Hi Everyone,

I am an English teacher, in China. I come from the US, and have seen basketball games, but never played on a high school team, etc.

As part of a new job, we are renovating a small school, with about 20-30 Chinese students in Grades 10-12.

I want to create a basketball team that eventually competes with other local schools.

We have a basic basketball court, and hoops with woven nets, but nothing else.

1. Is there a list of materials we will need to set up basketball practice?

I can see right now we need

-those traditional cones, or short cones for drills.
- certainly a whistle or two
- maybe an agility ladder

The list goes on and on. I just want to ennumerate.

2. Is there a preset list of essentials?

I can buy everything on Taobao, etc. of varying quality, and low price.

3. Do you ever recommend buying used equipment?

When I set up a bodybuilding gym, I would buy used stuff. But, for basketball, I am thinking new might be best.

4. What do we use to keep score, electronically?

Thanks

1) For basketball practice, all you need is the coach and some players. You can literally have a practice without basketball or hoops. You have to be creative, but I have done it before. With that said, here are the things you might want at practice (in order of importance):
- basketballs... 1 or 2 for each player
- hoops (ideally one full court for 10 players.... that'a a perfect world which not many coaches live in)
- cones
- whistle (if you prefer... some don't use them)

Beyond that, it depends. Having chairs is nice to use for drills. Some coaches like to use spots on the floor. It's all personal preference.

If we scrimmage, we usually just call out the score after each basket. If it's a game or more official, we might use the score board in the gym or buy the non electronic flip score boards you can get for probably under $100.

Hope this helps.

I forgot to mention, maybe the most important thing, first aid kit and training in basic first aid. Know what is available at your facility and do some research on the subject, ideally getting trained on basic first aid.

Hi Jeff,

Thanks for the info.

1. My school has taken your advice, ordered some cones, a whistle, First Aid Kit, cheap electronic scoreboard, etc.

They are also researching who can give CPR Training.

If you look on Taobao, you can see how much China produces: whistles for 2 USD, paper scorecards for 5 USD, basketballs for 10 USD or less, etc.

It may not be Spalding quality, but the price certainly is good.

2. The good news is that there is a big, modern hospital a ten minute drive away. So, Heaven forbid something more than a trip and fall was concerned, there would be a way to get to a hospital quickly.

3. Of course, in addition to this, we will watch inspirational movies like "Coach Carter" and "Hoop Dreams".

Any other good movies, documentaries, etc. to inspire students?

4. Of course, beyond the physical stuff, the real thing to me is to be able to get our coach (a passion player) up to speed on coaching.

My guess it the real thing to being a basketball coach is:

- A love for the game, in all of its nitty-gritty details
- A passion for encouraging all players to reach their potential through hard work and teamwork, no matter how talented or mediocre they are.
- Inspiring individuals to work hard and sacrifice for the team, as nothing else in life truly represents that commitment that we see in a passionate sport.

5. Of all your products, websites, YouTube videos, etc. what do you think is essential to turn a passion player like our future coach, or high school players, into top team athletes?

We can afford to buy some of it, but nothing super-pricey (like 5000 USD Private Coaching VIP courses, etc.)

Here are the top things I would recommend checking out to become a top coach (assuming this is for players 13 years old or higher):

I believe the following are very important:
- develop and defining a coaching philosophy
- define and develop a really awesome culture in your program
- get really good at developing player development
- never stop learning

For philosophy and culture, here are a few resources, however I suggest learning more about the subject:
https://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/coaching/philosophy.html
https://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/coaching/three-things.html
https://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/podcast/13/

For player development, these are really good:
https://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/pr/attackandcounter.html
https://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/pr/schuring-3d-scorer.html
https://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/pr/shooting-system.html
https://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/pr/sanderson-game-based.html

Then, study what you want to get really good at from a tactical standpoint. If you want to be really good at man defense, here's an amazing resource:
https://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/pr/huber-defense.html

If you want to use a different defense (zone, press or something else), I can point toward good resource for that.

I can do the same for offense... whether it's motion or something else.

Thanks .

The minute I was looking for your reply, it came. Excellent timing!

I will refer this to my people at school, who are building a program.