Great Story On What Youth Basketball Is All About

By Joe Haefner

Here is a great story from Jim Bado of Ohio on his experience with coaching youth basketball. It really shows what youth basketball should be all about.

Jim is also an author of the LOSER Report.

Matthew and I strode through the chilly, snow-flecked darkness outside the soaring Gateway Church.

“Have you had fun this season?” I asked.

“Yes,” he replied. “But I’m kind of nervous about our last game. I haven’t scored a basket this season and Saturday is my last game. It’s my last chance to score in a game.”

“Don’t worry,” I replied with the overconfidence of someone who’s tossed in countless points during innumerable contests, “you’re going to score Saturday, I promise.”

I intended to keep that promise because last season, Matthew’s first, he failed to score during all eight games, a fact that frustrated me to no end. During last year’s practices, despite my objections, we spent almost the entire time working on plays. The head coach more fixated on executing six different set plays than the paparazzi on the movements of Britney Spears, even though more than half our kids, including Matthew, couldn’t shoot a lay-up, pivot or rebound to save their young lives.

This season, the coaches agreed to focus on fundamentals, keep the players moving with skill-based drills and have fun scrimmaging. With the goal of taking more shots, the team pushed the ball up the court to shoot lay-ups, rather than setting up plays. As we told the players, check any basketball box score: the squad attempting more shots usually wins.

Running late, Matthew and I arrived at Saturday afternoon’s contest a couple minutes before introductions. Slapping each player five in the pre-game room, I saw the team’s “rules” written across the whiteboard

1) Have Fun
2) TA-TA-team (support and respect your teammates)
3) Fun Have (the Star Wars Yoda rule)

In addition to Matthew, Talyn, our tea drinking, skin-and-bones — he weighed about sixty-five pounds dripping wet - forward hadn’t scored a basket either. Huddling with the other coaches, we agreed today’s primary goal was somehow, someway getting them a bucket during the next thirty-six minutes.

From my perspective, if any kid didn’t score, the coaches failed to reach the program’s goal of “every child a winner.” As the head coach, their success became my responsibility. Moreover, if Matthew didn’t make a basket, that would mean he’d played two seasons without scoring. I’d promised him better than that.

Before the game, I asked the opposing coach who hadn’t scored on his squad; he pointed to Suns #32, a tall, slender kid playing the first period. Giving the other team the ball rather than staging a coin flip, I huddled our starting five, asking them avoid guarding #32 on the first possession. I figured the other team would throw him the ball under the hoop and he’d score easily. Our guys followed the plan; the other team didn’t and another kid shot instead of #32. We rebounded and the game rolled onward from that inauspicious start. I looked at the Suns coach and he shrugged a “what can I do?” response. A missed opportunity, but not the end of the world: plenty of time remained for all three guys to get a bucket.

Matthew and Talyn played the second and third periods. Our guys passed them the ball and they took multiple shots, but, alas, missed all of them. During half-time, I checked the league-mandated player rotation for the second half (a great rule requiring each kid to play a minimum of half of every game). Matthew only played one period: the 5th. That would be his last chance to make a basket; we needed to make it happen. Prior to its start, I pulled the team together, telling them to get Matthew the ball. They complied and he took four shots, missing every one.

Without timeouts, an Upward Bound Basketball coach cannot stop play to direct the team, even to help someone score. As the clock wound toward zero, a Suns player tossed up a long shot. It clanged off the backboard and the shrill buzzer ended Matthew’s Upward Bound career. He’d participated in sixteen basketball games without scoring one single basket. Matthew wouldn’t start the final period and the league’s player rotation rules prohibited substitutions, meaning — even though I wanted him on the court — he couldn’t return to the game. As a sixth grader, this was his last year playing; in other words, he would never score a basket in an Upward Bound game, ever.

Talyn, however, played during the final period. Before inbounding the ball, I emphasized how the team needed to get him a basket. The players nodded in agreement. Grabbing Talyn’s bony shoulders, I squatted to eye level, telling him that somehow, someway, he would score today. The players put their hands together and yelled “1-2-3 Talyn”! Out for the last period of his last game, my son sat quietly on the bench. I wrapped an arm around his shoulder, consoling him, rather than watching the game and yelling encouragement to our team. He seemed fine, but I knew the painful sadness of failure lurked behind his happy-go-lucky facade.

My throat went dry thinking how Matthew’s Monday night vision became Saturday-afternoon reality. I’d broken my promise to him, failed as his coach and, more importantly, failed as his father. Although mostly uninterested in sports, Matthew, at our insistence, had played three youth soccer seasons while in elementary school without scoring a goal. He “retired from soccer” — his description — at age nine. Now he’d participated in two seasons of Upward basketball without one hoop. Clenching fists, I grew angry with myself for not doing more to help him succeed. One dern basket to reward all the kid’s effort, was that too much to ask for?

