Coaching Youth Basketball (2 Viewers)

[Chadstroma]

A tough tie yesterday.... tough in that it was disappointing to the boys that they didn't win but for me and the coaches, we were extremely proud of them and loved what we saw.

We had a game earlier at 11am for a tournament we are in. I had peeked a little into the game for the two teams that played to play us and I wasn't really too worried. I felt like we could handle either team with a good amount of margin for error.

Our second game, I knew was going to be us going against a good team as the team was 4-0 in our league going into our game. On top of that, I am missing two players from our 8 man roster. One of them being my normal PG who is my best ball handler, best shooter, good defender, tons of heart, etc. The other being my 6th man who puts in a lot of good effort, fights for the loose balls, will get a rebound here and there and score if he happens to get the ball wide open from mid range in. So, I have my starters and then two boys that are pretty consistently the least capable on the court each time we play.

My son had a swim meet in the morning. (He did well) and then we went to first basketball game. So, he had a full plate going into the second basketball game.

Sometime late 3rd quarter, my best ball handler with my normal PG out tweaked his knee a bit. Of course, I pull him and have him sit and now the only option I had at PG was my son... which it just isn't a good spot for him.... but we finish the game with a wide margin victory.

I tell my boys, rest up and see you at 3pm.

Unknown to me... two of my boys then go to a club basketball game in-between our game including my now PG who just tweaked his knee and my big guy who is not in the best conditioning shape. No one said anything to me because I think they knew I would not be happy.

In warm ups my son happens to roll his ankle. No damage or anything but it was sore. So, now I have two of my three best players banged up a bit and all three of my best players definitely not fresh.

The game goes on and as I expected, they are a good team. We get behind a bit. A few questionable calls (which is part of the game) but one of them really frustrated me because my boys are bringing the ball up and I want a TO. I shout several times TO and giving the hand signal while walking onto the court. My PG sees and hears me as everyone else in the gym did and did a little stop picking the ball up and took a couple of steps and they called travel. The one ref was a bit older and I know he had some hearing issues as I later called a time out and he was a couple of feet from me and I was yelling TO nearly as loud as I can and it took several attempts to get it. The other one said he was looking at the ball carrier and did not see me and he was on the opposite end of the court so not hearing me was... somewhat understandable. Anyways.... a couple of calls or no calls that went against us and my boys, my top three players I have that all have a history of breaking down mentally with frustration... start to show visible frustration. I kept getting their attention to refocus them and get them back into the game mentally. They each responded and keep playing. Then my big guy, the third of my three best players, tweeks his knee! So, all three of them are somewhat not 100% being banged up and are running low on the fuel tank. But they kept at it. Kept fighting. We finally pull ahead late in the 4th. Up by 3... they scored and we had 1 point lead with 2 seconds left. They get the ball (can't remember how) and there is an inbounds play for them at their hoop. Pass it in, shot goes up and dinks..... my boys go crazy because they didn't hear the whistle as my big guy knocked the shooter on the floor with their bodies colliding after the shot. My boys are crushed. Time expired then the kid gets his two free throws. Sinks the first one. Tie game. Missed the second.... OT. The boys are deflated from the emotional high of the win from a hard battle to not getting the win and now going into OT. We play the OT and each team scores a couple of times. Clearly my boys are empty physically and emotionally but they kept fighting. Time expires and in league play there is only one OT so we ended in a tie.

For me, it was a win because the boys kept fighting. Had moments where they could and started to break down mentally but got back into it. We were short handed, missing one of our best players, the rest of our best players all tied and hurt and we still fought back against a good team and nearly won but we sure as heck didn't let them win either.

 

[Chadstroma]

We took 1st place in a tournament Sunday. One of ten teams. We won each game pretty decidedly. Our margin was 27 points in the first game, 10 in the second and 6 in the championship game but it really wasn't that close as we lead all game long by as much as 15. They made a good push towards the end but we were still in control of the game.

We picked up two wins in one of our leagues this weekend too. Taking us to a 4-2-1 record in it. We started 0-2 in the league against teams we really shouldn't have lost to part of it is we didn't have our big guy but also part of it is my bad as a coach in not getting them prepared in time. The tie game was against a good team but I felt good about that (see above).

Our other league we are still undefeated. 7-0

Our overall record including both leagues and tournaments is 13-2-1.

This week is a busy week with our second tournament starting up. First round is against the team we beat by 10 in the last tournament. Assuming we beat them again, we will be playing Wed-Sunday with two games on Sunday.

I am seeing good development from most of the players. I have really been pushing them to work on getting better at home and I can tell who is really doing it and who isn't. Looking ahead to some of our league games, mostly teams that haven't been winning much but we do have one tough matchup. Then into the playoffs.

 

[SWC]

I am seeing good development from most of the players.

i have coached a long time and for a lot of teams like for decades and this is what it is all about i see too many parent coaches who coach only for their kid and so one kid gets better and the rest of the team doesnt or actually regresses i also see too many parents who coach to win for themselves and the the other parents and that is also not what matters what matters is raising all ships and getting all of the kids better together and to play together so that when they get to high school they are a force where the 7 8 and 9 girls can all still play thats how you do it right in my opinion take that to the bank shot brohans

 

[Chadstroma]

I am seeing good development from most of the players.

i have coached a long time and for a lot of teams like for decades and this is what it is all about i see too many parent coaches who coach only for their kid and so one kid gets better and the rest of the team doesnt or actually regresses i also see too many parents who coach to win for themselves and the the other parents and that is also not what matters what matters is raising all ships and getting all of the kids better together and to play together so that when they get to high school they are a force where the 7 8 and 9 girls can all still play thats how you do it right in my opinion take that to the bank shot brohans

I really enjoy coaching basketball. Much more than I thought I would. Almost to the point where I think I missed my calling to where I should have gone into coaching and done it for high school etc. I am coaching my older son who is in 5th grade and will do the same for my younger son next year when he starts basketball in 3rd grade. So, I have likely at least 5 more years of coaching. I have developed a pretty good relationship with the AD and have thought about when that time comes, offering to continue to coach at the school (assuming we stick around the area).

The thing that I love about it is investing into these kids. Yes, helping them develop their basketball skills, have them work as a team, improve and work towards winning games. But more so using basketball as a way to instill in them concepts, habits, beliefs, etc that will serve them in life. Getting them to understand that hard work will lead to success, to develop a winning attitude, to treat everyone with respect, that if they want to get better at something it is a process of every day trying to get 1% better, translating things like not whining about calls but if you don't like it- let it fuel you to win the next round, etc. One of the biggest things I have been working on with my boys is mental toughness. My top 4 players (including my son) all are very susceptible to breaking down mentally when things don't go their way, or they get a foul or don't get a foul called, or they make an error, etc. 3 of the 4 have noticeably improved. One is still struggling a bit currently but it is understandable because he just isn't playing as well as he has in the past comparatively with the other kids. Mental toughness is hella hard to coach but it will pay off on the basketball court, other sports and in life if I help them develop it further.

My coaching style is hard. I do yell a bit more than my peers but it is never demeaning or negative in the language. The yelling is also mostly in games and somewhat rare at practice and is centered around them hearing me, getting their attention and focusing them while also often trying to energize them. Practice is more about teaching and explaining and helping them work through things. That being said, my practices are much harder than the other 5th grade teams from our school. I wondered how the boys felt about that but a few examples of showed me that I am doing a good job.... one kid that was on my team last year who ran a ridiculous amount of laps (my boys will run laps if they do things like talk or bounce a ball when I am talking or they are messing around or not focusing, etc). I mean, the kid likely ran more than the kids in cross country ran. If there was anyone that I thought would not want to be on my team, it would have been him.... a couple of weeks after the season started, I asked him how he liked the other team and he immediately responded "I hate it. I wish on was on your team still." another one of the boys that was on the team last season but not this one told me that he "missed running" (he didn't do a lot of laps but my teams do do a lot of running even without those laps). I thought he was being sarcastic but he really missed it. My son told me that one of his class mates that I have never coached said that he wished he was on my team. So, we were talking about this in the car with my daughter and on the way to pick up one of the boys on the team for practice. My daughter does not want me to coach her and says she feels bad for the boys. I told her that my boys love being on my team. When we picked up the player, I asked him, "Do you like me coaching you?" And he said "Yes." and I told him my daughter feels bad for you guys and he responded "Well, I mean, you asked us at the start if we wanted to win and if we did how you would coach us hard so you are just doing what we chose for you to do." It is rewarding to know that the kids WANT the coaching that I am giving even as it is HARD at times and directly at improving their lives more so than even improving them as basketball players.

 

[Chadstroma]

We got creamed.

39-21

We were actually up 11-9 in the first when I had my son on their good player.... he was as advertised. Best player in the league. Hard as hell to stop. Not athletically imposing but is just very extremely talented in the basketball skillset. Shooting is very good, very good dribbler, can drive, knows how to invite contact and draw the foul and on defense is solid as well.

My son picked up his 3rd foul mid 2nd and I had to pull him. From there, we just could not stop him. My 6th man is a big drop in talent level from my son and we just got into a big hole. By half we were down by 12. I get my son in not too much in the 3rd and he picked up his 4th not long after. None of his fouls were really bad or cheap fouls but I have to get him to understand to play hard defense on a kid like that but also don't get himself in positions of picking up the fouls.

I started to install a 2 and Triangle defense specifically with this team in mind. I didn't use it because our school has all the home games on Youtube. Teams will go on there and prep so I don't want to show it at all at any home games.

They had one other kid that was fairly good, a bit taller and athletic but nothing too great. We got him in foul trouble and he wasn't really a factor. After those two the rest of the team is basically unable to do much at all.

What pissed me off was that the coach (father of the super star) kept him in the whole game until less than 2 minutes to go which to me is such a jerkoff move. You are leading by 20 and especially when I put my entire lesser lineup in.... like, really, you are keeping him in? Jerk. If we see them again, which will only be if we are in the playoffs for one league which may end up them at 1 seed and us at 2nd seed.... which would be the championship game.... I think I can make some adjustments and coach the boys up that we can upset them but it won't be easy. If we do... man that would be awesome.

 

[Chadstroma]

18-4-1 record. We play tonight in a semi final for a tournament- if we win, then we play again for the Championship (which will be our second tournament win) on Sunday.

Out of our 4 losses, 3 of them we shouldn't have lost and two of those three we already got our revenge with lopsided wins. The one team that will be hard for us to win against is that team with the superstar that creamed us 39-21.

Outside of the tournament games which will wrap up this weekend, we have 5 league games to the season. The boys have shown improvement through the season.

 

[Chadstroma]

21-4-1
And our second Tournament Championship

The team we beat in the final was by far the best defensive team we played against so far this season. We were tied into the 4th and then finally clicked and ran away with the quarter.

 

[Chadstroma]

We ended our regular season Saturday. 25-5-1 including tournament play.

We go into two playoffs for the two leagues we are in. For one, we are 3rd seed and we are waiting for the brackets today for the other league playoffs. Tonight is our first playoff game.

 

[Chadstroma]

Heartbreaking early exit from one of our leagues playoffs.

After demolishing our first matchup (3rd vs 11th seeds) we played a matchup against the 6th seed. However, this is much better team than a 6th seed. In fact, in our other league, they are actually the 1st seed. Earlier in the season, we beat them in our only matchup, which was a good close game that they lead most of the game and we came back and took the win. It was early in the season where our team was still learning how to play together and with how I was asking them to play. Heading into the game I was confident that we would beat them again though it would be a close and hard game.

Then I got an email. My PG was sick and was out for the game. Not only is he my PG but he is my second highest scorer, third best rebounder and he is tied with three of my other starters with 2.1 steals a game (it is crazy that the four of them ended with the exact same average steals per game). I could move my shooting guard to PG but a big difference between them is the ability for my normal PG to work the ball to our post player who is our top scorer. Another huge part of that is in the difference of skillset from him to my 6th man which is drastic.

No doubt, it was a huge hit to go into the game without him. I still gave us a 50/50 chance. One huge difference between our early game and this game besides still learning how to play with each other was that one of my starters had a tremendous amount of improvement through the year. Unfortunately, he had an absolutely horrible game. As a whole, we were not playing to our normal level of play.

Now we have a game Saturday for our other leagues playoffs. Currently, I already know that my shooting guard is unavailable as he will be out of town. We can survive that against this team which is not very good.... as long as my PG is good to play. If he doesn't play, most likely we will end up dropping this first round to a much inferior team as I won't have a reliable ball carrier and two of my three top scorers and having to play a lot of minutes of my bench which skillset wise is very below the average of the league. Here is to hoping my PG gets better.

