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PostPosted: 04 Feb 2013, 08:49 

Posts: 176
Looking for advice regarding players that just don't get the game. Their head isn't in it at all. They end up messing it up for the others. I am not talking about lack of skills. I am talking about simple intellegence to recall where they should line up.

Here is an example. For 2 months (about 8 practices) we have worked on a simple out of bouds play where the players should setup in a box -- you know 2 on the block and 2 at the elbow. Yet, durring a game some still can't even line up right. All I am concerned with is getting them to line up right, not even execute the play, so at least they are out of the way.

They are 8th graders for cryin out loud. They will be driving in a couple of years. Lord help us all.

So any words of wisdom?


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PostPosted: 04 Feb 2013, 09:10 
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Coach -

And they will be getting married and have kids.... God have mercy on us!! :-)

I had a couple of Varsity kids that would do that from time to time... I think they just go brain dead for a few seconds.
It's not that they don't want to do it, they just lose FOCUS..... this is just my opinion.

REPETIONS is the only answer IMO... doing something over and over until they can to it in their sleep. Hang in there and just keep teaching/coaching. Sooner or later you will get through to them.

One of my pet peeves was screwing up something at an important point in the game.... so, I would run situations at the end of practice, where THEY had to do it, NOT me..... amazing how quickly someone will step up and be a leader... and say," we need to do this! " After they finished the situation I would tell them what I thought and if they did it wrong, I would tell them how I wanted it done. BUT, the big thing is, someone steps up as the leader.

I would suggest that you try and get some kids to lead... put them in positions in practice where a kid has to step up and be a leader. When I coached football I would tell my QBs that you have to know what every play does... just in case someone forgets.

Good luck.... hope this helps.


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PostPosted: 04 Feb 2013, 09:17 
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It goes without saying that every situation is different. Depends on the specific kid, etc. So without being there it's a little hard to give advice.

Maybe sit them? Are they just not capable of remembering? Or do they not give a crap? Or are they lazy?

I would consider letting them know that if they don't learn the plays, they don't get to play. Doesn't' seem like too much to ask. If you want to play and have fun, then you need to focus and learn this stuff. That's just how life works.

If they don't learn the plays, put them on the bench and leave them there for a while. Make certain thing "non-negotiables".

This year I'm coaching a freshman team and a sophomore team. I made them memorize our 10 core values. I told them there's a test before the first game. If you don't learn them and know what each value means, you do NOT play! All 22 players memorized the values and their meaning, went to the classroom, took the test, and passed before the first game. They knew I was not bluffing and this was non-negotiable.

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Jeff Haefner
http://www.BreakthroughBasketball.com


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PostPosted: 04 Feb 2013, 09:25 
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Jeff-

You are a tough bird aren't you.... but thats a great idea.... first of all you made them learn something, your core values, before they could play.

That sets the tone for the rest of the season.

Some kids don't get it, thats why they don't play, or don't play much.


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PostPosted: 04 Feb 2013, 22:44 

Posts: 176
I am going to try the "if you don't know what to do, you wont play" strategy. Last game we did sit one kid who "forgot" who he was subing in for.

Truthfuly, I think many are both lazy and don't really care. They are just there. I had them "vote" at an earlier practice -- 2 choices: 1) practice, learn the game and get better as players and a team
2) Open gym.
Suffice it to say it was not a unamimous "vote."


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PostPosted: 05 Feb 2013, 08:04 
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Some kids are just more dedicated than others.. plain and simple. You play the kids that really care and know what they are doing.

You can do that at the high schoo level..... at the youth level some leagues have rules, everybody must play... so you do the best you can.

Hard to believe that a kid would forget something like that Golfman...... I would take him to the side after a practice and ask him what is going on? We never know what is going on in their lives. I was helping this one coach and the kid that was the fastest/quickest and the most atheltic was in another world. After a practice he said something in passing to us.... something like, you should see my house, its a disaster area..... and he is up late at night playing video games.. his school work suffered too. (That is the Special ED. thing in me) Those are the kids that need a lot of guidance and in some cases, need basketball (or a sport) more than basketball needs them.

JMO


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