Gladwell on the full-court press

[gotham devil]

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/05/11/090511fa_fact_gladwell?printable=true

[alteran]

Awesome piece. Thanks for sharing.

[CDu]

Nice article, though I didn't care for the last paragraph on the game they lost. Sounded like sour grapes to me - especially given it's entirely from the perspective of the coach. And it relied on the old cliche of comparing foul counts to suggest one team is getting jobbed by the refs. If you're pressing and playing aggressive defense, you're more likely to commit fouls than a team that doesn't press and play aggressive defense. This is especially true if you play aggressive defense using players who aren't skilled at basketball.

I agree with the idea that if you're clearly an inferior team you should do something to change the game. You shouldn't play to your weaknesses - you should play to your strengths. The press is really effective against younger players because they tend to not have the experience or talent to break a press. As you get to college, the really good ballhandlers can break it. For example, Coach K often referred to Bobby Hurley as a one-man press breaker. And in the NBA, it's pointless to press because virtually every team has a PG who can break a press.

[NSDukeFan]

Nice article, though I didn't care for the last paragraph on the game they lost. Sounded like sour grapes to me - especially given it's entirely from the perspective of the coach. And it relied on the old cliche of comparing foul counts to suggest one team is getting jobbed by the refs. If you're pressing and playing aggressive defense, you're more likely to commit fouls than a team that doesn't press and play aggressive defense. This is especially true if you play aggressive defense using players who aren't skilled at basketball.

I agree with the idea that if you're clearly an inferior team you should do something to change the game. You shouldn't play to your weaknesses - you should play to your strengths. The press is really effective against younger players because they tend to not have the experience or talent to break a press. As you get to college, the really good ballhandlers can break it. For example, Coach K often referred to Bobby Hurley as a one-man press breaker. And in the NBA, it's pointless to press because virtually every team has a PG who can break a press.

I agree that it is an interesting article and I agree that it did sound a bit like sour grapes at the end re: foul counts and a pressing team. I also agree with your comment that you should play to your strengths and not your weaknesses. Could this possibly work for a team that doesn't have a conventional point guard and a back to the basket scoring center? Could that team still have some success, if it had a bunch of talented players at other positions?

Hopefully, we get a PG (Wall or Bledsoe?) and Z, MP1, MP2 and LT improve a lot over the summer and we get solid production from the center spot and don't have to worry about the above scenario.:)

[CDu]

I agree that it is an interesting article and I agree that it did sound a bit like sour grapes at the end re: foul counts and a pressing team. I also agree with your comment that you should play to your strengths and not your weaknesses. Could this possibly work for a team that doesn't have a conventional point guard and a back to the basket scoring center? Could that team still have some success, if it had a bunch of talented players at other positions?

I'd say that trying to play to the strengths (and hide the weaknesses) is exactly what the team has been trying to do for the last 3 years. That's why we've run a perimeter-oriented offense with lots of picks. That's also why we've overplayed on the perimeter defensively to try to limit easy entry passes into the post.

Unfortunately, playing to your strengths doesn't mean that your weaknesses can't be exposed. And the more weaknesses you have, the harder it is to hide them - especially against good teams.


Hopefully, we get a PG (Wall or Bledsoe?) and Z, MP1, MP2 and LT improve a lot over the summer and we get solid production from the center spot and don't have to worry about the above scenario.:)

Agreed. It'd be nice if the post position became a strength, and it'd be nice if we had a PG who could be a consistent playmaker for us and allow our wings to do what they do best.

[Bostondevil]

One thing that stood out here for me - why didn't Pitino guard the inbounds pass? :D

[Bostondevil]

I also have to believe that if that same team came back a year later, the Goliaths would be ready for them. The element of surprise only works once.

[cruxer]

I agree with the general tenor of the thread. The article is nice, but I think it overvalues how successful the press could be against a team that had the basketball experience to break it. It's one thing to run through a 12-yr-old league like a hot knife through butter. It would be totally different to take a team not-so-talented college players and burn through the NCAA (men's or women's). I love Gladwell generally, but other than exceptional games, his 2 examples of consistent success were UK of the 90s and Louisville this year! Hardly untalented teams.

I was also surprised to see that a league for 12-yr-old girls had the 10-second backcourt rule. Unless I'm mistaken that rule isn't in place for NCAA women's bball.

-c

[blueprofessor]

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/blog/the_dagger/post/OK-so-Malcolm-Gladwell-s-full-court-press-story?urn=ncaab,161263

Best--Blueprofessor:)