 

[Chadstroma]

We made it through that first and second rounds of the playoffs. We beat each team very convincingly going into mercy rule with both.

Semi-Final was today. Against the team that bounced us from the other league's playoffs but this time we had everyone. It started off a little sloppy and we got down by a few points.... then my shooting guard went off.... he sunk four 3's and we played better overall. By half we were up by 7. My son locked down their best shooter and he was not a factor and they couldn't get anything going consistently. When my boys are on- there isn't a team we have faced that can beat us. We were on today. 33-11 win.

Championship game Sat. The team we will play beat one of our school's other team in OT. It would have been fun to matchup against our own school but it is what it is.

29-6-1 record... really hoping to push that to a 30-6-1 record.

 

[Chadstroma]

PART 1
This is the first weekend in a very long time that we have no sports going on. I wanted to take time to reflect on the season now that it is completed.

We got that 30-6-1 overall record including all our season, tournament and playoff games.

We won the championship in one of our leagues (20 teams in the division and back to back championship wins from 4th and 5th grade).
We won two tournament championships (these tournaments were full of teams that were not in our league).

The Championship game was a good one. We started off very poorly getting quickly into a 0-6 hole. I was worried because I didn't exactly like how we matched up against them. We did not play this team at all this year but had played them last year. Last year, during the regular season, they were undefeated until they played us. We beat them. I remembered that their #8 was their offensive weapon. I had put one of my better defenders on him and he shut him down. Going into this game, I was going to put my son (who is our best defender and I matched up against their best offensive player through most of the games) on #8. However, while watching them warm up it was quickly evident that that would not work. They had a kid that was not on the team last year who had good height, taller than my son and just short of my big guy, but was very athletic. If I put my big guy on him, he would run circles around him so I put my son on him as there was no one else who could really match up with his size and athleticism. I put my two guard on #8. My two guard plays good defense but he is much better off ball than matching up on someone with the ball. #8 did get some points but he did a good job on him and my son locked down their big guy. Through the 1st half, we clawed our way up and we were down by 2 at the half.

I told the team that that was a good team, we are not playing our best ball and we are only down by 2. We got this. They were playing a box and 1 defense and collapsing on to our big guy if we got him the ball in the post. I did notice that they were not always good on the transition. They tended to run down with their backs to the ball, find their spot and turn around (as is the case with zone defenses and this age a lot of times). I told my boys to push the ball down the court and attack but don't force it if it wasn't there. One of my boys hit a 3 and that really set us off.... from there, we kept pushing the ball down and their transition defense would break down. We pulled ahead and were up by as much as 8 with about 2 minutes left. They hit a three and then we traded baskets to end the game with a 5 point win.

I had 8 players on the team this year. We started off getting our rosters and I had 9 players. The instructions were that if there was any players to be switched, both coaches had to agree. The team was a little different from the previous year. I had a core of my three from last year (my son, my PG and two guard) but lost one who was one of my better players. Solid offensively (had our highest point total in a game) and right there with my son as being a great defender. We gained our big guy, who I believe is the tallest in the league and has some size (not fat but not skinny either) who can also shoot. He was a hard matchup for most teams. And our fifth, who is a great athlete and I thought was better at basketball than he was... at least to start the year. With my overestimation of my 5th, it seemed clear we had the best starting 5. One of the other coaches came and asked to swap players.... one of the 'average' kids on my team and he game me one of the kids with less than developed skills in return. The other coach said they had 8 and we had 9 and we had a better starting 5 so if they could get our other kid who was 'average'. I had no desire to fight and again, I agreed that we had the strongest 5 so I agreed to their requests.

 

[Chadstroma]

PART 2
That had me with the following:
PG- My PG is really likely best suited as a small forward which is where I had him to begin the year but he has good ball handling skills and above all could pass well s o eventually moved him to PG. He was as happy to make a great pass as he is to take a great shot and helped move the offense by both driving and passing. He did a great job all season long after I moved him there. For most of the season, he was our 2nd highest scorer. For some reason my stat guy didn't record assists but there is no doubt he has the most assists on the team. And on top of that at the end of the season he was in a 4 way tie for most steals and was my third best rebounder.

Shooting Guard- This was my PG from last year and started at PG this year. He is a shorter kid but quick, has good ball handling and can shoot. Last year, he was likely our MVP but this year he seemed to keep pressing too hard and had a lot of turnovers and on top of that, his shooting regressed from last year. It clearly was all mental as he would mentally break down after a turnover or missed shot and that would only snowball it all. I moved him to shooting guard and told him that I was hoping this would open him up for more better shots.

Small forward- This was the kid who is a great athlete (big on soccer) and I thought had better basketball skills than he did at the beginning of the year. His shooting was erratic but what really was a problem is he had zero aggressiveness. Always dribbling away from people. Pull up and shoot even if there was an open lane in front of him. Going for layups, if a defender came over he would do a fallaway layup. If he got a rebound on offense, he would immediately dribble out to the 3 point line. And so on. Early in the season, we lost a close game after we were down by 2 and he got a steal. Went down the court and then passed it to absolutely no one (because he panicked) and the ball went out of bounds. I told him that I was going to make him more aggressive if it was the only thing I did all season long. Over the course of the season he improved dramatically in this which I will take the credit for. However, his biggest improvement was in his shooting which was mostly the time his Dad spent with him and the time he spent practicing. He went from being a distant 4th best shooter on the team to being the best mid range shooter on the team (though he was not as good from 3 point line). Easily the most improved player on the team and a big reason why we won the championship in which he scored 16, including the 3 that got us going and a number of those points in transition.

Power forward- This was my son. My son is the youngest on the court, literally being on that line of being in 4th grade instead of 5th grade and we had the choice. The way I describe him in sports is that he is not going to be the fastest on the team but he will be one of the fastest, not the quickest but one of the quickest, not the tallest but one of the tallest, not the strongest but one of the strongest. He is one of the best on ball defenders in the league (perhaps the best, I didn't see anyone we went against that I would say was clearly better). He is aggressive on defense as he lead out team in fouls. All season long, I would give him the assignment of whoever was their best offensive player with some rare exceptions where I felt match up wise we needed to do something different. He guarded everyone from the smallest, quickest kid on the other team to their big guys. Consistently, he would limit or shut down those assignments. He also was our second best rebounder. Offensively, he was just very erratic and not much of a threat. We need to work on that.

Center- I would say he was our MVP this year. He had our highest scoring game of the season (32 points) was our leading scorer all season and leading rebounder all season as well. I don't think he gave up any height on anyone he played against all season long and he isn't all height and bones with some heft to him. A massively hard matchup for most teams we faced. Though not quick or fast, he does have athletic ability and can shoot as well. We used him in low post 95% of the time but he actually can shoot pretty well. In fact, in a tournament, he won a "shootout" award where they had them shoot from the blocks, elbows, free throw line and top of the key- he hit all 6 shots. He got a lot of points from being "hack a shaq'ed" and going to the free throw line... but unlike Shaq, could actually hit those free throws. My big challenge to him is to work on conditioning this off season. If he can continue to increase that (he improved through the season) he wil be dangerous moving forward. If not, he won't be able to play as much with the high tempo I believe we will need to do in Jr High.

6th Man- A good kid with lots of energy. He has potential but the biggest issue with him is what I call 'happy feet'. His feet seemingly go in different directions based on their own whims at time. He can actually score when open but also would take some shots out of his range when he got the ball and immediately heaved it up. On defense, he was a liability as no matter how many times I would tell him, he would line up between his defender and the ball and then lose track of his man. Being a smaller kid, he would not get as much rebounds as well.

Bench- My two boys on my bench.... good kids with good hearts but if they weren't the two least skilled kids in the league, they certainly are right up there among those who would be. Catching the ball is a struggle for them. Shooting, even under the basket and open, was a struggle as well. Defensively, they were a basket waiting to happen if their defender just moved spots. In our blow outs, without my directing the team to do so, the boys would try to get the ball to them for them to score. One of them did score 4 points (in the same game).

This is the last year of 'developmental' league where if there are multiple teams, they are to be split roughly evenly in as much as talent goes. Our grade had three teams. Almost all other schools had 1 or 2 teams. Next year is tryouts with A and B teams. Our A team will be a tough one for sure. We have both top end talent and depth. There will be a couple of boys who could play in the A league but will just not make the cut (it will be interesting to see how that shapes up). There are also going to be some really good teams from other schools. There will be more than a couple of teams that can match up their starting 5 with ours but they won't have near the depth as we do. The one team that will have the depth as we do will not have the top end talent. If I coach the A team, we will try to run the other teams into the ground. Full court press all game, man to man defense, push the ball on fast break as often as we can and run a motion offense. I can rotate fresh legs in and out of the game all game long while the other teams will have to either let their stars get tired out or bring in the their bench which we can take advantage of. I don't know if I will coach the A team both of the other HC's have sons that will make A but I do think because of the success we have had, I will likely get that nod.

It has been a great year. Fun. Rewarding. Meaningful. I love coaching these boys.

 

[Chadstroma]

I am looking forward to the new year. Tryouts will be soon (next two-three weeks... might depend on how football playoffs go for our varsity and JV teams). I have not been given the official anointment as the HC of the A team but I do think it will happen. Pretty much everyone (parents and kids) basically expects me to be the A team HC. Several instances of parents saying something like "Chad will coach the A team" (to other parents) or "We hope our son plays for you on A" kind of comments. My son told me that all the boys expect me to be A team and have made comments about it.... one kind of irking me a bit which was that the only reason my son will make A is because I will coach it. I get it because he is not an offensive powerhouse and kids tend to look at ball handling/shooting as who is good or not while as I coach, I actually value defense and rebounding more. My son is a good rebounder and in my honest opinion, the best defender of the league. If I wasn't his father, I would want him on the A team without doubt. The other two HC coaches both have boys that will be on A team but I don't think either really cares about being HC and I know one likely prefers not to coach at all if he can get out of it. On top of that, in 4th grade, I coached the team to a league championship and then in 5th grade with a different roster, coached to another league championship and two tournament championships along with pretty solid overall records. The other teams were not as successful each of those years. Finally, I made it very clear that I wanted to be the HC. So, all signs point to me being appointed the A team HC.

I have been trying to figure out how many kids would be playing this year so I could try to figure out how many teams (2 or 3) and how many on each team. I was tracking it pretty well.... 1 kid who played the previous year transferred out and we had two boys who will play transfer in from our 26 total boys last year. I was told that 3 boys who played last year were not going to play this year because they have opted to play club volleyball instead. So, I had us at 24. I saw the AD Sunday at my daughters basketball game and told him that by my count we had 24, he said we had 25... so either one of the 3 is actually playing both volleyball and basketball or a new kid signed up (who I would have no idea who that would be) I think that most likely means a 9 man A team and two 8 man B teams. Having two B teams kind of sucks because the talent has to be spread out between them instead of like B1 and B2. If we just had a B team, they likely would dominate the B league as well as our A team being the favorites.

I had sent the AD an email, basically letting him know that I could HC both my boys teams (as my little guy is in 3rd and that starts basketball for him too) and then told him my preference for having at least 10 on A team if possible and then listed out who I thought was the A team.... giving him 9. There is prob 13 or so who could play A level. So, with the number of kids signed up, I expect a roster of 9. Maybe, if he really wants to give me what I want, he could to 11 and then 7 on each B since the B teams can exchange players during the season. A can call up someone from B if needed but no one on A can play on a B team. I do expect the 9, 8 and 8 rosters though.

Even though most are still playing on the football team, I have had several ask me about basketball, so the kids are amped up as well. I think they think I will pick the rosters which isn't true at all, the AD brings in outside coaches, often staff from the local HS, to do the evaluations so then the AD takes those evaluations and then fine tunes it (like if a kid can not try out due to injury or out of town or whatever else). The AD does it like this to try to limit any amount of drama that comes from parents that their kid doesn't make A or some other kid makes A with accusations of favoritism or politics or whatever. I feel bad for the 4 or 5 kids that will miss the A team cut that could play that level but the good news for them is that they will be stars on their B teams and get tons of playing time.

Can not wait.

 

[Chadstroma]

I got the roster for my 3rd grade team today.

Tryouts for the 6th grade team are Tuesday. Confirmed number of players for A is 9 and then two B teams of 8. I talked to one of my assistant coaches from last year today about it and he agreed with me on who the 9 should be. My son asked me today which team I would be coaching and I told him that it depended on if he made A or not. He said "I got you Dad." The kid is a little too cocky. Him not making the A would not be the worst thing in the world, he could use a little humbling but with Football ending Sunday and tryouts scheduled, people are getting excited about basketball season for the school.