On the court, Talyn caught a pass and shot the ball right into the basket. The team high-fived him as he raced down the court, beaming with happiness. At least Talyn scored, I thought, taking some solace in that victory before looking at my son sitting on the bench. Trying to get my head beyond my failure with Matthew and back into the game, I strode past Markus, another of our players; he reached out a hand to stop me.

“Coach,” Markus said. “Can’t Matthew go back in and score? This is his last game. We all get to play again next year. He ought to get a chance to score.”
“I wish I could put him in,” I replied. “But the rules don’t allow it.”

Play continued and our squad took a one point lead on Logan’s slashing drive with ninety seconds left. Running up and down the court, #32 from the Suns still hadn’t hit a bucket, despite several pointblank shots this period. In a minute and a half, the game would be over and neither #32 nor Matthew would have scored all season. That awful fact turned my stomach: didn’t it run completely counter to the philosophy of every child a winner? But the game’s substitution and player rotation rules existed for good reasons too. I’d learned to play sports by the rules untold years ago and needed to set a positive example for our players by following them now. Or did I?

Watching the ball bounce out of bounds, I realized adults needed to demonstrate to children how to exercise judgment following rules. Striding onto the court, I stopped play, motioning to the other coach and referees. If I had anything to say about it, #32 would score today. Pulling our guys together, I asked them to avoid guarding #32 and to even rebound for him if he missed. They agreed.

Then, listening to the wisdom of a child, I followed Markus’ suggestion and broke Upward’s substitution rules. Asking Thomas, who played a fantastic game (knocking the ball away from a player twice his height several times), to take a seat, I sent Matthew back onto the court. No one, the Suns coaches, Upward coordinators nor the referees said a word in opposition. We all silently agreed to break the rules in favor of a more important principle: every child a winner. After all, how could any kid have fun and feel like a winner if he failed to score for an entire season, let alone two?

Inbounding, the other team passed to #32, he caught the ball, squared up to the basket and tossed in a shot; the parents cheered. Ticking game clock closing Matthew’s narrow window of opportunity, the team passed him the ball at the top of the circle. He dribbled down the open lane toward the hoop. This it it, I thought, he will score. But, unfortunately, an aggressive Suns player left his man to block Matthew’s shot, knocking the ball out of bounds. The referees called it our ball out. Echoing me, the Suns coach motioned his guy to back off and guard his own man.

With forty seconds left, we inbounded to Matthew. The orange ball left his fingers, kissed the backboard and swished through the net. Never in my long basketball career had one basket been more important, never. Throwing arms over his head, Matthew floated on a wave of pure joy down the court. The rest of the team, including the players on the bench, cheered. The Bobcats stopped the Suns from scoring on their final possession, garnering a one-point second-half victory via Matthew’s first basket.

During the post-game stars presentation, the coaches awarded Talyn and Matthew gray stars for best offense. Sticking out smooth, eleven-year-old palms, they smiled proudly as players, coaches and parents clapped. On the drive home, I asked Matthew and Talyn what they enjoyed most about the season.

“When I scored the basket today,” Talyn said. “I felt sky high. I felt like I could do anything. That was the best moment of all.”

Matthew thought for a minute and commented in a soft voice, “Me too. After that last quarter I didn’t think I would ever score a basket, but I got in there and I did it.”

Saturday’s victory wasn’t about the scoreboard, it was about our players “doing it” by following the team’s rules: have fun, support and respect your teammates, and fun have. Our team’s unselfishness enabled both Talyn and Matthew to score and created the opportunity for Suns player #32 to get a bucket. The rules we’d opened the first practice with nine weeks ago taught our players about more than just basketball. And they’d been used by the team to teach me something important today. I had thought teaching the kids was my job, but, in reality, my real job was to learn from the wisdom of children.

When & How Do You Promote Selfishness?

By Joe Haefner

Extreme selfishness is not a quality you want with your players. Sometimes, selfishness can destroy a team full of great individuals. Most coaches experience these type of players and have developed good tactics to handle them and promote team unity.

But coaches also come across players that are too unselfish. Too unselfish to the point that it is hurting your team. Athletes usually become unselfish for many different reasons ranging from confidence to social acceptance.

So what do you do when the player is too unselfish?

Recently, while reading a PCA article about promoting selfishness for certain players, I saw this quote. The commenter named Eric talks about his Rugby experience and how he communicates to his basketball team when unselfishness becomes a problem:

“I had an epiphany one day when I played rugby. When I began playing, I always liked being in the action but didn’t necessarily want to be a “star”. Anytime I got near to scoring I’d pass the ball to a teammate. I surprised one with a pass one time when I was practically at the goal line, and we botched the play. Finally I realized that my unselfishness, if that’s what it was, was counterproductive. Doing your job includes scoring when you have an opportunity. I found out that if I got more aggressive with looking to score, it would focus more attention on me from the other team’s defense, and I could then create more opportunities for my teammates. Since then I’ve realized that when I scored, the points went to the team, not me. I’d tell your player that when she scores, she’s giving her team the points, and probably setting her teammates up for a lot more opportunities later. I’ve used this for some of my shyer basketball players, who don’t always like to shoot. The emphasis for these selfless players should be that they can take pressure off of their teammates by trying to score.”

