Coaching Yute basketball- need some help from you fuckers

[Wulaw Horn 19074]

Boys- grades 1 & 2.

8 foot hoop.

Defensive rules- No back court press, no zone defense , must guard your man

Offensive rules- No Iso plays, different kids have to have a chance to bring the ball up court throughout the game and initiate offense

I have 6 kids. We are playing 5 on 5.  Based upon the tryouts I have 4 kids that can dribble and get the ball up on the rim on an 8 foot hoop- my son who didn't try out but isn't very good but is a fucking enthusiastic pest on defense (and can probably get the ball up on the rim from out to 10 feet) and then the worst kid in the league- like fucking terrible bad and I don't think has the physical strength to get the ball up to the rim on the 8 foot hoop.

So- what do I do?  How do I help them improve?  Do we try to run offense (rudimentary like pick and roll) or high post and cutting off of that, or do I just do drills and have them play grabass and fuck around and find out?

I know my hoops but I have no idea what an 8 year old is capable of handling as far as this kind of thing goes.  Anyone else been there/done that have any advice?

[TwiceHorn 31489]

I worked with fourth graders for a while and we did a lot of drills.  Dribbling, layups, and freethrows plus other short shots from the baseline and in-between.

For offense (and defense), we assigned positions roughly corresponding to height and ball-handling ability.  Two guards, two forwards, and a center and placed them on the floor at both ends accordingly.  We never tried anything like pick and roll, or even really high post.  We had the center and forwards moving in and out of the paint and called "switch" to have the forwards switch sides.

The fourth graders could execute on that passingly well, although things descended into scrums with fair regularity.  The enemy, as we saw it, was either just standing around waiting for the ball or everyone converging on the ball/guy with the ball.

I wouldn't think you could ask younger kids to do much better.

Edited December 3, 2020 by TwiceHorn

[ztejas 43464]

You need a ringer. Do you have a ringer? If you don't have a ringer get a ringer.

[TwiceHorn 31489]

3 minutes ago, ztejas said:

You need a ringer. Do you have a ringer? If you don't have a ringer get a ringer.

So true, in my own experience and as a coach.  The kids know who the best player is, and it's usually a guard and they keep pushing the ball back to him as often as possible.

You'd have him dish off to the center or one of the forwards, who might make a pass to another teammate, but it's probably coming back to the best kid on the court if it isn't a turnover.

Unless they hate him.  Or grow to hate him as a ball hog.

Edited December 3, 2020 by TwiceHorn

[ztejas 43464]

1 minute ago, TwiceHorn said:

So true, in my own experience and as a coach.  The kids know who the best player is, and it's usually a guard and they keep pushing the ball back to him as often as possible.

You'd have him dish off to the center or one of the forwards, who might make a pass to another teammate, but it's probably coming back to the best kid on the court if it isn't a turnover.

Unless they hate him.  Or grow to hate him as a ball hog.

/csb I helped my dad coach a NWAYBA juniors team that had KJ Adams on it. 

So, basically, he can thank me for his success.

[Deej 76805]

22 minutes ago, ztejas said:

You need a ringer. Do you have a ringer? If you don't have a ringer get a ringer.

 

[realgreggym 835]

When I was in school in the dark ages, I had the opportunity to coach young kids with the late Tyrone Johnson. After watching the kids for about 20 seconds,

we decided that the best way to coach these kids was just to make it fun for them. To us, the main goal was that they had fun and wanted to continue to

play as they got older. I remember that during some games, one of us would stand under the basket when we were on offense and when a kid was in the lane too long, we would pick them

up and put them outside the lane so there would be no 5 second call. The refs couldn't stop laughing.  Just have fun.. 

[Underdog 28689]

drink heavily and often. 

[DFW Horn 6124]

On defense, emphasize staying between your man and the basket. You'll have kids who want to freelance and chase the ball. Relatively easy habit to break.

On offense, good luck. If you have 4 kids who can handle the ball, you're in better shape than most teams. Obviously, play your best dribbler at PG and have him pass it to the wings while cutting to the basket. Have your posts work a high-low game. 

We worked a play called "stack" where we had 3 kids line up on one side. The opposite wing set a pick for the PG and everyone flashed across the lane to get open. Or the wing on the stack side was aligned at the bottom and he used the other 2 as the screen.

It gets even harder for me this year - my 3rd graders are moving up from 8 to 10-foot hoops.

[Tylerocks 2553]

Do you have any experience herding cats?

Be a lot cooler if you did.

[CurlyDumps 4475]

Obligatory:

 

[Rholl 218]

Is this “armband basketball”.  the guy with the green armband guards the other guy with green armband, red band vs redband and so on?