My old assistant did tell me that he heard one of the coaches from one of other teams actually did want it, or at least he heard through the grapevine. My impression from talking to that coach was that he would prefer to actually not coach. However, this coach is on the Athletic Board (actually both of the other HC's for our grade are on the Athletic Board but one of them is pretty laid back, I don't think he cares one way or another) so maybe I get bumped. Or maybe my kid doesn't make A, that is possible. If they don't have a premium on defense and rebounding- he could miss out but I think he will make A. So, in my favor.... a 'winning' team in 3rd grade (though there were no official standings or playoffs), a league championship in 4th grade and a league championship plus two tournament championships in 5th grade- most everyone seems to take it for granted, from parents to kids, that I will coach A. Against me, the other potential HC's are on the Athletic Board, I am already head coaching with one of the 3rd grade teams and my son could conceivably not make the A team to begin with. I am probably as nervous about it as the kids when they tryout.

 

[Chadstroma]

The A team and B teams were posted today. My son did not make the A team. Now, I would not say that he was an absolute lock to make it and I was not at the tryouts but my son said he had a good tryout. In my honest opinion, my son was the best defender not just in his class but the league. He was also the second best rebounder on our (championship) team as well.

My two thoughts on this are first, defense is harder to try out and show than ball handling and shooting where my son would be 'average' in. He does not look as fluid in ball handling or shooting as well which hurts the 'eye' test.

The second thing is that I have to wonder, though I have no information to base this on other than speculation, is that as I mentioned in the earlier post, I was told that one of the other Head Coaches- who is also on the Athletic Board, wanted to be the HC of A. I am wondering if in order to avoid an issue with who would be the HC.... the coach that has lead his team to the best record over three years, two championships over two years and two tournament championships or the coach that is on the Athletic Board. Everyone.... I mean EVERYONE already expected me to be the HC of the A team. All the kids and all the parents. On top of that, you would have all three past HC's on the same team and really only one coach (other than me) that could step up as a HC. If my son was deemed to be on the 'bubble' then maybe it made political and staffing sense to bump him and me down.

I just talked to my old assistant coach, whose son is the other player that that I think should have been on A but is not and two bubble players.... that I would say could play A but were not in my top 10.... is on our B team. He is pissed. He basically just told me that he is going to pull his son since he is already playing club basketball. If that happens, I end up with a short staffed team (7 players) and my other A level payer leaving. So, I would be left with 1 A level player who I might end up forcing as my PG but it really not a PG, five kids that are solid B players but none have any ball handling ability (thus forcing my son into that role) and then one kid that is one of the least skilled kids in the entire league system. Geez.

I really wanted to coach that A team. So I admittedly am struggling with that. I feel like I poured more into the program than any other coach and had success and developed my players more so than anyone else. I am very competitive so I naturally wanted to lead that team to another championship. Emotionally, I am having thoughts like "well, shoot, I will pull my son too... why spend my time coaching a couple of kids that don't even want to play basketball.... I don't even know why they are still playing to be honest. Another one is why not just decline being the coach. Another one is that I really think if I had the team I wanted (my son and the other kid with the rest of the A team) we could win a championship. I don't think they will now. I do think that is my honest opinion but the part that is emotional about it is the 'good' kind of feeling.

I am not usually this reactive. I am usually laid back and what it is is what is is and work harder if you don't like it. But this is really affecting me. I think part of that is that next year and their 8th grade year, the A team HC is taken over by the AD. So, this was my one and only chance to coach that A team and most of those kids (7 of them) on that team I have coached (and developed) either all three years or two or one year so I really wanted to work with them again.

The good news is is that my son seems fine with it. I mean, he is not happy and bummed but also not distraught or broken up about it.

 

[Instinctive]

Sucks Chad. Sorry GB.

 

[Chadstroma]

Sucks Chad. Sorry GB.

I am mad at myself for handling it like I am... it is JR High basketball but still, I can't not feel the way I feel.

I think the thing that is really getting to me is believing this is about politics with the Athletic Board member getting the HC spot.

I did just hear that 3 families (2 of which their sons actually made A) have sent emails to the AD pissed that my son and the other kid didn't make it and I am not coaching A.

 

[Gally]

I did just hear that 3 families (2 of which their sons actually made A) have sent emails to the AD pissed that my son and the other kid didn't make it and I am not coaching A.

Seems like they went about this in the opposite order of how it should have gone. Meaning, typically you have a HC and they decide who is on their team. Not create a team and then assign a HC based on who is on the team. I have never seen anything work that way before. Just bass-ackwards.

Who created the teams if there wan't a HC doing it?

 

[Chadstroma]

I did just hear that 3 families (2 of which their sons actually made A) have sent emails to the AD pissed that my son and the other kid didn't make it and I am not coaching A.

Seems like they went about this in the opposite order of how it should have gone. Meaning, typically you have a HC and they decide who is on their team. Not create a team and then assign a HC based on who is on the team. I have never seen anything work that way before. Just bass-ackwards.

Who created the teams if there wan't a HC doing it?

Yes, a very fair question which I probably should have explained before.

I need to first establish that this is a private school JR High team which most families at the school are on some part of the 'rich' spectrum. Thus, many are not use to not getting their way or being told no. The structure for both sports that have A and B teams (Basketball and Volleyball) is that the AD brings in outside evaluators, usually coaches from the local public HS, for a couple of hours in a tryout. This is meant to avoid drama and accusations along the lines of favoritism and politics. The evaluations are supposed to be pretty much the final say but I do know that the AD will make adjustments in some circumstances such as a better player having a very poor day or injury. One example of this is with my daughter right now for Volleyball as she recovers from a broken arm and could not try out- she basically has a spot on A reserved for her and then when she gets cleared they will confirm it or not based on how well she plays.... being she is one of the better players on A, there shouldn't be a problem but that shows how adjustments can and are made.

It is very hard because it isn't like a club team where you, like you said, have a coach and then they make choices. Then again, you see crap happen all the time with clubs that are favoritism and politics or flat out money. Almost all of my daughters teammates on the A team for vball play club vball as well. They play on different clubs mostly. My daughter told me that one of her fellow A players, on the lower end of talent, at her club was placed on the lowest level team but then her mother paid the club more money to have her placed on the top level team. All these kids are going to the same school and playing on the different sports teams etc.

I think this set up is probably the best of a group of bad options.

I just cannot get over how off the evaluation is.... if it truly is based on evaluation. But I can't shake that it has to do with the HC job as if my son is on A- literally EVERYONE would expect me to be the HC. I saw a parent tonight of one of the boys from my team last year who is on the other B team. He was begging me to get his son on my team. All the parents would talk to me like I was already the A coach and I had to tell them that that wasn't decided yet and they would basically kind of be like 'yea but you are'. All the boys thought I was automatically the A coach as well. The other guy who apparently wanted to be the HC is heavily involved in the schools sports and is on the Athletic Board. I can't shake that that might be a factor.

I sent an email to the AD. The outline of it was
1) Stating that I have earned the respect that I know bball outlining my 4th grade team having a 20-6-2 record with a league Championship. Then 5th grade with a 30-6-1 record, again a Championship and then two Tournament Championships with the 4th and 5th grade teams having different rosters. Also, for the 3rd grade team, is was purely developmental and technically I was an assistant coach but I took over the practices (because I clearly knew what I was doing and the HC seeded it to me) we were a winning team and I developed the boys.
2) That I did not complain in the past with my daughter even though I disagreed with the team placement in 6th grade but I thought it was 'close enough' that I could see how the evaluations could break the way they broke.
3) Stating that the two boys that made A versus the two that did not was just way off. The two sets of boys lined up... one boy a 'power forward' type like my son and the other two being shooting guard/small forward types. The kid lining up with my son being roughly the same offensively, being no where near capable on defense as my son and my son being the better rebounder. For the other two, it is closer but there is a clear separation from the two.
4) The evaluations are so poor that it is striking in it's ineptitude to the point that I have now decided there is no way that my son will go to the public school now (which previously was undecided about) because if the coaches are that bad then I want nothing to do with them.
5) That I understand this can not be reversed as you can't take a kid you told made A and then demote them to B to fix and error. That in my opinion, it takes the A team from the team to beat to being a mid seed playoff team that will not make it to the Championship game. I wanted to say my piece but that I was now focusing on moving forward, helping the kids succeed in however I am able to do that and support the school.
6) That the father of the other kid is dead set on pulling him from playing. That not only takes a chunk of talent out of my team but puts me at 7 players.... actually, really, 6 because one of the players is an absolute liability. He can barely catch the ball let alone contribute to the team in any way. (good hearted kid who I love but just doesn't have an athletic bone in his body and is easily one of the worst kids skill wise in the league) That the only way I see it making sense is disbanding one of the B teams and having an A team of 12 and a B team of 12 since if they can't take from A and then either B will be short handed and if they don't move someone from the other B to mine.... it will be ugly even in the B league.
7) Wrapped up recognizing this is the crappy part of his job and I didn't want to add to the drama but needed to be honest and say my piece. Reinforcing that I was moving forward from this no matter what.

I have mellowed out emotionally about this from earlier being more upset than I know I should be over 6th grade basketball. My real focus is on helping this boys become good men which is really why I am so passionate about it. It frustrates me that this A team will not be as good as it could be but I will invest in whatever boys I end up with to help them and focus on that. (but still not happy- lol)

 

[Chadstroma]

The other thing that I am disappointed on is that I was really, really, really looking forward to coaching a whole team of boys who really cared. In the past years there were two kids that just did not care at all. With the B team I have, one doesn't care.... one I was told gave up and didn't care (but this was under the coaching of the other coach) and one is very laid back- is happy no matter what happens. I wanted a team of boys committed to playing hard and winning- because then I could use that more to establish life lessons. It is hard when they just do not care.

 

[Gally]

4) The evaluations are so poor that it is striking in it's ineptitude to the point that I have now decided there is no way that my son will go to the public school now (which previously was undecided about) because if the coaches are that bad then I want nothing to do with them.

This seems like an odd thing to bring up to the AD of the private school. Especially when you have suspicions that the tryout was rigged because the other guy wants to be coach. To me, if you really feel that is what happened, then there are all kinds of terribleness happening all over and none of these schools is any good or has any integrity at all.

6) That the father of the other kid is dead set on pulling him from playing.

Not really your place to divulge this info. I would have stayed out of that mess for sure. And in the end if you are trying to develop kids it doesn't really matter who is on your team. In addition if this dad really wanted you as a head coach isn't being "demoted" to Team B really in his best interest and he should be happy that happened. This all seems like a lot of sour grapes on his part. At Jr High level who cares about A-Team or B-Team or whatever. The point is to get the best coaching and development and it sounds like that would be being on your team even if it is Team B.

is disbanding one of the B teams and having an A team of 12 and a B team of 12 since if they can't take from A and then either B will be short handed and if they don't move someone from the other B to mine.

There are two B teams? This is confusing. Are there 36 Jr High kids worthy of being on teams to make up three distinct teams? That is crazy to me if that is what you meant.

7) Wrapped up recognizing this is the crappy part of his job and I didn't want to add to the drama but needed to be honest and say my piece. Reinforcing that I was moving forward from this no matter what.

I get the desire to say all this stuff but I wouldn't be surprised if this backfires on you. From the AD perspective this is a lot to take in and comes off a bit as a headache that I wouldn't want to deal with in any way. I am sure for a private school the guy sees alot worse from many of the parents complaining about little Johnny or little Bobby all the time and it's the nature of his job but the more I could avoid these things the more I would do it. I mean it's Jr High after all. In the grand scheme of things it really isn't worth all this drama.



What is the difference between Team A and B? Do they play against different teams? Do they play less games? I guess I don't really understand the big issue in the grand scheme of things. What I really can't figure out is how there isn't a coach already in place for each of these teams before anything else happens. Even if you have independent evaluators deciding who is on which team, the coaches should be decided well before any of this happens. The coach should be able to express to the evaluators what they are looking for and what they want to do and should have some input into the process. Again, this seems like the worse possible way of doing things and something I have never seen before in all my years of coaching at youth, travel, and high school levels. It just seems like a mess and as you have expressed it has turned into one.

