The effect of playing small-ball / twin-towers

[J.E.]

I just ran an analysis, within the RAPM framework, with dummy variables for teams playing "small-ball" and or with "twin towers"

I defined small-ball as playing with no player 6-10 or taller, and twin towers as playing with at least 2 players 6-10 or taller

The results aren't very surprising:

Code: Select all

╔═════════════╦═════════╦═════════╗
║             ║ Offense ║ Defense ║
╠═════════════╬═════════╬═════════╣
║ Small Ball  ║ 1.5     ║      -1 ║
║ Twin Towers ║ -1.5    ║       1 ║
╚═════════════╩═════════╩═════════╝

(more always better)
Basically, the offense suffers when playing with "twin towers", but it's good for defense; and the reverse is true for playing small ball

If one wanted to look deeper it'd probably be interesting what "factors" are influenced by SB/TT. My guess would be that TT definitely rebound better and allow less opponent FG%, while forcing less TO (through steals) that could lead to fastbreaks

[schtevie]

Q: To what years do these numbers pertain?

I would suspect that the relative values would be historically contingent, specifically with regard to the realized opportunities of 3-point vs. paint scoring.

[J.E.]

Q: To what years do these numbers pertain?

2001-2015

[Crow]

Would you be interested in checking "2 PG" lineups?