[TwiceHorn 31489]

4 hours ago, realgreggym said:

When I was in school in the dark ages, I had the opportunity to coach young kids with the late Tyrone Johnson. After watching the kids for about 20 seconds,

we decided that the best way to coach these kids was just to make it fun for them. To us, the main goal was that they had fun and wanted to continue to

play as they got older. I remember that during some games, one of us would stand under the basket when we were on offense and when a kid was in the lane too long, we would pick them

up and put them outside the lane so there would be no 5 second call. The refs couldn't stop laughing.  Just have fun.. 

Yeah, that's why you can't mash too hard on an offense.

But I think the kids like a little bit of structure, some kind of purpose until the ball gets in their proximity, then they pretty much lose it.

Also, the zone prohibition is interesting.  Man defense can be hard when your opponent doesn't play their position or there is a position change.

[Slacks 6821]

Spend most of your practice with fundamentals...
They will barely be able to dribble without looking at the ball. Work on it. Its hard to pass when looking at the floor.

Teach them how to get their elbow under the ball, jump up (not forward) and push the ball up. They will try to throw it up amd forward and waste most of the energy on forward and not be close.

Layup lines and rebounds... A lot.

Make a game of making layups.
Make a game of rebounds.
Play knockout (they'll love it).

Teach the smaller two players to defend their assets off. Get in front of whomever they are guarding, squat, and move. Stay in the stomach.

And run. Run a lot. Wear them out. They'll appreciate it when they notice they're getting better.

These are the things I did when I coached little dudes... We had fun. They got better. We won fun games. We shut kids down. I had guys and girls.

Good luck. Have fun. Yell like a coach... Random stuff. It's entertaining.

[Pancho 44832]

Don't over analyze and just let them run around and explore the game.  They'll start to understand.

Shut down the rabid parents.  Let them know the kids are too young and are just learning.  None of them are LeBron. 

I don't ref little dribblers anymore, but when I did it was fun.  I rarely called traveling (even though the kids practically never dribbled) and just called a foul here and there to make sure each kid had a chance to shoot a FT (if I could).  I would also call a foul and stop and explain why I did it and then give them a high five. 

* I don't have kids.  I ref. 

 

[Wulaw Horn 19074]

4 hours ago, Rholl said:

Is this “armband basketball”.  the guy with the green armband guards the other guy with green armband, red band vs redband and so on?

I suspect it might be. I’m not completely sure that’s the case. When I was a kid we won our city league like 4 out of 5 years but my dad was th coach and he had us running half court traps and falling back into match up zones. In retrospect it was probably ridiculous for anyone playing us- they had no clue what hit them as a general rule. I feel like that kind of thing would be considered a dick move nowadays- but I’m not sure- this is my first year in the league. 
also- we played on 10 foot baskets- all the way down to 1st grade. Kids today have it easy. 

[Assman 1830]

Layups, defense, and boxing out.  Teach the kids to perfect those 3 things and you'll be the Phil Jackson of yute basketball.

[Underdog 28689]

Be sure you hire a good videographer to breakdown game film and for individual sessions, also get with the parents about good nutrition habits.  And wear your best suit(s), either winning or losing you want to look your best. 

Edited December 4, 2020 by Underdog

[DFW Horn 6124]

26 minutes ago, Underdog said:

Be sure you hire a good videographer to breakdown game film and for individual sessions, also get with the parents about good nutrition habits.  And wear your best suit(s), either winning or losing you want to look your best. 

[WBT 20586]

Have them master the eurostep

[Wulaw Horn 19074]

43 minutes ago, WBT said:

Have them master the eurostep

I still don’t understand the Euro step completely myself. Or Bron’s crab dribble. 

[RockyMountainHighHorn 890]

Decide if you want to win 2-0 or 4-2. If 2-0, crouch, move your legs, hands up, and have them do that all practice. Shut down defensive team. If you want to win 4-2, passing, dribbling, boxing out, layups, knockout. Offensive juggernaut. Make sure the kids know which basket to shoot at. The worst is having the kid score his first basket going the wrong way. But most importantly, you need to provide head bands, shooting sleeves, elastic leg bands, KD underarmour pants things, and one kid with rec specs. If that doesn’t intimidate, nothing will. And finally, orange slices-Mack style. Bam, champions.

[realgreggym 835]

3 hours ago, Underdog said:

Be sure you hire a good videographer to breakdown game film and for individual sessions, also get with the parents about good nutrition habits.  And wear your best suit(s), either winning or losing you want to look your best. 

and don't forget to sign a lucrative shoe contract.

[Blotto 23525]

21 hours ago, Wulaw Horn said:

So- what do I do?  How do I help them improve?  Do we try to run offense (rudimentary like pick and roll) or high post and cutting off of that, or do I just do drills and have them play grabass and fuck around and find out?