I completely understand your frustration as you never want to see your kids wronged and I am sure I would be just as livid as you are. But I have found that expressing your frustrations to the entity that made these decisions in the first place usually ends up backfiring even if the initial letter made you feel better. I hope things cool down a bit and that some real discussions come to pass to improve the process. I would try and approach it that way if you can. Rather than pointing out specifics about players, coaches, evaluations, etc try and discuss the actual process of how it got to this point and come up with an improvement there. That way you are attacking the process and not the people. That can hopefully take some emotion out of it which can only help.

Good luck.

 

[Chadstroma]

I will start off with after sending the email last night and having time. I am all good now. It is what it is. I will happily coach whatever team I am given to coach. I do still think the evals were horribly wrong and I am disappointed personally because I really wanted to coach those group of boys but I have another group of boys to impact. My son is not overly upset about not making A and I had said before that him not making A might actually be the best thing for him because he is so damn use to just rolling up and being a star player. Not making A could give him some humbling and maybe make him work harder.

This seems like an odd thing to bring up to the AD of the private school. Especially when you have suspicions that the tryout was rigged because the other guy wants to be coach. To me, if you really feel that is what happened, then there are all kinds of terribleness happening all over and none of these schools is any good or has any integrity at all.

This is the JR High and then there is the Public HS (where the coaches brought in are from) and then we have several Catholic HS's in commuting distance- several of which have some of the best sports programs in the state. The AD does not care about where my son goes but my point on that was really to drive home how much the evaluation is when my son is left off and the kid that took his place made it. I honestly try to see the other perspective. For example, with the other kid that made it and the one that did... they are close enough that I can see that. Now, obviously the point people will think is "but it is your son" and yes, I understand but I do a good job (I think) of evaluating my kids. If anything, I have tended to under value them. Two years ago, I would have said my son was NOT an A team player but his defense developed to what was, as I have said, the best defense I had seen from any team and a crucial piece on why we won like we did. The team that has, without debate, the best player in the league and usually smokes most teams.... we were up on them double digits right up to the point that my son got in foul trouble and I had to take him out. I had him assigned to that player one on one in M2M with only rotating help if he got beat. He went out and we got spanked. (as an example). Again, my point on bringing that up was how badly I think they are off on the evaluation.

Not really your place to divulge this info.

I wouldn't have brought it up if not for two things: 1) I know that it has already been communicated for a fact. 2) I wanted to get out ahead of it before the coaches are all contacted today. If he indeed does not play (which I put at a 95% chance because his father is extreme in that way plus he had club ball to play anyways) then that takes it 9 players on A (you are not going to demote a kid from A to B- that would be horrible and unfair) then 8 on one B and 7 on the other. 7 is hard to play with for a season even more so when one of the kids misses a lot because he doesn't really care and when he is there is a liability on the court. Objectively, the only thing that makes sense to me is to disband one B team and make 12 on A and 12 on B. That would get more complicated if he distributes the coaching staff to all three teams.

And in the end if you are trying to develop kids it doesn't really matter who is on your team. In addition if this dad really wanted you as a head coach isn't being "demoted" to Team B really in his best interest and he should be happy that happened. This all seems like a lot of sour grapes on his part. At Jr High level who cares about A-Team or B-Team or whatever. The point is to get the best coaching and development and it sounds like that would be being on your team even if it is Team B.

This is the father of the other kid that I think should be on A and was placed on B. It is 100% sour grapes. He pulled him from playing soccer last year because he didn't like how the league was run and the coaches and etc. His father is extreme like that which is why I am confident he will, in fact, pull his kid. I am all in on coaching who I got- yes, disappointed because I wanted to coach a whole team that cares but I will do what I can with what I got. I will pour myself into the kids.

There are two B teams? This is confusing. Are there 36 Jr High kids worthy of being on teams to make up three distinct teams? That is crazy to me if that is what you meant.

All the sports are- if you sign up you are on a team. Up to 5th grade it is 'equal time' and teams are split to be equal on talent level. From 6th to 8th it is tryouts for A and B teams. (most grades only have an A and B- we happen to have a largely class of boys than normal) So, if you signed up, you will be on a team. Jr High is a play to win so playing time is not guaranteed. So, yes, 3 teams. No, not all kids are 'worthy' of being on a team skills wise. By league rules, if you have more than one B team then the B teams have to be split 'evenly' talent wise.

I get the desire to say all this stuff but I wouldn't be surprised if this backfires on you. From the AD perspective this is a lot to take in and comes off a bit as a headache that I wouldn't want to deal with in any way. I am sure for a private school the guy sees alot worse from many of the parents complaining about little Johnny or little Bobby all the time and it's the nature of his job but the more I could avoid these things the more I would do it. I mean it's Jr High after all. In the grand scheme of things it really isn't worth all this drama.

I think I have a pretty good relationship with the AD. I am, for the good or bad, someone who can't act like everything is good when it is not. I am not fake. I am passionate to the point that this will bother me. Now that I have said what I said, I am good... I can focus on moving forward. Coaching the boys and supporting the school/program. It very well could blow up in my face but if I didn't it would be worse on me. This is my way of 'let it go... let it go!' for the good or bad of it.

What is the difference between Team A and B? Do they play against different teams? Do they play less games?

They play in the different levels of the leagues. A team plays in the A division of the league and B(s) play in the B league. So, it is basically difference in level of competition.

this seems like the worse possible way of doing things and something I have never seen before in all my years of coaching at youth, travel, and high school levels.

In all of those teams this would be an absolute trainwreck for sure and would not make any sense. If there was a coach appointed and then the team picked- there would be even more drama (I know because in the past they did things like that). Who coaches which team? If the coaches son really an A player or there just because of the coach? Did this kid get on this team because these families are very close? This father and that father dislike each other, of course that one didn't make the team. On and on. Youth and club- you try out and we pick. Don't like it, go somewhere else. HS, the coaches are the coaches and they choose their teams. It is what it is. The only way that I can see it work would be if there was a perm coach for Jr High. The AD actually takes over HC for the 7th and 8th grade A boys A teams but 6th is still one of the parents. I actually had the thought about approaching him later *years later as my kids age out of the school* about me taking the HC of the 6th team largely to avoid these type of things and then I can continue to coach which I do love doing.

I would try and approach it that way if you can. Rather than pointing out specifics about players, coaches, evaluations, etc try and discuss the actual process of how it got to this point and come up with an improvement there

I do think I did a good job in my email of just stating what I thought and why. I did not attack the AD at all and the only attacking I did was on the coaches that did the evaluation. Now if he agrees with that eval then he could be offended but I would say that to his face if he told me he thought that kid was better than my son (tactfully though). I waited to the evening for me to cool off a bit and I re-read through keeping in mind the tone I wanted- which was 'this is wrong, it stinks, but now that I said that, moving forward lets make this work' There is no doubt that my email will be the least aggressive email that he will get from at least the 3 families I know that have emailed him upset. I doubt anyone else is upset enough to email but I do know those three did, the one whose son was put on B that I don't think should have been and two families whose sons are on A but agree that is horribly wrong evaluations and want me coaching A. These families are all wealthy movers that have told me about how they got things done in the past (one going to the Archdiocese to get it overturned after the Principal and Priests declined... I was sitting listneing thinking ). So in comparison, my email should be welcomed.

 

[Gally]

Who coaches which team? If the coaches son really an A player or there just because of the coach? Did this kid get on this team because these families are very close? This father and that father dislike each other, of course that one didn't make the team. On and on. Youth and club- you try out and we pick. Don't like it, go somewhere else. HS, the coaches are the coaches and they choose their teams. It is what it is. The only way that I can see it work would be if there was a perm coach for Jr High. The AD actually takes over HC for the 7th and 8th grade A boys A teams but 6th is still one of the parents. I actually had the thought about approaching him later *years later as my kids age out of the school* about me taking the HC of the 6th team largely to avoid these type of things and then I can continue to coach which I do love doing.

These are school teams. Dad's should no longer be coaching these teams. That is the overall crux of this problem. I am sure the school has money (private school) to pay for a permanent coach. Heck, just use one of the PE teachers if you are in a pinch.

My son's Junior High (public 7th and 8th grade) had a permanent coach. It wasn't a parent chosen at random after the teams were decided. That just is all kinds of awful. Dad's should never be chosen as the random coach if at all possible to avoid. This isn't daddy ball anymore.

 

[Chadstroma]

Who coaches which team? If the coaches son really an A player or there just because of the coach? Did this kid get on this team because these families are very close? This father and that father dislike each other, of course that one didn't make the team. On and on. Youth and club- you try out and we pick. Don't like it, go somewhere else. HS, the coaches are the coaches and they choose their teams. It is what it is. The only way that I can see it work would be if there was a perm coach for Jr High. The AD actually takes over HC for the 7th and 8th grade A boys A teams but 6th is still one of the parents. I actually had the thought about approaching him later *years later as my kids age out of the school* about me taking the HC of the 6th team largely to avoid these type of things and then I can continue to coach which I do love doing.

These are school teams. Dad's should no longer be coaching these teams. That is the overall crux of this problem. I am sure the school has money (private school) to pay for a permanent coach. Heck, just use one of the PE teachers if you are in a pinch.

My son's Junior High (public 7th and 8th grade) had a permanent coach. It wasn't a parent chosen at random after the teams were decided. That just is all kinds of awful. Dad's should never be chosen as the random coach if at all possible to avoid. This isn't daddy ball anymore.

This is a small school. Basically, the entire school (pre-K to 8th grade) is the same size WITH the Church as the public elementary school across the street that is K through 2nd. The families that send their kids there are wealthy but the school isn't. (Catholic Private School)

There is one PE coach for the school (the AD). There really is no staff to have permanent coach. Football has permanent staffs for each of the levels: Varsity (7/8 grades), Jr Varsity (5/6 grades) and Bandit (3/4 grades). At the Jr Varsity and Bandit- they are all Dads of kids in the school but will stay at those levels. Varsity, I am not 100% sure of the full structure but about half of the coaches don't have any kids and may never have had any kids at the school. The AD runs the Cross Country and Track and Field teams. Basketball is parents coaching from 3rd to 6th, then 7th and 8th the AD takes the HC over for the A teams while B teams are parents. All other sports are parents coaching.

All the Catholic Private Schools in our area of the Chicago area have similar structures.

Some public schools have some sports programs but from what I have seen it is all volunteer parents ran. I have not had any interaction with any public schools at the Jr High level so I don't know how they are generally ran.

It is an imperfect world. Overall, with my daughter in her 8th, my son in 6th and my youngest starting sports in 3rd- It has been overwhelmingly positive and good experience all around. This is the outlier but yes, in a perfect world, hire coaches and go from there. Again, it was a big reason I had the thought of offering to be that perm coach for 6th A team after my kids cycle through the school. It would help the program, keep me in coaching youth and involved in the game and help avoid drama. But we work with what we got.

 

[Chadstroma]

Drama update:

The father of the other player that I think should be on A has been basically talking to everyone he can.... the AD, the principal, the President of the Athletic Board, prob more... I would not be surprised if he went to the Priest and Archdiocese by now. I tried to pull him back a bit but that is no easy task. A guy who owns several companies and is well off and does not like to be told no. He did say that he was going to leave it up to his son on whether or not he played on the B team. The problem is that our team is screwed whether he stays or not (explain why if he leaves how it screws us later). If he stays, he is on a club team. That club team has 3 other players on it that are on A. In the past, the club team actually would work around our game schedule since they mostly pick and choose what tournaments etc that they play in and our league games are set in stone. They will do that again this year but they will obviously do it with the A team schedule and there is no way that they will work around both A and B teams schedules so, if he stays, he will miss a ton of games.... my guess would be about half if not more.

I asked my son what the boys were saying about the teams. His good friend that is one that made it that I don't think should have said he was surprised and didn't think he would make it (and then teased my son as boys do about making it and him not). Another boy on the A team told my son that they won't win because of them not being on the team. And then the father of the other boy told me that one of the boys (our team MVP last season) doesn't want to play for A now and wants to 'boycott' it and go to B and that he will bring two of the other starters with him. Though that wouldn't do any good because they would break those boys up between the two B teams so they wouldn't play together. Though it would be interesting who they would call up. If those boys did that then no way I would let my son go up to the A team and the same for the other. If I had the chance to talk to that boy, I would tell him to continue to play A, do his best and continue to develop his game. But essentially, even the boys (some at least) that made A are upset about it and think it makes them less of a team. I hate that. And like I told the AD last night in another return email (I will get to his email in a bit) I am not vindictive. I don't want to see those boys not do well. I much rather be wrong and be told "I told you so" even if we suffer through a miserable season (which is not unlikely).

