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PostPosted: 07 Apr 2014, 21:02 

Posts: 10
Hi all,

I want our boys to play a good packline defense but also be aggressive. I coach an inexperienced team with a mixture of grades and levels. We are playing in a 4th grade Spring league against some very experienced players. For example, yesterday we played a 4th grade team that had players who could dribble drive, make the step back move and shoot the 3. We have 2nd,3rd and 4th graders on our team.

My defensive vision is a pack line D. The first game we seem to be tentative on D but gave up 10 shots in the paint. The other team did not miss many shots out side of the paint. This last game we asked our players to get in the passing lanes some and gave up 29 shots in the paint. They played harder and were more aggressive.

I would like the kids to play in an open stance 1 pass away and in the gap. How can I strike the balance between letting them catch the ball on the perimeter and not letting the ball just go around the horn? I'd rather be beat from the outside than in the paint. When we told the kids to deny the entry pass, they were much more aggressive than when in protect our fort mode (pack line).

Is there a way we can bring out the aggression with the pack line D?

Thanks in advance.


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PostPosted: 08 Apr 2014, 07:59 
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I think its hard to have it both ways...... Put EXTREME pressure on the ball.... teach an aggressive close out... and great help line. You have to pick your own poison..... inside shots or outside.... if it were me, I would want them to beat me from the outside with pressure..... close out when the ball is in the AIR .... make them put the ball on the floor.

There is an old saying... " IF your Jimmie and Joes are better than my Xs amd Os, I am going to be in for a long night. "

Pick the philosophy that you want to teach your kids... your kids are young... teach good solide fundamentals, that leads to success, not necessarily wins....IF you teach good fundamtals, your kids will be able to play at the next level, which is what you should be looking for... that and them having FUN

!
Coach VWR wrote:
My defensive vision is a pack line D. The first game we seem to be tentative on D but gave up 10 shots in the paint. The other team did not miss many shots out side of the paint. This last game we asked our players to get in the passing lanes some and gave up 29 shots in the paint. They played harder and were more aggressive


I would work a lot on helpside D if I were you.


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PostPosted: 08 Apr 2014, 13:59 

Posts: 10
Thanks Coach Sar-

Because I played professional and college bball, I have trouble breaking things down to kids language. Stuff I take for granted and fail to break down the right way.

Anyway, I know that 4v4 shell is great and we don't do this enough. Even though it has been 3 weeks. But, would 4v3 be good as well? Basically, what are some drills you recommend?

BTW how do you instill that kids are still having fun when they are getting blown out in games? I feel like I'm letting the kids down and they won't trust in me as a coach because of the results.


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PostPosted: 08 Apr 2014, 15:22 

Posts: 214
I had a 4th grade girls travel team this season. Our primary defensive philosophy was to play a sagging man to man D. I hear the term "pack line" a lot and I'm not sure what that exactly means, but I get the feeling it's about the same as sagging. We didn't mind teams catching the ball on the perimeter. I felt our defense was good enough that we would eventually turn the other team's passing into a turnover. As the season progressed and the coaching staff started to get a better handle on each girl's strengths and weaknesses and the girls themselves started to understand some of their limits on the court, we gave some girls more freedom defensively to play hard denial all over the court.

In almost every tournament we played in, we were one of, if not THE top defensive team, in terms of points allowed. We played a TON of shell drill in practice with different scenarios: no dribbling and offense is stationary....no dribbling, but offense is passing and cutting........4 dribble max with passing and cutting........it really worked out our helpside and off the ball D in a progressive stage to where we rarely gave up uncontested shots. Those only came when we had a brain fart and just totally forgot to guard a girl LOL.

On the flip side, it really helped us offensively as well.

As far as winning and losing goes........this might sound a bit harsh..........but with kids that age, they usually forget abouts wins and losses pretty quickly. Run some fun competitive drills in practice and don't get caught up in the winning and losing. I've been around successful youth teams and some unsuccessful youth teams. If a kid at that age is going to bail because of the teams won-loss record, then I'm tempted to say he's not worth having on the team anyway. Keep the kids improving as the season goes on and they will enjoy it. If they walk, they walk. You can't force them to have fun........at it's core, this is a GAME........it's fun on it's own!

And try not to get too frustrated by a lack of success.


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PostPosted: 08 Apr 2014, 18:00 
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Coach VWR wrote:
Because I played professional and college bball, I have trouble breaking things down to kids language. Stuff I take for granted and fail to break down the right way.


I coached the game a long time.... 40+ years but never had the experiences you have had. To be that good you must have played for and learned a lot from some coaches..... think back to your high school coaches, see if you can remember what you did. Just remember KISS.

Coach VWR wrote:
Anyway, I know that 4v4 shell is great and we don't do this enough. Even though it has been 3 weeks. But, would 4v3 be good as well? Basically, what are some drills you recommend?


Lets talk Defense.... start from the point... direct the offensive player to the free throw line extended... that should make it somewhat easier to accomoplish. We rean m2m on/up the line and were getting beat to much for me... so thats what we did...... then from the wing, we directed them to the short corner area...... now you have them where you want them. We would dead front the post but you can 3/4.

This is where you SHELL DRILL comes in.... HELP SIDE D. You miight explain it to your kids that its like zoning off the back side.... thats what I taught when I worked with Jr high kids. Keeping the ball out of the middle is a must.... and the low post too.

You need to explain t o your kids what you are trying to get them to do -- and that its not all about winning... its about getting better. Remind them, this is a journey, not a destination. Your goal is to make them better so they can olay next year.

First of all - God Bless you for working with kids this age... it has to be frustratiing.

The last thing I would do at every practice would be something fun... you can let them pick it out... or you can run mini games / "situations." Kids love to do that... you can play 4 on 4 games.... play to 5 and everybody has to score before any ONE player can hit the game winner. Watch how quickly they work to get their buddies a good shot. With them leaving practice doing something fun, they WILL go home and talk about practice and how much FUN it was and how my coach is such a great guy. AND... trust me, they do go home and talk about you/us.


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PostPosted: 10 Apr 2014, 00:28 

Posts: 10
Thanks Coach Sar and Coachmt. Your comments are very helpful. This winter I bought the 60 Fun Competitive Drills ebook from this site and it has made a world of difference. As a player I loved situations (time and score is what my coach called it). I did not think that kids would love this. But, I can see how this will improve bball IQ and know how if this comes up in a game.

One thing that I had when I played college bball was a team goal sheet every game. So, win or lose we could focus on improving. I remember winning in blow outs and not getting key goals. Or losing and getting key goals.

I have this also for our team. Nothing that complicated. But enough that they can understand and see improvement. For example, i track shots given up in the paint and dives for loose balls. I also chart their shots in the paint, to show them how aggressive we are being offensively. With my last rec team, if we got all of our goals (a short list), they could have a ice cream party. One goal was for everyone to score and with my 3rd grade rec team, I remember one game we were one person away and they worked their hardest to get him to score.

I did not realize how important it is to end with something fun until this year. I also had a bad feeling when we had a bad scrimmage session and had to end. Now, we can have a not so hot end to a drill and then after that play Sharks and Minnows with a ball and practice ends on a high. I notice that I feel better as well.

Next practice I will do a better job at verbalizing defense and progressing slower in the shell drill.


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PostPosted: 10 Apr 2014, 05:56 
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Good luck - it seems like you are on the right track.


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