Chris Christie used two sports analogies on Monday to critique President Obama's strategy against ISIS, likening it first to a once-effective college basketball strategy and, secondly, to a defensive alignment used in football.
“And let me tell everybody, because I heard you talking sports also, right before I came on," Christie said on New Hampshire Today. "Here’s the president: the president on offense against terrorism plays the Four Corners. He plays stall ball. And on defense, to defend the homeland, he plays a prevent defense. And we all know who are football fans, the only thing a prevent defense does is prevent you from winning."
The Four Corners offense, in which four players stall while the point guard brings the ball into the middle of the floor, was rendered obsolete in college basketball by introduction of the shot clock. Meanwhile, the prevent defense is most commonly used by football teams hoping to preserve a lead late in a game by preventing large gains by the offensive team.
In the interview, Christie also said his reaction to Obama's Sunday night address on the threat presented by ISIS was, "Much ado about nothing."
"Much ado about nothing, Jack," he said. "You know, the shame of it is that the president when we’re hit with the worst terrorist attack on our soil since September 11th, 2001, spent a good amount of his time talking about gun control last night. It’s absurd."