From the original posting of the teams, the coaches of the teams were supposed to be contacted yesterday. I have not been contacted about that. I am not 100% sure what that means. Most likely, he is holding off because he knows he may need to move things around but potentially because he is not going to have me coach. The AD did respond to my email with an email last night which at the end he stated "I will get back to you about teams. We will not combine any teams. As of now things will be staying the same" which tells me that if that other player opts to not play this season.... our team is totally screwed and it will be a rough season. I would have 7 players on roster but really only 6 that can contribute in any fashion. No ball handlers (my son being the best but he would be fish out of water at PG but I will be forced to have him there). All three 'hefty' boys in the grade on the team and another who is 'stocky' and then one more who hates running (which is hilarious since I am known for tough practices with lot's of running involved) And this will be the case even if the other player plays because he will be making guest appearances throughout the season.
As I mentioned, he replied to my email. Instead of copy and paste, I will summarize:
He first explains how he does the tryouts. He runs drills and the Freshman HS coaches do their evaluations. Half way through, he checks in with them and then will tell them boys to keep an eye on. Then at the end, they give him who their team is. He made it a point to say that these coaches are coming off a 31-5 season and I can think that they are not good but he disagrees.
He then discusses my sons tryout. Points out the weak points of his game which are ball handling and shooting when pressured. Essentially, no poo dude. My son is a power forward. He can guard anyone from a PG to a C but his job isn't to take the ball from the perimeter and create offense. He then agrees that his defense was 'solid'. He then refers to last year about him getting in foul trouble (which is true in the beginning of the season but coached him through it and mid and end of the year, it was not an issue and he was pretty much dang near lock down on whomever I put him on. He said he was bodying and would pick up a lot of fouls.... well, yea, the kid was being overly aggressive because he is trying his hardest and trying to make an impression. Now, in comparison (he didn't compare kids and would not talk about any other boys which is fair) but the kid who made it is not able to play defense at all unless it is another power forward type that is slow. His offense is not better than my sons though I would put them about the same (I was told from the boys that he air balled three times in the tryouts) and my son will out rebound him as well. Who do you want, the kid that has no flexibility and the same skillset or the kid that is overly aggressive with the physical ability to dominate in defense when he is properly coached? It seems like a pretty 'duh' thing to me.

He then talks about there is a lot of talented boys in the grade and that he is 'very tired' of people bringing up last year because they don't rate players on what they did last season (how dumb is that?) But I guess he forgot about bringing up last year as a way to knock my son. He then goes on to say he has coached 7 years at the school with no losing records including two B teams during that time. He has worked with college coaches and worked for the Bulls doing camps. And that "I believe my knowledge of basketball goes a lot farther than most of these parents combined." which I think is a tactful way of saying "I know more about basketball than you"

In closing he brings up how he is disappointed about people thinking it is about politics because the Assistant Principles daughter was on A one year in Vball and then put on B the next year. The funny thing about that is I forgot about it. My daughter is in the same grade as her and that year my daughter was placed on the B team for Vball and this girl made A. ALL season long, every time I saw the A girls, I would be thinking "How? I don't get it. She is not good at all." I didn't complain. I didn't even consider politics. But she should never have been on A and it was glaring. I heard it from others as well.

My reply email was thanking him for his time, making it clear I was not convinced that it was politics and didn't think he was the type to do that. I told him I could reply back with more debate and break down his points etc but there would be not positives to come out of it and I was focused on moving forward and doing whatever I can to impact the boys I have and hope the best for the others. I really, really, really wanted to point out the inconsistencies, the fact that if that was the knock on my boy- the football stud that made A who is very raw for basketball with a horrible shot and extremely aggressive defense (with lots of fouls) would be the same issues about my son but more so. And on and on and on. But like I told him, I had to tell myself, there is no benefit in it for my son, the other boys or the program.

I did ask though for confirmation that if the other kid does not play, he is still keeping all the teams as they are now.

 

[Chadstroma]

Next Update:

I am indeed HC for the 6th grade team as well. However, the AD might bar the other Dad from coaching at the school. He is thinking about it. I told him that I laid out the expectation that we are moving forward and if his son and him were going to be involved that they needed to be all in, positive and give every effort like it was the A team. He agreed and did tell me his son was paying. I told the AD that I thought it would go a long way to calm the waters and that I had a decent amount of influence over that Dad as he respects me as a coach and we are friendly. I am awaiting his 'thinking about it'. In the meantime, they did a switch of players between our two B teams which upgrades me talent wise.... as I told him if that kid plays he will still miss a significant amount of time. This helps even that out.

Everything else seems to be settling down as well. Practices start this week.

 

[Chadstroma]

Last update on the drama:

The AD allowed the other Dad to be my assistant. We held our first practice yesterday and second today. The first practice kind of scared me. One of the first drills I ran was a weave. This is something my boys on my team last year had pretty much down. It was a total trainwreck. To the point, I decided to stop it and line them up on either side of the key and run a drill I do with the 3rd and a little bit with 4th graders on the basics of passing. I had them run a 4 on 4 scrimmage and it was pretty rough as well. Today, I ran the weave again and there was tremendous improvement so that kind of made me sigh some relief. I ran some dribbling drills and then had them do another 4 on 4 (I only have 8) which is really mostly about me getting a feel for how the kids look in games and where I can move who where. My biggest issue, which I may have solved, is that my two best ball handlers are my son and the other kid that I think should be on A but wasn't. However, PG is really out of position for both of them, my son is misses on too many passes and the other kid is not a very willing passer. They both will spend times at that spot during the season for sure and it hopefully will aid in their development being out of position and forced to stretch their skills but to win, I was hoping I could find someone else at PG. I think I might have found that in one of the boys. He is a heftier kid (not too big but has some weight on him and played offensive line for the football team). He does need to improve his dribbling but he does have some ability to drive but most importantly, he is a very willing passer, sees the court well and makes some very good passes. If that is in place then I think I have a good idea of what my starting 5 will look like and then I can start deciding what offense to install. I tend to favor fast paced offenses but I don't think my team can hold up on that nor is it their strength. I have 3 of our football teams starting offensive linemen and one defensive lineman (not counting my son who spent time on the Dline) and one reserve Oline/Dline. So... they are a bit on the hefty side and not exactly the best conditioned boys in the grade. Defense will be rough for a bit in the season as I run M2M and I think most of the boys are use to running a zone. There will be a lot of work to do there. I am willing to give up some ground on defense for their long term development plus it likely will be a competitive advantage once they start 'getting it' and I am sure pretty much every team in the B league will run a zone defense.

The boys seem to be excited. At the start of each season, I present the boys with a choice: they decide how I coach them. I can be all about having fun and make practices a blast and then we can hope we win some games or they can commit to working hard at practice and at home- I will push them and coach them and we will win more games and have more success and have fun while we win. It is really just a mechanism to get the buy in of the boys as most boys are always automatically going to pick winning. They are more willing to work harder and not complain because it is their choice. My reputation as a coach is that I work the boys hard and I win. One of the boys came up after practice (one of the offensive linemen) and said that he wants to get in better condition so he was happy that he was on my team.

I had our first practice with our 3rd graders this week as well. They are a bunch of 3rd graders so they we will focus a lot on basics and building up a foundation for them. I think we should likely do well with that team. Some athletes, some height and really no kids that seem to be a huge liability. I will be using this platform to get more of these 3rd graders signed up for football next year. lol

 

[Navin Johnson]

Last update on the drama:

The AD allowed the other Dad to be my assistant. We held our first practice yesterday and second today. The first practice kind of scared me. One of the first drills I ran was a weave. This is something my boys on my team last year had pretty much down. It was a total trainwreck. To the point, I decided to stop it and line them up on either side of the key and run a drill I do with the 3rd and a little bit with 4th graders on the basics of passing. I had them run a 4 on 4 scrimmage and it was pretty rough as well. Today, I ran the weave again and there was tremendous improvement so that kind of made me sigh some relief. I ran some dribbling drills and then had them do another 4 on 4 (I only have 8) which is really mostly about me getting a feel for how the kids look in games and where I can move who where. My biggest issue, which I may have solved, is that my two best ball handlers are my son and the other kid that I think should be on A but wasn't. However, PG is really out of position for both of them, my son is misses on too many passes and the other kid is not a very willing passer. They both will spend times at that spot during the season for sure and it hopefully will aid in their development being out of position and forced to stretch their skills but to win, I was hoping I could find someone else at PG. I think I might have found that in one of the boys. He is a heftier kid (not too big but has some weight on him and played offensive line for the football team). He does need to improve his dribbling but he does have some ability to drive but most importantly, he is a very willing passer, sees the court well and makes some very good passes. If that is in place then I think I have a good idea of what my starting 5 will look like and then I can start deciding what offense to install. I tend to favor fast paced offenses but I don't think my team can hold up on that nor is it their strength. I have 3 of our football teams starting offensive linemen and one defensive lineman (not counting my son who spent time on the Dline) and one reserve Oline/Dline. So... they are a bit on the hefty side and not exactly the best conditioned boys in the grade. Defense will be rough for a bit in the season as I run M2M and I think most of the boys are use to running a zone. There will be a lot of work to do there. I am willing to give up some ground on defense for their long term development plus it likely will be a competitive advantage once they start 'getting it' and I am sure pretty much every team in the B league will run a zone defense.

The boys seem to be excited. At the start of each season, I present the boys with a choice: they decide how I coach them. I can be all about having fun and make practices a blast and then we can hope we win some games or they can commit to working hard at practice and at home- I will push them and coach them and we will win more games and have more success and have fun while we win. It is really just a mechanism to get the buy in of the boys as most boys are always automatically going to pick winning. They are more willing to work harder and not complain because it is their choice. My reputation as a coach is that I work the boys hard and I win. One of the boys came up after practice (one of the offensive linemen) and said that he wants to get in better condition so he was happy that he was on my team.

I had our first practice with our 3rd graders this week as well. They are a bunch of 3rd graders so they we will focus a lot on basics and building up a foundation for them. I think we should likely do well with that team. Some athletes, some height and really no kids that seem to be a huge liability. I will be using this platform to get more of these 3rd graders signed up for football next year. lol

Oof. We aren't allowed to zone until u18

 

[Chadstroma]

Last update on the drama:

The AD allowed the other Dad to be my assistant. We held our first practice yesterday and second today. The first practice kind of scared me. One of the first drills I ran was a weave. This is something my boys on my team last year had pretty much down. It was a total trainwreck. To the point, I decided to stop it and line them up on either side of the key and run a drill I do with the 3rd and a little bit with 4th graders on the basics of passing. I had them run a 4 on 4 scrimmage and it was pretty rough as well. Today, I ran the weave again and there was tremendous improvement so that kind of made me sigh some relief. I ran some dribbling drills and then had them do another 4 on 4 (I only have 8) which is really mostly about me getting a feel for how the kids look in games and where I can move who where. My biggest issue, which I may have solved, is that my two best ball handlers are my son and the other kid that I think should be on A but wasn't. However, PG is really out of position for both of them, my son is misses on too many passes and the other kid is not a very willing passer. They both will spend times at that spot during the season for sure and it hopefully will aid in their development being out of position and forced to stretch their skills but to win, I was hoping I could find someone else at PG. I think I might have found that in one of the boys. He is a heftier kid (not too big but has some weight on him and played offensive line for the football team). He does need to improve his dribbling but he does have some ability to drive but most importantly, he is a very willing passer, sees the court well and makes some very good passes. If that is in place then I think I have a good idea of what my starting 5 will look like and then I can start deciding what offense to install. I tend to favor fast paced offenses but I don't think my team can hold up on that nor is it their strength. I have 3 of our football teams starting offensive linemen and one defensive lineman (not counting my son who spent time on the Dline) and one reserve Oline/Dline. So... they are a bit on the hefty side and not exactly the best conditioned boys in the grade. Defense will be rough for a bit in the season as I run M2M and I think most of the boys are use to running a zone. There will be a lot of work to do there. I am willing to give up some ground on defense for their long term development plus it likely will be a competitive advantage once they start 'getting it' and I am sure pretty much every team in the B league will run a zone defense.

The boys seem to be excited. At the start of each season, I present the boys with a choice: they decide how I coach them. I can be all about having fun and make practices a blast and then we can hope we win some games or they can commit to working hard at practice and at home- I will push them and coach them and we will win more games and have more success and have fun while we win. It is really just a mechanism to get the buy in of the boys as most boys are always automatically going to pick winning. They are more willing to work harder and not complain because it is their choice. My reputation as a coach is that I work the boys hard and I win. One of the boys came up after practice (one of the offensive linemen) and said that he wants to get in better condition so he was happy that he was on my team.

