Today I gotta share how I figured out why that small forward spot on the Cavs ain’t just some guy running up and down the court. Started simple, really.
First thing I did? Actually watching the damn games properly, not just yelling at the TV when someone misses a shot. Focused only on that small forward dude every possession for, like, three games straight. My eyes were crossing by halftime, swear to god.
What jumped out:
- That guy was everywhere on defense. One minute he’s muscling with some giant power forward near the basket, next he’s chasing a shifty guard out near the three-point line. Madness.
- On offense? He wasn’t always the one shooting, but he was always moving. Setting sneaky screens for Garland or Mitchell, cutting toward the basket like his hair was on fire just to pull a defender away, or spotting up in the corner waiting. Keeper of spacing, basically.
- And transitions? Holy hell, he either became a blur streaking ahead for an easy bucket, or he was the first line of defense sprinting back if the other team got the ball. Tires me out just thinking about it.
So then I tried making sense of this bunch of nonsense. Why does this stuff matter so much? Here’s the messy part:
Seems like teams need this specific kind of chaos controller. He bridges everything – the bigs inside, the guards outside. Without a dude doing this glue work, the whole plan falls apart. Saw it clear as day when the Cavs subbed in someone else who didn’t get it: suddenly guards got pressured harder, bigs looked stuck, spacing went to hell. Like dominos tipping over.
Kinda changed how I see the game now. That small forward ain’t just filling a spot. He’s the oil keeping the whole engine from grinding to a halt. No wonder teams spend crazy money chasing the right guy for that spot.
