Any Assistant Basketball Coaches?

[coldfish]

I have been a coach and an assistant coach for kids teams like this. My biggest lesson is to not take it too seriously. Don't get me wrong, you try to win. Try to teach the kids how to play the right way. Treat the kids with respect. Its just that if you find yourself getting really angry about the refs, the results, parents or kids not executing, you are going too far with it.

Oh, and be head coach next year on some level. Its certainly different than assistant.

[mattg]

Honestly by the sound of the level your team is at they shouldn't be running any plays in halfcourt offense. You should have a play to break full court press and an inbound play under your hoop, but beyond that there isn't any reason to have halfcourt sets. Think of it like this, these kids are extremely unskilled in the grand scheme of things in terms of basketball, they need to be focusing on skill development. It wouldn't matter if you had Gregg popovich designing your offense, because the players simply aren't skilled enough to properly execute any strategy you come up with. It'd be like trying to teach a beginner at chess certain advanced openings and move patterns when they don't even know what all the pieces do. Just focus on teaching motion concepts offensively, as in when a player passes the ball they either cut to the basket or set a screen for a teammate. Further, the other issue with set plays is that kids just forget them. All that practice time could be better spent on skill drills or defensive work.

As for being frustrated with the head coach, just do the best you can and offer suggestions constructively. Don't start drama and things work out eventually. If you do a good job coaching and work well with the kids people will definitely take notice. Just keep in mind that you want to make sure the kids are having fun. You are in the unique position of being able to inspire a love for the game in them. You are also in a position to completely turn them off to playing organized sports in general if your approach is wrong.

[TKainZero]

Honestly by the sound of the level your team is at they shouldn't be running any plays in halfcourt offense. You should have a play to break full court press and an inbound play under your hoop, but beyond that there isn't any reason to have halfcourt sets. Think of it like this, these kids are extremely unskilled in the grand scheme of things in terms of basketball, they need to be focusing on skill development. It wouldn't matter if you had Gregg popovich designing your offense, because the players simply aren't skilled enough to properly execute any strategy you come up with. It'd be like trying to teach a beginner at chess certain advanced openings and move patterns when they don't even know what all the pieces do. Just focus on teaching motion concepts offensively, as in when a player passes the ball they either cut to the basket or set a screen for a teammate. Further, the other issue with set plays is that kids just forget them. All that practice time could be better spent on skill drills or defensive work.

As for being frustrated with the head coach, just do the best you can and offer suggestions constructively. Don't start drama and things work out eventually. If you do a good job coaching and work well with the kids people will definitely take notice. Just keep in mind that you want to make sure the kids are having fun. You are in the unique position of being able to inspire a love for the game in them. You are also in a position to completely turn them off to playing organized sports in general if your approach is wrong.

No matter the level of basketball, you are going to have a few plays.
I remember on my u10 team my dad coached, we had an inbound play, and a few half court plays, really simple stuff, but some structure

We went 5-0, then when we got to the 2nd half of the round robin, after a reseed (All 5-0 or 4-1 teams), we got stomped! Teams were scouting us, and countered what we ran, and we made an adjustment, and it backfired. That first game we got mollywhopped, by game 5, we were also scouting, and ended up essentially hacking their player to send him for fts at the end of the game (we were up 2, we fouled, and he missed the first ft, truer to intentionally miss 2nd. The teams coaches literally almost got into a fistfight on the fort in the final moments and post game (they were in our group1 and group2)

You cannot underestimate the competiveness in leagues, no matter the age

[mattg]

Honestly by the sound of the level your team is at they shouldn't be running any plays in halfcourt offense. You should have a play to break full court press and an inbound play under your hoop, but beyond that there isn't any reason to have halfcourt sets. Think of it like this, these kids are extremely unskilled in the grand scheme of things in terms of basketball, they need to be focusing on skill development. It wouldn't matter if you had Gregg popovich designing your offense, because the players simply aren't skilled enough to properly execute any strategy you come up with. It'd be like trying to teach a beginner at chess certain advanced openings and move patterns when they don't even know what all the pieces do. Just focus on teaching motion concepts offensively, as in when a player passes the ball they either cut to the basket or set a screen for a teammate. Further, the other issue with set plays is that kids just forget them. All that practice time could be better spent on skill drills or defensive work.