 

The latter** got Shaka a $3M+ salary. If its good enough for the University of Texas, it should be fine for your squad.

**I'm assuming Shaka actually has them do drills 

[DeadArmadillo 907]

[washparkhorn 9939]

21 hours ago, Wulaw Horn said:

grades 1 & 2

Be friendly with the Moms and Dads. On the court, it's amoeba-ball. 

Scrimmage>Drills for first and second graders. 

Have fun and relax. You are coaching the parents more than the kids at that level.

The two best kids on the team should learn the give and go.  That should guarantee you at least one basket in a game.

Edited December 4, 2020 by washparkhorn

[Underdog 28689]

The picket fence. 

[Baboontyme 2812]

Snacks has some good ideas. 

Best thing you can do is to create games in practice that will help them learn fundamentals. Dribble knock out. Dribble tag. Monkey in the middle type of games emphasizing stop, pivot and pass around a defender by using a bounce or overhand pass. Layup line races. Sharks and minnows, etc. And rebounding and stay between your man and the basket on D, no steals, no blocking - sometimes it's good to even make them play a scrimmage with hands behind their backs on D and requiring at least 3 passes before someone can shoot. 

[gyroprotagonist 2594]

Trying to remember what we did back for 1st grade.  Practices were mostly skill development.

- 3v2 (Offense with 3) is a good drill to develop passing because there should be an open man.  That said, passing (and receiving) will be your biggest source of turnovers in 1st grade depending on how lenient they are with travelling/double dribble type stuff.

- high five 1v1 -  see terrible mspaint.  basically make 2 lines on both sides court right above the FT extended.  1 has the ball, 2 is on D.  1 dribbles and meets 2 around top of key for a 'high five' then 1 dribbles to half court; 2 runs to the base line.  Then 1v1 begins.  go for max of 3 total shots then next pair go.  no out of bounds; no fouls called; go straight back up on miss.  There is no one to pass to so it forces weaker offensive players to have to do something themselves and develop dribbling/thwarting defenders from stealing the ball.  also coach the defender. 

--- encourage them to try out their best (hilariously bad) crossovers and 'moves' in this drill

- You can start to teach offensive spots on the floor.  for basic motion offense there are 4 outside/on the 3pt line and 1 on the block/lane.  I always had '1' as the PG, '2' is G and always throws the ball in from oob.  3/4 are wings and 5 is post.  You can use it like a conditioning drill.  assign numbers, teach where those numbers should end up at on the offensive side of the ball and then have them sprint to the other end to their spots.  repeat.

--- This also eliminates kids fighting over who is PG, who throws the ball in etc..  "Are you a '1'?  No, then get the fuck down the court to your spot".  It will pay off in a few seasons if you coach the same kids when you can actually run an offense.  Defining everything as a number assigned to a position on the court will help with all sorts of stuff like in bounds plays/press breaks etc down the road.

and yes, knockout is awesome and kids love it.

[cafe society 2871]

On 12/3/2020 at 12:38 PM, realgreggym said:

When I was in school in the dark ages, I had the opportunity to coach young kids with the late Tyrone Johnson. After watching the kids for about 20 seconds,

we decided that the best way to coach these kids was just to make it fun for them. To us, the main goal was that they had fun and wanted to continue to

play as they got older. I remember that during some games, one of us would stand under the basket when we were on offense and when a kid was in the lane too long, we would pick them

up and put them outside the lane so there would be no 5 second call. The refs couldn't stop laughing.  Just have fun.. 

That was going to be my advice.  They're first and second graders, just make it fun for them.  Third grade is when I would begin teaching actual fundamentals.  
Hey Doc, when did Tyrone pass?  I'm sorry to hear it.

[realgreggym 835]

Tyrone passed several years ago. Sadly so did Gary Goodner and I believe that Rich Parsons has as well. Saddest of all was Hank Bauerschlag passing in I believe  1979

the day after he found out that he was going to be a Dad. Breaks my heart to this day. I haven't been able to make a reunion in the last couple of years so I am not sure and hope there hasn't been anyone else besides Lynn Howden. 

 

Tyrone was a good guy.

[Wulaw Horn 19074]

SO- in for the shit show like the RV trip- I like to be a source of amusement or a cautionary tale for this board whenever possible- if this is fun let me know- if not fuck right off and I guess eventually I will get tired of talking to myself.

So- practice 1 was yesterday.  We are supposed to be playing 5 on 5 (why? WHY!?!?!?!) with a team of 6.  Didn't think this sounded like a good idea. Certainly didn't seem like a good idea when one of my kids didn't show and left us with 5. How do we scrimmage with that number?  These little dudes are so young that if we are going to play full court then half court scrimmage isn't helpful it's confusing.  And we don't have a full court- so I'm kinda worried about that- we will see.