I had our first practice with our 3rd graders this week as well. They are a bunch of 3rd graders so they we will focus a lot on basics and building up a foundation for them. I think we should likely do well with that team. Some athletes, some height and really no kids that seem to be a huge liability. I will be using this platform to get more of these 3rd graders signed up for football next year. lol

Oof. We aren't allowed to zone until u18

Oof is right. I personally think it is basketball malpractice to do zone at early ages. 15-17 year olds may be a little too restrictive in my view but from starting to 14ish you should be able to run whatever defense you want and even more so if the rule has been that they have been playing M2M for all the previous years of development. Though I would prefer to err on the side of being too restrictive than having these kids be in zone for years and years from their first teams to HS. I think we are the only team in our leagues at our grade level to have run M2M. Everyone else runs a junk or zone.

I think it needs to be M2M for developmental purposes. As I explained to my nephew last night that is helping coach with me, once you understand how to play defense in M2M then doing a junk or zone is easy. However, if all you have done is zone, it is hard to then be asked to play M2M as M2M should be played. If you have a team that understands M2M defense then I think you can be more creative as they start to get older. My 5th grade team last year which most of the starters had been with my for two or three years, I did introduce a junk defense to them. First, because I was comfortable in their understand and development in playing M2M and then because it was what I think would be best to stop the superstar player in the league that torches everyone. (it was a Triangle and Two junk). We barely played it. We did a couple of games in some tournaments against teams we would not see in our leagues and that was about it. We ended up losing a playoff game (my PG was out sick and lost a close one... if we had him, we would have won without any doubt in my mind) so we didn't get a chance to use it against the best player in the league.

This team.... it will take a lot of time and effort to get them to play M2M correctly. I have zero expectation of using a junk (I really can't see myself ever using a pure zone) with this team and I do expect the possibility of struggling on defense in the early part of the season. If we lose a game or two because of it... so be it.

The funny thing that I noticed, which I was not exactly counting on when I started coaching my older sons team in 3rd through now 6th is that the other teams on offense are so use to zone defenses that with a good M2M defense applied, they often struggle under the pressure (and other than the last two minutes, there is no press, so this is picking them up at half court). On offense, my boys are use to pressure since that is what they get in any scrimmages we do and I teach them how to attack the zone defenses. So, it helps our offense as well.

 

[Chadstroma]

Practice with both teams today. (tired)

3rd grade is 3rd grade. A lot of basics and fundamentals.

6th grade, I am really liking how I am seeing the boys react to my challenging them. One example, I had the boys do wall sits and go as long as they could. Half way through I told them I would give something to the last man standing (or sitting as it were). One kid won which was a bit surprising to me.... but maybe not that I think about it as he is a catcher in baseball so squatting is more natural to him. So, the reward was to not have to run at the end of practice where I line all the boys up. One shoots a free throw- made free throws they do not have to run. Missed, they run a suicide. They kid who won opted to run with the team (mostly, he did sit out one of suicides later). All of the boys seem very intent on getting better and winning. I think the boys that have not been on my teams before feel like they have a real opportunity to win and they are putting their effort into it. Love to see it.

 

[Navin Johnson]

Last update on the drama:

The AD allowed the other Dad to be my assistant. We held our first practice yesterday and second today. The first practice kind of scared me. One of the first drills I ran was a weave. This is something my boys on my team last year had pretty much down. It was a total trainwreck. To the point, I decided to stop it and line them up on either side of the key and run a drill I do with the 3rd and a little bit with 4th graders on the basics of passing. I had them run a 4 on 4 scrimmage and it was pretty rough as well. Today, I ran the weave again and there was tremendous improvement so that kind of made me sigh some relief. I ran some dribbling drills and then had them do another 4 on 4 (I only have 8) which is really mostly about me getting a feel for how the kids look in games and where I can move who where. My biggest issue, which I may have solved, is that my two best ball handlers are my son and the other kid that I think should be on A but wasn't. However, PG is really out of position for both of them, my son is misses on too many passes and the other kid is not a very willing passer. They both will spend times at that spot during the season for sure and it hopefully will aid in their development being out of position and forced to stretch their skills but to win, I was hoping I could find someone else at PG. I think I might have found that in one of the boys. He is a heftier kid (not too big but has some weight on him and played offensive line for the football team). He does need to improve his dribbling but he does have some ability to drive but most importantly, he is a very willing passer, sees the court well and makes some very good passes. If that is in place then I think I have a good idea of what my starting 5 will look like and then I can start deciding what offense to install. I tend to favor fast paced offenses but I don't think my team can hold up on that nor is it their strength. I have 3 of our football teams starting offensive linemen and one defensive lineman (not counting my son who spent time on the Dline) and one reserve Oline/Dline. So... they are a bit on the hefty side and not exactly the best conditioned boys in the grade. Defense will be rough for a bit in the season as I run M2M and I think most of the boys are use to running a zone. There will be a lot of work to do there. I am willing to give up some ground on defense for their long term development plus it likely will be a competitive advantage once they start 'getting it' and I am sure pretty much every team in the B league will run a zone defense.

The boys seem to be excited. At the start of each season, I present the boys with a choice: they decide how I coach them. I can be all about having fun and make practices a blast and then we can hope we win some games or they can commit to working hard at practice and at home- I will push them and coach them and we will win more games and have more success and have fun while we win. It is really just a mechanism to get the buy in of the boys as most boys are always automatically going to pick winning. They are more willing to work harder and not complain because it is their choice. My reputation as a coach is that I work the boys hard and I win. One of the boys came up after practice (one of the offensive linemen) and said that he wants to get in better condition so he was happy that he was on my team.

I had our first practice with our 3rd graders this week as well. They are a bunch of 3rd graders so they we will focus a lot on basics and building up a foundation for them. I think we should likely do well with that team. Some athletes, some height and really no kids that seem to be a huge liability. I will be using this platform to get more of these 3rd graders signed up for football next year. lol

Oof. We aren't allowed to zone until u18

Oof is right. I personally think it is basketball malpractice to do zone at early ages. 15-17 year olds may be a little too restrictive in my view but from starting to 14ish you should be able to run whatever defense you want and even more so if the rule has been that they have been playing M2M for all the previous years of development. Though I would prefer to err on the side of being too restrictive than having these kids be in zone for years and years from their first teams to HS. I think we are the only team in our leagues at our grade level to have run M2M. Everyone else runs a junk or zone.

I think it needs to be M2M for developmental purposes. As I explained to my nephew last night that is helping coach with me, once you understand how to play defense in M2M then doing a junk or zone is easy. However, if all you have done is zone, it is hard to then be asked to play M2M as M2M should be played. If you have a team that understands M2M defense then I think you can be more creative as they start to get older. My 5th grade team last year which most of the starters had been with my for two or three years, I did introduce a junk defense to them. First, because I was comfortable in their understand and development in playing M2M and then because it was what I think would be best to stop the superstar player in the league that torches everyone. (it was a Triangle and Two junk). We barely played it. We did a couple of games in some tournaments against teams we would not see in our leagues and that was about it. We ended up losing a playoff game (my PG was out sick and lost a close one... if we had him, we would have won without any doubt in my mind) so we didn't get a chance to use it against the best player in the league.

This team.... it will take a lot of time and effort to get them to play M2M correctly. I have zero expectation of using a junk (I really can't see myself ever using a pure zone) with this team and I do expect the possibility of struggling on defense in the early part of the season. If we lose a game or two because of it... so be it.

The funny thing that I noticed, which I was not exactly counting on when I started coaching my older sons team in 3rd through now 6th is that the other teams on offense are so use to zone defenses that with a good M2M defense applied, they often struggle under the pressure (and other than the last two minutes, there is no press, so this is picking them up at half court). On offense, my boys are use to pressure since that is what they get in any scrimmages we do and I teach the

Practice with both teams today. (tired)

3rd grade is 3rd grade. A lot of basics and fundamentals.

6th grade, I am really liking how I am seeing the boys react to my challenging them. One example, I had the boys do wall sits and go as long as they could. Half way through I told them I would give something to the last man standing (or sitting as it were). One kid won which was a bit surprising to me.... but maybe not that I think about it as he is a catcher in baseball so squatting is more natural to him. So, the reward was to not have to run at the end of practice where I line all the boys up. One shoots a free throw- made free throws they do not have to run. Missed, they run a suicide. They kid who won opted to run with the team (mostly, he did sit out one of suicides later). All of the boys seem very intent on getting better and winning. I think the boys that have not been on my teams before feel like they have a real opportunity to win and they are putting their effort into it. Love to see it.

We do a fun ft game I call friend or foe. Shooter runs down and back on a miss. Team mates line up in the lane with one side being a miss side and the other a make side. Whoever guesses wrong had to run

 

[MAC_32]

Who coaches which team? If the coaches son really an A player or there just because of the coach? Did this kid get on this team because these families are very close? This father and that father dislike each other, of course that one didn't make the team. On and on. Youth and club- you try out and we pick. Don't like it, go somewhere else. HS, the coaches are the coaches and they choose their teams. It is what it is. The only way that I can see it work would be if there was a perm coach for Jr High. The AD actually takes over HC for the 7th and 8th grade A boys A teams but 6th is still one of the parents. I actually had the thought about approaching him later *years later as my kids age out of the school* about me taking the HC of the 6th team largely to avoid these type of things and then I can continue to coach which I do love doing.

These are school teams. Dad's should no longer be coaching these teams. That is the overall crux of this problem. I am sure the school has money (private school) to pay for a permanent coach. Heck, just use one of the PE teachers if you are in a pinch.

My son's Junior High (public 7th and 8th grade) had a permanent coach. It wasn't a parent chosen at random after the teams were decided. That just is all kinds of awful. Dad's should never be chosen as the random coach if at all possible to avoid. This isn't daddy ball anymore.

What you're describing is not the reality at most private schools, especially K-8. Public alternatives have access to 2-3x the funding and that plays out in teacher compensation as well. If we don't want these to be parent led programs then they needed funded.

 

[Navin Johnson]

Simple zone offense you should be able to run at all levels

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

youtu.be

 

[Navin Johnson]

Simple zone offense you should be able to run at all levels

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

youtu.be

I've also got some more complicated but not too complicated stuff for zones. Also an outstanding run and jump training video which would be great for this age group.

send me an email and let me know if you want anything

 

[golf/beer]

Pardon my ignorance if there's already a host of threads on this topic, but no me gusta the search function here.

Anyways, helping a buddy out with his 3rd and 4th grade basketball teams. From what I can tell thus far, the kids are all about the same in terms of skill... so thinking that the same drills, tips, tricks, etc. will apply to both teams.

Anyone have some experience coaching at this level? Any good drills, tips, tricks? Obviously the key is to have fun, but they all want to improve their skill level.

I've coached at the 7th/8th grade level and that was a different animal. Any input you may have would be appreciated.

Fundamentals first! I always stressed good defense-leads to fast breaks, and blocking out on rebounding. Keep it simple on offense, the old give and go, and maybe 2 plays working off of screens. Make it fun for them.

 

[Chadstroma]

Simple zone offense you should be able to run at all levels

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I ran a 4 out 1 in offense very similar to this last year. Based it off of DDM. We had out motion which was basically this and then for a couple of reasons added some set plays.

I am a little distracted right now but will dive back into that more later. Love picking up new things or new ways of seeing something

 

[Chadstroma]

I decided I will run a 4 out 1 in offense again this year. It will be very similar to what I ran last year which is largely based off of the DDM.

I think I have my starting 5 figured out.... my original thinking was that either my son or the other A level player would be forced into PG even though neither is really a PG. One of the boys, the one that the HC told me basically gave up trying through last season, showed me enough that he is going to start there. He is not fast (played offensive line in football) but he has shown me that he can handle the ball decently well, has some ability to drive but most importantly is a good at and willing to pass. In scrimmages, he made several really nice passes that were both good IQ decisions and delivered the ball where I would want it.

This allows my other A level kid to move to shooting guard where he is more apt to be as someone who naturally should be a 2 or 3. He is a lefty so we will set up with him on the left side to be able to use his dominant hand more often. He is the best shooter we have and can dribble well. He does have a tendency to not give the ball up once he gets it though which was the biggest reason I was favoring my son at PG instead of him until I was comfortable with moving the kid to PG I have there now. However, all three will spend time at PG as my son and this kid will rarely come out of the game unless they are in foul trouble or we are up big while my starting PG will need rest.

