Malcolm Gladwell is smarter than you

[kidbourbon]

And me too.

His argument about the full court press -- which is presented in his back-and-forth with Bill Simmons (here: Bill Simmons: A back-and-forth with best-selling author Malcolm Gladwell - ESPN ); and also in a separate article on his website (google it) -- is imaginative if not airtight.

He discusses the press in the context of Pitino teams, but the analysis applies with equal force to Pearl. The question raised in the following quote is the one that I find most interesting:

The other, related question is whether you can ever truly run the press with elite players. Pitino did it once, with that stacked 1996 Kentucky team. But I think even he realizes that was a once-in-a-lifetime achievement. Think about it: He got Antoine Walker to play defense for 94 feet. And John Wooden used the press a lot with some of his great teams at UCLA. But he was John Wooden, and that was another era. Realistically, could you convince a couple of McDonald's All-Americans, who have been coddled and indulged their whole lives, to play that way to.

This is a very key question. It has been done before -- the Runnin Rebs are of course the best example -- so we know it isn't impossible. But, rather, how unlikely is it?

 

[hatvol96]

And me too.

His argument about the full court press -- which is presented in his back-and-forth with Bill Simmons (here: Bill Simmons: A back-and-forth with best-selling author Malcolm Gladwell - ESPN ); and also in a separate article on his website (google it) -- is imaginative if not airtight.

He discusses the press in the context of Pitino teams, but the analysis applies with equal force to Pearl. The question raised in the following quote is the one that I find most interesting:

The other, related question is whether you can ever truly run the press with elite players. Pitino did it once, with that stacked 1996 Kentucky team. But I think even he realizes that was a once-in-a-lifetime achievement. Think about it: He got Antoine Walker to play defense for 94 feet. And John Wooden used the press a lot with some of his great teams at UCLA. But he was John Wooden, and that was another era. Realistically, could you convince a couple of McDonald's All-Americans, who have been coddled and indulged their whole lives, to play that way to.

This is a very key question. It has been done before -- the Runnin Rebs are of course the best example -- so we know it isn't impossible. But, rather, how unlikely is it?

If the truth of the matter weren't that Kentucky, by Pitino's own admission, pressed less that year than in any of his other years in Lexington, he'd have a point.
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[hatvol96]

I'm assuming this writer was asleep when Denny Crum's teams of Five Stars were pressing people into the ground and Nolan Richardson had teams with a bunch of future NBA guys pressing people buzzer to buzzer.
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[kidbourbon]

If the truth of the matter weren't that Kentucky, by Pitino's own admission, pressed less that year than in any of his other years in Lexington, he'd have a point.
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That's actually consistent with his point (I use the word "point" here loosely, because he isn't so much making arguments as posing questions) that the press is a great talent equalizer, but that its utility may have diminishing returns as the talent level of a given team increases.

 

[kidbourbon]

I'm assuming this writer was asleep when Denny Crum's teams of Five Stars were pressing people into the ground and Nolan Richardson had teams with a bunch of future NBA guys pressing people buzzer to buzzer.
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I love the press. If I were a coach, I would press constantly. But, accepting your statement regarding UK as valid, Arkansas and UNLV are the only true pressing teams that I can think of off the top of my head that have won it all. I would not classify the '80 Louisville team as a pressing team (I'm actually a little too young to confidently make such a claim, but I just emailed my dad, who watched every one of those games, and will get a confirmation one way or the other). The '86 Louisville was definitely not a pressing team.

 

[kidbourbon]

Here is Gladwell's New Yorker article:

Annals of Innovation: How David Beats Goliath: Reporting & Essays: The New Yorker

 

[hmanvolfan]

Forty minutes of hell was a joy to behold.

 

[hatvol96]

Forty minutes of hell was a joy to behold.

Unless you were on the receiving end.

 

[hmanvolfan]

Unless you were on the receiving end.

As a basketball fan, regardless if I was for the other team it was still something to behold.

