jsc1973
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She's not playing the Grinnell System. Grinnell is a modern take on the run-and-gun system that Paul Westhead invented when he was at Loyola Marymount in the 1980s. Yes, you have the full-court press, but if they don't get a steal, they'll happily concede a layup just to get the ball back and try to jack up a three at the other end. Other than running fast, it's nowhere near as demanding as what Caldwell does. The whole point of the Grinnell System is just to force the game to be as fast as possible, and to hell with any basketball fundamentals. They just think if they can get you to play their game, and most teams are willing because it's fun, they can play it better than you can.Grinnell System is effective basketball! But are we less likely to make a Final Four? National Championship? I'm worried that the answer is yes, and I hope that Kim will be willing to learn about the best way to mentally AND physically develop the girls. Look to Tennessee S&C in sports where we're succeeding, especially in sports that vaguely match the athletic output her system needs, and put their proven methods into practice. She's not a Grenville or Marshall anymore, the resources are too great here to not take your S&C to the next level, staying tied down to what won you conference championships in the D2 one-bid Mountain East Conference.
Caldwell is more like Nolan Richardson's "40 Minutes of Hell" from the 1990s, where he pressed but then played halfcourt defense. No way in hell would you intentionally concede a layup just to get the ball back. This is all-out maximum effort on both ends for an entire game, with a team running fresh bodies out there constantly. This is not fun to play against; like one of the players said, the point is to make the other team hate to play against you. It's not foolproof. Talent still matters above all else. But if you have enough talent to compete, and you execute, every so often, you'll harass the other team into making mental errors under pressure.
Where S&C are concerned, I am pretty confident she hasn't been living in a fishbowl during her 13 years as a coach. You don't need to coach in Division I to learn how D1 teams do things. Or sometimes you might come up with some pretty good ideas yourself even if you're not in Division I.
As for the fact she's not at Glenville or Marshall anymore, that is true. But she also has access to athletes that she could only dream of having at those places.