My (under 16) team is containing 10 players, I might even get an 11th player soon. On all the positions I've got a lot of options. I'm playing with 2 offensive systems. The first one is for the shorter guys and the big men who are fundamentally good, I'm playing pass & cut with five out. A very good and usefull play. We also play very aggresive in defense, with the most time full-court press, sometimes half-court m2m and we play with a 1-3-1 trap. We are playing very fast and that is working very good. For the big men I designed a play with two low posts and 1 high post and 2 cutting guards. But the problem is when we switch offenses it doesn't work that well compared to the practice. I alway start with the five out and very aggressive to get the first momentum in hand. I want to get in front first. But I want to control the speed of the game. I want to slow the game down to control the game and then push the tempo again to get a second run if neccesary. But I'm having trouble coaching to slow down the game. How do I switch offense so it will still work. Any tips?

Thanks!
Coach Kris (from Holland)

Kris,

I think you have to take a look at your team and ask yourself what works best with them. I think its easier to have 2 different game plans on defense rather than offense. I had a sophomore team (15-15 year olds) one group was a good m2m team and the others we played a 1-3-1... but offensively we were all on the same page.

IF you really want to do this - you are going to have to break down your practice into 2 segments offensively which might be tough to do. How about the one team takes what the D gives them and the other team needs to make a certain number of passes (the team that you want a slower paced game) What you allow each group in practice is what they will do in games. We did this a lot in certain points of the game... worked for us, but we worked on it every day in practice.

You also need a Point guard that will be your coach on the floor and he knows what you want and what is best for the two different groups on the floor.

I see what you mean. I am unfortunatly not able to practice every day, I only have 2,5 hours trainingtime a week. But the slower system we used last year and worked very well. This year, because I did a lot of research, we play a lot different, a lot faster. I do have got some big men who like to work 1-1 in the post and are very good at it. My intention was to use that in a slower pace game. But when we play it, we are too impatient, we are rushing. The tip to make a certain number of passes is good, but I don't want them to count passes, I want them to read the defense, when to wait, when to pass, when to go 1-1. Probably it's just practice, practice, practice, but if you've got another tip?

Thanks!
Kris

Kris

Practice will always be better than games. There are different pressures, different talent levels, more unknowns and your relationship with your players changes during games. You have to understand that in regard to your team's performance. You have to make it easy for them. Playing at different paces is very difficult.

Using a certain number of passes is a great way to slow down. If you are worried about them counting the number of passes, then you are worried about the wrong things. Number of passes is a tool. They will get the idea from the time it takes to execute a play with more passes. The number of passes is unimportant. Other tools you can use are number of ball reversals. I like to use the number of post touches myself. I don't think it is practice, practice, practice, practice. I think it is teach, teach, teach and then let them play and figure it out.

You play with a 24 second clock, don't you? It is hard to slow down under those circumstances. If you are successful playing up tempo, and you say you are, why would you even want to slow down?

Let me clarify what I was trying to say.... In PRACTICE we wanted X number of passes or ball reversals (yes, we used post touches also) but that was in practice. What we wanted to teach them was PATIENCE, waiting for the best shot. We never talked about that in games, as you both said, we don't want them counting passes in games.
You saw the video Kris, some shots came quicker than others... its all what the defense gives you. At one point we ran the last minute off the clock in the first quarter before our center got open for a three. That wasn't planned, we were looking for a shot before that time... but around the 15-20 second marker we decided to go for the last shot.. it just happened to work out for us.
YOU seem to be more comfortable with last years slower system and we all as coaches have to run what we are comfortable with.....this year you are looking to push it a little more and thats fine... your players have to get used to this... making good decisions while playing faster. As for me, I don't care what speed you want to play at, its all about getting a good shot and thats what you have to convince your players to do.
Don makes another good point - why switch if you are successful with the uptempo game? So, the next goal in practice is to get them to understand what you are trying to accomplish when you are running that set for the big men. In 2.5 hours of practice this might be tough, working on fundamentals, shooting etc. You might have to decide on one or the other and I would say, go with what works best.
Last suggestion for the set for the bigs..... in practice, when you scrimmage, one time down the floor play up tempo, the next time down the floor, run the set for the bigs and hopefully you will get them used to playing both styles.

Playing different paces might indeed be a little to much for these guys. I'm going to try to first switch the two sets during scrimmage, that was a good suggestion!

The level we play isn't yet playing with a shotclock. That's at a higher level, which is my goal ultimately, in a few years, to play. I like your point about why I would slow down the game. I think I'm afraid when we play better teams, we will play too fast for ourselve and make wrong choices because of the pace.

Because I'm a starting coach, this is my fifth year I'm coaching, and I'm still looking for a system that I'm comfortable with. I think I do have found one in the fast pace game. But my big men have some trouble with it. We are training them to catch up with fundamentals to also play outside, not just on the inside, and with extra conditioning for everyone so we can play the fast pace the whole game. But what I'm trying to say, I'm trying different styles each year, to look for a style which I'm comfortable with, but it should also fit the team, that might be the biggest challenge for every coach.

The key is to be flexible..... I loved the open post offense but there were a few years that we couldn't handle the ball worth squat, so I told them to take their shot as soon as they found it. Better a shot (even a bad one sometimes) than throwing the ball in the stands.

I think the mark of a good coach is to get the best possible play from them... get them ready every game ... and give them something that they can handle... Don't force the square peg in the round hole.... it doesn' work.

Do what your kids do best Kris, whatever that may be.

I totally agree with that. Get the most out of your team. Indeed you sometimes can't play the game you like, because you don't have the players for it.

And make sure they have FUN..... we used to tell them... PLAY HARD, PLAY SMART and HAVE FUN.

Kris

For me, there is a larger issue. Your closing troubles me, players are "chess pieces" and coaches are "chess masters."

I think that attitude portends more trouble in the future. Coaches have to form partnerships with their players, not command them. You being comfortable with what the players do is secondary to the players being comfortable.

Maybe their problems stem from confusion from what I perceive as your need to be in control.

For players and teams to improve and grow they have to be allowed to fail, fall, figure out and find a comfort zone by some experimentation. Looking at yourself as a "chess master" might get in the way of that.

I believe I am an excellent teacher. More importantly, most of the people (including players) think so too. But, I have never been with a team where I did not feel that the players taught me more than I taught them. I just give them a push and they carry me down the hill.

It took me a while to learn that. What I believe about coaching is this. go to the beach and grab 2 handfuls of sand (I don't know if they have beaches where you are. If not go somewhere where they have very fine sand). Squeeze on handful very tightly and just hold the other one. See which hand has more sand when you are done. One of the best comments I have ever heard about coaching was by Mike Brey, Head Coach of University of Notre Dame. He said "The longer I coach, the less I coach." I think that is a great attitude.

Kris, I don't know you and I apologize if I am out of line, but after all these years I have learned to read into small comments and statements that, to me, seem prophetic. In the real word, just keep coaching and as long as you enjoy your work and your team, you will find your way.