Let me give a little insight about myself. First year coach with a team that has been very badly over the last 10 years or so. Our program has averaged a 2-10 record the last ten years. This year, my first year, we are 0-6. I coach three teams, A B and C. The ages range from 5th-8th grade boys and girls (not many girls though, which is a shame.)
Tonight we were beat in our A game 70-26. I am baffled as to how to help our team become better. Should we concentrate on fundamental and let the rest work itself out. My kids are getting frustrated. Our team goals are as follows...
1. Man to Man Defense
2. Rebounding
3. Smart shots

I am looking for any help or advice that could be provided, thanks!

Dave

Coach,

You need to start from the ground up... FUNDAMENTALS .. you answered your own question. I wouldn't worry about the Ws & Ls right now... you have to teach those kids how to play the game... you have some good goals...

Right now I would look for small improvements.. give them some short range goals that they can achieve. X number of rebounds, turnovers, loose balls etc. Make sure they have fun also.

Good luck,

Ken

Dave,

Can you give a little more information. Is this a school program? You have 3 teams -- A, B and C. Ages are 5th to 8th grade. How many kids total? How many per team? Do you practice them all together? I think there is a BIG difference between a 5th grader's skills and an 8th grader's skills.

How long are your games? 70 pts. seems like a ton. That's like a basket a minute. I would concentrate on defensive skills.

Dave,

You might not have players that are good enough to win. You can certainly make long strides by developing players, but there is only so much a coach can do.

With those high scores, I suspect that your team is turning the ball over quite a bit? Those turnovers lead to lay ups?

That tells me the players just don't have the skill to take care of the ball. Basketball is a simple game. If you're losing by that much, it's because your teams is shooting a really low percentage and/or the other team is getting a lot more shots than you. So what's the biggest problem?

- Why are they getting more shots than you? Are you turning the ball over? Are they getting more rebounds?

- Why is their shooting percentage higher than you? Do you have poor shooting? Giving up too many lay ups? Is your defense giving them too many easy shots? Are you fouling too much?

I only mention this because there might be some small tweaks you can make to keep the score closer without sacrificing player development. Like Ken mentioned, you should set goals that don't have to do with winning. Celebrate small successes. Celebrate improvement. Chart players shooting percentage in practice and games. Show how they are improving. Set rebounding or turnover goals like coach mentioned.

Here's a similar thread:
viewtopic.php?f=50&t=171&p=503&hilit=celebrate#p503

Thanks for all the responses,

Some info on the team-
A team is made up of 7th and 8th graders
B team is made up of 6th and 7th graders
C team is made up of 5th and 6th graders

Thinking about some of the comments that you guys have left has made me realize that we are getting killed on rebounds. I think this is something that we can fix. Honestly the previous coaches eschewed fundamentals so much that it has really set our program back. I have 8th graders who have played 4 years who can't shoot layups. I think I need to remind myself that this is a rebuilding process and focusing on fundamentals will help us in the long run.

i question regrading sets: I am pretty much a motion offense person. However we don't have much if any height. We do have some bulk though. I am thinking about working on a 3-2 motion offense. Any thoughts on rules or any places you can point me for help with developing this?

Dave

You have a lot of disjointed stuff in here. What are you asking?