To anyone with lots of experience coaching Middle School, I have contributed to this forum for a number of years as a Professional Coach, now I need some help. For the past two years, I have coached this middle school team in China. Last year, I got one day to practice with my team prior the Middle School tournament. We went 0 and 6 and were eliminated early....The year before, I had several weeks prior to the tourney and were 6 and 1 and lost in the championship game. this year, I have a no talent, non athletic totally inexperienced group of kids and I am having a very tough time teaching anything...I began with passing and ball handling, dribbling, then progressed to shooting. I have been at it since september the tourny is in four weeks, and we are going to get killed..What Im doing is trying to teach defence as the only way we can stay in games...Our offense is brutal as no one can shoot...not even a layup.I need an idea on what to do for the next four weeks in order to keep these kids in games. HELP....Coach Mac...Lost in China....

Sorry Coach Mac but you're screwed!

Based on what you describe, playing defense and rebounding more aggressively than anyone else is your only hope. Based on their shooting skills it sounds like there will be lots of rebounds to be had!!!

Try to play really good defense.... don't let the other team get the ball near the basket and take contested outside shots only. If you're team is not athletic then more of a packline or sagging defense... especially one pass away might be the way to go.

If you can play really good defense, rebound really well, and avoid turning the ball over giving the opponent easy break away lay ups.... you might have a chance to keep them in the game.

With all that said, keep working on their ballhandling, pivoting, finishing, and shooting skills. You probably won't win any games but seems like the right thing for the kids... you never know there might be a diamond in the rough.

Oh, get really get at inbounds situations too. Make sure they know how to defend so you don't give up easy baskets in BLOBs.

I have found that with youth teams if you play really good defense, rebounding really well, get really good at inbounds situations, and hopefully take care of the basketball... you can generally have a lot of success when it comes to wins/losses.

Not sure if this helps. Sounds like the only real solution is to get better players or more time to develop the ones you have.

Sheesh. Why don't you ask something easier like how to walk on water? ; )

I like Jeff's idea about emphasizing defense, it's definitely a good strategy in your situation. It sounds like the other teams in the tourney are more experienced and athletic than your kids. If there were other teams playing at your same skill level, I'd suggest not worrying about winning, keep working on the fundamentals and celebrate the small successes you're seeing. Keep it fun, etc. Unless I'm reading this incorrectly, your team is going to be one of the weakest and you're trying to figure out a way to not get blown out of every game. Correct?

Some suggestions:

1) Use your practices to deal with what it's going to look like in a game, so basically you're scrimmaging a lot and maybe throwing in things like no dribbles allowed for a series. I'd break it down into 2 v 2 and 3 v 3 if you can. More ball touches, more chances to dribble, shoot, rebound, defense, etc.

2) If you have the time and resources, offer up a few additional practices just for skills. You could make one practice just about shooting, from layups to shots around the basket. Basically, they're taking a ton of shots during that practice.

3) Offer out some incentives during the practice scrimmages for whatever you want to emphasize. Most rebounds gets a candy bar. Most points gets ________. Candy talks man.

4) Come up with real simple rules on defense and offense. When X happens, you do Y. Emphasize sprinting back on defense every time. Have a simple inbounds play.

5) Lastly, I'd emphasize hustle. They may not be the most athletic, but they can hustle for loose balls and rebounds. Hustle can end up disrupting some very athletic teams.

In the end, you'll probably have to lower your expectations a bit and roll with this one. Maybe you have some of those incentives mentioned in #3 also for tourney time.

Honestly, I could just tell you how to walk on water, it would be a lot easier than all that stuff.

Coaches Rob and Jeff: breaking down to 2 on 2 and 3 on 3 is a great idea, in fact i had not thought of that, I was going 5 on 5 a throwback to my professional coaching days. I learned very early and very quickly, to not make the drills too complex. I have renewed respect for those coaches that teach at this level and especially with this type of talent. I find myself getting frustrated and angry at the kids sometimes, and its really not their fault. I spent the first 8 weeks working on the fundamentals. I have always been under the philosophy that if you cant pass and you cant catch, you simply cant play this game. When I coached professional basketball, I found that more mistakes are made in basketball passing and catching the ball, so I worked on that very hard.
Again, and as always, you come through, coaches Rob and Jeff, thank you if you have any more suggestions please do not hesitate to contact me...Yours in Basketball Coach Mac ps, Coach Rob, you talk about fun games...can you suggest any.

Coach Mac -

A few "fun" drills:

This one I usually used the last two drills.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnJptbULZgg

Knockout and Dribble Knockout
Jeff could explain dribble knockout better than I can, but it's the same rules as Knockout, you just add dribbling around an object before coming up to shoot.

I used these drills at a bit younger age than middle school, but if your kids are still processing passing and catching, it might help
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qt6Q2DRY8Po

How many fingers?
They all have a ball on the baseline, dribble towards you and have to shout out how many fingers you're holding up as you make your way down the court. You can add touching a body part with non dribbling hand if they can hang. They dribble and you shout out, "Head!" "Nose" etc... they have to keep dribbling and touch their head, nose, etc. with non dribbling hand.

Two person passing drills
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1B3M920t1Fg

Hey Coach Rob: Thank you for your reply, and thank you for the fun drills unfortunately, we are not allowed Utube in China...however, the other drills I know and do. I cant thank you enough..Coach Mac

By the way Coach Rob: I was hoping for your formula for "Walking on Water" hahahah..Mac

This might have a few drills available. Some guys named Joe and Jeff put it together.

https://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/pr/fun-youth-drills.html

The "Walking on Water" formula is quite expensive, but I can send you some basic information for only $99.99.

Coaches Joe Jeff and Rob: great suggestions great advice, yesterday I broke it down to 2 on 2 with no dribbles, one thing it showed was just how little these kids know about the game. After all the passing and dribbling drills we have done they still don't have the skill. I have taught camps for years and used all the teaching steps at my command but they are still awful. But it will be fun. Again gentlemen thanks for all your input. Coach Mac

This sounds exactly like what I've got this year. And this is my first time coaching. It's just a city rec league where parents volunteer to coach.