Need advice. I coach inexperienced 6-8 grade girls. small team - 7 players. we have played 7 games. Every team has full court pressed us as a \"game strategy\" (the entire game) and plays zone defense. It\'s very frustrating....hard to get any real basketball going. We play man to man defense as suggested. It is our offense that is hurting and the full court press causing turnovers...and wearing us out. Any suggestions on a simple offense we use against zone? We teach them to move, and spacing....but they still \"hang\" too much. They want to be told what to do and where to go at all times. I am lost at where to go from here. Also, we have tried the press breaker (4 across, middle 2 setting screens)...just struggling getting it down the court. Suggestions appreciated. Thanks

It amazes me how many youth coaches are doing this to kids of that age... it really ticks me off. 8th graders go ahead and press, anything below that... time to teach them how to play the game.

Press and then play zone... :-( Sad

Stress the spacing to your kids vs the full court press.... be in a passing lane and make yourself available. Saw the Duke game the other night and they didn't dribble to break the press, they passed thru it.

IS this a zone full court press? IF its m2m get it inbounds and clear everyone out .... bring your center back and let her set a screen for the person with the ball.

What type of zones are you facing.... show the kids where the weaknesses are... and then tell them to be in a passing lane... THAT is where you can see the ball WITHOUT defender being between you and the ball..... one college coach told us to "put em where they aint!"

Then move the ball, be patient and get a good look to score... get it inside IF you can, it weakens any zone. Then you can shoot it or kick it back out for an open look. Hope this helps.

I hear you on the "hard to get any real basketball going", ain't gunna happen if teams are using a full court press the entire game. I'm with CSar, shouldn't be allowed in developing leagues or younger age groups. Easy answer is make them pay for pressing; however, I suspect that's easier said than done.

I'd set aside 10-15 min of "beat the press" by having 3 vs. 4 mini games with no dribbling allowed. Have 3 bring it in with 4 pressing. The 3 bringing it in will need to pass and cut, help out and communicate to get the ball across half court.

Not sure what kind of offense you're playing now, but I'd go with a 4 out 1 in or even 5 out. I'd spread your players out away from 3 pt line and try to bring the zone D out. Ball movement is the key, lots of quick passes with cuts to the basket. If you have no shot clock, tell your girls to be patient.

Unfortunately, I think the big reason for allowing presses and zones might be financial at the youth level.

I talked to a youth coach who is involved with youth leagues that contain almost 600 teams in the Kansas City area. Apparently, the league only allowed zone & pressing in the top division for 7th & 8th grade teams, but they started to lose teams to other leagues that allowed presses & zones. So they opened up pressing & zones to all age levels to bring the teams back.

So, I think the root of the problem lies within the parents and coaches.

Pretty sad state of affairs Joe! None of this is going to change UNTIL the PARENTS and COACHES start thinking about the kids instead of themselves... pretty selfish!

Joe: Finances, I was always under the impression that these leagues were for the kids and certainly not for profit. I was 45 before i made my first dime out of coaching and that was only a stipend. If teams want aspire to leagues that offer the zone and pressing concepts, let them go. Once your league stipulates the rules, then the rules must be followed. If there is no pressing allowed and m2m is the only defense to be played then so be it.

I am in total agreement with Coach Sar, and other coaches on this forum, I am simply tired of administrators and coaches offering silly reasons as to why they allow this or why they allow that. Since ive been contributing to this site, I have read many stupid reasons why they do the things they do. In my opinion, many administrators just don't have the strength of their own convictions to back up the rules they are trying to implement. They tend to yield to either coaches or parents pressure. For the umpteenth time, this game is for the kids, its not for the coaches,parents administrators and its certainly NOT FOR PROFIT.
coach mac

Coach Mac,

I think I got your heart started tonight! I agree with you, I am sick of the Bull they throw out... this game is for the KIDS and the sooner they understand it the better the kids will get and the more FUN they will have.

I realize that a lot of the people who coach are volunteers and parents... and they might be doing the best they can do... but we have to find a way to help them do the right thing.. and YOU are right Mac, we have to get the administrators on board here too!!

To the parents of the kids, this is not the NBA, its about teaching your kids how to play the game and to play it correctly... and have fun.

Yeah. I agree, Coach Mac. All of the leagues I was involved in were certainly NOT for profit. If anything, they might have been losing money.

To play the devil's advocate a little bit, let's say you are an administrator for a 600 league team and you have full-time employees. Let's say teams are starting to leave because of the no pressing and zones rule. Because finances are down, you have to fire somebody. What do you do? Allow pressing and zones or possibly put a family through some rough times because you never what to expect with this economy.

Not saying that is the scenario, but it's just a thought.

None of what we are suggesting will work until you get EVERYBODY on board and it starts with the parents. IF ALL the parents insist, then the coaches and administrators will have to fall in line.

Every parent thinks that their little Johnny is a D1 player right? Well, they will never make it to the next level IF all they do is sit around and air out arm pits and press the entire game. So they go 150 - 0 thru the youth league programs and when they get to the high school level they are so far behind that IF they are lucky to make the team they end up sitting or getting minimal time - then how happy are the parents - obviously some coaches and administrators don't care.

Think of how my of those young players quit playing because it isn't any fun... and they aren't learning anything. Would a parent go along with that program IF it was an academic class? The kid ends the year and learns nothing? You better believe they would be all over that and rightfully so - Basketball or any other sport for that matter is, or should be the same.

Basketball (and ALL sports) are an extension of the classroom! Why don't they ask the local high school coaches in their areas what they would like to see from a player coming out of their program? I guarantee you that one of the things they wont say is
" I really want them to be able to play a zone defense! "

OK. I did my venting for the day!

I'm with you. It's going to be a constant battle.