team chemistry

hi,i am about to take over 13 years old boys to coach BB...
my biggest concern is team chemistry(TC)...
1.how to divelop good TC?
by term TC i meen players injoy working together, injoy working with coach, allways giving his maximum on court, folow rules....
2.what to do with player who have attitude?

i ask this because i think TC most important in all team sports...
is there anythig else that i should look first??
thank you

You need to have a good plan in place.... Goals and objectives... then sit down with the kids and their parents. Discuss the goals and what you want to do with and for them.
Teaching them HOW to play the game should be #2 - FUNDAMENTALS
Teach them how to play m2m defense so you can get them ready to play at the next level.
Make sure that they are having FUN! This is #1 FUN

There is an old saying.... IF those boys KNOW that you really CARE about them.. then they will listen to you and buy into your program... IF they think you don't care, you will lose before you start.
Make sure that your practices are well planned, no wasted time and keep the segments short, 5-8 minutes until you put your offense together... that will take a little longer. When you introduce something new that will take a little longer, thats part of the deal, but once they learn it your segments can be 5-8. IF you stay too long on one thing they will get bored and thats trouble.

End everyone of your practices on a high note... meaning... something fun.... so they will want to come back to practice the next day. Keep your rules simple and clear. Be the hardest working person on the floor and they will follow you. Be prepared. I don't know what your playing time rules are, but try to get everybody in t he game.

Here are two things that can build team chemistry -

One thing we did at the end of every practice was to run what we called "SITUATIONS."

Example: Team A is down 3 points.... 30 seconds to go with the ball. NO timeouts and both teams are in the bonus, the ball is in the backcourt. You can make up your own as you get more comfortable with this. After awhile, have each kid come in with their own SITUATION. Something I did after each game was to run a situation that we didn't handle well in the previous game... the kids knew why and I didn't have to raise my voice - they LEARNED. We would run 2 a practice.... its a great learning tool.vvWhile I left my players run it their way, I'm not sure you can do it with this age group... at least not right away. My team ran it first, then I talked to them and we talked about what should have been done IF they did it wrong.. it they did it right, I would compliment them. You want them to be thinking like you do when the game is on the line.

Here is a game that I played with younger kids.... if you have 5 on a side... the game is to 6, every player has to score before any player can make the winning basket. You will be surprised how hard they will work to get even the weakest player a basket. THIS is a great team player and you will find out who your leaders are doing this.

You might take them to a high school game as a team or something else like that will help them bond as a team.

ok.ty..and abouth adittude??
like if talk to him about what should, or what shouldn:t do, he is like i know better, and talk:s back.....
should i try to talk to him,?
if not working, then talk with him in front of whole team, abouth his attidude,
and finaly tell him to leave team, because he can:t fit in this team, and can:t comunicate with coach....this are my 3 solutions.....i would like opinion on this one...

There is always a couple of ways of dealing with someone like this... the easy way is to send him packing .... so, Is he WORTH SAVING? He's 13 and definately needs an attitude adjustment. :-) There might be more than meets the eye here.... problems at home or school? You could check with his teachers to see if they can give you any insight. You might talk to the parents too.... just for some insight? IF it gets too bad you can always involve them in a metting to see if they can help... but that would be my last resort.
I coached a 12 year old that used some nasty language towards me.... I was the new asst.... talked to the head coach and he told me to handle it. I talked to the kid and asked him why?? He said he didn't mean anything by it, its just me. I told him that I didn't apperciate him talking that way to me .. and IF He wanted me to help him, he would have to stop that. That worked for me.

I would talk to him apart from the team... so he doesn't feel like its an attack.... then you might tell him the same thing... IF he wants you to help him, he will have to show respect to himself, you, the team and the game. Tell him that You WANT him there but you want him to be a LEADER in a positive way.

You could talk to the whole team about everything starts with having a good attitude and being coachable..... It'S NOT always about which team is better, a lot of the time its about which team plays better as a TEAM! ( NO I in T E A M ) It's about being part of something that is good and meaningful.

Then IF there is a second time after using one of these approaches.... you might sit him down for the rest of the practice and after practice sit down with him and tell him that IF he wants to be part of the team he will have to follow the rules, otherwise he cant be part of it.
I'm not one to give up on a kid to quickly, but thats just me....I would try to work with him and once it becomes to big of a distraction, you might have to let him go.

one more question...one of my players was selfish in game..
my question is : should i confront him infront the whole team ,and say that he was playing selfish?
or should i talk with him 1 on 1, and try to point him in wright direction?

p.s. srry for my poor english

It's not always good to confront a player in front of everyone else on the team when you are trying to solve HIS problem.... especially at this age. IS he the same player you are having problems with?

You might try that game to six where everyone has to score before any player can get the game winner... promotes team play and leadership. Another thing we did was to tell our kids that we wanted three ball reversals before any player could shoot... teaches good ball handling and decision making . reading defenses, moving without the ball etc.

These are things you work on in practice and things that you DEMAND as the coach. In games you can always take him out and tell him quitely what you want.. like... "we need to be more patient" or " didn't you see Johnny wide open?" These are comments that you can make to get your point across.

