Principles of small ball

Small ball defense in the NBA playoffs and football.

After watching OKC dispatch Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets from the foyer of a ballet recital (I’d already caught my daughter’s section and was “supervising” the younger daughter as she toddled around) it struck me that the principles of small ball in the NBA continue to have relevance in reference to the world of spread football.

So I thought we’d get into some of the Western Conference playoff results today and for you football only people I’ll explain the relevant tactics and principles at play.

Eventually this is taking us on a path toward spread 501, graduate coursework.

Also, I’ve begun the process of collecting the “book two” columns on the main page of this website for the purpose of making an actual book. I was going to just collect and edit them all but I’m instead finding myself wanting to clean up and expand on a lot of it, so the real “book two” is likely to be longer and more ambitious than a collection of links. I want to expand on regionality and the social science of college football and perhaps include other ideas beyond “space force theory” such as spread 101-501 (I guess). Look forward to that and hold me accountable to getting it done if it sounds good.

Now, basketball and football’s overlapping tactics…