Back up a bit- I called all the parents before practice- introduced myself- said I was excited- emailed them what we were going to be up to etc. figured I wanted to get them on my side. Everything sounds good, lets fucking go get after it at practice

Team has better skills than I'd thought and I was pretty happy with the draft.  Except one dude.  We will call him Grant.  That's b/c the name of the worst kid I ever played with was Grant in my city league.  We kept teams together and we won like 4 out of 6 years the league in elementary school and everyone got a lot better except Grant.  And for some reason Grant's mom kept signing him up.  And Grant was a real problem.  Worst ever.  This kid on my team man, he's Grant's less talented doppleganger.   Whatever. Seems like a sweet kid. But he doesn't have enough physical strength to get the ball to the basket (8 foot hoop).  He's shaped like the basketball.  But he's got his Harden Jersey on and a nice ball.  Should have been my first sign of trouble.  But whatever.

Start with layup line.  Got 5 kids so I have to participate and I just want to teach them how to run this shit.  Everyone gets the switch concept after 5 minutes except Grant.  Ok little guy- you are with me and I will point you in the right direction at all times.  Layup efficiency rate- 25 or 30% makes.  Not bad.  I'm pleased.

Next drill- pair up and throw chest passes and bounce passes with a partner.  I pair with grant.  he's afraid of every chest pass and turns his head.  He backs away from every bounce pass. I'm not throwing it hard.  catch rate for Grant- 4.7%.  I look over- my son is trying to throw the ball through the rafters or over his head.  I ask him if that's what he thinks we are trying to accomplish.  He tells me- go fuck yourself dad- Imma gonna act like an asshole in an attempt to make your head explode.  I mean, those words didn't literally come out of his mouth but that's what was in his eyes.  I'm pretty sure I read his mind correctly.  Others are throwing like pros.  We switch up lines- do this for about 10 minutes.  

Next up- defensive stance and slide.  I demonstrate. I get down.  We do this for like 5 or 10 minutes. My heart rate reaches roughly 348 beats per minute.  I'm an old man.  I'm 42 damn it.  My physique makes Derka look like he's keeping it high and tight.  I have my gravy than blood flowing through my body.  Defensive stance?  10 minutes?  you've got to be fucking kidding me.  I woke up today and practically fell out of bed.  This was a really bad idea my wife had for me- coaching basketball.  Fuck I hate defense. 

Next up- around the world.  My First round draft choice ends up hitting 4 out of 9 threes from above the break.  After throwing down some cross overs.  Pretty pretty pretty good for a 2nd grader that stands about 3'8"  There's no way this kid is tall enough to rid the roller coaster and he's dropping 3 pointers.  Poor Grant, can't get the ball within 3 feet of the hoop.  It's really bad.  

We dribble the lines then- right handed then left handed. I discover 80% of my kids don't know the difference between their right hand and left hand.  I start to worry I might not be able to fully implement the Princeton offense by the first game of the year after 3 practices if my kids don't know their right from left.  I still have high hopes for ball you man defensive skills however.  We shall see. 

Then we run 2 on 2.  It looks nothing like basketball. The fun part is Grant's dad shows up at the ass end of drills and sits front and center.  Grant's mom has the good sense- I think- to divorce Grant's dad.  Lets just call Grant's dad "Shooter".  You know- the drunk from Hoosiers.  Shooter than proceeds to yell at Grant, at the top of his lungs, high end basketball terms.  Shooter apparently thinks Grant is a budding Lebron James and should be able to handle like Kyrie, Shoot like KD and floor general like CP3.  Grant pisses his pants when the ball is passed to him and can't throw the ball higher than 6.5 feet in the air. Which is a real problem with an 8 foot goal.  Shooter screams and screams and screams. My dad- who I enlisted to be my assistant coach, yells at shooter- "you want to come down here and do this".  My though immediately is "FUCK, maybe this was all a terrible terrible terrible idea".  My son continues to look at me with utter defiance and contempt whenever I give him the slightest instruction (like hey dipshit- stop bear hugging the guy trying to throw the ball inbounds right now- that's not allowed).

 

We then go 3 on 3 full court.  Up and down, up and down.  My face is probably somewhere between Spanish Red and Vermillion.  Please get me off the court before I die.  Meanwhile shooter continues to yell at the top of his lungs. This has emboldened the rest of the parents to ask "why is coach Wulaw not calling an infraction every nano second on the court. Why is this not a well oiled machine? Does this dipshit have the slightest plan?  The grumbling continues.  

