What new drills you would do on the first day with players, I do not know and we have two weeks before our first game. We will be playing man to man the entire game.

I think you have yo do some planning. It is not what you need for the first game, it is what you need for the season. You have to imagine what you want your team to do. Take the long view, visualize how they should be playing at the end of the season and the work backwards. Just break down the whole into progressions (in order to do "c" we must be able to do "b." In order to do "b" we must be able to do "a.") and start from the beginning.

It really doesn't matter what you do the first day. You don't have to copy anyone else, do what you want. More importantly, you have to set attitude.

Forgive me for this but coaches are all amateur psychologists. The key to being a good coach is not how much basketball you know but how well you read and interact with people. I have been doing this for a long time and I am very good at this. I read something else into your question. You are new at this, you lack a little confidence and you don't want to be wrong.

Don't worry about it. All coaches go through the same thing at the start of every year. If it weren't for my assistants holding me back, my practices would be 12 hours long because I would want to do everything - all at once. I have coached for 27 years at all levels and the first week is always the same. Do let it confuse you or get you down. Pick a few things you are confident with and set yourself up as an expert. After you get going you will feel your way and get more comfortable. In coaching, it's not what you know, it's what they think you know. Set attitude of what you think is important and you players will buy it. You don't need plays or drills, you need belief.

Do what will get your players to believe in you.

Great advice Don!!

"Forgive me for this but coaches are all amateur psychologists." -- I love this comment..

We are this and a lot more... teacher, coach, friend ( someone to talk to ) sometimes surrogate parent etc.

I taught Spec. Ed. for 27 years so I had a lot of Psych. courses.. helps a lot when teaching and coaching... before I was a teacher I was in sales... another good thing to know since we have to sell our programs... and thats what you are saying here... sell your program and philosophy... and IF they believe in you, there is nothing that they wont try to do for you and your program.

In my extensive experience, I have learned that is the essence of coaching! Not plays or drills, just faith.

If they believe in you, regardless of what you are doing, they will make it work.

And good players!

Ah yes... GOOD PLAYERS!

If my Jimmy and Joes are better than your Xs and 0s.... I'm going to win.... most of the time. (thanks to Creighton)

Great advice from some great coaches!!

Coach K is right, you do sound new to coaching basketball. Surround yourself with good assistants, know your team and do your research (internet, books on coaching) and the drills and plays will fall into place.
Select drills and plays that best suit your team's age group, experience and style of play. Is your team small and quick? Big and slow? Good inside scoring and rebounding? Good outside shooters? Fast tempo or slow half court sets? You'll determine these things as you get to know your players.

No matter what age, size or style of play....always reinforce fundamentals during each practice.

Lastly,
I'm attaching an article that I keep on Evolution of a Basketball Coach....very interesting...and very true...I definitelty went through the first few phases[color=#004080] [/color]

EVOLUTION OF A BASKETBALL COACH by Steve Jordan

Now, such labels may be fitting, but it is important to realize the labels only fit for a given point in time. As an administrator, or a parent whose child may play for such a coach, it may be unfair to write him off, especially if he (or she) is young. People will change as they learn. The same is true of coaches. Give them a chance to grow. Sometimes coaching peers, parents and administrators come down much too harshly when a new coach strays from path of popular acceptability. In most cases, coaches have little or no training in their new role. A little advice from the right folks may be all they need, rather than an avalanche of criticism.
So, when you meet a coach or see him perform in a game or practice for the first time, you can gauge where he's at in his philosophical evolution. There is a progressive path from the neophyte coach (like some young player's ordinary dad or mom) to a coaching ideal like John Wooden. Obviously, most people won't coach long enough or be dedicated enough to go the whole distance, but it is a path that should be followed as best and as far as you can while you coach.

The first thing most brand new coaches want is validation, that they CAN coach. They get that feedback from their W/L%, and somewhat from parents and peers. That's why new coaches are into the trick Ds and are hollering at their ten year olds. This is especially true if the coach used to be a good player. They will assume they can coach because they were successful in the past. They will assume they know more than their peers. And, because former players are inherently competitive, they will be highly motivated to prove their assumptions are true. If they are unable to achieve the validation they usually quit.
The next phase, for the survivors, is education. They realize they could do better. They go to camps, buy tapes, read books and websites. They listen keenly to other coaches hoping to absorb their experience as quickly as possible. This is an exciting phase as they gain more coaching tools. The point is, with more tools, they can make their teams better and win more games. Its an extension of the validation process. Winning is extremely important because it proves the coach is qualified.
Some people, again they are usually former star players, come into coaching convinced they do not need to learn anything. The know-it-alls won't educate. They'll coach as long as they win. As soon as they don't get the validation (like they have a weak team one year), they quit. They'll blame the kids for lack of desire, ability or whatever else applies.
What's next? Explanation. Coaches start speaking out as an authority, praising those who coach like them and criticizing those who do not. In this phase, they can see what's wrong with everything. As a spectator, when they watch other teams play, they like to point out what the players need to work on, what the coach should be doing, things like that. If there are other spectators who nod and confirm their observations, it bolsters the coach's own opinion that he is an expert.
With time, coaches move into the edification phase. This is a big improvement over the explanation phase because now their purpose is to simply help people rather than feed personal pride. Coaches in this realm are as happy to help a kid from a different school as they are to help a kid from their own program. They become open with other coaches in sharing ideas and knowledge rather than keeping all they have to offer close to the vest to maintain a competitive edge. Instead of pointing out what others are doing wrong, they encourage others for what they are doing right.
Realization of their true mission as a coach, that's the next phase. Something happens for the better and the coach realizes what happens on the court changes a player off the court. The coach starts emphasizing character traits as well as skills, rethinks playing time, develops the bottom of the bench. The coach sees his/her team as a waypoint for journeying players rather than a one time seasonal event.
Remember that coaches are very competitive people. Winning is still important, but now it is done through developing people instead of players; teaching fundamental skills, not trick plays; motivating through discipline, not emotional speeches. Developing people means training and conditioning the mind as well as the body, and considering both the spiritual and physical aspects of the person. Once a coach realizes and accepts this mission, coaching becomes much more than a job, much more than a won/loss record.
Given the opportunity, the next phase is implementation. This is the chance to build your own program, doing it the right way, building not just a team but a system where proper fundamentals and discipline can be taught at the outset. At first you may think that it is unfortunate that there are so few opportunities to run your own program given the limited number of schools and similar organizations that promote team sports. I have seen, though, many people who have built their own systems, starting with one team, then adding more, and gaining momentum as others join in the cause to help their kids play better basketball. These grass roots basketball communities are out there, and they have high quality, motivated people.
Last phase I can think of is compensation. Not the money (ha!) but the chance to see players who have been in your care and are now grown with kids of their own - maybe even coaching their own teams. That's when you have the satisfaction of knowing you played a part in the bigger picture. As parents and coaches, they will be passing on what they learned from you.