My girls team have reached the finals for the under 16 girls tournament and the game is on the 15th August.My players are mostly 13 years old and only 3 16 years old. My worry is that they may not be able to perform during the finals due to pressure and the crowd of spectators.Please advise on how to cool them down and to perform at their best. Thank you and hope to hear from you soon. Coach Sam

Sam,

Remind them that this is a "game" .... kids running around in short pants.... ( an Al McGuire quote )

When we were getting our kids ready for big games we made our practices a lot harder than any game they would play in. As for the game itself..... tell them to play HARD NOSED DEFENSE....... and the offense will catch up. They will follow you, so if you show you are really nervous, they probably will be too..... so be calm and prepare them the best that you can..... hopefully you will have a leader or two on the team that will help the younger kids out.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Thanks Coach Sar, i will do as advised and will certainly let you know the results after the finals.
iwill do what you have told me tomorrow as we have practice session

Thanks again Sir

Sam
.

Good luck Sam...

Remind them that they are talented too.... do all of the things you will do at practice with a POSITIVE approach...... I think they will accept it better that way.

I got you Coach Sar and thanks for the advise,tonight will be the night and i am more ready to lead my girls and grab the championship.
Will let you know the size of the championship trophy.
Cheers
Sam

Coach Sar my girls did well and defense was top notch but we lose the championship by a point. 3 of our key players fouled 4 times and another fouled out by the beginning of the 4th quarter so defence started to weaken as we sub for young players. However they also did great and worked real hard but we lose out to the penalty shots.
Score was 50-51.
overall my assessment is we need more practices especially on inbounding and definitely on mental aspects.
Anyway Coach Sar at the moment we are using 1-3-1 defence and also 2-2-1 full court press or trap. Please advise whether it is suitable or what is your recommendations.
Thank you again Coach Sar and hope to hear from you again
Cheers
Sam

Congratulations on a game well played! One thing we used to do after every game was to list EVERY area that we didn't do a very good job with.... then we worked on those points in the next few practices... you seem to understand that already. Glad to hear that your D was very good..... it all starts there.

Now, as for Defense, I am a BIG proponent of playing M2M defense, especially at a young age......I'm not sure how much time you have to practice... but even IF you end up playing more zone, they will play it better because they have a better understanding on HOW to DEFEND. (fundamentally)

Work more with your younger players so they don't hurt you when they have to go in and play..... good luck and I hope this helps.

Thank you coach Sar and will certainly train the younger players more.
M2M i dont really fancy but will certainly try it out with my players.
At the moment we are training more on deny and interception especially if our opponents are bigger at the low post.It does work for my girls as they are mush smaller in build and faster.So we kind of make sure the ball does not reach the low post players.We normally set the traps above the high post and at the weak side corners.
We are getting ready for the under 14 competition so your advise would be very much appreciated.
I also hope to visit you all if i have a chance to learn more about basketball coaching from you guys. I am from Malaysia and The basketball standard is pretty low compared to your side.Coaches in my country really need more exposure internationally.
So we really appreciate Breakthrough Basketball which have taught me a lot. Hope to hear from you again and God bless.

I agree with keeping the ball out of the low post .... nothing good happens if your opponent gets the ball inside.

I think you have to ask yourself what your goals are..... like, are you trying to get them ready to play at the next level? What are their options by the way? High school team, college etc?

The better m2m D they can play the better your zone will be.... Jeff & Joe have clinics around the country ( along with Don Kelbick ) they do a great job of teaching footwork and other concepts... I would recommend this IF you can find one that you could attend.
Many coaches attend this and help with the camp/clinic, a great learning experience... this would give you a chance to talk to several coaches if you could do this. They just finished one in Libertyville, Illinois and I thought it was a great experience for the kids that attended ... you can tell by the way the kids responded to them.

As for the standards in your country.... you have a great chance to raise the bar.... look at all the information on the left side of this page, search the internet for other things you are interested in and move on from there......

There are several good coaches in this group.... keep asking your questions.... Good luck and I hope you find what you want .

Coach Sar,thanks again for your advise . I will certainly work on m2m D
with my players and yes i am preparing my girls for high school basketball.
Yes Coach we are trying to raise the bar for the standards of Basketball in the country and it is a tough job when you dont get much support from Our Basketball Association.
At the moment i am head of basketball development in my country and It is a real challenge as the government doesnt help us much and finance is always a problem but we do with what we have.If you have any suggestion to help us raise funds for basketball development it would certainly be a great help.
Thank you Sir and glad to have you on our side.