PTR: The Spurs and LaMarcus Should Destroy Opponents Small Ball

[Mamuza94]

Yeeeep. It did cross my mind at the moment, but I had no idea how I did linked these two things so I gave up of it.

Thanks bro.

[cd021]

I'm interested to see if the Spurs close out some games with Parker/Manu-Green-Leonard-Diaw-Aldridge.

[cd021]

When the Warriors are small, Green is the center. To play big against them one of Aldridge/Duncan would have to guard a wing, likely Iguodala since he's such a poor 3 point shooter. In fact excludig Curry and Thompson, there are a plethora of average or worse shooters on the Warriors to hide bigger guys on.

Valid point. Iggy hovers around league average and Livingston doesn't even take them anymore. Barnes is a fairly low volume 3pt shooter.

[cd021]

Curious to see if we'll see superbig lineups against certain teams. Aldridge-Duncan-West.

Diaw-Aldridge-Duncan would be the better pairing. I would assume that lineup would have to have Ginobili and Green to maximize spacing. Aldridge and Diaw are about average 3pt shooters but both are skilled post players.

Several teams have tried this (Utah in 2013 with Milsap, Jefferson and Favors very good defensively, bad offensively) Memphis essentially has been playing like that for a while with Allen/Prince/Green-ZBO-Gasol (A small forward that can't shoot 3's is essentially like having a 3rd big man on the floor).

[UNT Eagles 2016]

I actually don't think small-ball will be a huge problem. Most teams have been doing what they can to stay big. Look at OKC and Cleveland. Golden State is really the only concern, but if LMA can't guard Draymond, there's nothing the Spurs can do against the Warriors anyway.

Draymond really isn't that great on offense. He settles for a lot of 3s and takes a lot of dumb high arcing floaters that he almost never makes. He gets a large proportion of his buckets in transition and on layups off broken halfcourt plays.

[Chinook]

Draymond really isn't that great on offense. He settles for a lot of 3s and takes a lot of dumb high arcing floaters that he almost never makes. He gets a large proportion of his buckets in transition and on layups off broken halfcourt plays.

Pretty much.

[TheGreatYacht]

Draymond shot 26% from three in both the Playoffs and Finals. Not sure why people think he's Orlando Rashard Lewis, tbh. He's just a hustler, no need to fear his offensive game

[TD 21]

There's zero chance we'll ever see a West-Aldridge-Duncan front line.

Diaw playing some SF wouldn't shock me though. It depends if Anderson can do a respectable enough job from 3 and/or defensively because if he can't and neither Simmons/external option can, what would they lose by shoehorning Diaw back into a combo forward? It would also create more playing time for him and West, but less with neither Duncan or Aldridge.

Sure, it's not ideal for obvious reasons, but as we've seen time and time again, within' reason, teams ultimately do what is necessary (like playing Hill alongside Parker and Ginobili for significant minutes or having Neal defend PG's) to get their best players on the floor.

Specifically against the Warriors, Diaw could cause Barnes/Iguodala more problems on the block than they could him on the perimeter, so long as there's enough shooting around him.