Motivating new players

I am a first year coach of 6th grade rec team. My focus has been teamwork, fundamentals and fun. I have 9 boys on the team, 5 have played for at least 2 years and 4 boys tha have not played at all. The 5 that have played before are pretty good players. Now that I ave started talking about the offense and playing them 3 on 3 or 5 on 5, the new players are goofing off and not that motivated to learn or run anymore. I have had a couple of kids say they are not as good as the other players and get discouraged. Any suggestions?

Thanks
Coach Mike

I suggested this in another reply... try 3 on 3 or 4 on 4 in practice... short scrimmage to one more point than the number of players. EVERYONE has to score before the winning shot is made.
You have to make them feel important to the team. A team is only as good as its weakest link... or the last few players on the team. THEY can push the starters and make them better while their game improves.
Pick something that they do well and make sure they know that you notice it.... applaud their efforts. Talk to them about playing defense.. anyone can play D... its all about effort... and they can be as good as anyone on that end of the floor....... and teams can always use a shut down defender or two in certain situations.
IF they are good enough give them a chance in a game for a minute here or there.. just to shut down the other teams star? Just a thought.

Ken

Mike - Have you read this report? I think it will help.
http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/m ... ayers.html