Here's something for Erik Spoelstra and all the proponents of small ball, position-less basketball to ponder. The Toronto "Raptors" felt most vulnerable to getting bounced out of the 'loffs between games 3 and 4 against Philly.
Why? The "principle of verticality." Height (Hassan Whiteside is 7' tall; Steven Adams is 7' tall; Joel Embiid is 7'; Ben Simmons is 6'10"; Kevin Love is 6'10") still matters in the NBA. Height matters more in basketball than in any other sport. At one point in their series against OKC a couple of years ago, one in which Golden State trailed the "Thunder" three games to one, Adams was guarding Steph Curry on the perimeter. Absurd mismatch. From the perspective of both players. Of course, Curry could dribble around Adams and drive to the basket if he had wished; Steph could dribble around Adams until Adams fell dead of exhaustion chasing him, but Curry didn't want to and you don't have an eternity to dribble in the NBA, you have 24 secs to shoot. Curry wanted to launch a trey from out there and he was running out of time. He was running out of space too, vertical space. When finally he shot Adams got a piece of the ball.
Remember Kevin Love against Curry in the Finals that Cleveland won? Again, out on the perimeter guarding a much shorter, quicker player. Love kept his feet square, kept Steph in front of him, and stopped the play.
So anyway. "Raptors" players and coaches say they were really bothered by Philadelphia's height and physicality. Jimmy Butler, now with Philly, then with Minnesota, has said that when he ran into a Steven Adams pick, "I thought I was dead." For a slighter player bumping into Adams is like running into a brick wall. Do it enough and it saps your energy and will. Well Toronto would be bothered by Philly's height. The 76'ers POINT GUARD, Simmons, is 6'10"! Toronto's PG, Lowry, is 6'l". Golden State's, Curry, is 6'3". Philadelphia beat Toronto three times in their series, led 2-1. Toronto's toughest moment in these playoffs was because of the principle of verticality. And it still took a Kawhi Leonard shot at the buzzer, a shot that bounced four times before dropping to avoid overtime in game 7. Only thus did Toronto survive to even make it to these Finals.
Except for Marc Gasol, both of these finalists exemplify small-ball. Golden State's top seven players range from 6'3" to 6'9" (and GS just lost one of it's 6'9" 'ers, Kevin Durant). Toronto's top seven go from 6'0" to 7'1". Except for Gasol, neither team has even a theoretical principle of verticality advantage and Gasol does not give Toronto a practical height advantage. He has averaged 1.1 block per game in the playoffs; Golden State's Draymond Green, at 6'7", has averaged 1.5; Andre Iguodala, 6'6" has averaged the same, 1.1, as Gasol. Hassan Whiteside has averaged 2.3 blocks over his seven season career and led the league with 3.7 in 2015/16. Yes, but can Hassan shoot the three?
Why? The "principle of verticality." Height (Hassan Whiteside is 7' tall; Steven Adams is 7' tall; Joel Embiid is 7'; Ben Simmons is 6'10"; Kevin Love is 6'10") still matters in the NBA. Height matters more in basketball than in any other sport. At one point in their series against OKC a couple of years ago, one in which Golden State trailed the "Thunder" three games to one, Adams was guarding Steph Curry on the perimeter. Absurd mismatch. From the perspective of both players. Of course, Curry could dribble around Adams and drive to the basket if he had wished; Steph could dribble around Adams until Adams fell dead of exhaustion chasing him, but Curry didn't want to and you don't have an eternity to dribble in the NBA, you have 24 secs to shoot. Curry wanted to launch a trey from out there and he was running out of time. He was running out of space too, vertical space. When finally he shot Adams got a piece of the ball.
Remember Kevin Love against Curry in the Finals that Cleveland won? Again, out on the perimeter guarding a much shorter, quicker player. Love kept his feet square, kept Steph in front of him, and stopped the play.
So anyway. "Raptors" players and coaches say they were really bothered by Philadelphia's height and physicality. Jimmy Butler, now with Philly, then with Minnesota, has said that when he ran into a Steven Adams pick, "I thought I was dead." For a slighter player bumping into Adams is like running into a brick wall. Do it enough and it saps your energy and will. Well Toronto would be bothered by Philly's height. The 76'ers POINT GUARD, Simmons, is 6'10"! Toronto's PG, Lowry, is 6'l". Golden State's, Curry, is 6'3". Philadelphia beat Toronto three times in their series, led 2-1. Toronto's toughest moment in these playoffs was because of the principle of verticality. And it still took a Kawhi Leonard shot at the buzzer, a shot that bounced four times before dropping to avoid overtime in game 7. Only thus did Toronto survive to even make it to these Finals.
Except for Marc Gasol, both of these finalists exemplify small-ball. Golden State's top seven players range from 6'3" to 6'9" (and GS just lost one of it's 6'9" 'ers, Kevin Durant). Toronto's top seven go from 6'0" to 7'1". Except for Gasol, neither team has even a theoretical principle of verticality advantage and Gasol does not give Toronto a practical height advantage. He has averaged 1.1 block per game in the playoffs; Golden State's Draymond Green, at 6'7", has averaged 1.5; Andre Iguodala, 6'6" has averaged the same, 1.1, as Gasol. Hassan Whiteside has averaged 2.3 blocks over his seven season career and led the league with 3.7 in 2015/16. Yes, but can Hassan shoot the three?
