Our game wasn't going so swift the other night. One of those starts where your kids forget how to pass, catch, shoot, dribble, run, breathe, etc. Seriously, it was a sloppy mess for both teams during the first 8 minutes.

Decided it was time for mandatory passing, so we called time out and told the kids, "three passes before you shoot." They go back out, sometimes 3, sometimes 1, sometimes 2 passes. Another time out. Ok, now five passes before you shoot, but look for the person cutting to the basket or open player. They go back out, 1,2,3,4 shoot. 1,2,3,4,5 shoot. Kids are funny.

Half-time. I tell them mandatory five passes before you even think about shooting and you better find the open person before shooting. Got the..."What if we have a wide open shot?" "Fast break lay-ups?" Five passes minimum. Anyone who shoots before the five pass minimum gets pulled.

You should've heard the parents screaming at the top of their lungs on the other side of the gym. "SHOOT! SHOOT!" "What are you doing?!?" Pulled a few kids for not complying with our new rule. Had several times where kids were wide open with a clean shot on pass number 2 or 3.

Didn't take long for the other coach to catch on and she had her kids going for steals. Called time out, told the kids the other team is aware we have to pass it five time so you'll need to make smart passes.

In the end, it actually looked like basketball. Kids were cutting, moving, getting open and making sharp passes. We won by a handleful of baskets, but the cool part is how much it looked like basketball out there.

Explained to the parents after the game what we were up to and will go over why we did it in practice tonight with the kids. No better way to emphasize a concept than in a live game.

That was a good way to get things under control.... we did that in practice all the time... only we said ball reversals or they would just stand there and pass it back and forth to each other... smart guys LOL.

If you watched the Duke game a couple of days ago, they broke the press without dribbling most of the time. I never did that vs full court in a game, but in practice we did some half court scrimmaging without the dribble, really makes the kids work to get open. Just like when we would add 1 0r 2 extra defenders....

I'm glad you stuck to your guns when the parents were ragging you... they need to cheer on their team and let YOU do the coaching. It must have been sweet watching your players run the offense correctly. Keep up the good work.

Passing is the most under-practiced and under-coached skill.
Good job Coach Rob, teaches discipline, teamwork and unselfishness.

Coach A

Coach Rob: Ive said this time and time again, "If you cant pass and you cant catch, you cant play this game". More mistakes and turnovers are made with this very basic fundamental. I elude to last years NBA playoffs. Two inbound passes stolen costing games or forcing the in-bounder to take a time out and these guys make millions. Coach Rob, you need not have to explain your strategy to your parents we all here know exactly why you did it. The main thing here is you made the point to your kids and that's the most important thing..Well done coach ...