As for being frustrated with the head coach, just do the best you can and offer suggestions constructively. Don't start drama and things work out eventually. If you do a good job coaching and work well with the kids people will definitely take notice. Just keep in mind that you want to make sure the kids are having fun. You are in the unique position of being able to inspire a love for the game in them. You are also in a position to completely turn them off to playing organized sports in general if your approach is wrong.

No matter the level of basketball, you are going to have a few plays.
I remember on my u10 team my dad coached, we had an inbound play, and a few half court plays, really simple stuff, but some structure

We went 5-0, then when we got to the 2nd half of the round robin, after a reseed (All 5-0 or 4-1 teams), we got stomped! Teams were scouting us, and countered what we ran, and we made an adjustment, and it backfired. That first game we got mollywhopped, by game 5, we were also scouting, and ended up essentially hacking their player to send him for fts at the end of the game (we were up 2, we fouled, and he missed the first ft, truer to intentionally miss 2nd. The teams coaches literally almost got into a fistfight on the fort in the final moments and post game (they were in our group1 and group2)

You cannot underestimate the competiveness in leagues, no matter the age

I've coached 5th-8th grade competitive boys teams. Plenty of teams run plays but you need to let kids learn to just play, not worry about what a coach wants them to run. Currently I coach a pretty strong 8th grade team, the only plays we have are a press break, 2 under basket inbounds, a high post set, and a dribble weave. But 95% we play just motion offense. Youth basketball plays are pretty easy to figure out, you see it once and the adjustment is simple. A lot of kids even pick up on called plays 1st time they defend them. Teach a kid a play and he'll get good at running that play. Teach him motion offense and skills and he'll get good at running any play in any style of offense you want to play.

[3ballbomber]

EXPERIENCE! EXPERIENCE! EXPERIENCE!

Experience is not learning how to coach or how to play the game, it's to experience the politics unfortunately appear in all sports (I've never see worse politics than I've seen in Little League, Basketball Leagues, Soccer, you name it). It's just something that you'll have to get used to if you plan on doing this some more in the future. After all, you're doing it for you own kid, right? I've coached many sports in the past, from baseball (starting at T-Ball and going up through American Legion),

Youth Basketball (both boys and girls) and I have a loot of memories, both good (and bad unfortunately) If you have a problem with a particular coach, then you need to go to him and explain to him how you feel and see if can be resolved or just move your son to another team and another coach to see if it can be resolved.

If you have coaching aspirations yourself, then wherever you go, then volunteer at the beginning and learn from the experience so that someday you may have your own team if you want. You can volunteer if you want to for that as well, if the league your putting your son into has openings. Sounds to me like you might be better off finding a good coach that you can learn from and eventually (when you're ready) take on your own team. Most people start that way (including myself).

I can tell you one thing, just too plays might have simplified the game for the kids who most likely were confused, but 2 plays is really nothing as far as the game is concerned. There's much more to it than that and the best way to learn is to work as an assistant to someone who knows and understands the game better than you do from a coaching standpoint. Having the played the game definitely helps, but coaching it is an entirely different thing which is why some of your best players make terrible coaches.

Best of luck, and don't let it bother you much. Sometimes our worse experiences turn out to be our best teachers.

Very much appreciate your reply. & thanks for the many wise words.

I am still very much learning and you're spot on it was a great opportunity to experience all the things that come w/ head coaching - what i learned was invaluable & can take it w/ me moving forward.

I kept my head high, stayed strong, kept my dignity and gave him my gratitude for giving me the opportunity to head coach. What ever insufficiency's he may have i guess it has nothing to do w/ me. I did my best, got results & i should be proud of my accomplishments. Had to vent though, i'm a passionate guy and i care about the boys and their development. I game planned for 2 months for the tournament so i put in alot of hard work. I even took the boys on my own during the holidays to do drills so they would not be rusty coming back.

