Basketball Small Ball
By Dr. James Gels, From the Coach’s Clipboard Basketball Playbook"Helping coaches coach better..."
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Chat GPT describes "small ball" as "one of the biggest ongoing tactical evolutions in modern basketball". But in fact, small ball has been around for a very long time. High school and youth teams not blessed with big strong post players have had to play small ball for years. Small ball also relates to positionless basketball, pace and space offense, and the open post 5-out motion offense.
But today's small ball means more than just playing with small players. It's more about the style of play than just the size of the players. Small ball uses five players all with perimeter skills - ball-handling, dribble-moves and attacking with the dribble, good outside shooting, passing, and quickness.
Small ball replaces inside big post players with quicker, more versatile athletic players. The focus becomes speed, spacing, guard skills and shooting, and shifts away from the traditional inside power game, rebounding and deliberation.
Golden State's Stephen Curry
The term "stretch lineup" doesn't mean all small players size-wise. It means players playing away from the hoop, on the perimeter, as in a 5-out offense. So every small-ball lineup is a stretch lineup, but not every stretch lineup is small ball.
Pros and Cons of Small Ball
Pros:
- Spacing - more room for attacking with the dribble and finishing at the hoop (no helpside defense), and kickout 3-point shots.
- Fast pace - control the tempo with fast breaks and early offense. And a fast tempo can fatigue their bigs.
- Mismatches and helpside - by playing 5-out, you force the defense's bigs to move outside to defend, where you can beat them with your quickness and a dribble move. This can result in their having to switch a lot. And it disrupts their helpside defense, and limits their inside shot blocking.
- Athleticism - you've got quick players who can all play and score.
- Switching on defense - your players being quick and athletic make it easier to switch, apply pressure and disrupt the opponent's offense. You may get more steals leading to transition lay-ups.
Cons:
- Lack of size, power - if your outside shots aren't falling, who are you going to go if you can't get it inside?
- Loss of inside basket protection and defense - without bigs helping inside, the opponent will have an easier time finishing at the hoop.
- Rebounding - you might allow the opponent second and third chances to score, while limiting your own offense to "one and out."
So as coach, you have to decide whether the pros outweigh the cons for your team.
How to Teach Small Ball
- Teach players positionless basketball at an early age. Big kids can and should learn to handle the ball, shoot and play outside.
- Teach the concept of "rebounding by committee" - everyone goes for the ball on every possession.
- Teach your team pace - how to transition, fast break and get the ball up the court for early offense.
- Teach players the importance of spacing (15' - 18' apart) and the terminology (point, wings, slot, corners), and how those spaces should be filled after someone cuts through.
- Teach and drill the rules of the 5-out open post offense (pass and cut, screening, back-door cuts, dribble-drive and kick, dribble hand-offs, etc).
- Teach players how to defend, switch and talk on defense.
- Implement a tenacious full-court press which enhances your quickness and speed, and will get you turnovers in transition.
- For half-court defense, consider a switching man-to-man defense, or a match-up zone defense.
Related pages:
- Positionless Basketball
- Open Post 5-Out Motion Offense
- Pace and Space Offense
- Concepts for Playing Fast
- Transition Offense, Fast-Break Offense
