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I keep looking at the girls basketball team pressing as a bad example. Girls at that age, by and large, don't have the muscle to throw over a press. Certainly, if I was a coach in that league, the moment I knew there was a pressing team I'd have them doing pushups and long pass drills. I'd just hope it would be enough.

At that age and league, however, a press should be illegal.




There would also be nothing to prevent you, as a coach, from applying the same full-court press strategy back to the pressing team. Even the coaches of the team in the article conceded that this would have defeated them. So the interesting question is why nobody did this...


It's not about fairness, however. The game would turn into a game of "press" rather than a game of "basketball." At that age, the strategy that wins is not as important as developing basic skills that can be used later, such as in high school where the players are physically developed enough to throw over a press.

The problem is the physical limitation of how far the girl can throw a ball. If you tell NBA players they can't pass more than seven feet, the press would be a dominant strategy.




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