 

Sent an email today explaining myself and what the purpose of practice was last night (you know- to figure out who knew what the fuck they were doing and what the skill level was) and that we will have the next practice scheduled down to the minute with 3 main sections and 4 sub groups within each of those sections.  Fuck.

I think I've done something very very very stupid.  I blame my wife.  In totality.  And I'm likely to trade my son to another team for future draft considerations and a Grant to be named later. 

 

[Wulaw Horn 19074]

Oh- forgot to mention that I ended it with conditioning line drills.  I ran said line drills with them demonstrating them.  I beat all those little fuckers through the drills and was first across the line.  I think my BP was roughly 283 over 195 as I cruised through the finish line. If this ends with me not dead we will call that a win. 

Edited December 11, 2020 by Wulaw Horn

[LTtxfan 49198]

Break that 8ft rim... 😂😂😂

[conVINCEd 21469]

5 hours ago, Wulaw Horn said:

SO- in for the shit show like the RV trip- I like to be a source of amusement or a cautionary tale for this board whenever possible- if this is fun let me know- if not fuck right off and I guess eventually I will get tired of talking to myself.

So- practice 1 was yesterday.  We are supposed to be playing 5 on 5 (why? WHY!?!?!?!) with a team of 6.  Didn't think this sounded like a good idea. Certainly didn't seem like a good idea when one of my kids didn't show and left us with 5. How do we scrimmage with that number?  These little dudes are so young that if we are going to play full court then half court scrimmage isn't helpful it's confusing.  And we don't have a full court- so I'm kinda worried about that- we will see.

Back up a bit- I called all the parents before practice- introduced myself- said I was excited- emailed them what we were going to be up to etc. figured I wanted to get them on my side. Everything sounds good, lets fucking go get after it at practice

Team has better skills than I'd thought and I was pretty happy with the draft.  Except one dude.  We will call him Grant.  That's b/c the name of the worst kid I ever played with was Grant in my city league.  We kept teams together and we won like 4 out of 6 years the league in elementary school and everyone got a lot better except Grant.  And for some reason Grant's mom kept signing him up.  And Grant was a real problem.  Worst ever.  This kid on my team man, he's Grant's less talented doppleganger.   Whatever. Seems like a sweet kid. But he doesn't have enough physical strength to get the ball to the basket (8 foot hoop).  He's shaped like the basketball.  But he's got his Harden Jersey on and a nice ball.  Should have been my first sign of trouble.  But whatever.

Start with layup line.  Got 5 kids so I have to participate and I just want to teach them how to run this shit.  Everyone gets the switch concept after 5 minutes except Grant.  Ok little guy- you are with me and I will point you in the right direction at all times.  Layup efficiency rate- 25 or 30% makes.  Not bad.  I'm pleased.

Next drill- pair up and throw chest passes and bounce passes with a partner.  I pair with grant.  he's afraid of every chest pass and turns his head.  He backs away from every bounce pass. I'm not throwing it hard.  catch rate for Grant- 4.7%.  I look over- my son is trying to throw the ball through the rafters or over his head.  I ask him if that's what he thinks we are trying to accomplish.  He tells me- go fuck yourself dad- Imma gonna act like an asshole in an attempt to make your head explode.  I mean, those words didn't literally come out of his mouth but that's what was in his eyes.  I'm pretty sure I read his mind correctly.  Others are throwing like pros.  We switch up lines- do this for about 10 minutes.  

Next up- defensive stance and slide.  I demonstrate. I get down.  We do this for like 5 or 10 minutes. My heart rate reaches roughly 348 beats per minute.  I'm an old man.  I'm 42 damn it.  My physique makes Derka look like he's keeping it high and tight.  I have my gravy than blood flowing through my body.  Defensive stance?  10 minutes?  you've got to be fucking kidding me.  I woke up today and practically fell out of bed.  This was a really bad idea my wife had for me- coaching basketball.  Fuck I hate defense. 

Next up- around the world.  My First round draft choice ends up hitting 4 out of 9 threes from above the break.  After throwing down some cross overs.  Pretty pretty pretty good for a 2nd grader that stands about 3'8"  There's no way this kid is tall enough to rid the roller coaster and he's dropping 3 pointers.  Poor Grant, can't get the ball within 3 feet of the hoop.  It's really bad.  

We dribble the lines then- right handed then left handed. I discover 80% of my kids don't know the difference between their right hand and left hand.  I start to worry I might not be able to fully implement the Princeton offense by the first game of the year after 3 practices if my kids don't know their right from left.  I still have high hopes for ball you man defensive skills however.  We shall see. 