What are your ideas to promote selfishness when you need to?

School and You

By Joe Haefner

Here is another guest blog by our coaching friend Bud Leonard.

You will often hear stories of “student athletes” on the radio or TV.

There are many stories written about “student athletes” in the newspaper and in magazines such as Sports Illustrated.

You may even hear stories about “student athletes” in everyday conversation.

There is one common thread among these stories: they are all about students who are athletes. The “student” part is the most important, and deservedly so.

You are here at your school to receive a complete and valuable education. Everything else is second to that goal! Basketball is considered as an extracurricular activity; that means outside of the classroom.

Is basketball important? We, the coaching staff, feel that it is. But, we also know that it is secondary to your primary purpose here: to get an education.

Playing basketball, or any other sport, while in school is a privilege, not a right! You probably know by now that a privilege is earned through hard work, and can be removed if the hard work is not continued. Basketball is one of the important privileges.

We expect all of our players to be diligent in their studies and to be leaders in the school. You may not realize this, but you will be known, and probably respected, by your classmates as part of their basketball team. This is not a joke, nor is it something to be taken lightly. Your behavior and deportment, both on and off the basketball court, will be judged by everyone: coaches, staff, students, parents, and friends.

Part of being a successful and respected basketball team comes from your behavior and performance in everyday situations off the basketball court and in the classrooms and hallways of the school.

The coaching staff will expect you to act in a manner that will not detract from the team, but one that will identify you as one of the student leaders in the school. This expectation starts from the time you decide to try to gain the privilege of being a member of the Basketball Team and continues throughout your career here at school!

It is now time for you to make the decision to mold yourself into what will be expected of you by the coaching staff in order to earn yourself a position on the Basketball Team.

It all starts now!

- Coach Bud Leonard

The Gold Standard by Mike Krzyzewski (Coach K)

By Ken Sartini

Here are some key points from the Gold Standard by Mike Krzyzewski of Duke.

* Remember that everyone on a team must adapt, including the leader, so that your team benefits from the best of each member. Your team will not be the best that it can be if everyone adapts to a single individual.. …remember that the sacrifice is worth the reward because teams can accomplish things that no one individual could ever accomplish alone.

* The way you practice will determine the way that you play….I do believe that strong relationships are the foundation for great teams and that team bonding is essential… Players improve individually when internal competition is created during practice.

* The practice plan is a living thing; it is fluid and ever-changing. But writing out the plan beforehand is a step I always take. I can’t ask my players to be prepared to improve and to pursue our goal if I am not prepared.

* I love practice. It is when a coach exercises the most control over the improvement of his or her team.

* I constantly told our team…”We are not going to let them run plays. We want to force them to make plays.” If we could disrupt their system, we could reduce them to a group of individuals on the court as opposed to a team.

* On our team, there were two things that we talked about every single day; the gold medal and defense, our goal and our competitive edge.

* I do believe that strong relationships are the foundation for great teams and that team bonding is essential.

* Just as a team gets better as a whole in the face of competition, players improve individually when internal competition is created during practice.

* My goal was to seek out at least three guys at each practice and try to have personal interaction with them…..a leader wants all members of a team to feel included and invested all the time.

* I also try to think about which players I may want to single out for personal interaction, whether it be on the bus, while the players are getting taped and lacing up their shoes, during practice itself, or while they are working on individual shooting at the end.

* I can’t ask my players to be prepared to improve and to pursue our goal if I am not prepared.

* I love practice. It is when a coach exercises the most control over the improvement of his or her team.

* Part of what makes practices successful is attention to detail and respect for the opponent.

* I always tried to explain to the players their roles on the team, roles that were always evolving…. when you give time to a person and explain their ever-evolving role, it makes them feel good. It is a reminder to them that their role is important enough to warrant explanation.

Being A Good Teammate Like NCAA Champion Marvin Williams

By Joe Haefner

I’m currently reading Hard Work by Roy Williams which is a very good read by the way.

When Roy Williams of North Carolina recruits players, he looks for talent and character. They can have talent, but no character and vice-versa.

When Roy Williams was recruiting Marvin Williams, he recognized how talented he was. So next, he wanted to see what his character was like.

During a high school game that Roy Williams attended, Marvin fouled out. Instead of throwing a fit, sulking, or being angry, he got all of his teammates water during the next timeout. Roy said that is when he was sold on Marvin Williams. The following year Marvin helped North Carolina and Roy Williams win the NCAA championship.

