Newsletter #335

Today's Theme... Basketball "Small Ball"

Touted as a another recent trend, in fact small ball has been around for a very long time.  High school and youth teams not blessed with size have had to play small ball for years.  The difference is today's small ball relates more to the style of play than the actual size of the players - positionless basketball, pace and space offense, and the open post 5-out motion offense.

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 post players with quicker, more versatile athletic perimeter players.  The focus becomes speed, spacing, guard skills and shooting, and shifts away from the traditional inside power game, rebounding and deliberation.

Today's small ball can use tall, strong players who have those skills and are comfortable playing on the perimeter (e.g. pro teams - Golden State, Miami, Boston, Dallas).  Pro teams that play small ball may actually average 6'7" in height... but they can all play anywhere. This brings back the concept of positionless basketball, and it's a good way to teach young players.

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...

To learn more about this, see the page "Basketball Small Ball".