Then we run 2 on 2.  It looks nothing like basketball. The fun part is Grant's dad shows up at the ass end of drills and sits front and center.  Grant's mom has the good sense- I think- to divorce Grant's dad.  Lets just call Grant's dad "Shooter".  You know- the drunk from Hoosiers.  Shooter than proceeds to yell at Grant, at the top of his lungs, high end basketball terms.  Shooter apparently thinks Grant is a budding Lebron James and should be able to handle like Kyrie, Shoot like KD and floor general like CP3.  Grant pisses his pants when the ball is passed to him and can't throw the ball higher than 6.5 feet in the air. Which is a real problem with an 8 foot goal.  Shooter screams and screams and screams. My dad- who I enlisted to be my assistant coach, yells at shooter- "you want to come down here and do this".  My though immediately is "FUCK, maybe this was all a terrible terrible terrible idea".  My son continues to look at me with utter defiance and contempt whenever I give him the slightest instruction (like hey dipshit- stop bear hugging the guy trying to throw the ball inbounds right now- that's not allowed).

 

We then go 3 on 3 full court.  Up and down, up and down.  My face is probably somewhere between Spanish Red and Vermillion.  Please get me off the court before I die.  Meanwhile shooter continues to yell at the top of his lungs. This has emboldened the rest of the parents to ask "why is coach Wulaw not calling an infraction every nano second on the court. Why is this not a well oiled machine? Does this dipshit have the slightest plan?  The grumbling continues.  

 

Sent an email today explaining myself and what the purpose of practice was last night (you know- to figure out who knew what the fuck they were doing and what the skill level was) and that we will have the next practice scheduled down to the minute with 3 main sections and 4 sub groups within each of those sections.  Fuck.

I think I've done something very very very stupid.  I blame my wife.  In totality.  And I'm likely to trade my son to another team for future draft considerations and a Grant to be named later. 

 

This entire diatribe sucks.

G

[Wulaw Horn 19074]

17 minutes ago, conVINCEd said:

This entire diatribe sucks.

G

Cool. Feel free to ignore. 

[conVINCEd 21469]

11 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

Cool. Feel free to ignore. 

I was criticizing your choice of made-up name for the untalented kid.  Nothing more.  The rest was somewhat entertaining.

G

[Wulaw Horn 19074]

7 minutes ago, conVINCEd said:

I was criticizing your choice of made-up name for the untalented kid.  Nothing more.  The rest was somewhat entertaining.

G

K. 
In my social circle we call anyone who sucks at something Grant. It’s a lot better than saying- that spastic kid that cant do blah blah blah. So thus my explanation. 

Edited December 12, 2020 by Wulaw Horn

[Mole 4333]

I’m late to this show but:

1. good for you in putting up with the parents for the sake of the kids

2. fundamentals and fun are key 

3. you should teach the kids at least one play. It’ll be fun for them to signal and run and even more fun for you to watch. You could probably use it as a means to teach more fundamentals as well.

[Wulaw Horn 19074]

28 minutes ago, Mole said:

I’m late to this show but:

1. good for you in putting up with the parents for the sake of the kids

2. fundamentals and fun are key 

3. you should teach the kids at least one play. It’ll be fun for them to signal and run and even more fun for you to watch. You could probably use it as a means to teach more fundamentals as well.

That’s the thought. Pick and roll is the go to. Most basic building block of team basketball imo. 

[HornOnTheBayou 8931]

14 hours ago, Wulaw Horn said:

K. 
In my social circle we call anyone who sucks at something Grant. It’s a lot better than saying- that spastic kid that cant do blah blah blah. So thus my explanation. 

 

Not cool, man. Not cool.

[HornPhD 1368]

On 12/3/2020 at 9:16 AM, Wulaw Horn said:

Boys- grades 1 & 2.

8 foot hoop.

Defensive rules- No back court press, no zone defense , must guard your man

Offensive rules- No Iso plays, different kids have to have a chance to bring the ball up court throughout the game and initiate offense

I have 6 kids. We are playing 5 on 5.  Based upon the tryouts I have 4 kids that can dribble and get the ball up on the rim on an 8 foot hoop- my son who didn't try out but isn't very good but is a fucking enthusiastic pest on defense (and can probably get the ball up on the rim from out to 10 feet) and then the worst kid in the league- like fucking terrible bad and I don't think has the physical strength to get the ball up to the rim on the 8 foot hoop.

So- what do I do?  How do I help them improve?  Do we try to run offense (rudimentary like pick and roll) or high post and cutting off of that, or do I just do drills and have them play grabass and fuck around and find out?

I know my hoops but I have no idea what an 8 year old is capable of handling as far as this kind of thing goes.  Anyone else been there/done that have any advice?

Young kids need to focus on ball-handing, passing, and shooting. 

Make everything a game (e.g., race down the court and back while dribbling, zig zag around cones, team shooting from different spots). 

