- I think the 4th and short analogy is a great one. The bunt— not so much— if anything, MLB teams overuse the bunt. Statistical analysis has shown that even a successful sacrifice bunt usually lowers the expected runs for the inning— thus moneyball teams like the A’s and the Rays rarely bunt.

- The press has won multiple titles in college. Arkansas won a title with the “40 minutes of hell” system and nearly won a 2nd despite having little NBA talent. Rick Pitino has used the press to great success. Missouri pressed their way into the elite 8 this year, and their best player, Senior DeMarre Carroll, doesn’t show up in draftexpress’ mock draft. The press works in college hoops. I would agree that a non-stop press might not work in the NBA, but it sure would be interesting to see… who knows?

I wouldn’t call him a hack, though. I generally find his theories, while not fully substantiated, plausible and thought provoking.

Yeah, this article was kind of interesting but really dragged on telling us something we already know.

Oh, when less skilled/powerful/prepared/qualified than your opponent you can use unexpected strategies to exploit weaknesses and surprise them? 300? Lord of the Rings? Star Wars? Custer’s Last Stand? The American Revolution? Vietnam?

Also, sure, full-court press works great against 7th grade girls but…wait…THEY’RE SEVENTH GRADE GIRLS. Have you ever seen a game the score is like 4-7 at halftime.

    "At the nationals, the Redwood City girls won their first two games. In the third round, their opponents were from somewhere deep in Orange County. Redwood City had to play them on their own court, and the opponents supplied their own referee as well. The game was at eight o’clock in the morning. The Redwood City players left their hotel at six, to beat the traffic. It was downhill from there. The referee did not believe in "One, two, three, attitude HAH." He didn’t think that playing to deny the inbounds pass was basketball. He began calling one foul after another.

    "They were touch fouls," Craig said. Ticky-tacky stuff. The memory was painful."

Touch fouls! And that’s why it wouldnt’ work in the NBA anyway.

I thought it was very poorly conceived on many levels. The David v. Goliath is a terrible analogy for the press. The press is not a good strategy for traditional underdogs, but highly athletic teams…. It also tends to work increasingly well against less skilled opponents. The better the opponent, the less likely a press will work. Almost the exact opposite of a good tactic for underdogs!

Only his methods are more journalistic than scientifically founded. If it hinders a great anecdote, I doubt he would point out all the potential flaws in his analysis. But in an era when “Who moved my cheese” and “Habits” are best-selling business books, he can probably be considered a pretty solid researcher :)

he’s made me think about things that I’ve just held assumptions about. “Hack” is a bit much. He does have a formula that he doesn’t stray from, that, if you can’t get over, would be annoying.

he does kind of have a schtick, but I’ve found him pretty fascinating