The Golden State Warriors employed small ball as a tactic to outlast the lumbering Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2015 NBA Finals. Their success with downsizing wasn't an instant revolution but rather the culmination of a decade of smart coaches and open-minded organizations deconstructing dogma in the aftermath of changes to the rule book.
According to Bleacher Report's Howard Beck, Alvin Gentry—then Steve Kerr's top assistant in Golden State and now the leading man in New Orleans—claimed the Warriors' triumph as "vindication for Mike D'Antoni," who got the small ball rolling with his "Seven Seconds or Less" Phoenix Suns in the mid-2000s.
In truth, Golden State wasn't the first squad to lift the Larry O'Brien Trophy by following the trail blazed by those Suns of old. The Dallas Mavericks, Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs all won titles while using elements of D'Antoni's hoops philosophy before the Warriors did.
Still, as Roland Lazenby wrote for Vice Sports, Golden State's triumph could be a tipping point toward basketball becoming a small(er) man's game: "A league that already was flirting with small ball is on the verge of fu ...
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Article written by Josh Martin
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September 22nd, 2015 by Josh Martin Leave a reply »
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