You're spot on the kids could not handle the plays we were teaching them. One in particular that coach re-implemented, as i stated in that 3rd game, they have never even executed - even to a point where they were all actually in their spots. And as i predicted they never even remembered to do it at all in that game.
The other play, wich is our full court press, they have been more successful with but it was always broken and they never really executed properly at all. It just needed to be emphasized so it becomes not only automatic to do it at the right times, but to first remember the play at the times it needed to be done. And that's why i wanted to hammer into them to consistently execute it throughout the tourney to condition their minds . Also you can't merely tell the kids to run a play w/out giving finer details. The kids need to be taught where to stand on the court, when to move, and how to make it most effective. I taught them attention to detail and it was exactly what was needed so they could properly learn to execute the play successfully. I also only focused on the trapping aspect of the press (wich is the most crucial) and not when it was broken. And even when it was broken because they had structure it gave them more opportunities to make steals even if our trap was beat simply because we already had good positions on the court to create turn overs.

You're absolutely right being an Assistant Coach is all about learning. My head coach has only head coached a season and a half domestic league level (under 8 and 9's) but this is actually his first time head coaching at a rep/elite level under 12's - wich is way different to domestic. He has been through the ropes many times w/ his other 2 kids and has assisted coached for one of them for a season (under 16's). He has far more experience than i have and i have always respected him and supported him the best that i can. I do feel he has some flaws and that is why i am their 200% for him and the boys. But i learn from him and his experiences and i respect that about him. I'm just gob smacked that i felt he failed to give me the same amount of respect and support considering what i had accomplished w/ the boys.

I don't want props or fame from what i did but it's evident that from his lack of support for me that he indeed does not reciprocate that support and respect that i have given him. Mind you for that 4th game i was talking about when i said i was upset after he took over the game prior after my loss i found that he did not help me coach that game. He sat there and didn't do his duties as an assistant coach. And it irked me even more. I felt very much alone for that game and i was very disappointed.

But in the end i know what i had accomplished and as you said this was a good experience for me for alot of reasons. I'm here for the boys and their development. It's what makes me push through this entire situation. We are still yet to start our season and have a looong season ahead. So i must maintain, re-focus and continue to not only be there for the boys but for the coach also.

[3ballbomber]

Either way, take it as a learning experience and the entire thing will be beneficial to not only you, but the entire team

This is spot on. It's very much a learning experience to be able to handle such a demoralizing experience of feeling black balled by a jealous head coach

Not only that but during your brief stint as HC you were successful. You should now take that confidence and roll with it, despite what this guy does from here on out.

Whether it's with this team or not, you'll get an opportunity. Obviously you're passionate about this, you came onto a basketball forum to vent in detail, talked to numerous other people. Passion breeds success, you'll get there

Appreciate your replied BlzMwt!

Yes, passion has always been a big trait for me. I'm all heart. That trait seems to have been passed down to my 8yo son also.

[3ballbomber]

Wow, I bet I can guess what the D in CoachD stands for...

He's right though. Even if the head coach isn't great, he is still the head coach and he is in charge. Learn as much as you can and go get your own team and run it how you see fit.

You're right, i must stay professional & respect head coach no matter what.

I have always been highly appreciative of him giving me my opportunity to be his assistant. Especially because i want to be a big part of my sons journey. I will continue to honor my appreciation, no matter what!


I just really needed to vent.

[3ballbomber]

I have been a coach and an assistant coach for kids teams like this. My biggest lesson is to not take it too seriously. Don't get me wrong, you try to win. Try to teach the kids how to play the right way. Treat the kids with respect. Its just that if you find yourself getting really angry about the refs, the results, parents or kids not executing, you are going too far with it.

Oh, and be head coach next year on some level. Its certainly different than assistant.

I was only really upset @ how i was treated by my HC. I came into the tourney w/ low expectations of the boys. Considering how they looked last year i wasn't expecting too much and just wanted them to have fun and learn structure. But it just happened to turn out that my game planning gave good results. My anger was 100% towards HC.

If i was HC & saw that my Assistant made big strides w/ the boys and produced our very first win i would very much give him credit. No doubt i reward him also after such a devastating loss to the top team by allowing him to coach the very next game, vs the bottom team where he is bale to regroup and further emphasize his game plan. I'm just not certain his motives were for the boys more than it was for his own self esteem. I do not understand how you could take that following game after your assistant just had his heart pulled the game before.

I would like to head coach in the future. but i will stay patient and hopefully i will get my opportunity.


**EDIT**

Forgot to address the taking it too seriously issue.

I'm taking it as serious as i need. This is rep ball where parents pay a reasonable amount for their kids for one season. It's also alot of commitment for not only the kids but also the parents who have to take them to training twice a week, including very early on a Sunday morning and games on Friday nights, where we could have games on the other side of the city an hour away and even longer w/ traffic.

