I've coached youth basketball for about 10 years but have a team I need help and suggestions with. Its a 5th/6th grade boys team with 8 on a team. We can only practice twice a week for about an hour. We don't have any real strong guards. Because of that I've tried going to a 2 guard offense but in 3 games we have been blown out by 20+-woudl be more except we have a mercy rule. Today might have been the most disappointing in that after the first two quarters the score was tied (progress I thought) and in the game and then we went back to bad passes, bad dribbling, turn overs and standing on defense and got blown out by 20. I have a pretty good center and forward and the forward is ok shooting outside-so no strong talent compared to teams who have a strong guard. Need work on shooting too-two of our shots missed the backboard from 20 feet. Since I don't want to use up all our time on shooting I reward them with prizes for every 100 shots they make in between practices but I dont' think is our biggest problem as 85% of all points in our league are in the key. So I've got a lot to work on with limited time. We make some good passes but at least half of them are to the other team <G>, that, and not getting open or getting good angles and poor ball control is what is hurting us the most. The other teams are getting half their points on fast breaks off of bad passes or where our boys get the ball stolen off of a weak dribble. We've struggled getting the ball in bounds under our basket and I've given them just one inbounds play in the theory that one done well is better than 3-4 but they break and shuffle rather than break again. We've got another 6-7 games and the boys are already starting to hang their heads-I've shifted my focus to winning a quarter-today we won two (and lost two badly) .

Suggestions on drills-I've been doing more 3 on 3, king of the court, and 4 on 4 must make ten passes before scoring,1 on 1 dribbling, red light green light, 3 man weave and then 2 on 1, and scrimmaging to get them used to pressure but i am open to suggestions? Offense: anything better than 2 guard offense-going currently with a 2-3. When we tried a 1-3-1 we never got the ball down to the cutter. Some of the boys just stand in a spot on offense and defense and yes I've run V cuts, back door drills during practice and moving without the basketball during practice. The big difference is the boys execute fine during practice but during the presssure of the game they get "court amensia" and it just becomes playground ball at best and at worst they freeze like a deer in the headlights-not all of the boys but half of them at anyone time. I think I may need to try and convert another boy to guard also-not sure how that will work but what we are doing is not working

I am open to any and all suggestions to get help these boys get better ? Offense? Suggestions? Drills? Suggestions?

Jburn -

I have talked to several coaches this year that seem to have the same problem... 2 of them are Varsity coaches. They tell me that they had GREAT practices and cant execute during games..... I keep wondering if it is "The Afraid to Lose Syndrome?"

You seem to be doing all the right things in practice with the limited time that you have... 2 hours of practice doesn't give you a lot of time to correct things. I can only tell you what I did when we had a problem or 2... my first year of coaching we got beat because of our lack of being able to break a press. I took the blame for that... told my kids, that won't happen again. The next day we worked on it for 20 minutes and from that day foward... EVERYDAY we spent 10 minutes on our press offense.

So, take a look at your biggest problems.... 1- being able to handle the ball PASSING and READING the DEFENSE(that should stop all the easy baskets the other team is getting) This would inlcude being tough with the ball, NO bad passes... my rule was, take the 5 second call, we can play defense when they take the ball out of bounds... we cant defend break a way dunks or layups.
2- Dribbling
3- Shooting (unless you think you are going to pitch a shut out, you need to score) :-)
4- Try an open post offense, 5 out pass and cut? Thats about as simple as you can get and at this age, you need to use the KISS method.

What kind of defense are you playing? M2M I hope... just play it sagging. I know that you don't have a lot of time to work on a lot of things... so do the best with what you have and the bottom line.... TELL THEM TO HAVE FUN!
Relax and enjoy the game... its just a game.

There is no majic wand to solve this... it takes time (which you don't have a lot of) IF you can get your kids to improve from practice to practice and game to game.. then you will be successful. Hopefully you will give them the tools to be able to play at the next level. Teach them to have a love for the game... as long as they walk away from practice feeling good about themselves, you are doing some good things.

I like the idea of breaking the game into quarters... build off of that... don't worry about the score so much... I would tell them that we won 2 quarters last game, lets try and win 3 this game. Maybe they lost focus in the 3rd? Build mini games into your philosophy... cut down on turnovers, things like that.

Sorry for the rambling - hope I gave you some ideas to work with. Good luck

2 other things -

You could play some 3 on 3 no dribble games ..... and we did something we called The Man Maker Drill

It's a 3 on 3 drilll with NO dribbling. The idea of the drill is for the offense to get the ball over half court without using a dribble.... starts with 3 O players on the baseline... 3 D players at the free throw line... the court is divided into 1/3s

No player can leave his third of the court, the O must advance the ball without a dribble, O players have to work hard to get open, pass cut, v cuts, cut and replace yourself. There is NO time limit.

This is a tough drill for kids of any age, but it will make them tougher with the ball.