Do a lot of 2 on 2 and 3 on 3, which maximizes touches while making it easy to pass and cut. 
 

 

Edited December 30, 2020 by HornPhD

[VolenteHawk 495]

4 hours ago, HornPhD said:

Young kids need to focus on ball-handing, passing, and shooting. 

Make everything a game (e.g., race down the court and back while dribbling, zig zag around cones, team shooting from different spots). 

Do a lot of 2 on 2 and 3 on 3, which maximizes touches while making it easy to pass and cut. 

Sorry I didn’t see this thread sooner. I’m a run drills guy and have been for years. I now coach what is probably the best 12U team in Austin, and we drill so much that when we ran early last week and scrimmaged for 10 minutes...my long time kids were legitimately confused. Skeleton offense, I say when a cutter is open, so they have to watch the cut instead of going through the motions. 2 on 2 block to elbow rebounding. Stationary passing around the perimeter for defense rotation drills, man and ball at all times...make the passing as slow as you need to for kids to get in position and add speed and skip passes as they’re ready (they don’t be this year). You can do this for a long time b/c the offense is resting and it’s not zone. We start every practice and game warmup with layup lines then 3 man weave and in this drill there is always an outlet and we always rebound misses and take makes OOB...build good habits. If you’re hoping to score a coaching related half court bucket at the age you’re at now, a clever baseline inbounds is your best chance.

I ran really specific set pass stuff at 9 and 10 years old, then went 5 out motion last year which we still run. At your age, just drill the hell out of fundamentals while making it as fun as possible.

Broadly speaking, we work on improving skills and making good habits in practice and we only really play live basketball in games.

 

Edited December 31, 2020 by VolenteHawk

[conVINCEd 21469]

16 minutes ago, VolenteHawk said:

Sorry I didn’t see this thread sooner. I’m a run drills guy and have been for years. I now coach what is probably the best 12U team in Austin, and we drill so much that when we ran early last week and scrimmaged for 10 minutes...my long time kids were legitimately confused. Skeleton offense, I say when a cutter is open. 2 on 2 block to elbow rebounding. Stationary passing around the perimeter for defense rotation drills, man and ball at all times. You can do this for a long time b/c the offense is resting and it’s not zone. We start every practice and game warmup with layup lines then 3 man weave and in this drill there is always an outlet and we always rebound misses and take makes OOB...build good habits. If you’re hoping to score a coaching related half court bucket at the age you’re at now, a clever baseline inbounds is your best chance.

I ran really specific set pass stuff at 9 and 10 years old, then went 5 out motion last year which we still run. At your age, just drill the hell out of fundamentals while making it as fun as possible.

 

I’ve been around basketball my entire life, and one of my proudest moments was when I got the team I was volunteer coaching my freshman year at UT to execute a baseline inbounds play to win the league championship.  Kid that ended up playing OL at aggy set a pretty good pick and we got a wide open layup.

Edited December 31, 2020 by conVINCEd

[Sawbones 11]

Having coached a lot of basketball for my 4 kids as they passed from ages 5 to 15, I'd say you have the gist of it.  Keep everyone busy and split them up to get more "ball time" whenever possible. And lean on your assistant for most coaching of your own kid - it always worked better for me and my assistants.  And I LOVE to "play in" on scrimmages because it gives you a chance to put a little bit of a cap on the best kid so he can't just dominate, while allowing you to reward someone who sets a screen or  even set a screen and call for your teammate to use it. I teach a pick drill early in the season so the kids understand which side to come from and I make the ball handler come close to the screen to force their defender into it (something it seems Shaka has not thought of). I start as the defender so the screener needs to impede my defense and the ball handler has to properly use the screen. Then I build into a kid as defender and teach pick and roll with me as second defender so that ball handler has to decide to take to basket if screen works or pass to screener if I switch.

 

And, at this age, when you really need a basket, you have got to run the "star play". Inbounding from under your own basket, the 4 kids spread to the 4points of the star (outside the 3 point line) and they will be followed by their defenders. You choose either the best mismatch, or the best kid, or the kid who has never scored, and they run to the basket, leaving their man behind. It seems ridiculous, but the rules probably make the savvy kid from the other team not be allowed to lie in wait under the bucket, and I cannot tell you how often it has worked - even multiple times in the same game.  If you keep coaching next year, you might add one screen for the kid to run around, but for 1st and second graders it's money.