I love this sport and i love to teach kids. My passion has always been basketball and children. It's not that i take it seriously more than it is i put my heart into this job. But i very much understand what you are saying. At the end of the day it's all supposed to be fun.....i try to balance everything out as much as possible. We coach the lower levels where it's all about development not wins. So we don't have that pressure.......but saying that i know these boys are better than what i saw last year and i felt i brought the very best out of them during the tournament.

[3ballbomber]

Honestly by the sound of the level your team is at they shouldn't be running any plays in halfcourt offense. You should have a play to break full court press and an inbound play under your hoop, but beyond that there isn't any reason to have halfcourt sets. Think of it like this, these kids are extremely unskilled in the grand scheme of things in terms of basketball, they need to be focusing on skill development. It wouldn't matter if you had Gregg popovich designing your offense, because the players simply aren't skilled enough to properly execute any strategy you come up with. It'd be like trying to teach a beginner at chess certain advanced openings and move patterns when they don't even know what all the pieces do. Just focus on teaching motion concepts offensively, as in when a player passes the ball they either cut to the basket or set a screen for a teammate. Further, the other issue with set plays is that kids just forget them. All that practice time could be better spent on skill drills or defensive work.

As for being frustrated with the head coach, just do the best you can and offer suggestions constructively. Don't start drama and things work out eventually. If you do a good job coaching and work well with the kids people will definitely take notice. Just keep in mind that you want to make sure the kids are having fun. You are in the unique position of being able to inspire a love for the game in them. You are also in a position to completely turn them off to playing organized sports in general if your approach is wrong.

- Yup, i took that into consideration going into the tourney. The boys were not capable of intricate plays & i understood this. This is the reason why i just wanted them to do 2 plays that i felt they were capable of doing and from our first win they very much not only very capable but they thrived in a structured environment. It was just a matter of remembering and hence why i emphasized just 2 plays.

You mentioned press breaker and inbounds play. What was great about one of my plays was that it was both you could not only use it as a press breaker but also for every inbounds play wether it was sideline or baseline. I used the simple stack. When executed it was hardly beaten and w/out fail got it to an open man. but when ever they didn't use it when they were guarded tightly we would get turn overs and look like the same sloppy team like last year.

What i did was simplify everything for them by not only limiting how many plays to do but giving them 2 very simple but effective plays to use and could utilize in different situations & on any part of the court. And as a result they were able to remember to do both plays. We looked structured, we looked clean, they made better decisions and they thrived within that scheme. I was extremely proud of them. But it first had to be master-planned in consideration to what i thought they would be able to handle.

You are absolutely right about not creating any drama and to continue to work hard for the kids. After all i am there for them and my son. At the end of the day we are all learning and the most i can do is create a positive environment for all of us to enjoy the sport.


I appreciate your reply and suggestions mattg!

[3ballbomber]

Spoiler:

Honestly by the sound of the level your team is at they shouldn't be running any plays in halfcourt offense. You should have a play to break full court press and an inbound play under your hoop, but beyond that there isn't any reason to have halfcourt sets. Think of it like this, these kids are extremely unskilled in the grand scheme of things in terms of basketball, they need to be focusing on skill development. It wouldn't matter if you had Gregg popovich designing your offense, because the players simply aren't skilled enough to properly execute any strategy you come up with. It'd be like trying to teach a beginner at chess certain advanced openings and move patterns when they don't even know what all the pieces do. Just focus on teaching motion concepts offensively, as in when a player passes the ball they either cut to the basket or set a screen for a teammate. Further, the other issue with set plays is that kids just forget them. All that practice time could be better spent on skill drills or defensive work.

As for being frustrated with the head coach, just do the best you can and offer suggestions constructively. Don't start drama and things work out eventually. If you do a good job coaching and work well with the kids people will definitely take notice. Just keep in mind that you want to make sure the kids are having fun. You are in the unique position of being able to inspire a love for the game in them. You are also in a position to completely turn them off to playing organized sports in general if your approach is wrong.