 

[BigPapaVol]

I love the press. If I were a coach, I would press constantly. But, accepting your statement regarding UK as valid, Arkansas and UNLV are the only true pressing teams that I can think of off the top of my head that have won it all. I would not classify the '80 Louisville team as a pressing team (I'm actually a little too young to confidently make such a claim, but I just emailed my dad, who watched every one of those games, and will get a confirmation one way or the other). The '86 Louisville was definitely not a pressing team.

The Arky and UNLV teams that won it all actually backed down on the pressure to win it because their advantage was much larger in the half court. The 'ville squad of Crum pressed but it wasn't the hallmark of that team.
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[dickens821]

Forty minutes of hell was a joy to behold.

:rock: my earliest memories of college basketball. :rock:
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[hatvol96]

The 'ville squad of Crum pressed but it wasn't the hallmark of that team.
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True, their biggest advantage was always their ability to absolutely annihilate people on the boards with their leapers.
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[LittleDTO]

I think maybe it has to do with the athlete. It is more uncommon to find a tall player who can play great half-court basketball that is also quick enough to run the press.
Watching UNLV and Arkansas was definately fun back in the day.

 

[BigPapaVol]

I think maybe it has to do with the athlete. It is more uncommon to find a tall player who can play great half-court basketball that is also quick enough to run the press.
Watching UNLV and Arkansas was definately fun back in the day.

No.
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[LittleDTO]

No.
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yes

 

[kidbourbon]

True, their biggest advantage was always their ability to absolutely annihilate people on the boards with their leapers.
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Yes, Denny had a nice little system for success.... eventually spoiled by his refusal to adjust to the existence of a 3-point line.

 

[BigPapaVol]

yes

Well. The NBA is full to the brim with tall, insanely athletic guys, yet no team employs the press any longer. Wonder what gives?
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[LawVol13]

Well. The NBA is full to the brim with tall, insanely athletic guys, yet no team employs the press any longer. Wonder what gives?
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The length of the season and the level of intensity that a good press requires is why they don't utilize it in the NBA. It actually would be interesting to see an ultra athletic team like Denver try it in the playoffs because it might be effective with the eight count in the pros.

 

[BigPapaVol]

Fair enough. Was Memphis' finals team not athletic and long enough to press at will? How about the KU team that beat them? The bottom line is that the press produces too many flukish results and teams that continue to advance in the tourney had great guard play, which trumps a great press.
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[kidbourbon]

teams that continue to advance in the tourney had great guard play, which trumps a great press.
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Valid point.

 

[TennNC]

teams that continue to advance in the tourney had great guard play, which trumps a great press.
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agreed, which in a way makes the press NOT an equalizer. If you play halfcourt D and pack it in, you negate a good chunk of the ability of a guy like Chris Paul. Pressing him gives his team the ability to get more fast-break advantages (3-on-2, 2-on-1, etc.).

 

[BigPapaVol]

agreed, which in a way makes the press NOT an equalizer. If you play halfcourt D and pack it in, you negate a good chunk of the ability of a guy like Chris Paul. Pressing him gives his team the ability to get more fast-break advantages (3-on-2, 2-on-1, etc.).

This is much of why the NBA is now swingman and guard dominated. The NBA has ruled out packing it in and forcing people that cannot shoot to beat you. The Chism treatment would be very entertaining in the NBA.

 

[lidderer]

This kind of thing wouldn't work at the pro level because the idea of a true 'underdog' doesn't really exist in the NBA. NCAA is basically the last place where a genuine David v. Goliath situation can exist, and every step before that the likelihood of such a matchup increases. It's no wonder the focus is about 12 year old kids, then.

But really, I don't think Gladwell is going for some Moneyball-like sea change with the article; it's just an interesting collection of varied situations where a decidedly underdog team/person/group utilizes unconventional methods because the conventional methods are what made them the underdogs in the first place.

 

[kidbourbon]

But really, I don't think Gladwell is going for some Moneyball-like sea change with the article; it's just an interesting collection of varied situations where a decidedly underdog team/person/group utilizes unconventional methods because the conventional methods are what made them the underdogs in the first place.

Well said.

 

[Ole_Virgil_Cane]

Forty Minutes of Hell.