[Wulaw Horn 19074]

I hadn’t even considered inbounds plays- thanks for reminding me of that. Going to grab that star play right away- seems like it will work. 
last week we set up base offense 

 

                               X

x                 X.                    X.               X

 

  

                                O

 

So we ran point guard to high post with wing cutting from 3 to the basket against air. We only had 5 kids again so I ran on 1 side and the assistant ran the other kids on the other side so we were running two at once. 
PG takes two hard dribbles toward high post- sends a pass to him at which point in time wing cuts to hoop and high post passes to him. 
we will run that and pick and roll with the post and PG as our two plays- and do it left and right so that makes it like 4 options. Add in an inbounds play and I sort of think 5 things to remember for kids that age that only practice once a week and play once a week is probably more than they can handle. 
Either that or I’ve misjudged the sophisticated ness of the league and we get drilled and I feel like shit. 
props to whoever said have the assistant coach my kid. Very very very helpful. 

[Chicken fried bacon 46]

Make sure you send a polite email to the parents to please cheer on the players but to let you coach the team.  Tell them the kids get confused when multiple people are telling them what to do 

[Sawbones 11]

I also like to play in for a half-court scrimmage, in which there are NO 3 pointers (no need to "work on"/ reward individualism in a team practice) and a point is awarded for every screen that works (well-set AND received). The more they see screens as a way to "win" the scrimmage the more they might spontaneously happen in a game.  

When the competitive kids scream "no fair! you're the biggest!" I always answer "But I don't WANT to win, I want everyone to get better",  and I ONLY shoot if in direct reward to a pass or screen from a teammate.  And definitely "assign homework" - one of the most satisfying moments in my coaching history is when later in the season the kid who could not physically get the ball to the hoop at the beginning scores in a game.  Get his parents involved in having him shoot at home. Good luck with your season!

[Wulaw Horn 19074]

So we lost the game and it was completely my fault. 
I got rewarded for my efforts by parents screaming at the refs causing the refs to stop the game- having my wife and mom almost get in altercations, and being heckled and screamed at by the parents on my team. 
Fun times. 
I’m trying to decide if I’m going to quit or not. I’ve forgotten more basketball than these fucksticks will ever know. When I say- it’s my fault that we lost I mean that literally. I let all of the kids take at least 4 minutes in the spotlight (32 minute game), mixed up al their positions and encouraged everyone to try something different. 
We lost by 5 (28-23) against a team that only had 5 (we have 6- they didn’t have a complete spaz mine showed up) where their 2 best players were on the ball literally 100% of the time. 
this is city league people- not select. 
Nobody should give a shit but whatever. I didn’t want this job- they begged parents to volunteer and my wife signed me up over my strenuous objections. And now everyone else can coach better. Fuck it- let them I think. 
My kid sucks. He’s better now than he was last year, but he doesn’t seem to like me coaching him (he says he does but I don’t see excitement or happiness on his face) and as much as I loved sports I’d just as soon he didn’t play because he does it in such a half assed and lackluster way that it just seems like a waste of everyone’s time. So I go out there and clap and encourage and instruct and bite my tongue as these dipshits and morons act like it’s game 7 of the nba finals. 
It is literally absurd.  

[softlynow 1816]

14 minutes ago, Wulaw Horn said:

So we lost the game and it was completely my fault. 
I got rewarded for my efforts by parents screaming at the refs causing the refs to stop the game- having my wife and mom almost get in altercations, and being heckled and screamed at by the parents on my team. 
Fun times. 
I’m trying to decide if I’m going to quit or not. I’ve forgotten more basketball than these fucksticks will ever know. When I say- it’s my fault that we lost I mean that literally. I let all of the kids take at least 4 minutes in the spotlight (32 minute game), mixed up al their positions and encouraged everyone to try something different. 
We lost by 5 (28-23) against a team that only had 5 (we have 6- they didn’t have a complete spaz mine showed up) where their 2 best players were on the ball literally 100% of the time. 
this is city league people- not select. 
Nobody should give a shit but whatever. I didn’t want this job- they begged parents to volunteer and my wife signed me up over my strenuous objections. And now everyone else can coach better. Fuck it- let them I think. 
My kid sucks. He’s better now than he was last year, but he doesn’t seem to like me coaching him (he says he does but I don’t see excitement or happiness on his face) and as much as I loved sports I’d just as soon he didn’t play because he does it in such a half assed and lackluster way that it just seems like a waste of everyone’s time. So I go out there and clap and encourage and instruct and bite my tongue as these dipshits and morons act like it’s game 7 of the nba finals. 
It is literally absurd.  

Have fun with the parents. Go Norman Dale and require 4 passes every possession, practices without a ball, bench a couple and play with 4 to end a game, hire an alcoholic to be your assistant, get thrown out and let the alcoholic finish the game.

I’m only half kidding. My way to say “fuck ‘em” would be to finish the year my way, and not let them know they bugged me.

Any way, good luck. You’re a brave one for doing it, a better parent than any of those others.