Now, Marvin plays in the NBA for the Atlanta Hawks.

That’s what great leaders and teammates do. They do the little things that help their teammates even if they’re on the bench.

Respect

By Joe Haefner

This was passed on to us by a coaching friend, Bud Leonard.

Respect.

This is a topic I have spoken on at many camps and to quite a few young basketball players across the province. I feel that it is the basis of a good understanding and attitude toward the game of basketball. Respect is the foundation and building block to many things that are, or should be, important to you as a player and a person.

To start with, you must have self respect. Not the phony chest beating macho kind you see on the streets and on TV, but the kind that can serve you well in all that you do. Self respect doesn’t include being aggressive, a show off, or the center of attention; that is known as bravado and often denotes a “thug” or “smart alec”. Self respect is the inner assurance that you know how to do the right thing and are prepared to do so. It is that something inside you that lets you know that what you are doing or how you are playing is the ‘right way” and will end in satisfaction for you.

You must always respect your team mates. They are very important to you; they are part of your team, now and forever. In future years they will become a large part of the bank of memories you have about your basketball experience. At present you may feel that you are a better player than they are. That may be true at present, but it is up to you to help them become better! You can’t accomplish this by making fun of them and their efforts to play the game that only beats them down. What you can do is respect their efforts and show them that you care about them and need them as a team mate. Remember that nobody misses a shot, drops a pass, or runs the wrong play on purpose; and you must respect the effort they make.

Respect for your opponent is also necessary. They are players just like you, playing a game they love, just for the fun of it .If they seem to be the type of player who is a “show boater”, show them the right way to play through your style as a player. There is no need to “chirp” at them all game long, just play your game and they will learn. Your sense of self respect just may change theirs!

A great aspect of respect shown by the best players is that shown to the game officials.These men, or ladies, are mostly former players who are “giving back” to the game. They have one of the toughest jobs on the court. Yes, they will make a mistake on occasion; this is not done on purpose, just as you don’t miss a shot or fail to rebound on purpose. The more respect you show to the officials, the more respect they will have for you as a player and as a person.

Respect for the coaches is mandatory. Your coaches are there giving up their time to help you to become a better player. They were all once players and understand how difficult the game can be , how time consuming practices can be when homework needs to be done , and how much you want to win. Mostly they are there to help you succeed!

If you can master the art of respect, and show it in your play and attitude at practice and during games, your game, and your enjoyment of the game, will increase to levels you never expected.

Coach Bud Leonard.

New Article: Do You Yell At Referees?

By Joe Haefner

Check out the new article called Do You Yell At Referees?

The Philosophy That Will Guide Us..

By Joe Haefner

Here is a guest blog post by our coaching friend Bud Leonard.

Being a varsity athlete is a privilege … not a right! People compete for the opportunity to wear your school’s uniform .The level of commitment to training that is expected is high. While you are an athlete, you will be expected to place your participation in third place on your overall list of priorities…

Your Priority List as an athlete!

1. Faith and Family
2. Education - the successful completion of your Secondary School education.
3. An athlete on our school’s teams.
4. Everything else - part time job, social events, friends, acquaintances, etc.

You will only have one window of opportunity in your life to be an athlete on your school’s teams. Make the most of it! You will be expected to train twelve months of the year to maintain and improve. Your goal at the end of each season should be to come back in September a fitter, stronger, more skillful, and more intelligent player than you were the previous year! You must aim for consistently high effort on a daily basis and for constant improvement. If you are not working to get ahead… you are going backwards!

You will get as much playing time as you earn and deserve. Playing time will not be promised in this program! Playing time is based strictly on merit! How much playing time you merit will be determined by multiple factors.

1. How hard do you work?
2. Do you practice hard on a daily basis?
3. How athletic, skilled and intelligent are you as a player?
4. Are you a leader, and do you make your teammates better players?
5. Are you a team player? Is the most important statistic in your game the final score?
6. How have you performed in recent games? Do you play hard and smart within the team?
7. Are you coachable? Can you accept that coaching involves criticism?
8. Are you better able to contribute to the team objective … winning games … than teammates who currently get more playing time than you?
9. Are you able to honestly answer question 8?

The bottom line is that you control your attitude and your effort… and little else! Sometimes you must accept that others are currently more ready and able to contribute toward the team’s effort to win the game than you are. If you can accept this and remain positive… while continuing to work hard to improve yourself… then you can always be a valuable team member. If you cannot accept this … and become negative toward teammates, coaches, and staff… then you will become a “cancer”. While there are cures for “cancer”… and sometimes these take time… in the end, if the “cancer” cannot be cured, the only solution will be surgery! The “cancer” will have to be separated from the team.