[y66]

When underdogs break the rules.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/05...a_fact_gladwell

Maybe I should have posted this on the forcing pass thread.

[Mbodell]

A very good article in general. And possibly quite related to the system regulation discussions.

[kfay]

Malcom Gladwell, on The New Yorker, said:

“And it happened as the Philistine arose and was drawing near David that David hastened and ran out from the lines toward the Philistine,” the Bible says. “And he reached his hand into the pouch and took from there a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine in his forehead.” The second sentence—the slingshot part—is what made David famous. But the first sentence matters just as much. David broke the rhythm of the encounter. He speeded it up. “The sudden astonishment when David sprints forward must have frozen Goliath, making him a better target,” the poet and critic Robert Pinsky writes in “The Life of David.” Pinsky calls David a “point guard ready to flick the basketball here or there.” David pressed. That’s what Davids do when they want to beat Goliaths.

This is some one of the most insightful and beautiful things I've read in an article of this nature. Perhaps the drama is deminished when removed from context but... nevertheless

[kfay]

I have to add that there's a point that was only lightly touched on in the article which is that against a team with a great ball handler I think that the press is not realistic.

Consider that a defender covering space must expend more energy than an offensive player because one must adapt to the other's movements. The more space, the more degrees of freedom, the more times a defender will presumably have to change direction or accelerate/decelerate (to a greater degree than the offender to make up for the lag time between observing the offender's strategy and adapting to it). This is an exhausting task. So if you adopt the press and are confronted with a good ball handler then your energy supply is diminished for the ensuing half-court defense and next offensive possesion and so on. IMO, the skill of a defender on a ball handler must be >> than that of the ball handler to stop them reaching half-court.

When you allow a team to come down to the half-court offense you've restricted the degrees of freedom and allowed your team to even use an energy-conserving zone defense. The offense must work harder in the half-court than the defense because space has been limited and double/triple teams become easier to do without leaving a man too open.

If a team's energy were in infinite supply probably the press would be optimal. Even E(team1)>>E(team2) is good enough certainly. But for 2 teams with equal conditioning probably the press isn't feasible unless both teams are running it and so expending the same amount of energy on defense.

[Phil]

I have Blink and Outliers by Gladwell on hold at the library.

In the meantime, I picked up Complexification by Casti. It has passed the 30 minute test. I am neither

a) bored to death by it nor confused so much that I get frustrated;

and

b ) The material is sufficiently difficult, that I won't be able to read the book in one sitting.