Here are a couple of ideas:

Dribbling: work on dtribbling under pressure. We ran one drill were one player dribbled and the other put a hand on his shoulder and pushed, while the other hand slapped at the dribbler's arm.

Reverse the old 3 on 2 drill -- have more defense than offense. Make the offense really work. They need to learn from their turnovers. Same with the press break, have more defense out there. Make them understand that they have to move.

Basically, try to re-creat game like conditions. Keep practice up tempo and engergize.

Take solace in the fact that this is a common problem that coaches deal with more frequently than they’d like to admit. It’s just a matter of degrees, as Sar mentioned, varsity teams have that challenge (college and pros too). I’m dealing with it at the competitive 8th grade level.

Need to teach the players receiving the passes to be aggressive and come towards the ball. They can’t sit back and wait like a catcher in baseball.

Have a 4 on 4 drill for passing only – no dribbles allowed; they must make 10 good passes to stay on offense. Only way to win is on offense with 10 good passes. Defense plays tough; allow a little bumping and aggression on defense. Defense steals or deflects pass, they’re on offense.

Have a 10 min no dribbling scrimmage.

Whatever you do, make it harder in practice than it will be in a game. Like golf mentioned, 3 (defense) on 2 and even 4 (defense) on 2 situations. Allow a little banging around in practice to the point where it might be called a foul in a game.

Offense - I’d try a 5 out motion offense, pass to wing and cut. Fill open spot above you.

Defense – Agree with Sar, M2M sagging a bit. Teach your boys to talk on defense. Man covering ball yells, “I got ball!”, his help side is yelling, “I got your help!”. If someone cuts, “Watch cutter!”. Teach them to move on the pass as soon as it leaves the fingertips, they’re moving.

You mentioned you reward them during the week for 100 shots. Maybe reward them after a game for only X amount of turnovers?

Dealing with pressure comes with experience and it sounds like some of the players haven’t been up against this game-like pressure. Keep things in perspective and celebrate the positive things they’re doing. I also like breaking it down into qtrs., control what you can and don’t worry about the rest.

And remember, it all looks good on paper.

Coach Sar, Rob and Golfman-thank you, very good ideas.

Coach Sar: I am definitely going to use the Man Maker drill-very next practice .
Coach Sar: You might be right on the afraid to lose, parents are screaming, Im trying to coach from side, old gym has echo effect etc-any ideas to keep them lose during the game, one team I had I could just call time out and ask them if they are having a good time but don't think that might work with these boys-last game I tried yelling less instruction and lot more "atta boys"

Golfman I like the idea of one player dribbled and the other put a hand on his shoulder and pushed, while the other hand slapped at the dribbler's arm. I think the contact is throwing them off.

Coach Rob I’ve done the 4 on 4 ten passes, but haven’t tried and while we’ve done scrimmages I haven’t done it woht no dribbles so I will try your 10 minute no diribble scrimmage. hopefully will training them to get better angles and move without the basketball.

We’re playing man to man in at least first two periods, they don’t have the help and recover aspect down and will leave the key open for a layup –have tried zone -was no better as some can get suckered out of post leaving key open or they get literal and stand in their spot. So maybe I should stick with man to man so at least they have a sense of who they are guarding.

They shoot pretty well in practice and we do spend a little time on it and I’ve played competitive games where they get one partner and get 1 point for shot made or rebound but if ball hits ground then its one point for coaches and whoever has most at end runs lines. The pressure does make a difference-so far coaches haven’t run any lines this year. I will probably change this up a bit so they are shooting an Adrian Dantley bank shot so other team mate has to come in from weak side to rebound. That is another thing that those who have played for long time take for granted.

Question on the 5 out offenses-I’m familiar with it and with other teams have used sort of a simplified motion offense off of it or a pass and cut. I like that it spreads the defense especially on man to man. Question: If my #1 guards isnt’ that strong with ball ( 5th graders) isnt’ that going to throw a wrench into the works? Or can I adjust it but having the 1 dribble to side and have my stronger player whose a forward fill the spot that is typically a #1? Maybe pass back to him and start from there? Thoughts ?

Question on inbounds play, I’ve been using s simply stack or I and a variation on it with screeners-would a box be better? A box with screen up/or down or across?

Coach Rob: said “And remember, it all looks good on paper” My older daughter who is not headed to college and I coached when she was in 8th grade on an elite team said something I’ve always remembered. We had won 34 straight games, beating high school teams and I had them running some more complicated offenses and no dribble fast breaks (wasn’t the coaching just had a real talented group) and at one game where they didn’t execute right I called time out, asked the team in a calm voice why aren’t we executing this play right? There was silence and then my daughter who never was disrespectful spoke up and said,” well coach, you know it is always easier from the bench”-busted everybody up and I said ok- team you go out and just react to defense and they went on to win handily.

Thank you again!