No matter the level of basketball, you are going to have a few plays.
I remember on my u10 team my dad coached, we had an inbound play, and a few half court plays, really simple stuff, but some structure

We went 5-0, then when we got to the 2nd half of the round robin, after a reseed (All 5-0 or 4-1 teams), we got stomped! Teams were scouting us, and countered what we ran, and we made an adjustment, and it backfired. That first game we got mollywhopped, by game 5, we were also scouting, and ended up essentially hacking their player to send him for fts at the end of the game (we were up 2, we fouled, and he missed the first ft, truer to intentionally miss 2nd. The teams coaches literally almost got into a fistfight on the fort in the final moments and post game (they were in our group1 and group2)

You cannot underestimate the competiveness in leagues, no matter the age

I believe it depends on what the kids are capable of. If they are able to grasp the plays you want them to execute then by all means run what ever they can handle. Our boys struggled w/ our sets pretty badly. I observed their difficulties & i was able to game plan the tourney with this in mind. Wich is why i came up w/ the two play scheme. And they worked wonders. I'm not crediting my self for the plays as i learned them both from my Head Coach. But i was able to use that knowledge & cater to the boys weaknesses in hope of creating something that could end up being their strength throughout the tourney and the results showed.

I mean any other coach could have picked any other hundreds of plays out there. I was able to choose the correct plays for us that could be effective not only for what the boys could handle but how often we were able to use it for various situations on any position on the court. When we lost to that top team it was because the boys failed to execute the plays. It was that simple. That team weren't necessarily better than us we just failed to simply execute down the stretch wich hurt us. But considering where the boys were last year and compare to how clean and efficient they played in that game....it may have been a loss but the boys made big strides and they came out better for it.

[3ballbomber]

[

Spoiler:

quote="TKainZero"][quote="mattg"]Honestly by the sound of the level your team is at they shouldn't be running any plays in halfcourt offense. You should have a play to break full court press and an inbound play under your hoop, but beyond that there isn't any reason to have halfcourt sets. Think of it like this, these kids are extremely unskilled in the grand scheme of things in terms of basketball, they need to be focusing on skill development. It wouldn't matter if you had Gregg popovich designing your offense, because the players simply aren't skilled enough to properly execute any strategy you come up with. It'd be like trying to teach a beginner at chess certain advanced openings and move patterns when they don't even know what all the pieces do. Just focus on teaching motion concepts offensively, as in when a player passes the ball they either cut to the basket or set a screen for a teammate. Further, the other issue with set plays is that kids just forget them. All that practice time could be better spent on skill drills or defensive work.

As for being frustrated with the head coach, just do the best you can and offer suggestions constructively. Don't start drama and things work out eventually. If you do a good job coaching and work well with the kids people will definitely take notice. Just keep in mind that you want to make sure the kids are having fun. You are in the unique position of being able to inspire a love for the game in them. You are also in a position to completely turn them off to playing organized sports in general if your approach is wrong.[/quote]

No matter the level of basketball, you are going to have a few plays.
I remember on my u10 team my dad coached, we had an inbound play, and a few half court plays, really simple stuff, but some structure

We went 5-0, then when we got to the 2nd half of the round robin, after a reseed (All 5-0 or 4-1 teams), we got stomped! Teams were scouting us, and countered what we ran, and we made an adjustment, and it backfired. That first game we got mollywhopped, by game 5, we were also scouting, and ended up essentially hacking their player to send him for fts at the end of the game (we were up 2, we fouled, and he missed the first ft, truer to intentionally miss 2nd. The teams coaches literally almost got into a fistfight on the fort in the final moments and post game (they were in our group1 and group2)

You cannot underestimate the competiveness in leagues, no matter the age[/quote]

I've coached 5th-8th grade competitive boys teams. Plenty of teams run plays but you need to let kids learn to just play, not worry about what a coach wants them to run. Currently I coach a pretty strong 8th grade team, the only plays we have are a press break, 2 under basket inbounds, a high post set, and a dribble weave. But 95% we play just motion offense. Youth basketball plays are pretty easy to figure out, you see it once and the adjustment is simple. A lot of kids even pick up on called plays 1st time they defend them. Teach a kid a play and he'll get good at running that play. Teach him motion offense and skills and he'll get good at running any play in any style of offense you want to play.[/quote][/quote][/quote]

This is why i thought having two plays would be good for the boys. After all how many inbounds occur during one game. It seems like basketball is a game all about inbounding considering how many times each team inbounds either on the sideline or baseline. The stack was perfect for this and the other play was our press breaker. Everything else other than those two plays was dependent on what the boys had learned so far in their development......their defense, man-on-man, their ball handling, their passing, pivoting, shooting etc. What i wanted to focus on was structure and i thought everything else would take care of itself. The boys thrived in the structure to the point it made them make better decisions simply because when the plays work it made them feel successful and it improved all other aspects of their game, not only individually but as a unit. It was beautiful to see. My wife recorded all the games on her iphone and have watched them numerous times. Very pleased w/ what i had accomplished w/ the boys w/ we can now ride into the season.

