Very Cool ! Great approach!
Thanks!

I'll let you know how it goes.
They are a good group of kids...hard-headed sometimes, but still seem to be trying.

One last (I promise) question, philisophical in nature.

I have about 4 set plays with variations depending starting to the right or left. All the kids know them pretty well.

I have stressed from day one to not be afraid to shoot, but try to do so within the structure of the play.

Last game we almost lost because one of my wings was a black hole,
No matter the shot or how well he was defended, he shot the ball. Never made a point that game.

How would you reign in a player that, at least for that game, thought he was World B. Free? (There's an old reference for you! )

In our league all the players are supposed to play 2qtrs minimum.

Thanks

You can ask all the questions you want.... I dont mind helping coaches or players out.. nice to give back to a game that I love.

I am not the end all of answers but I tell you what we did and what we had success doing... then its up to people to pick and choose the way they want to go.... so again... fire away. I would be disappointed if we stopped hearing from you.

This is tough because of his age and you don't know who is telling him to shoot so much. Look at your plays and ask... how many touches can I get out of this before we shoot the ball.... in a motion offense its limitless... so we could say, I want 8 passes or 3-4 ball reversals before we shoot..... or I want our center to get a touch before we shoot... get the idea? These are things I used with my Varsity teams.

You have to SELL him on the idea that IF he gets other kids involved in the offense he and the team will have more success. Even ( arguably ) the best player that ever played the game ( Michael Jordon ) didn't win a CHAMPIONSHIP until Phil Jackson convinced him to get his teammates involved in the game... and you know the rest of that story.


Talk to him about MJ

You have to sell him on this big time.... better to sell him on it than try to force it on him.... he might take to it better this way ?? There are a lot of things / ways you can go with this.. like we really need to get Johnny a shot this time... he is wide open. OR - If you continue to take every shot your teammates might stop playing defense and where is that going to take you? Just a few ideas/... hope this helps.

Great advice!
It's not that he's incapable of making the shot(s), he is capable, I just was frustrated in that I couldn't get him to see that his incessant shooting was detrimental to the team that night.


He's a wing (#3) so sees the ball a great deal in almost all the plays. So I realize the temptation is there to "Swish that 3..." :-)

Thanks again

mark

Some times you have a bad game...I told my players to take the ball to the hole when they were having an off night... get yourself to the free throw line and fix your stroke.

Thanks!
I'll remember to do that.
The shcedule changed at the last minute, so we only played the weaker team Friday.
We get the #1 team in the West division tonight. They have one player (these are 10U boys mind you) that has scored 30pts a few times in the past. =8-|

Plan is to go m2m with presseure out high or maybe a "packline" D and see what happens.

Thanks!

Mark

Keep them out of the paint..... make them beat you from the perimeter and take away their best player, make them go to a Plan B and see how they react.

Oh yeah, Good luck!!

That's the plan...we'll see how it goes.

Thanks!

Mark

Hey Coach Sar!
Update from last week

Lost Saturday, the team we played has both inside and outside scorers……
We got down quick and my kids lost their heart.

Had a pretty good game Monday, lost by a point.
I made a few coaching goofs, their best player showed up late, didn’t play the 1st quarter, so I didn’t think he was going to play, so I substituted my best player out for 2nd quarter, lost the lead and never could get it back, although we made a heck of a rally the last 4 minutes.

Tournament time is upcoming, and looking at the schedule, if we win our first two games, we will again be playing a team of small, fast kids that beat us the last time on steals and fast breaks.

This kind of goes back to my original post about offense versus a tight half-court m2m.
My point is small and a little weak with his passes and dribbling sometimes, but knows the plays backwards and forwards.The other team brings their defense right up to the halfcourt line

I know you suggested bringing one of my wings up, we’ve tried that but it throws them out of their comfort zone and chaos ensues. Any other ideas?

Thanks!

Mark

Its tough when you are outmaned but all you can do is to keep them playing hard. - as for coaching errors.... everybody in the stands think we make mistakes. :-) Don't worry about that, keep them playing, you keep teaching and they will be better for it. We learn every time we hit the floor, whether coaching or playing.

I will go back to my original suggestion -
"Whenever we faced a half court trap we attacked it with a two guard front and in a 2-1-2 configuration.- I would have your one bring the ball up the sideline HARD ... and then reverse it to the other guard looking to get the ball into the middle.... once you get it there, he should pivot and face the basket,... you should have numbers to attack.

You can have the other player bring it up hard and reverse it to your point guard if you are more comfortable with that. If your point guard can, have him attack the basket and force them to help and then he can pass it to another player... or take it to the basket.

The only way to make them comfortable doing this is to give them a lot of repititions.- They need to get used to doing this .. learn it just like they learned to dribble, pass and shoot.

Thanks Coach!

Mark