Don't worry about your English... I understand what you are going through. Good luck and IF there is anything else that I or any of the other coaches can help you with, let us know.

yes it is the same player...ty for quick and good advice...
i asked abouth book, links for my graduate paper, and no body answered me...
it is under 12- other-little help...

Look on the left side here under BROWSE OUR PRODUCTS - there are a lot of books there. You might do some searching on the net also for the exact information you are looking for. Don't have to input anything spcecial... just what you want to know.
I'm not sure I can help you more than that unless you ask a specific question.

Same player.... he wants to be THE guy I guess.... private talk with him, explain this is a team game, not much room in it for an INDIVIDUAL type player.

Look here -
http://www.basketballsbest.com/100TipsForWinningBasketball.pdf

i have 18 players, and each game 6 players will miss roster, my plan is that on home games they should come to cheer their teammates...can i have rule, if they don't show-up, they don;t play next game?
or there are some less radical punishment?

18 players are tough to deal with. I'm not sure what your league rules are but I would think as a team they would want to be there. I had 18 players on my JV / Varsity team, we dressed 14 or 15... EVERYONE was there for every game. They helped with taking stats and just cheering their team mates on. Varsity played on Friday nights...... JV Saturday morning.... the kids that played in the Varsity game usually didn't play in JV games unless it was for a short period of time...... The Varsity kids were there for the JV game also - taking stats, running the scoreboard, and cheering their buddies on.
That entire squad also went to see the Freshman play... good team bonding and bonding for the entire program. You can make up any rule that you want, but the more rules you have the more you back yourself into a corner... so use them sparingly. You could limit their playing time.. not start them etc. These type of rules are a lot easier to enforce IF you have them from day 1...... a little harder to implement after the season starts.... but you can do it IF you think some kids are taking advantage.
The kids that show up are the ones that you know really want to play, the ones that come and go are in it for themeselves.... or just plain don't understand what it means to be part of a TEAM, YOU might have to sell them on this. What do the other teams do in your area? Where are you from?

i live in Serbia, Belgarde...and here we have about 50 clubs, who work with young players, and we compete with each other....my club is one of beter organized clubs in Belgrade, and i want to my player be serius about basketball, and a team...but there is one thing.....every kid pay monthly for participating and training, so it is dfificult to have many rules...
C Sar what did you meen by "but the more rules you have the more you back yourself into a corner", is it good to have more rules, or bad thing....???
thank you for this personal point of wiev so far it was heplfull...
p.s. where are coaches, i would like more opinions.. ty

What I mean is that IF you have a lot of rules the more the chances of the kids breaking them... keep your rules simple and IMPORTANT.... We had very few rules.... take care of academics first, be on time to practice... we called it Lombardi Time..... which meant 15 minutes early. I am retired and they still have that rule at my school... itrs called Demon time now.... all the sports use it. Act like a gentleman on and off the court.... play hard all the time regardless of the score.

You get 5 personal fouls... all I can get is a T.... you stay away from MY Ts and I will stay away from your personal fouls :-) Control your temper

There are several coaches here.... I'm waiting for their responses too.

but if they don:t know the rules, how can they act??
i meen if they think that is fine if he don:t show - up on game to cheer his temamates, they won:t come at all, and won:t learn team work...

I would agree with Coach Sar. I do not like to have a lot of rules on paper. It may open things up to more problems with players and parents. I like to keep my rules short and to the point.
But I would also add that I have expectation or guidelines for my players. Such as showing up early or showing up to games on time. If they expectations are not met the whole team may be punished or the player.
I feel like the less rules you have the less of a watchdog you have to become. As coaches we are to teach the game and teach life lessons. We are not there to browl beat them with a ton of rules.

i agree, but how can they learn, if there is no consequences on what they do?
i prefer to talk with player, but if that is not good enough, then you must have rules for that...am i corect? or is there some better solution?

The one rule is that I would want them there for each other .. all the time.... thats a given when it comes to TEAM sports. You have to be there for each other, othewise, who will be?

The less rules the better.... just pick out the most important things and then discuss them with the team and see what they have to say or what they can come up with. Don't back yourself into a corner.

Coach Hayden put it very well.....
I feel like the less rules you have the less of a watchdog you have to become. As coaches we are to teach the game and teach life lessons.
We are not there to browl beat them with a ton of rules.

I never said you didn't have consequences. I just said limit the number of rules.
Depending on the age of your team, most players know how to behave in public or during games. If a problem continues, then I would suggest talking to the players individually or as a team. If the problem continues then I would suggest implementing a new rule or punishment. Players must know you are in charge but they must also respect you.
You have to run your program as you see fit. You must coach your style, not anyone elses. I personally do not like restricting myself or the players. But I am a firm believer in rules/expectation and accountability.

Talk to your players about this -

T.E.A.M. (Together, Everyone, Achieves, More)

thank you about everything....i will have more questions, when i remember, i will write...it is nice to have expirience coaches with who you can talk....