The longer I coached the more I TAUGHT the game..... and our system.... once they are on the floor, its all them. Yes, we can make some moves and adjustments to take advantage of a weakness.... but in the end, its on them.

Maybe Kris was referring to Xs & 0s? Game plans etc. ?? Young coaches think they are evaluated on Ws and Ls.... the more you coach the more you realize there is a lot more to the game / team than that. Kris is a young coach just getting his feet wet and trying to form his own philosophy..... at least thats what I think Don...... who knows since its hard to read someones intent via posts.

I was no where near as good as he was at that age.... I learned everything the hard way, clinics, talking to other coaches, watching games etc. We know that he is willing to listen and learn because he is on this site asking all these questions and bringing up all the scenarios.

Maybe I have gotten soft since I retired. :-)

I agree that he is a listener. That's why I threw it out.

The reason for my closing is simple. Basketball is such a complex game, that's the only reason for my closing. I agree with both of you that in this age we don't need to win. We are preparing them for their basketballfuture. A couple of things about me. I am 21 years old, so indeed very young. Besides basketball I spend a lot of time in working with children. When I'm done with school, I am going to be a teacher in school (primary school, young kids). In coaching I am trying to be a better teacher, not only of the game, but also in life. I do appreciate your comment on my closing. The kids love me, they really look up to me, and with most of the kids I have got a better connection than they have with their parents. But when I think about teaching the game, on the court, I can improve a lot. I should let the game come to them more, I improved that the last years, but that's certainly a point of emphasis for me.

I'm trying to learn as much as possible, as soon as possible and try to implement the things I think are important for the philosophy I have. When I compare my philosophy with what it was 5 years ago, there is nothing left of it. But because the game keeps changing, my philosophy needs to change too. I think I'm on the right track in learning to coach, I do like this discussions very much!

Kris, you are 21 and have coached for 5 years... amazing. Yes you are young but it seems like you have the right attitude about life and the game. I like it that you are goal oriented - going into teaching and having a big impact on kids lives. They look up to you and love you because they know you care about them... and being a young male doesn't hurt either... what a great role model you must be..... and that is so important. You will effect their lives more than you can imagine...... that is a big responsibility.
Think about yourself growing up though..... as we got into the 10-14 year range our parents didn't know a lot.... amazing how smart they get as we got older haha So those kids will look up to you and go through a wall IF you treat them well.

Make sure your kids are fundamentally sound then teach them how to play. You are young so your philosophy will change as you get more experience.
Good luck and keep up the good work.

I am very aware of my impact on their lives, each and every day I am in touch with at least one of these guys and they are letting me know how much they like me. That's a huge satisfaction.

Thank you for the complements :)

If they like you, you must be doing something right.... but there will be times that they wont see eye to eye with you and thats where the teacher / coach comes into play. Like the one youngster you want to help.

Kris

You're 21 years old - I am not. You look back at what you were thinking 5 years ago and it is nothing like what you think like now. Wait 10 years. You'll be surprised what you look like.

I was a head coach at a high level of U. S. college basketball before I was 30, after 6 years of being a high level assistant. Looking back on it, I probably was not ready to be a head coach. Allow me to give you some things so maybe you can avoid some of the pitfalls that I had.

First and foremost, basketball is not complex. Of all the sports that I know, it is the simplest. Coaches make it complex. All that is involved is one team trying to put a small ball in a big hole and another team trying to stop them. No matter how you dress it, that's all there is. It is a skill based game that gets muddled with multiple strategies and confusions but when it is all said and done, it comes down to players making plays, one at a time. Your job is not to get them to do what you want, but to find what they are good at, steer them toward those things and away from the things they are not good at. The higher level you go, the simpler it gets. NBA basketball, the best in the world, is so simple, you would be amazed. Show your players the way, then get out of the way.

