Howland and the bruins plan to make doubling in the post a regular part of their defense, at least ccording to the LA Times. I believe this is a great strategy, not only because it fits our personnel, but because it forces opposing big men to be playmakers and find the open man, something that most of them are ill-equipped to do. The article attributes the effectiveness of the defense to Fey's size, Thompson and Hollins' long arms and nimbleness, and the quickness of our perimeter players. i would add that coaching also has much to do with it, at least for our perimeter players. Angles, spacing, and identifying the shooters are key to rotating and recovering in this type of defense, and it is pretty clear that all of our guys understand their responsibilities and what the team is trying to accomplish.

It should be interesting to see how well the strategy works as opponents have the chance to prepare for it more. We had great success against notre dame at least in part because they had no idea it was coming. We will have to anticipate the adjustments that other coaches will (try to) make.