San Antonio Spurs: Boris Diaw Still The Small-Ball Solution

San Antonio Spurs veteran Boris Diaw was integral to it’s 2014 NBA Title victory over the Miami Heat, and could be again against the Golden State Warriors.

Boris Diaw‘s season averages are unimpressive at 5.6 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game, but these numbers hide the potential impact of the Spurs veteran. In the 2012-13 NBA Finals the Miami Heat defeated the Spurs 4-3. Diaw played 15.7 minutes per game. One year later, in a Finals rematch, the Spurs defeated the Heat 4-1. Diaw averaged 35.2 minutes per game.

Miami was largely the same team in both of those series, with the same five guys, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Ray Allen and Mario Chalmers leading the team in minutes.

The only difference was Rashard Lewis in 2014 replacing the combined minutes of the 2013 duo of Mike Miller and Shane Battier. Lewis’ job was the same as Miller and Battier — battle on defense as an undersized power forward, and knock down 3-pointers on offense.

There were other factors in the turnaround, of course, the Heat were exhausted after four straight trips to the Finals, Kawhi Leonard was that much better, maybe Wade that little bit worse.

But Diaw’s jump from seventh on the Spurs in minutes in 2013, one of the most competitive NBA Finals in recent memory, to leading his team in minutes in one of the most one-sided, dominant NBA Finals in recent memory is hard to ignore.

Jun 8, 2014; San Antonio, TX, USA; Miami Heat forward LeBron James (6) shoots against San Antonio Spurs forward Boris Diaw (33) in game two of the 2014 NBA Finals at AT&T Center. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports /

The Spurs ran the Heat ragged during those five games, with a ridiculous net rating of plus-14 for the series, per basketballreference.com.

The similarities between today’s small-ball powerhouse Warriors and LeBron’s Miami Heat teams run deep. Offensively, both surround a transcendent superstar with shooting at every position, they want you to double team that superstar so they can beat you with great shooters taking wide open shots.

Defensively, both rely on athletic, versatile, smart defenders who switch everything, force mistakes, and turn those mistakes into transition points in half a blink of an eye.

Both teams have rare, extremely versatile, extremely skilled undersized centers, Bosh for the Heat and Draymond Green for the Warriors, who can defend multiple positions, and have the basketball IQ to pinball around in a hectic defense without getting lost.

Both teams present opponents with an impossible decision, play big, sacrificing speed for size, and get run off the floor because they’re quicker than you. Or, try and matchup, go small against a small-ball monster, and get run off the floor because they’re better than you. This is the problem for teams trying to emulate, or matchup against the Warriors, and not so long ago the Heat.

James and Stephen Curry are not normal, they are basketball anomalies who’s skills are scarily amplified playing a small-ball style, basically because they have the most possible space in which to work their magic. Beating them at their game is an uphill battle unless you can match transcendent talent with transcendent talent, which most teams of course can’t.

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Diaw offers a third option, a best-of-both-worlds, every-sized ball middle ground. He has size, and a good but not great post game when matched up against a traditional power forward, but against small-ball 4s, his back-to-the-basket game becomes potent because he’s a sneaky good scorer and a devastating distributor.

Against the new-look Indiana Pacers on Dec. 21, he demolished stretch 4 C.J Miles in the post with 7-of-9 shooting,eight rebounds and a team leading plus-22. Watching Boris in attack mode like that is flat-out fun.

“The Big Croissant” (a seriously underrated nickname!) has an old-school, derriere dominant one-on-one game, methodically moving defenders under the rim, pretty much posting up from the 3-point line with a series of half-spin dribbles before putting up a little jump hook, or flashing a little fake and fancy footwork for a layup, or occasionally pulling out the one legged Dirk-fadeaway.

Scoring out of this funky post game is Plan B. Diaw is always looking to pass the ball, and doubling him unleashes this instinct, setting off a crescendo of snappy passes seeking out an open shooter.

Even without a distinct double team, Diaw is always aware of help defenders gravitating towards him the closer he gets to the rim, and is an expert at dainty drop off passes to a lurking Tim Duncan or cutting Manu Ginobili.

Small-ball emphasises the assets of an already hugely skilled offensive player, because he can attack the stretch four underbelly of a small-ball lineup, and not be a negative on defense. He can punish defenses predicated on switching, using his rare combination of size and skill, and defend both forward and sometimes center spots on the other end of the floor.

There is almost always an offense/defense trade-off in attacking an undersized four, but Diaw’s quircky game at least mitigates, and mostly swallows this trade-off.

February 20, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; San Antonio Spurs center Boris Diaw (33) dribbles the basketball against Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) during the second quarter at Oracle Arena. The Warriors defeated the Spurs 110-99. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /

The Warriors and Spurs are a mouth-watering matchup made in basketball heaven, and while it’s slightly absurd to talk about given we’re still a month away from them squaring off in the regular season, let alone the playoffs, it seems equally absurd not to.

These two teams are so clearly the best in the NBA this season, so historically dominant, each featuring one of the best players on the planet — it’s impossible not to contemplate the matchup.

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Head coach Gregg Popovich’s Plan A is likely the double-big LaMarcus Aldridge and Duncan frontline, and it will be fascinating to see whether this lineup can do enough damage offensively to warrant running the gauntlet of the Warriors in transition.

There is nothing scarier in basketball than Draymond Green getting a rebound and starting the break with Curry and Klay Thompson running the wings. Simultaneously stopping the ball and suffocating the Splash Brothers in transition with two relatively slow bigs on the floor is a tall order, with no room for error, even for an uber-disciplined Spurs team.

Plan B will be Diaw, and that’s a plan B with persuasive Championship pedigree behind it as an effective small-ball counter punch. Harrison Barnes‘ ability to defend Boris in the post will go a long way to deciding the outcome of the matchup.

The Warriors will have to hope Barnes can hold his own in single coverage. He will be fine for stretches, Barnes has gone head-to-head with Zach Randolph in the post and survived. But over a seven-game series, it will take its toll.

The big picture is all about the Warriors, and Diaw has shown on the biggest stage and in emphatic fashion that he can be an x-factor against elite small-ball lineups.

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Begrudgingly putting the Warriors daydream to one side, though, and focusing on the day-to-day regular season reality; if the league continues on this trend towards small ball, the Spurs have a proven and purpose built answer in Boris Diaw.

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