We have 9 girls on our team (5th grade travel). There are 5 that I think are a step or more ahead of the others, they've learned to play off each other and these are the 5 that are typically on the floor to close tight games. They "get it". There are 2 others that are very close to this level, just not there yet. The other two are still pretty decent players, but one is a first year basketball player and the other just lacks footspeed and athleticism right now to be trusted defensively in a tight game. But we're working on it!

We just won a tournament championship this weekend, but there were moments when I struggled with the thought of pulling one of those top 5 and going with somebody else. A couple of the top 5 just made some crazy bone-headed decisions and seemed to be in a funk every now and then. We sub and play everybody anyway, but it was a matter of "Do I sit her and roll with somebody else to win this game?" or "Do I put her back in to finish this because I know her skill set has the ability to make a shot or she sees passes nobody else can see" or something along those lines. I hope I'm making sense.

Do you fellow coaches keep the faith in those moments because of what you know that player is capable of as opposed to sitting them and letting a player with a somewhat lower skill set and not the same capabilities finish a game?

General examples: player A is our best pure shooter, very good driver, best free throw shooter, second best passer. good defender, blocks shots, rebounds, steals, anticipates.

Player B: literally sees passes that no other player on our team can see, let alone actually complete. Fights, scraps, dives, bleeds to win a loose ball, can defend any type of player.

But both seemed "out of it" during stretches in our semifinal and championship games. Would you have sat them due to bad play and used somebody else? Or do you trust them to make a play when it's down to the wire?

We did sit both of them at different times, talked to them about relaxing, calming down, getting their minds right, etc. But we eventually put them back in to finish it.

With our 4th grade girls team, I do not play the equally. For example, if they are not trying hard, I pull them out and sit them down. I never pull them for mistakes. Only pull them for lack of effort.

Now I do adjust playing time based on the competition. We have 10 players, which is almost too many. Here's what I wrote to the parents:

"With our first tournament coming up, I wanted to give everyone an idea of what to expect... so there are no surprises....

Playing time will not NOT be equal. Playing time will vary from game to game and from tournament to tournament.

There will be some games where your daughter does not play very much. This will be true for all players.... regardless of skill level. There will be some games where your daughter plays a LOT (more than other players).

I will do my best to communicate with the players so feelings are not hurt and confidence is not affected. For example, I might tell your daughter she is not playing in the first half. But she will play in the second half and someone else will be out the second half.

The reason playing time varies quite a bit is because we are trying to develop every player on the team as much as we can. One of our primary goals is to maximize the development of every player on the team. We want them ALL to improve!

If I give everyone "equal" playing time in each game, that will hinder the development of the best players, the average players, and the below average players. Here's why...

For improvement to occur, I believe every players needs be challenged (they need to fail a little bit) --- but not too much. We don't want games to be too easy for them. But we also don't want them to be too difficult.

So I adjust playing time to match players up against appropriate competition. I want players to be challenged... but not challenged too much so they lose confidence and enthusiasm about playing. "

So for tournaments, they might go like this. The first game we play a less experienced team and my two best players hardly get any minutes. The below average players play a ton. The last game of the tournament might be against a really good team, our top 5 get the most minutes. The bottom 5 get reduced minutes.

Basically I'm trying to keep every player challenged, but not challenged so much that they can't experience any success.

They say that you should keep players in their "sweet spot" when practicing and playing... so they succeed about 60-80% of the time. Anything above that and they are getting bored and not challenged. Anything below that and they can lose confidence, etc.

Lastly, I do sub to teach. If there is a teaching moment, I'll pull a player, try to teach them, and send them back in.

I should point out that playing time during the course of the season ends up being just about equal. Everyone gets plenty of playing time. It just varies quite a bit from game to game and tournament to tournament. But over the long haul it evens out.