11-15-2006, 11:57 AM
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#1 (permalink)
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HoopsAddict.com
Join Date: Jun 2002
Posts: 9,348
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Pistons reject small ball strategy
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These days, scout nearly any NBA team and the report will feature a two-word phrase that just a few years ago was much less common.
This is the age of "small ball."
Credit point guard Steve Nash and the Phoenix Suns, if you please, and throw NBA commissioner David Stern and his hands-off defensive rules into the pot as well. Running and gunning is hotter this November than the Democratic Party.
Already, the Pistons have faced small lineups in games against Milwaukee, Boston, Memphis, Sacramento and Golden State.
Many more teams, including Phoenix, Toronto, Denver, Washington, Seattle and tonight's visitors, the New Orleans Hornets, have gone small at times this season. And every other team has fashioned a small lineup for matchup purposes.
But few, such as the Pistons, refuse to go the way of run and gun. They have their reasons.
"It's the way to win in the regular season," Pistons small forward Tayshaun Prince said. "It's not the way to win in the playoffs. It's just not going to happen. I mean, sooner or later, it will happen, don't get me wrong. Eventually, a team that plays small will win it because everyone is starting to run that way. But in this day, it's not going to happen."
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Free Press
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Pistons reject small ball strategy
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