Let me know how the Man Maker Drill works for you... are the parents being positive? Are they trying to coach or are they just cheering the kids on. If they are making it hard for you to coach... try to let them know in a nice was. I know how tough that is when the kids cant hear you... its so frustrating... just make sure the kids know that you aren't mad at them... that you are just trying to help them with some information.

We ran a lot of the Open Post Offense and when I had a weaker point guard than normal.... the #1 would bring the ball up to one side and BEFORE he crossed half court he would reverse it to our #4 and we would start our offense as he crossed half court..... we ran our offense with everyone above the free throw line... just so we would have more back door opportunities. The important thing here is that everyone needs to be able to handle the ball a little bit, read the defense and make good passes. There were times when we had a weak player on the floor. so our rule was to get it out of his hands ASAP. Hope this helps.

Great idea with the "atta boys" be their best coach/cheerleader/fan. Another thought.. add an extra defensive player when running your open post offense, this forces your players to work harder to get open, (man maker drill) read the defense and protect the ball. Remind them, a 5 second call is better than a turnover for a lay up. I know they wont be dunking at this age LOL

As for the inbounds play.... ask yourself IF you have enough time to add something else and will they be able to process it?? We ran a few, maybe 3 and the stack was one of them.... the kids can make their own moves by tapping the person on the side of which way you want him to go... 1 goes left 2 goes right etc. you can have the 3rd player screen down for a lob to your last player. Just a thought but that would give you 3 looks on one set.

Out of the mouths of babes huh! But she was wrong.. its always easier from the stands LOL What happened was that your daughter loosened the team up... and thats all it takes. One game we were down by 2 - 84' away and 7 seconds on the clock.... I wasn't happy that my center called a TO because now I have to come up with something for them... my assistane was laughing... so they come to the bench. I am diagramming something for them... something we do every day... and this kid in front of me chokes on a cup of water and spits in right in my face. All the kids are looking at me for a reaction.... I wiped my face and tie off... looked down at the posey board and looked at them and said.... " I didn't think the play was that bad. " They burst out laughing and were still laughing as they went on the floor... we ran the play, hit a 3 at the buzzer and win by 1. Great coaching huh! Its all about them being loose, you might try having someone spit some water on you / just kidding LOL

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Coach Sar

The spitting water in the face made me smile-things we go through!

On your 5 out offense /iw as looking at it here and on Coaches Clipboard here
http://www.coachesclipboard.net/mobile/OpenPostDoubleUp.html

and have question-on the Coaches Clipboard the 5 out Double Up vs Man-to-Man Defense looks set up higher than I've normally done it (which might be a good thing because my guard or ball handlers is getting picked under pressure up high-with weaker guards I went to 2 guard offense to give outlet pass)
thoughts on this?

Our teams must play man to man in first half so i know what the defense will be-typically they sag with one aggressive guard going after ball handler. Would you suggest starting with this set? My forward,center are my best players.

Or would you suggest a set more like the http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/offense/cutters.html
five out motion offense?
Sorry for all the questions, i can't believe how I am obsessed and constantly thinking about this-the funny part is I have another team (girls) that is doing fine and can run most any offense and that team I don't agonize over. The boys team definitely needs KISS, Thank you.

The kids were still laughing when they wen on the floor... the refs even asked them what I said that made them laugh so much..... they could hardly talk.... they said that they would tell them after the game. :-)

I think you have to look at both of these and ask yourself.... which one fits my kids better?? Listening to what you are saying here... I would put one of my better ball handlers at the top, regardless of which offense you run. If you watched the video at the bottom of the page, you will see that my center ran the show at times... other times it was my point guard... ( in your case it could be on of your two good ball handlers / or switch them from time to time. CENTER / FORWARD

I would even reverse the ball a few times just to wear that kid on top down... after chasing several passes he wont have as much energy.

Not a problem... you can ask as many questions as you like... trust me, there were times on the Varsity level that I agonized and came up with a lot of goofy game plans just to keep my kids in the game. Your kids are out there to learn, become fundamentally sound and have FUN.

Watch the video at the end of the page on coaches clipboard and you will see how we ran it. Of course shooting 9 for 10 from the arc didn't hurt either. What a great coach I was that day LOL

Coach Sar
I've been running the man maker 3 on 3 drill at every practice (thank you!) while my initial focus was to help improve offense and better movement it has highlighted another area that needs work with some of the boys on defense. A couple of them lunge for the ball trying for a steal and of course seldom get the steal leaving the player on offense wide open.

I've seen it in our games too with our defender lunging and ending up on the wrong side leaving a wide open lay up. I've stopped the drill when they do it and remind them to stay between their player and the basket, move side to side not to lunge and the goal is to contain and not to try and steal the ball. We've gone over shell drills and help and recover, 2 on 2 etc. About 3 of the boys continue to do this lunging as soon as we scrimmage or play games. Any ideas to break them of it?