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Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by TheSportsPredictor, May 13, 2009.

  1. Dave Kindred

    Dave Kindred Member

    Excuse me, but how does Gladwell's take on the full-court press qualify as a breakthrough in thinking about basketball strategy? Coaches have been theorizing about the press for 60 years. If it worked that well, everybody'd be using it all the time. (Did we not see Michigan State-Louisville a couple months ago?) As for Pitino as "David," come on. The man has had his pick of the best college athletes at both Kentucky and Louisville.
     
  2. Good writing, poor grasp of the game of basketball.

    Leave it to the hacks, please.
     
  3. Bob Cook

    Bob Cook Active Member

    That was the other thing that stuck in my craw (which I think is near the cockles of my heart). Gladwell presents as fact that Pitino uses the press because he ALWAYS has substandard teams, given that Antoine Walker is his presumed only pro success. The current starting lineup of Lawrence North High School would disagree. Any coach who believes their success is completely tied to his or her own system is delusional. If you don't have talent on you team, your precious system goes down the crapper. Anyway, you could make an argument on the flipside -- the reason so few NBA successes come out of Pitino's system is because it doesn't prepare players for what they'll be doing in pro ball.

    By the way, the Redwood City team Gladwell talks about with girls who hadn't played, or weren't terribly talented? I bet they weren't a bunch of kids who had never touched a ball. I don't care how many practices they had -- if the girls didn't have some speed or coordination already, the press would have failed in a hurry. And as far as development, this coach is failing his kids because as they advance and have to play more halfcourt ball, they'll have no idea what to do.
     
  4. "That forward pass hogwash will never work! Mere gimmickry!"

    "Pitchers should finish what they start! No exceptions!"

    In seriousness, a lot of New Yorker articles really dumb down sports for the masses, which cracks me up at such a highbrow, literate publication for educated people.
     
  5. Double Down

    Double Down Well-Known Member

    I normally like Gladwell, or at least find him interesting, just because he poses interesting questions, but this is absolutely the truth. He's also using the anacdotal evidence provided by one team of 12-year-old girls! to support this theory. It really reads more like a college lecture discussion point than it does any kind of explanitory journalism. While the basketball stuff was more interesting, the war stuff was a lot more convincing when it came to making the actual point.
     
  6. Webster

    Webster Well-Known Member

    I liked the writing a lot and his idea that unconventional strategies should be used more is a good one.

    Didn't like that he said that the only reason that the 12-year old team lost a game was the refs, using as evidence, the coach's employee (Roger Craig) and Craig's daughter.
     
  7. cranberry

    cranberry Well-Known Member

    Looks like Malcom went from the top back to the middle in the space of about six posts.
     
  8. topsheep

    topsheep Member

    But with a lot of nutbusting pressing, he'll back be at the top in no time!
     
  9. Inky_Wretch

    Inky_Wretch Well-Known Member

    How did he do that article without mentioning the "40 Minutes of Hell" coaching style of Nolan Richardson?
     
  10. Second Thoughts

    Second Thoughts Active Member

    And no mention of Candace Parker's C cup?
     
  11. TheSportsPredictor

    TheSportsPredictor Well-Known Member

    Gladwell didn't write the article to advocate that all basketball teams should press. He wrote it to illustrate how underdogs should use unconventional tactics to gain an advantage and win.
     
  12. Bob Cook

    Bob Cook Active Member

    Is the press really an unconventional tactic? I also argue with the idea that this particular team of 12-year-olds were "underdogs." It sounds like what they were was a well-coached team of girls who brought in a modicum of athletic ability and a dedication level not always common among 12-year-olds. He could have taught them to run Milan High's 1-2-2 offense and they would have won.

    Using the press all the time was an unconventional tactic when Pitino used it with the Celtics. And he got his ass kicked. It's not about using unconventional tactics, but about figuring out the best way to use your strengths against an opponents weaknesses. Gladwell presents is like everyone else is playing basketball wrong, which isn't always the case.

    Gladwell is cherry-picking anecdotes and turning them into a grand conclusion. Which makes sense, because that's what he does.
     
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