I found this interesting article by Malcolm Gladwell (the Tipping Point and Blink guy) about how a less talented team can often defeat a more talented team through greater effort. In one of his examples, he talks about how a "non-stop full-court press gives weak basketball teams a chance against far stronger teams." Now his example is based on this guy coaching a team on the girls National Junior Basketball league, so I'm wondering if what he's saying would apply to the NBA. Here's the interesting parts,
i didn't read it all. but is it suggesting that a team (such as the Rockets) play a full court press? they should front them when they inbound the ball while not guarding the inbound passer? instead of setting up the D in the halfcourt set, just set up shop in the back court.
A team like the Lakers would eat us alive if we tried a full-court press strategy. Their superior length, athleticism and ability to move the ball would make beating the press a cake walk. The Lakers would be licking their chops if they saw us try that. They would be getting easy buckets all game long, not to mention Yao would probably be in foul trouble within the first few minutes of the game. Every time they beat the press with long passes, they would have numbers and Yao would be under our basket facing 2 or 3-on-1s. The full-court press is risky defense against NBA talent. Teams only do it occasionally in desperate situations or if they want to change things up and are willing to take the inherent risks. Notice that the Spurs generally don't even try to get offensive boards. They are usually among the lowest in offensive rebounds per game yet one of the best defensive teams in the league. When a shot goes up, they get back on defense. They don't take risks very often, whether you're talking about crashing the offensive boards or doing full-court presses.
Yea. I think in games on the level of 12 yr old girls. . . it is not the same as with more experienced basketball players. Even on the NCAA level . . a broken press = fast break 2. I think this is a bit of gamesmanship/sportsmanship thing Like running reverse passes with touch football pee wee leagues it works. . but can be kind of bushleague Rocket River
Idiotic. An NBA PG would eat up a press. The Lakers would score 300 points if we put a press on the floor...
It would work for 12 yr old girls who are learning the game, and possibly high school teams, but in the NBA? No way. Players are too athletic, and guards have superior ball handling skills. Thats why the press is effective in the NBA in stretches rather than a full game. If you hit a team with the press for the entire game, they will adjust, but by randomly bringing it, you can catch them off guard.
Chill out, people. The original post said NOTHING about the NBA. It's not an attempt to reflect on the NBA. that said.... I agree that it wasn't really fair, but I wouldn't say that their team was breaking any rules, either. I think the rules were probably built on the rules of other leagues, and what works for other leagues may not be preferable for a league of 12-yr-old girls. I do feel that having them battle a strong full-court press and trapping defense is certainly part of the game. But having them battle such defense from an entire team is too difficult for girls that young do deal with. If I was an opponent to that team, I would lobby to have the rules adjusted so that a press would be allowed, but not by the entire team (something like a "two players must be downcourt" perhaps). The rules should not give more power to an offense or a defense. I feel that players SHOULD learn how to deal with a full-court press and trapping defense, but should also be granted the opportunity to exercise the other elements of basketball. So, I don't feel like a full-court press by an entire team is fair for 12-year-old girls.
If by that you mean his own mind, and the mind of New Yorker editors, then I agree. Otherwise, meh. The whole war analysis is paper thin. It's like say a horsefly "defeated" a donkey because the horsefly bit the donkey's butt, and the donkey's lazy tail-swipe missed it.
I'm currently reading "The Outliers" now. the dude's got three #1 Bestsellers, he's got to be onto something when it comes to success and how we view the world.
While I doubt a full court press would work, but NBA PGs could challenge the ball earlier to make it a little bit slower for the other team to get into their half court sets. The NBA team would have to have two young quick PGs to do this as they would need to rotate them out a lot.
Even applying this theory to the high school or even college levels of basketball is extremely shortsighted. 1) It is much more taxing to ask a team to cover 94 feet of court, all game long, than 24. You will simply exhaust your team by the end of the game. 2) It is much more likely to have a team of 5 blow defensive assignments over an area of 94 feet versus 24. If the opposition even has 1 or 2 guys that can dribble and/or pass with any sort of competency, you will end up with more easy baskets than if you just played tight in the half court.
One of the reasons why they only defend the 25% of the court instead of 100% in basketball is the same logic why it is harder to advance in the redzone in a football game. Simply put, ROI... You invest x amount of energy playing defense to get y amount of results. The ROI is far much better to just cover 25% end of the court.
