To all the coaches on this site.
I have been coaching a group of kids (5th graders now) . We just finished up our 3rd season,This year I nicknamed them "The Fun Bunch" I'm not sure who has more fun me or them. I learned most of how I coach from you guys. We have been playing only man to man defense and run a very simple open post 5-out offense.We are one of the only teams in two leagues that play man D. As you know it can be frustrating in the early years.This season has been the most exciting. The way they talk on defense,defend screens , the footwork. and the way they move the ball , I can't wait til next year. We use Jim Hubers man defense system and Dons Motion offense.Funny thing is we tried a lot of different things this year. Hi low, some plays.a couple others and all it did was confuse them. Finally I took all the structure out of the offense and just "let them play" as coach Sar says. Focused on spacing, ball reversal and teamwork. I have to say the way they played the last 5 or 6 games was amazing. The highlight was us beating a 6th grade team that played zone defense ! Most of our practices are skills work and it is really starting to show in the games. It should be fun to see how far I(we) can take this group. Thanks for the replies over the years, this is going to be fun !

Great work, Coach! Keep us updated on your progress and what you learn.

Sounds like you have a "fun bunch" so the name seems to fit. We throw the word "fun" out a lot on this forum and sometimes I think it can be misconstrued when dealing with older kids. I've talked with 5th-8th coaches that associate the word "fun" with something the kids did when they played at the younger levels. They had snacks after the games, no one really cared what the score was, everyone seemed to cheer no matter what happened, and overall, the kids had "fun". Now that the kids are older (11-14) it's time to get down to business. You can have some fun, but let's not get too carried away.

What's not fun at the older ages is coaches that don't have a clear coaching philosophy. It's not fun when coaches have umpteen offensive sets with complicated names. It's not fun when a coach consistently changes his/her defense because they discovered the new improved defense, guaranteed to shut teams down.

What is fun as a player is when your coach has simple understandable goals and communicates them clearly. You know what's expected and the coach is consistent. Coaches that pick an offense and defense while teaching their players the fundamentals in those sets. The coolest thing is when you teach players a fundamental skill, practice it over and over, and watch the light come on when they see it work in a game.

I believe there's no substitute for bringing some humor to the most intense situations out on the court. That's one of many things I loved about Coach Sar, he got it when it came to not taking all of this stuff too seriously. Even at the high school level. Good fundamentals with a good sense of humor go a long way to keeping this game "fun".

I try to keep a balance between making them sweat at practice and having them look forward to practice, They have come a long way. The way they play defense is really what I like most,they hit a new level in our last 4 games it was fun to watch. Each year I get a bit tougher on them but they understand if they want success on game day they have to earn it at practice.I am lucky to have a tremendous group of kids and parents who support what I am trying to do. Its a tribute to all of you guys on this site which taught me what to teach them. I actually have a few registered for one of your camps in Conn. All good stuff !

Just remembered one funny thing. We are in a tight game with about two minutes left.One of my players dribbles into the corner and gets trapped. I call a time out and draw two BIG red Xs in the trap areas on my board,I hold it up in the huddle and ask them "any questions" they all laugh , settle down and we go on to win.Those are the moments I enjoy the most .

Great story.

During our 8th grade season in the summer, we ended up with 8 players due to some injuries. It was cool at first because everyone played a ton. It wasn't cool when 3 kids were out for one reason or another which happened more than once.

Had a game against a really good team and we only had 5 players. The game went back and forth at a pretty good pace with a tight score. At one point. I could tell the kids were getting a bit discouraged and uptight about not having any subs so I called time out. When the refs whistled for us to go back on the court, I started to name off the players I wanted back in until one of them realized they ALL had to go back on the court. Got a few smiles and I think it helped them loosen up a bit.

During the 4th quarter, if one of them was slacking on D I'd yell out, "Kyle! Don't make me pull you out, cause you know I will!". He'd smile and get back to playing D knowing I couldn't pull him out. We ended up winning which was quite a shock to the other team. Definitely a fun game in spite of the circumstances.

a year and another season has gone by since I last posted.The fun bunch has come a long way.Recently you guys have had some discussions on the benefits of man to man defense.This team is now 6th graders.I have had them since 3rd and this is what I have learned.Man to man defense is hard to develop,it takes years,a whole youth career.Most coaches don't understand how to teach it.I was very lucky I found this site and had the desire to learn how to coach,(when I started 8 years ago I knew nothing about coaching basketball,I was just a father who volunteered to coach a rec team. We were the only team in our division of 8 this year that plays man 100% of the games,win, lose or draw.The couple others will play man but if they are losing will switch to a zone (huge mistake I think).The early years are hard,you lose a lot of games not because your team doesn't play good but because man D is hard. Its easy for teams to run their offense.Pick and roll is hard or impossible for 9yr olds to defend.But the development in their legs guarding the ball and the way they are forced to talk on defense,chase players all over the court starts to sink in.It started to happen for us the last game of 5th grade.6th grade was really something,Guarding the ball one on one and defending screens is 2nd nature to them now.Our helpside defense is so good its hard to describe.We did
win a lot more game then we lost,played in 2 Championship games (won one lost one).Coach Rob told me to" stay the course that it will help them in ways you can't understand" That is probably the best advice I got. Besides wins and losses I don't see the benefit of kids playing zone defense in the early years. Maybe 7th - 8th grade for an advanced travel team. The other part is the offense.Along with Jim Hubers defense I have Dons motion.Our offense is space the floor,balance the floor,move the ball til you get an easy shot.Reverse it ,reverse it ,reverse it the defense will make a mistake. We really move the ball.So thats our last year.I have two more left with these kids before I hand them over to the Highschool.In our last game of the season (championship game which went to 4 overtimes,we won) the ref commented we played the best man d he has seen,no reaching ,no slapping. So thats our last year,thanks for the posts,products, and your contributions to youth basketball