Doctor Hoop
Prescribing Hardwood Excellence
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The NBA’s Small Guys Play Bigger By Getting Smaller
The NBA’s Small Guys Play Bigger By Getting Smaller
Charlotte Hornets point guard Kemba Walker explains how he uses his size to his unlikely advantage
Basketball players have been using height to their advantage for as long as basketball has existed. But what makes Kemba Walker different from almost everyone who came before him is that he’s not good because he’s tall. He’s good because he’s small....
Me being a smaller point guard,” Walker said, “I can get to spots on the floor that a lot of others can’t.”...
“The thing about the pick-and-roll is that unless they switch it—which with him they can’t because the big guy can’t guard him—you’re bringing two to the ball,” Hornets coach Steve Clifford said. “And one of the basic tenets of good basketball is drawing a second defender.”
It doesn’t really matter how Walker’s defenders respond, his coach explained. They can switch. They can show. They can blitz. The entire vocabulary of basketball terms that describe the defense’s options in the pick-and-roll is useless when it comes to Walker.
“He’s gotten to the point where he’s literally good against any coverage,” Clifford said.
The NBA’s Small Guys Play Bigger By Getting Smaller
The NBA’s Small Guys Play Bigger By Getting Smaller
Charlotte Hornets point guard Kemba Walker explains how he uses his size to his unlikely advantage
Basketball players have been using height to their advantage for as long as basketball has existed. But what makes Kemba Walker different from almost everyone who came before him is that he’s not good because he’s tall. He’s good because he’s small....
Me being a smaller point guard,” Walker said, “I can get to spots on the floor that a lot of others can’t.”...
“The thing about the pick-and-roll is that unless they switch it—which with him they can’t because the big guy can’t guard him—you’re bringing two to the ball,” Hornets coach Steve Clifford said. “And one of the basic tenets of good basketball is drawing a second defender.”
It doesn’t really matter how Walker’s defenders respond, his coach explained. They can switch. They can show. They can blitz. The entire vocabulary of basketball terms that describe the defense’s options in the pick-and-roll is useless when it comes to Walker.
“He’s gotten to the point where he’s literally good against any coverage,” Clifford said.
