Do You Run "Situations" as Part of Your Daily Practice Plan?

I also think that situations are a must every practice for all the reasons mentioned above. However, I also think that it can be a great time for the Varsity coach to work with players other than varisty players. Instead of having Varsity vs. JV in situations with the Varsity coaching helping his players and JV coach with his, switch every once in a while. This allows for the Varisty coach to really connect with some kids that will be very important to his team in a couple of years. It also helps to boost the perception and authority of the JV coach. And sometimes, from coaching with a different perspective, the coaches will discover something entirely new and even better that they may have missed before!

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I absolutely agree with practicing situations. I think this can help players feel more comfortable during the game.

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Another thought I had involves avoiding getting beat on a long hail mary shot at the buzzer when your opponent has it out under your hoop and has to go the length of the floor to beat you. Coaches need to realize that by doubling the initial receiver after the inbounds and chasing the ball out of their hands they''ve done their job. It''s much easier to measure the rim on a half court shot when a player is dribbling into that shot versus when they have to catch a pass, turn their body and then shoot. Another key point here is the time. From an offensive standpoint you must tell your kids that every dribble is one second off the clock. If the clock is 1.3 seconds or less we go with no dribble. If we have between 1.4 and 1.9 we allow one dribble but the closer we are to 1.4 we have to be going at a higher rate of speed on the catch. If you want to reference this rule, check out youtube and watch Devin Harris'' buzzer beater with 1.3 seconds left. If you notice, Harris is streaking down the sideline at full speed on the catch and he BARELY sneaks in 1 dribble. Obviously this was an exception to our rule, however it was dangerously close to not counting. So in order to be on the safe side we use 1.3 seconds as our reference for not taking a dribble.

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Going over situations ahead of time in practice is a must. If you're not preparing for late clock situations then you're going to be scrambling in the huddle with roughly 60 or 30 seconds to get your point across. Every team needs to practice defending on the last play of the game in a full-court setting, halfcourt setting, from out of bounds underneath, and on the sideline. You need to practice situations where you will need to foul as well as situations where you will be getting fouled. At the high school level, practicing a delay game is essential since there's no shot clock that comes into play. It's amazing to me how many times I will be watching a game and a team will lose the game because of a mis-managed late clock situation. Sureness with the basketball and sound decision making are also essential late in the game. We drill everyday in practice with our kids for sureness with the ball. As a coach, you need to have plays for both out of bounds situations and live ball situations in order to assure that you're prepared for everything. Coaching is about constant memorization, teaching and emphasizing. If you're not prepared to get the desired execution from your team down the stretch than you're prepared to lose!

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