Watch Them Grow

We've been working with this kid on pulling off some dribble moves during a game. She would do maybe one then just stop. It was a confidence problem, not an execution problem. You will run into the same thing. At least you should.

So she has been going behind her back on her way to the basket every once in a while. Sometimes she would pull it off, most times not. But we stayed on her. We practiced and demanded that she do it during a game. So I'm watching her play last week and she went behind her back in the 1st quarter. It went well, she got by her guy, and made a nifty pass to her post.

Then she did it again, with a little more confidence, and it was a little faster. She passed to the corner. Then again, and it was a little faster again, much more confident, and she pulled up for a nice little mid-range jumper. Then a fourth time to shake her guy on the way to the rim.

See, this is how it will progress. One day your players will have enough confidence to pull off a dribble move not because you tell them to, but because they have confidence in it. Then, the next move becomes much easier.

We're shooting for a between the legs then hesitation next.

More About Passing - And Catching

One of the drills we work on every day is how to catch the ball. It sounds simple, just put your hands up and catch it. But, no, it's not quite that simple. It is important that you teach your guys how to catch the ball in a position of power, and so that they are ready to attack on the dribble, or shoot it.

So we developed this little drill that is great warm up and addresses these issues. Actually, I don't remember if we developed this from our program, or if we stole it from someone else. It doesn't matter, you will find that most of your best drills have been stolen from someone else. That's what good coaches do - they steal.

Anyway, this drill is on one of our CD's - the first one. We spent about 3-5 minutes early in the season doing this drill but by the end of the season we would spend maybe 30 seconds on it. But the point of the drill is to catch the ball in such a way that your guys can make a one-handed pass, put it on the floor, and are in a power position. The drill is to rectify the maddening habit of allowing young players to catch the ball standing up or holding the ball in their hands not ready to shoot or attack.

For All That Is Good In The World Let Your Kids Play

Up 5 starting the 4th. Against a team that had beaten you the last time by 16. So what do you do?

Let me tell you what you don't do. You don't stall. You don't try and milk the clock for that long. You don't play like a loser.

I was at the game. The team ahead had the other team on the ropes. The other team was frustrated, tired, and ready to pack it in. Instead, by taking the pressure off, the first team, the losing team let them get their feet under them.

There is no team in the country that can milk an entire quarter with just a 5 point lead. It is this kind of stupidity, idiocy, downright malfeasance that this blog is about. This loss should be put right at the feet of the coach. Ridiculous. If you are ever in the same situation, and you do the same thing and lose the game, grow a pair and admit that it was your mistake that cost the game. At some point you have to look in the mirror and determine when it becomes your fault and not the kids.

You Will Be Making Game Decisions That Effrect The Outcome

So the score is tied at 26 at halftime. Yeah, I know, a real offensive explosion. And one team had this kid who had been carrying his team the whole first half. He was getting a lot of his stuff from put-backs and slipping in from the short corner. A great strategy when playing against this wide, gappy 2/3 zone.So I was quite interested in what kind of adjustments each coach would make. I had my suspicions, but reserved judgement until I saw it for myself.

Sure enough, the other team doubled down on the short corner and took away his lane to the basket. He was stuck from then on and the other team cruised to a 20 point win. So what does this mean to you? The youth coach?

First, if all you teach is a pattern offense, your guys will only know how to run patterns off of it. Not how to make plays from it. It would have taken a simple adjustment to their offense to keep this kid going. Just get out of the pattern and play basketball. Second, this story is a great example of what you can do as a youth coach to better your team. Move your guys around the floor to put them in the best position to succeed. If all you do is have them run through a pattern, then that's all they know. But if you teach them how to make a play, then you can put your guys anywhere, against the weakest defender for that guy, and he will make plays.

Again, and forgive me for hammering this home so much but this is critical, plays and patterns do not score. Players making plays score.

What You Do Now Has Lifelong Consequences

I was watching this silky smooth, extra quick guard the other night. She was beatiful to witness. She moved on the floor like water moves down a waterpark slide.

So her coach made a good move. She put her in a 2 on 2 game on the right side of the floor. She put her best 3 point shooter in the corner and told Ms. Silk to go to the basket. If the defense helped over on her she would kick it to the corner for the 3 ball. Great plan, right?

Except for two things. Ms. Silk's youth coach never taught her how to jump through a double team and come out the other side. And the 3 point shooter's youth coach never taught her to raise her shooting pocket and get rid of the ball quickly. So the defense would help over on Ms. Silk then they would close out on 3 point shooter before she could get a clean look. And, believe me, I've seen this team play defense before, they're not terribly good defenders.

Are you willing to take the next three point shooter and go through an entire season of poor shooting as investment in this kid's future? Or do you just want to look good for this season and let the next guy worry about it?

If He Can Get 30, Why Not 40?

I watched a kid drop over 30 on another team the other night. He did it primarily through offensive put-backs. What he did NOT do is show any kind of sense or understanding of how to play offense. He had one post move, from which he scored maybe 6 of his points, and absolutely no understanding of how create a shot for himself with or without the ball.

Yeah, he was a relentless rebounder. But imagine what he could have done if he was a legitimate threat in the low post, high post, or anywhere else on the floor. Imagine if his youth coach had taught him some dribble moves, a jumpshot, or how to move without the ball. He would be a threat to drop 30 every night. But his youth coach just couldn't be bothered with the hard work of demanding that he expand his game.

What a shame. You could be hearing about him playing DI somewhere. Instead, you will probably never hear about him at all. Because his youth coach couldn't be bothered.

This 14 Year Old Kid Gets It - Why Can't You?

I was at a game last week and I saw a player who was performing at a very high level. No surprise there, happens all the time. Her game was far and away ahead of her peers and her competition. So I talked to her after the game and I asked some questions. Questions like, "how did you know..?", "Who taught you to..?", "Why do you...?"

Her initial answer to all these questions? "I don't know." So I pressed. Come to find out that these were things she learned just from experience. That as she played, she realized that the ways she is doing things is better. Faster, More successful. She is an undersized pt. guard, with decent speed and pretty good handles. So it's not like her God given abilities are anything to write home about. So she had to take what was given her, and make the most of them. By doing things that are faster, more aggressive, more attack mode than anything.

She intuitively gets it. You have the advantage of standing on the sideline and analyzing how effective what you're teaching really is. Why can't you see what this 14 year old girl sees?