I am a 16 year old coach from Australia, and I have been coaching for a year and a half now. I coach 12 - 13 year old boys. I don\'t earn a wage out of coaching, I do it primarily to pass on my knowledge of the game to younger kids. We normally have 8 players, but we have recently been restricted to 7, due to our only big man being banned from basketball by his parents, due to his bad marks in school (He will be able to play again after Christmas). Other then him, we have a few guards, and a few forwards. Although they lack height, they are a fast team. I get them to use this to their advantage by running fast breaks straight away after a score, or after a turnover. I also get 3 of the kids on the court to press up and force a turnover. The uptempo game is really fun to watch, other coaches have commented me on it. Somehow, the opposition usually plays our style of game, which is to our advantage, because we are probably the fastest side in the competition. The boys average about 34 points a game (20 minute halves) and other teams average about 25 points a game against us. They are undefeated so far this season (3 wins), but they miss a lot more shots than they make. They are also strong on the offensive rebounds which gives us some second chance points. They love to drive it in, and often score about 7-10 points from foul shots. But I want them to be averaging around 40ppg and keeping up the same defensive intensity. We only have 1 training session a week, which lasts 1 hour. That is a big disadvantage to us. But I have recently been focusing on "Pick and Roll" and "Backdoor cuts
Question 1: Do you think I have made the right decision by getting my boys to run an uptempo style of game?
Question 2: Do you know of an offense that incorporates Pick and Rolls, and backdoor cuts in it?(So when we do not have the fast break opportunity, we can use this)
Question 3: Do you have any secrets to increase the amount of points the teams you coach score? I know it's all about repetition, but there must be secrets to it. I've taught my Center how to post up, but he hasn't do it in the games that he got to play. If he used his height, he would dominate the rebounds, and points.
Question 4: Do you know any ways I can get my Center to post up in the games when he comes back? (Eg. Motivational ways, etc.)
Question 5: Have you heard of the Grinnell System used by Dave Aresneault? If yes, would you recommend me teaching them the basics of that offense? If you haven't heard of it, don't worry about this question :)
Thank you very much for reading this. I'm sorry if it seemed like you were reading a life story, but I just want to find new ways that I can teach my boys things. If there are any questions you have for me, feel free to ask away.
Regards,
Coach Nic.

My advice to you is simple. Focus on teaching these kids fundamental skills. Teach them things that will work no matter what coach they play for, what offense they use, or what team they play for.

There is no secret. At the age, you should be less worried about winning. It's great they are having fun. That is important. But there are other ways to have than just winning.

Your goal should be to prepare these players for the future and prepare them for the next level. Your satisfaction could come in 4 years from now when you see them succeeding at a higher level. That means you need to sacrifice some wins now. Sure you still try to win, but you also try very hard to develop skills for the future.

Can your players execute in a half court setting? It sounds to me like they are scoring lots of points off of turnovers and that concerns me. Yes, that works now and you will win lots of games. But in a few years, those pressing habits won't work anymore and your players won't know what to do. In fact, their bad habits will be tough to break when they get older.

Focus on the fundamentals. Don't worry about schemes.

Yes, I am familiar with the Dave Arseneault system. I live in Iowa, not far from Grinnell college! I think there are very good fast break concepts in there. Dave is a genius and his games are amazing. However I would never teach it to a youth team. Is he marketing it for youth teams? I doubt it. That is one of the most complex college systems run today. If it's too complex for some college and high school coaches, I would not want to use it for a youth team.

Uptempo style is fine, just don't rely on pressing. Don't take advantage of other teams with players that aren't strong enough or skilled enough to pass out of the double team. That is NOT situational basketball and will not work as they get older. That just teaches bad habits.

I would not worry about the number of points you score. That is not important. Points Per Possession is a much more important statistic both for your offense and for your defense.

Again, stick with the teaching fundamentals:
http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/fundamentals/basketballfundamentals.html

A big reason we preach motion offense and simple stuff is because it allows you to spend more time on fundamentals. A motion can have pick and rolls or what ever you want in it. It's all based on the rules of your motion.
http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/offense/motion-offenses.html

I hope this helps.

Nic, Ask yourself these questions.

1- Am I making them better basketball players?
2- Am I making them better shooters"
3- Am I teaching them the fundamentals of the game ... offensively and defensively?
4- Am I gettting them ready to play at the next level?
5- Are they having fun?

While everyone wants to win, ask yourself this question, " Would I rather go 30-0 OR would I rather them be able to play Varsity basketball at the high school level? " (or whatever 16-18 year olds play in Australia)

Just some things for you to think about.

Ken

I want to add this from one of Jeffs other posts.

* Good youth coaches are not concerned about winning. Their goals are:
- Player development
- Make basketball fun so kids learn to enjoy the game, sports, and physical activity
- Teach players life lessons and set a good example. Give them a positive aspect in their life.

Hey guys,
Thanks for your feedback.
In response to sars300 questions;
1. I do believe I am making them better basketball players, but they do not practice during the weeks. I only have 1 training with them, which is an hour long. So it isn't very easy to help them improve a lot.

2. I spend half of training working on shooting and technique, but when it comes to game time, they shoot appaulingly, no matter how much I emhasise on footwork and form.

3. The first thing any coach has to do is teach their team the fundamentals of that game. So yeah I have taught them the fundamentals.

4. The boys have no intention of playing at the next level, which is mainly because of their parents influence.

5. I do believe these boys are having fun, they have developed a close friendship with one another. On the court, even when we are down, they have smiles on there faces.


Now it's my turn to ask questions again :P
1. How do I influence the boys to shoot around at home during the week?
2. I try to make my drills as fun and competitive as possible, but I stuggle making defensive drills fun. Any ideas?



This next question is for me personally, and my game.
I am a 6ft 3 player that weighs around about 200 pounds. I play as a centre in the team i am in now. I need to push myself harder, but how do i drill into my mind to chase every loose ball and every rebound?

You don't have a lot of time for practice so its going to be difficult to teach them a lot of fundamentals. I understand that. It sounds like you are trying to do the best you can with the amount of time you have with them.

IF they are having fun you are doing a lot of things right.

As for making defensive drills fun... make them competitive, kids love to compete and then congratulate them all for doing a good job.

For the shooting part... make a chart that they can keep track of for shooting at home...... certain number of shots taken / made ... same thing for free throws. Here is something that they can do without a basket..... form shoot against a wall, that way they can check and make sure they are doing everything right. Give them a goal to shoot at, a certain number of shots. YOU have to convince them that to get better at shooting they will have to do some work on their own.

The last thing comes from your heart... you have to convince yourself that EVERY ball that is on the floor is yours. Make a goal for yourself... a certain number of loose balls to get every game. Dive and get the ball! Do the same thing with rebounds... make a goal for offensive and defensive rebounds... work towards that goal.. you can start low at first if you'd like.. and as you reach the goals... make them higher.

Good luck,

Ken