My son will move into the 3 spot which he is a bit out of position as he is more of a 4 but the offense I run doesn't have too much difference in 3 and 4 other than started positioning where the 3 gets more looks. Defensively he will get assigned to whatever player on the other team is their biggest threat.

4 can really be one of three different players. There isn't a ton of difference from any of them except one is in better conditioning but makes a lot of mental errors than the other two. I will have to rotate whoever of the two that isn't a starter and change spots to get the PG and these three guys breathers as well as my 5.

My 5 has some potential. I think he has more general athletic and basketball ability that hasn't been unlocked yet. I think compared to most of my other boys who play multiple sports at school and then most play a sport outside of school too... this boy is a transfer to the school and has only played rec ball previously so he hasn't been developed much in athleticism or basketball skillset. My bet is that he will be the Most Improved player by the end of the year.

All of these boys are very engaged and enthusiastic. The conditioning I throw at them is hard for most of them but they are all embracing it and have fully bought into the "get better 1% every day" that I pound the table for.

My 8th has been with me since 3rd grade. He has very little if any natural athleticism. Really doesn't have much passion for sports. He will miss a not insignificant amount of practices and even games for scouts, music, and whatever other random things so sport is clearly not a high on the priority list. He does not ever put all his effort into anything no matter how much I have tried to get him to do it. He is a very smart, good kid with a good heart but sports really isn't his thing either naturally or by desire. His skillset has increased but barely over the years. He still stuggles to catch a pass to him. Being that he is a really smart kid, I can't figure out why he can't follow the most basic responsibilities in an offense. His defense is.... well.... when he is in, I really have 4 players defending. He is, without exaggeration, the least skilled player in the league that I have seen... barely beating out another player on our other B team for that dishonor. I think the only reason he is still playing is because he likes being a part of the team (I am confident he would be just as happy being the equipment manager as he would being a player) and has enjoyed being on my winning teams. From 3rd to 5th, I made a conscious effort to give him just as much of my time as all the other boys to help develop him. I feel like now in Jr High that that has to subside and my attention needs to go to the kids that really want it. I also think that because I have increased how 'hard' I am on the boys as they age up that he is not having as much fun where much more of my focus was on making things fun for everyone. I think Jr High is a transition to HS where it is all about winning and having fun is in the getting better and striving to win. I am not going harder on him but I am not going to go easier on him either. My guess is that he will not play next year. This is something that is not uncommon. 6th grade usually doesn't have a lot of drop off from 5th grade but then from 6th to 7th there is usually a noticeable drop off on returning players then from 7th to 8th there is an increase as the kids want to be part of the 8th grade nights and other things that do special for the 8th graders.

Revisiting the whole A and B teams drama. At least half the parents on the A team are unhappy and at least half of the players on A are unhappy as well about the teams. I say at least half as I have not heard one way or another of others. I also have heard that the two players This includes one of the coaches on A. I am unsure what their structure is, maybe "co-Head Coaches" because on the email list to all the HC's, they are both listed. The two of them are also on the athletic board. I saw them as we crossed paths with our practice ending and theirs starting and I went over and shook their hands. They didn't ignore me after shaking my hand but they were also very much not as warm and friendly as they normally are. It was kind of awkward, so I quickly retreated over to their assistant coach (who was one of mine last year) and talked to him. I wasn't sure what that was all about until I heard that one of them is very unhappy with the rosters and I think maybe they feel bad or other type of feelings that make it awkward. I know the boys that made it that I think should not have based on a 9 man roster were shocked themselves for making it but I have been told that they feel bad and guilty for making it as well. One of the fathers on the other B team is also very unhappy and he is pretty involved in the school sports and is the DC for the Jr Varsity football team. So.... it seems to be a massive failure with even a good amount of players and parents that made the A team not being happy.

I think something has to change on how teams are picked. Right now, the AD brings in outside observers, often coaches from the local public HS and they hold a tryout. It is a one day tryout of 2 hours. The outside coaches rank players as they hold a few drills then some scrimmages of mixed numbers... 3 on 3, 2 on 2, etc. They rank players and the AD then will view those rankings as they progress and ask them to watch certain players if he feels they need their attention. Then they say who they think the best roster is and that is it. However, I do know the AD reserves the the ability to make adjustments for various reasons. The AD is adamant that the previous year isn't part of the consideration which to me is absolutely insane. His position is that kids can work hard or not work hard in off season and that the previous year does not matter. I don't understand that- the better indication of how a player plays is a full season's worth of play in my view. Yes, skillsets can change and that has to be taken into account but you also have to take into account an entire seasons worth of play. Since the AD coaches the 7 and 8 A teams, I am unsure if he even brings in outside coaches for evaluations and may just pick who he wants but he may keep the same format.

My thinking is a couple of possible changes:
1) Find and install a permanent 6 A coach. That coach makes the final decisions on his team. This is just like most organizations run things and how I experienced through my basketball playing days. This isn't perfect either (I got cut from my travel team one year even though I was one of... arguably the best, league all-star... player on the team the previous year and the following year that I returned to the team... the reason given was that I did not try hard enough in tryouts. I suspect, looking back, it was more about the fact that the coach didn't love me as a kid. I realize looking back that he was not a good coach and stunted my basketball growth but back then I just felt things were not done right or good enough and I was the type of kid to not be shy to say something. So, I think I may have let my guard down and didn't put a total 100% in all the tryouts and he used that as an opportunity to cut me) but the coach knows what he wants and what parts each player will play.
2) Maybe some sort of committee of all the coaches that discuss previous year and tryouts. I can see potential issues with this though for potential 'politics' being played.

Since there is so much unhappiness involved and a lot of very vocal parents which are not just the kids that didn't make A but actually from A parents and the kids themselves.... maybe this will push for some sort of change. I don't know.

 

[Navin Johnson]

We run DDM as a base at that level and then put in a handful of sets just in case we are having trouble getting that first advantage and getting the defense in the spin cycle, usually different horns sets. We also put in euro ball screech which is a pretty simple continuity

 

[Chadstroma]

We run DDM as a base at that level and then put in a handful of sets just in case we are having trouble getting that first advantage and getting the defense in the spin cycle, usually different horns sets. We also put in euro ball screech which is a pretty simple continuity

Yes, sounds like what I have been doing. DDM as the base and then add some sets, usually screen heavy. I didn't think about the Euro Ball Screen as a way to add motion that is heavy on screens. I like that, that might be my next offensive install.

 

[Chadstroma]

Ok... not to continue to but....

I ran into a father and son that we have semi-known for several years when our boys were at a basketball clinic together. His son is a VERY good basketball player that is obsessed with basketball. It is his first and only sport and he works on it daily and it shows. The son played on the local club team that some of our my players from last year played on. He brought his son to our Championship game last year. I had no talked to him since that game. He immediately said that he thought my son was the best player on our team. Praised him for his effort and defense and rebounding. Said he would want him on his team every time.... then I told him that he didn't make the A team for our school. He absolutely was dumbfounded. He could not believe it.

He said he was lockdown defense in that game (which he was) and I told him I put him on the other teams best offensive player all season long... from the PG to the big guy... and he shut down or kept them in check all season long, even the best player in the league that lights everyone up (until he got in foul trouble). He said "How would you, no offense, not want a Rodman type player on your team" (which I didn't take offense, because that is exactly what my son is) he even said that him and I should start our own team.

He also wants me to get a membership at the local sportsplex so our sons can train together.... which to me, is very high praise as he knows how good his son is and doesn't want him playing down to anyone.

It literally seems like everyone that knows anything about this thinks this is crazy.

Ok, I will try not to bring this up again. lol but this was good because it was from someone completely outside the school, has good basketball IQ and familiar with some of the players. A good solid perspective that affirms everything I thought.

 

[Navin Johnson]

We run DDM as a base at that level and then put in a handful of sets just in case we are having trouble getting that first advantage and getting the defense in the spin cycle, usually different horns sets. We also put in euro ball screech which is a pretty simple continuity

Yes, sounds like what I have been doing. DDM as the base and then add some sets, usually screen heavy. I didn't think about the Euro Ball Screen as a way to add motion that is heavy on screens. I like that, that might be my next offensive install.

Matt Hackenberg has some good stuff on his YT channel for Euro Ball screen. He calls it wave. Lots of entries, specials, and counters.

 

[Chadstroma]

We run DDM as a base at that level and then put in a handful of sets just in case we are having trouble getting that first advantage and getting the defense in the spin cycle, usually different horns sets. We also put in euro ball screech which is a pretty simple continuity

Yes, sounds like what I have been doing. DDM as the base and then add some sets, usually screen heavy. I didn't think about the Euro Ball Screen as a way to add motion that is heavy on screens. I like that, that might be my next offensive install.

Matt Hackenberg has some good stuff on his YT channel for Euro Ball screen. He calls it wave. Lots of entries, specials, and counters.

I will check it out for sure

 

[Gally]

The AD is adamant that the previous year isn't part of the consideration which to me is absolutely insane. His position is that kids can work hard or not work hard in off season and that the previous year does not matter. I don't understand that- the better indication of how a player plays is a full season's worth of play in my view.

I think there is a happy medium here. I agree with the AD in that last year "doesn't matter" because lots of things change..........especially in that age group. Players physically mature and can vastly improve with off season work to get better or regress if they don't do those things. However, some kids are gamers and don't show well in try out type settings so knowing how a kid plays in a game does have merit.

A good evaluator can tell from year to year if a player has worked to improve their craft and who hasn't. There is also the other side of the coin where parents can ***** and complain if he weights last year's performance to much as well. Say a kid didn't get much play last year and busted his butt all off season to improve but the evaluator still sees the kid from last year and doesn't give him the benefit of the doubt or is tainted by previous experience. It is a fine line for sure.

Generally speaking anything before high school should be a year by year evaluation and the previous year shouldn't hold that much value because kids change so much during these ages that how they are now should be what is considered the most.

I am not there so I am speaking in general terms for the most part based on my experience of evaluating kids as they grow and mature. I am only trying to give you an outside perspective with a possible differing colored lense to look through. I don't think the words the AD is using are incorrect but I have no idea how he is truly implementing those words/views for his evaluations. Again, not having the actual head coach run tryouts and choose his team is the dumbest thing I have heard in a long time. I would not want to coach a team under those circumstances as I generally like to put a team together that will work well together. I also want quality attitudes and guys that work hard and aren't lazy. That sometimes means that slightly better kids may not make the team if they are going to be an overall team problem due to attitude/effort/parents.

Bottom line is your schools situation is a crap show and it helps nobody based on the descriptions you have provided.

 

[Chadstroma]

The AD is adamant that the previous year isn't part of the consideration which to me is absolutely insane. His position is that kids can work hard or not work hard in off season and that the previous year does not matter. I don't understand that- the better indication of how a player plays is a full season's worth of play in my view.

I think there is a happy medium here. I agree with the AD in that last year "doesn't matter" because lots of things change..........especially in that age group. Players physically mature and can vastly improve with off season work to get better or regress if they don't do those things. However, some kids are gamers and don't show well in try out type settings so knowing how a kid plays in a game does have merit.

A good evaluator can tell from year to year if a player has worked to improve their craft and who hasn't. There is also the other side of the coin where parents can ***** and complain if he weights last year's performance to much as well. Say a kid didn't get much play last year and busted his butt all off season to improve but the evaluator still sees the kid from last year and doesn't give him the benefit of the doubt or is tainted by previous experience. It is a fine line for sure.

Generally speaking anything before high school should be a year by year evaluation and the previous year shouldn't hold that much value because kids change so much during these ages that how they are now should be what is considered the most.

I am not there so I am speaking in general terms for the most part based on my experience of evaluating kids as they grow and mature. I am only trying to give you an outside perspective with a possible differing colored lense to look through. I don't think the words the AD is using are incorrect but I have no idea how he is truly implementing those words/views for his evaluations. Again, not having the actual head coach run tryouts and choose his team is the dumbest thing I have heard in a long time. I would not want to coach a team under those circumstances as I generally like to put a team together that will work well together. I also want quality attitudes and guys that work hard and aren't lazy. That sometimes means that slightly better kids may not make the team if they are going to be an overall team problem due to attitude/effort/parents.

Bottom line is your schools situation is a crap show and it helps nobody based on the descriptions you have provided.

I got you. I am always open to challenging my thinking or perspective. That is how we learn and get better.

