The perils of going small weren’t more evident than in Games 6 and 7 between the Miami Heat and Toronto Raptors, and the Wizards were all too familiar with that yo-yo after a 41-41 season.

For the last few years under then-coach Randy Wittman, there always has been detabe about his inability to take the Wizards’ offense into the 21st century and go with smaller lineups. The best-case scenario was last season’s playoffs when the Wizards swept the favored Raptors in the first round with Paul Pierce as the “stretch” option at forward next to Otto Porter.

In Game 6 of the second round with the Raptors, the Heat went with 6-9 Luol Deng as the tallest player on the floor to pull out a 103-91 victory and they were almost dead even in rebounds. According to Tyler Johnson, via the Miami Herald:

We did everything completely the opposite of what we’ve been doing. We just didn’t bring anybody to the ball, we just opened the floor and let Gogi (Dragic) or D-Wade or anybody else who got the rebound just push it up and go to work. If they didn’t have nothing, it would at least create a trigger, make (the Raptors) play one-on-one. … Let that be the trigger. Instead of coming down, slowing up, waiting for the pick-and-roll. Just go.

The key to all of that is to secure the defensive rebounds. If the team that goes small does not -- Toronto had 20 offensive rebounds in the Game 7 closeout and was plus-20 overall for a 116-89 blowout -- it all falls apart. Small ball becomes fool’s gold. If managing it were so easy, everyone in the league would be extremely successful at it. But the truth is much more complicated because it’s a delicate balance.

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To make up that difference, a small-ball team has to be young, athletic and regardless of those traits the players on the floor must have good anticipation skills for the rebound. If you wait until the ball hits the rim to establish position, it's too late. That’s the only way to offset superior size.

Where the Wizards erred, outside of injuries which can't be controlled, is that their starting stretch four to begin the season, Kris Humphries, didn’t have the reaction time to get to those looses balls or the consistent three-point shooting ability to make defenses respect him. The opponent went under screens or just didn't worry about him at the arc. They had an extra body on the boards which also is why the Wizards stayed at the bottom of the rebounding table until Markieff Morris' acquistion at the trade deadline.

Jared Dudley had the three-point range that Humphries lacked but was woefully undersized and not nearly athletic enough to contend with the likes of a high-jumping, long-armed Serge Ibaka.

It’s not about playing big or small exclusively (and the Wizards knew this going into the season). That’s the myth. It’s about being able to do both because ultimately championship-caliber teams do change identities with a coach who knows when to say when. Wittman, as will be the case with his replacement Scott Brooks, was given the latitude to coach as he saw fit.

When Wittman went to Nene in the starting lineup next to Marcin Gortat against the Heat, who had Hassan Whiteside and Chris Bosh to contend with, that was the right call and the Wizards won. When he went to that duo vs. the Portland Trail Blazers who had Myers Leonard as the stretch option, it was a disaster. Otto Porter's career-high of 28 points came with him playing as a stretch four in a win at the Dallas Mavericks. He rarely revisited that role again.

The Golden State Warriors can stick with Andrew Bogut, a plodding, physical, shot-blocking mountain of a center who can run the offense with passing from the high post. They can go to Festus Ezeli for a more athletic big to keep size on the floor or downsize to Draymond Green who can switch to guards on pick-and-roll coverages or Mo Speights who can kill the mid-range jumper and extend to the three-point arc.

The Cleveland Cavaliers can put LeBron James at the four and move Kevin Love to the low block. Or they can go with Tristan Thompson and Timofey Mozgov inside. The Oklahoma City Thunder can put Ibaka at center and shift Kevin Durant to power forward for that stretch role. Or they can plug in Enes Kanter as a traditional four with Steven Adams at center. Without that capability, do they upset the San Antonio Spurs in the second round? Probably not. They negated the Spurs' size with better size.

There is no one answer. It changes, game to game and series to series. It's not about going small or big exclusively. The four teams in the conference finals -- Golden State, Oklahoma City, Cleveland and Toronto -- all can do both and succeed.

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