[3ballbomber]

Sounds like your ready for the business world as well. Yeah you have an a hole boss. Most of us do and if you survive you can become one yourself.

Or you can use the experience to make yourself better and to broaden your horizon. The glass is always half empty or full but its up to you to decide.

I'm not the a-hole type & have no ambition to be. Your latter suggestion i'm down with though The experience i had in those short amount of days in the tourney is invaluable. I'm not sure i'm ready to HC but i'm learning everyday. If i had to though i would take up that challenge no doubt. I have a full season still yet to start as an assistant coach & may even take the helm again if HC happens to miss some games. So i'm looking forward to learning & the experience. I still have so much to learn!

[3ballbomber]

Currently I coach a pretty strong 8th grade team, the only plays we have are a press break, 2 under basket inbounds, a high post set, and a dribble weave. But 95% we play just motion offense. Youth basketball plays are pretty easy to figure out, you see it once and the adjustment is simple. A lot of kids even pick up on called plays 1st time they defend them. Teach a kid a play and he'll get good at running that play. Teach him motion offense and skills and he'll get good at running any play in any style of offense you want to play.

By any chance i can trouble you for the plays that you run. Perhaps you can supply a youtube example of them or playbook drawing. Would love to see your sets .

[turk3d]

Here's something that should also be mentioned: at their ages, it's not about "running plays" at this early stage (yes a couple of plays as you said you installed should be enough). It's about teaching these kids fundamentals and learning how to play together as a team. That's even more important than winning at this stage in their lives if you can believe that. It's about preparing them for the next stage in their young lives (whether it be in sports or in whatever else they choose to become).

I think that drills are more important. Get some good drills (I don't know how much you practice with them (I wouldn't make them too difficult, i.e. I wouldn't have them running lines out there, you don't want to kill the kids, lol). Get some good drills to run and you'll definitely see some improvement. And perhaps the most important thing: keep the kids having fun and you'll do quite well I'm pretty sure.

[3ballbomber]

Here's something that should also be mentioned: at their ages, it's not about "running plays" at this early stage (yes a couple of plays as you said you installed should be enough). It's about teaching these kids fundamentals and learning how to play together as a team. That's even more important than winning at this stage in their lives if you can believe that. It's about preparing them for the next stage in their young lives (whether it be in sports or in whatever else they choose to become).

I think that drills are more important. Get some good drills (I don't know how much you practice with them (I wouldn't make them too difficult, i.e. I wouldn't have them running lines out there, you don't want to kill the kids, lol). Get some good drills to run and you'll definitely see some improvement. And perhaps the most important thing: keep the kids having fun and you'll do quite well I'm pretty sure.

Yes, most definitely.

I mentioned above that we are coaching the lower level of the Under 12's & at this level the focus is on development over winning games. The boys practice twice a week and do plenty of drills to help them improve their fundamentals from dribbling, shooting & defense.

HC has introduced 5 plays but only wants them to do 3 of them. I think 2 for now is ample. Once they start to get used to understanding the importance of remembering to do the plays and then executing them then we can think about adding another once they can fully handle 2. I think my approach of simplifying the game plan w/ 2 simple plays helped them to get to the stage of playing structured basketball. Now it will be up to HC to cater to their capabilities and implement sets they are able to handle.

Our press, wich is one of the 2 plays we did in the tourney, is the most important as we want to be a defensive mined team. I only wanted them to focus on the initial trap but now they must learn the next stage of the play when the trap gets broken. We had many steals from the initial trap alone & we can get even more if it's broken and the boys learn their positions.

Seeing as how the boys thrived in a structured environment. W/ more playing time together, experience & learning i think they are capable of doing 3+ plays. It's all up to the boys though to put in the hard work.