Clay Kallam responds (as I was hoping he would) to Malcolm Gladwell's praise for "innovative" twelve-and-under girls who press all the time.

Says Clay-- who literally wrote the a book about coaching girls' basketball:

"We have run that exact press at the high school level with great success, and won some state titles along the way. But there are limitations to its effectiveness, and an experienced coach can make a simple adjustment that will pretty much eliminate its ability to dominate a game.

"Gladwell's conception that this strategy is David vs. Goliath... is completely off base. It is a common strategy used by many teams at lower levels to dominate opposition without having basketball skills -- and is generally, as indicated in the article, felt to be a wrongheaded devotion to winning above teaching the game.

"Conditioning is important in such a system, but if you're looking to get your kid in top shape, send them to the gym or put them on track team. If you want 12-year-olds to learn how to play basketball, you try to teach them skills -- even if you lose....

"All in all, an awful article, boosting the worst parts of youth sports and youth basketball coaching. Let's win at any cost, let's press and press and press and destroy teams that can't handle it. Oh, and if we don't learn anything about basketball, who cares?"

You know what would be cool? If Gladwell were to respond.