First, let me say that the two that made the team that displaced my son and the other boy are A level players. The blessing and curse of this class of boys is that they have a number of good athletes and good basketball players. If one or two boys didn't sign up maybe they would have gone 12/12 on A/B or 12/11. The two boys that made it, under my estimation, are the 11th and 12th players. If I was coaching that 12 man team, they would get the least amount of playing time though I would play everyone rotating in fresh legs consistently. Both boys, on the plus side, don't have any huge glaring deficits in their game but they also really do not have any obvious strengths. They are both well rounded but unspectacular players. The type you plug in to give someone a breather but are not going to count on them for anything. Meanwhile, my son is a defensive specialist, that is one of the better rebounders (last year second most on my team where our top rebounder was my big who was the tallest boy on the court all season long) and out hustles everyone else on the court (if there is a loose ball and he is anywhere near it, it is his). The other kid is one of the better shooters in the class.... maybe top 3. I coached him up in being more aggressive and attacking the basket more. He started out the weak point of my starting 5 and honestly, would have been my 12th guy on my list but got more consistent with his shot and learned to go to the basket and by the end of the season he was our second biggest offensive threat on our team. If, I did not have my son and him on the team in our championship game and had the two that are on A now, we would not have won the championship. My son locked down (I don't think he scored at all) their second biggest offensive threat (who may have been their highest scorer through the season as the other teams biggest threat was their PG) and the other kid was our top scorer of the game and really broke them down.

Now, I agree, you can't pick teams based just on last year because yes, at these ages kids have physical changes, can work hard and improve etc. My position is that you can not take a 2 hour tryout as the end all of making a roster. However, just like hiring, the best indication of future performance is past performance. You still have an interview (tryout) but you really want to know what they did before (past performance) so you can make a good decision. Ignoring an entire season previously for a 2 hour tryout.... no one can ever convince me that that makes sense. Now, if a kid clearly is superior in the tryout from what they did the previous year- yes, you discount the previous year but if a player that was clearly superior in the past year seems to have regressed then you need to realize that it could be a down day for them, they are trying too hard, they don't perform well in those circumstances, etc.

The AD gave me feedback on my son on the evaluation. His weak points were not surprising as I know them.... he is open to turning the ball over when driving and he can hit open shots but contested shots often go long. Then he talked about defense saying he uses his body too much and reaches too much. I am not surprised by that because he was trying too hard and trying to make plays. He started off like that to start the year was often in foul trouble but then we coached him and by the end of the year, he was the best defensive player in the league because he wasn't bodying and reaching. If you throw that kid back into a tryout and he knows his defense is how he is likely to make the team, he is going to try to make defensive plays and anyone that knows basketball knows that that is going to be a tendency for a young player to fall into.

I will also note that the evaluators have no knowledge of the players. They don't ever see them play in games as they don't come to the games. They come in and do the eval for two hours and that is it.

I shared the last conversation with the guy outside of the school because it is the most non-influenced opinion as his son is not involved and he has not connections to the school. He didn't know about the situation and offered his praise of my son on his own based on what he saw when his son and him went to the championship game (and that game was a typical game for my son in terms of performance, so it wasn't like his best performance of the year or anything). Then I told him he didn't make the A team and he just could not believe it.

I agree with you, ideally a HC is selected and then they pick their team from tryouts. My suggestion would be to find a permanent 6th grade A coach and that they make the final decisions in consultation with the AD and maybe still bring in outside coaches or a committee. Short of that, maybe some sort of system that gets exit interviews from the 5th grade coaches and that is used as part of the decision making in conjunction with the tryout but I still think someone connected to the school that is familiar with the boys needs to be a part of the decision making separate from the AD. I do think something has to change. When every single person I have been told of their opinion or heard first hand is unhappy with the roster selection and the boys themselves feel the roster is wrong.... something went horribly wrong here and needs to be addressed one way or another.

 

[Chadstroma]

1-0
32-12 but it wasn't really that close.

Started off missing my other A player as they were traveling back from being out of town. We were doing well on defense but the offense was sloppy, slow decisions, a couple of boys scared to take shots that they should take and passing out, no running the motion offense like it is supposed to. My PG was performing largely as I would like him to (except for not following the 'rules' of the offense).

A bit into the first half my other A player showed up and I got him in the lineup. Immediately we started scoring and it was not even close. The athleticism of my son and the other A player is just way too much for the other team (and should largely be that way all season long). I had my son on their PG and then my A player, who is pretty average with on ball defense but is pretty good off ball defense worked together for several steals or almost steals. With the A player in the lineup, we were able to push the ball down court on fast breaks which was something we couldn't really do without him in the lineup. The two of them had several beautiful give and go's which is really what we are looking for on offense.

We got up on them by more than 15 and then mercy rule in the B league is that the defenders have to be in the paint. They got 8 of their points that way.

The game before us was that schools (SJF) other B team against the team we will play tomorrow (CK) . As I suspecting the team we are playing tomorrow is not very good. In past seasons they had two teams.... one with the best player in the league and then one decent player and then basically nothing after that and then other team had 3 pretty good guys and then nothing after that. So, that team should field a pretty good starting five but not have much after that and their B team struggled so we should do well tomorrow. The other B team for SJF might be an interesting matchup for us, they will have a lot more height that us but my son and other A player should eat well as none of the team had much athleticism.

As a side note- our A team lost against SJF's A. I did not see the game as they were two games before ours. In my estimation of the teams A teams (which I kept an eye on a lot thinking I would coach A this year) it is a team that they should not have lost to. They have a lot of depth but they didn't have much in as much as top level talent. All I know is that one of the boys parents told me as they were leaving he barely played.... it is the star football player transfer we had. He is very much like my son but just bigger, taller, stronger, and faster. He should dominate the boards and play very good defense. His shooting needs improvement but oh well... I don't know why you don't play a player like that much, even more so when you have a deep bench as I would be cycling those boys through to keep fresh legs on the court. Obviously super early in the season but the first games kind of support what I said was going to happen with our A team and that I would get this B team to be a threat. My assistant told me that A lost after our game and said "we will show them" and I replied "I want them to win but my focus is on us winning." And I do, I will take no enjoyment out of being right and much rather be proven wrong but I can't control anything on that team, I can get this team developed, playing better and winning.

Almost all my boys are all 100% bought in and working hard and care a ton about winning. They are all very eager to please me as the coach so I know they are committed which is exactly what I want from them. The one not all in is the one that I think is on the team just to be a part of it... he is more of a cheerleader than anything. He just has zero athletic ability and doesn't try to get better at all. It is what it is. My PG came up and asked me if his passes were good... my big guy (who asked to sit) came up and apologized to me for asking to sit. That was probably in response that after I sat him I told him that we have to get his conditioning up so he doesn't have to sit. I told him it isn't something to apologize for and he needs to tell me things like that but his conditioning was something we just need to work on.

 

[thecatch]

Got sucked into coaching one of my kids' teams this year. I've been playing basketball since I could walk but I'm realizing I have no idea how to teach it. There are some good tips on the first page of this thread - a belated thank you to those posters from a couple of years ago.

 

[Chadstroma]

Got sucked into coaching one of my kids' teams this year. I've been playing basketball since I could walk but I'm realizing I have no idea how to teach it. There are some good tips on the first page of this thread - a belated thank you to those posters from a couple of years ago.

Coaching is way different than playing. A good player doesn't make a good coach and vice versa.

I had no idea how much I would enjoy coaching. I thought it was a good chance to spend time with my son in more direct sporting environment. I fell in love with it.

For me, my perspective going in was that I was going to take it seriously. Not for me but for the kids. I looked back on my basketball career as a kid and though I had no idea then saw how my development was stunted by well meaning but inadequate coaching. So, I invested and continue to a lot of time and energy in making sure I am providing these kids development in basketball and then using it to teach life lessons so hopefully I impact their loves beyond basketball.

What age group? I am happy to assist in any way I can.

 

[thecatch]

Got sucked into coaching one of my kids' teams this year. I've been playing basketball since I could walk but I'm realizing I have no idea how to teach it. There are some good tips on the first page of this thread - a belated thank you to those posters from a couple of years ago.

Coaching is way different than playing. A good player doesn't make a good coach and vice versa.

I had no idea how much I would enjoy coaching. I thought it was a good chance to spend time with my son in more direct sporting environment. I fell in love with it.

For me, my perspective going in was that I was going to take it seriously. Not for me but for the kids. I looked back on my basketball career as a kid and though I had no idea then saw how my development was stunted by well meaning but inadequate coaching. So, I invested and continue to a lot of time and energy in making sure I am providing these kids development in basketball and then using it to teach life lessons so hopefully I impact their loves beyond basketball.

What age group? I am happy to assist in any way I can.

That's awfully kind, thanks. It's 10-11 year olds. I'm just looking at a couple online resources for practice drills and some basic plays. One of the dads wants to install a motion offense because he thinks it's important for his kid's development, but I think that's nuts at this age. If we can play help defense, push the pace, move without the ball, and maybe run 1-2 plays once in awhile, that seems good enough for me.

 

[Navin Johnson]

Got sucked into coaching one of my kids' teams this year. I've been playing basketball since I could walk but I'm realizing I have no idea how to teach it. There are some good tips on the first page of this thread - a belated thank you to those posters from a couple of years ago.

Coaching is way different than playing. A good player doesn't make a good coach and vice versa.

I had no idea how much I would enjoy coaching. I thought it was a good chance to spend time with my son in more direct sporting environment. I fell in love with it.

For me, my perspective going in was that I was going to take it seriously. Not for me but for the kids. I looked back on my basketball career as a kid and though I had no idea then saw how my development was stunted by well meaning but inadequate coaching. So, I invested and continue to a lot of time and energy in making sure I am providing these kids development in basketball and then using it to teach life lessons so hopefully I impact their loves beyond basketball.

What age group? I am happy to assist in any way I can.

That's awfully kind, thanks. It's 10-11 year olds. I'm just looking at a couple online resources for practice drills and some basic plays. One of the dads wants to install a motion offense because he thinks it's important for his kid's development, but I think that's nuts at this age. If we can play help defense, push the pace, move without the ball, and maybe run 1-2 plays once in awhile, that seems good enough for me.

I wouldn't teach any screening offense at that age. Start with read and react and then add DDM when they expand their skill sets. Ball handling, shooting, and pressure defense and they will have a great base that their future coaches will appreciate

 

[mdstarnes]

Got sucked into coaching one of my kids' teams this year. I've been playing basketball since I could walk but I'm realizing I have no idea how to teach it. There are some good tips on the first page of this thread - a belated thank you to those posters from a couple of years ago.

Coaching is way different than playing. A good player doesn't make a good coach and vice versa.

I had no idea how much I would enjoy coaching. I thought it was a good chance to spend time with my son in more direct sporting environment. I fell in love with it.

For me, my perspective going in was that I was going to take it seriously. Not for me but for the kids. I looked back on my basketball career as a kid and though I had no idea then saw how my development was stunted by well meaning but inadequate coaching. So, I invested and continue to a lot of time and energy in making sure I am providing these kids development in basketball and then using it to teach life lessons so hopefully I impact their loves beyond basketball.

What age group? I am happy to assist in any way I can.

That's awfully kind, thanks. It's 10-11 year olds. I'm just looking at a couple online resources for practice drills and some basic plays. One of the dads wants to install a motion offense because he thinks it's important for his kid's development, but I think that's nuts at this age. If we can play help defense, push the pace, move without the ball, and maybe run 1-2 plays once in awhile, that seems good enough for me.

I wouldn't teach any screening offense at that age. Start with read and react and then add DDM when they expand their skill sets. Ball handling, shooting, and pressure defense and they will have a great base that their future coaches will appreciate

Yep...5 out, read and react stuff should be mandatory until 8th grade. No dancing to get open...if you are one pass away and your defender has crossed the three point line, you cut. If the spot above you is open, you fill. That should be enough for 95% of it. You could add additional read and react levels/rules (screening away, ball screens) as the season progresses and/or throw in your favorite sets if you want. Youth coaches do a disservice to kids by playing with "posts" before puberty has finished. Your tall 11 year old might be done growing or grow two more feet. All kids should be catching the ball on the perimeter and be allowed/encouraged to drive, pass, and shoot.

Your league/association should mandate man to man defense, but if they don't, you should play man. Zone defenses before high school are about winning now as opposed to developing players. Of course a packed in 2-3 or an extended trapping 1-3-1 is effective when the players aren't strong enough to throw skip passes or shoot threes. I get that kids want to win, and that winning is fun, but winning because a bunch of 10 year olds can't throw cross court skip passes misses the point.

Your thoughts on man defense and pushing the pace are absolutely spot on. The basketball world needs more of you!