree it would be nice if this team had more size. However it's all about the size in the front court not  PG or SG. IT would be fine starting with Pelicans, Jazz, Blazers, Bulls, Grizzly and so on  with other "good front court teams".

exactly what I'm saying - breaking even isn't winning.

"IT" will have his nights where he's "on" for sure, i'm not denying he has talent offensively. I'm saying regardless of weather he's hot, average or cold the fact that he is a liability defensively(not for lack of effort) before he even steps off the bus is just that - a fact.

which means you are already giving something up before anyone even scores a basket. which means you already have to change your defense to make up of for this disadvantage. some nights this won't be so glaring because his offense will make it not seem like such a disadvantage...but it still is.

having elite bigs may make up for this, it may not. I tend to believe that's a myth based on nothing. realistically elite bigs will more likely end up with them in foul trouble having to make up for this disadvantage. 

I look at it this way. why not have elite bigs paired with no undersized players? so we can actually have an advantage and not have them have to make up for someone's lack of height.

[Rtpas11]

Not every team has a logjam of big guards like the Bucks do in both the PG and SG positions.

That aside, that being the case, Stevens should never go small with IT as a PG particularly against a team like the Bucks and particularly with bad defenders on our front court to ago along with Thomas. We should have gone big throughout full game.

This is not on Ainge, this is on Stevens.

[GreenWarrior]

Didn't the Heat win a championship or two with Small ball?

He's the only guy we've got that can run pick and roll and can punish the opposing bench.

OJ Mayo was pretty hot and our help defense was weak.
With any kind of rim protecting power forward we'd fair much better when this happens.

yeah...with the "best player in the league".

this is all great:

- get elite bigs
- get the best player in the league

and presto, "IT" is a steal and all we had to do is accommodate his lack of height. I also take 4 right turns to make a left turn while i'm driving.

look, I don't mind taking time to build a contender, i'm all about embracing the process. but some ventures just aren't worth the time. 

[GreenWarrior]

Not every team has a logjam of big guards like the Bucks do in both the PG and SG positions.

That aside, that being the case, Stevens should never go small with IT as a PG particularly against a team like the Bucks and particularly with bad defenders on our front court to ago along with Thomas. We should have gone big throughout full game.

This is not on Ainge, this is on Stevens.

uhh huh. because the teams in the playoffs will allow "IT" to play one side of the court.