Learning basketball is good, but, more importantly, learn to temper what you take in with your own personality and beliefs. The first 10 years of my career, I think I averaged attending 15 clinics per year. I probably say 150 coaches per year. That does not count the people I sought out on my own. Everyone spoke of the things that were successful for them. The problem was that some were 180 degrees from others. I would sit and listen and say to myself, "That should work." The next guy would get up say say the exact opposite, and I would say, "That should work." The result was I got so confused trying to use what others said was successful, I lost myself for a while.

Make better players, not better plays. No matter what plays you construct, they will only be as good as the players who run them. If you have good players and no plays, they will find a way - that is what makes them good. If you have good plays and no players, it won't matter.

It is not important if players like you. That is the single least important thing in coaching and the single biggest mistake young coaches make, feeling that it is important that players like them. The important thing is that they trust you. Once you gain their trust, they will try to listen to you and execute your wishes without question and hesitation. If they are not successful, they will try again and again until they are (repetition). If they don't trust you, even if the like you, even their successes won't matter.

I was really surprised, as I went through my career, by how little basketball coaching has to do with basketball. The essence of coaching is interpersonal communication and people management. Getting players to believe in and follow you is the major task of a coach. You don't even have to know anything about the game. Five players working together at the wrong thing will have more success than five players, working independently on different versions of the right things.

Most importantly, listen to your players. Whether they are pros or novices, regardless of age, listen to them, what they say to one another, what they say to you, and try to interpret their meaning (different people will say the same things, differently) because they will give you direction.

I have found these things to be true regardless of whether I am coaching Div I college players, NBA players or 12 year olds. There are many more things I have learned along the way. But you can figure them out by yourself.

Great advice Don - all of this is good stuff... and I believe that we all have to find our own way, what works for us. Like all those coaches telling you opposite things.... when I went to clinics I always felt that IF I could come away with one good thing from each coach, I would be better..... but if you add one thing ultimately you will have to get rid of another. Some of those coaches didn't tell you 100% of what you needed to know about a particular play or set....

Funny that you say this.... " I was really surprised, as I went through my career, by how little basketball coaching has to do with basketball. The essence of coaching is interpersonal communication and people management. Getting players to believe in and follow you is the major task of a coach. You don't even have to know anything about the game. Five players working together at the wrong thing will have more success than five players, working independently on different versions of the right things." I had lunch with an X player last week and he told me pretty much the same thing... that one of my biggest strengths was being able to deal with a lot of different personalities.

And yes, they don't necessarily need to like you, but they do need to know you care about them as people, if they don't think you care they wont work for you. Even down to the last player, they need to know you care... on and off the floor. JMO

When I was thinking back about this..... I found -

"It's ok to let your players get to know you."
Pat Summit

A good friend of mine Creighton B. always says... IF your Jimmy and Joes are better than my Xs and 0s, you will win. Talent has a lot more to do with winning than the coach. It's up to the coach to develop his talent.

Hope all is going well.... you never told us how things are going with your star player.

That's all very good stuff.

First my reaction on you points Don, I agree with you, I have no clue what my philosophy will be 10 years from now. But I do want to have the best philosophy possible.

I had the same problems the past years. I read a lot of books, attend as many clinics on- and offline as I can and talked to as much coaches as possible. I still do that. But at the last year I had no clue how to adept all these things in my play, in my philosophy. So I sat down for myself and just wrote down from the start of the game. What is basketball? A simple question with a lot of different answers. I just took a big piece of paper and draw a circle in the middle with the word basketball and draw a line to a circle defense, offense and transition. On and on to eventually come out to the most simple things in basketball as detailed as possible. That cleared my mind a lot. Because now everything I learn about coaching I can link to one of my circles and give it a place in my philosophy. What Coach Sar said was also true. If you try to add something to your philosophy, you have to get rid of something else.

Because of the way of breaking down basketball I also find myself focusing more on fundamentals instead of tactics. And that was a very good swing in my philosophy.

I think players liking me is very important. Coaching is more to me than winning or making the players better basketballplayers. I get a huge satisfaction from the kids and a big part of that is because they like me. That gives me a lot of energy and enthousiasm to coach the game. Everybody says to me, that enthousiasm reflects on my team. So it is a positive circle i believe.