Chat with Mario O’Brien

[–]riseupmario[S] 1 point

overall yea it all sounds like it could work, just a matter of refining and testing it. I’m a true believer in the idea of ‘anything strategically can work if everyone’s on the same and it’s executed well’. Just gotta keep self-evolving as much as possible.

In general my idea on switching/sandwiching is that it can and does work, situationally, but defenses that get overly switchy are too risky and against smart cutters and great handlers/throwers… you’re setting yourself up for 1 throw that breaks the ice and then never catching up. Fact: most top elite handlers break any mark they want, even the best marks, so if you blow a switch and leave someone open for a split second, they get the disc and boom everyone’s scrambling to catch up… and if you switch at the wrong time when the thrower’s mark is out of position, it’s several easy throws in a row.

Again, not saying it can’t be done, just telling you what I see at the top… and I’d say Sockeye is as experimental as any team out there in terms of trying new/unconventional things… maybe Japan has us beat ;)

[–]riseupmario[S] 1 point

sweet. can’t wait to play against it ;) or play in it sometime!

Chatting to Mario helped me clarify my thoughts on & for the first time verbalise how poaching causes the progressive collapse of Flex D. I’ve now incorporated this specific example into the Flex theory clinic – it now feels like there is a frame in place, and we’re no longer fumbling in the dark trying to figure out & define ‘smart defence’; we’re working out what fills the frame & where the holes are. The task for the first time feels relatively finite.

I’ve got a lot of time for Sockeye – I hung out with them a little in Prague during WUCC 2010, I love a team that knows how to play hard, party, and isn’t afraid to innovate on the field and openly discuss new strategies and tactics.

To read Mario’s full AMA click here, and be sure to check out his new ULTACADEMY project.

1 reply
  1. Oliver Radini
    Oliver Radini says:

    Interesting to see some thoughts about these different kind of setups, but just saying “it wouldn’t work at ‘elite’ level” isn’t really helpful. The only slight bit of useful information as to why that might be is that elite players are too good at limiting options. Let’s say we go along with that 100%. So how do stack offences get around the problem that ‘elite’ players are especially good at limiting options? I can’t really see how a defender being good at limiting options implies that the offence should use a stack. We could easily say the complete opposite, and say that it implies a hex. There you have more options to use, so limiting them would be less effective?

    As much as I love hex, I’m open to some good reasoning about why it might not work. I’m still waiting to hear anyone actually be able to defend stacks from a strategic point of view.

    Reply

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