I coach youth basketball and I guess Im on some email lists but anyway, today I got an email from breakthroughbasketball.com specifically about how Jamie always beat Syracuse's zone. Its actually really well thought out and complex. Just neat to see all the steps involved.
OT: got an email about Jamie's 2-3 zone offense
- Thread starter Sean Miller Fan
- Start date
It’s the opposite of Mike Rice Jr in that the kids throw basketballs at his head.
These kids are lucky to be coached by such a legend.
SMF Knows Youth Basketball
I have mad respect for anyone volunteering their time to coach youth sports. They are unsung heroes.
What ages are you coaching? I disclose that I am not a coach. I managed youth ice hockey teams for years. My youngest just aged out of U18s, and it is good to not spend even more hours a week at the rink, but I do miss that involvement.
Our club distinctly separated team management from coaching (even though I was often on the ice running sections of drills and was always on the bench helping run the team on game day). The system worked so well that when we travelled the coaches would ask at the arrival airport "so where are WE staying?". Best to have them worried about the game plan and lines than if we had enough oversize baggage planned, and how do we get the goalies bag under the weight limit.
One thing for the really young ones, is that the fundamental skills of the game are more important than deep strategic plans. The most brilliant and complex game plan will fall apart if they players cannot dribble, pass and catch. This is actually true for Pitt too, as if no one can actually shoot the ball into the hoop, nothing else really matters.
I have a brief experience as a basketball coach. I got fired by the players after one game. My daughter asked me if I would coach her "C" grade basketball team at the local girls' high school. This was the night before the first game. So I rearranged work and went to the afternoon game. A team with no practices and only one player who had really ever played basketball. Most didn't even know the basic rules. This really limited what we could do, and drawing up the most intricate of in bounds plays was meaningless.
Well, a few days later we got together for a practice. Some of the players were athletic and had some height, so I thought we could do some really basic stuff to give us a chance. So I tried working on defence. "OK, we will work on half court man to man." OK, should have seen it coming. "We're a girls' school, we don't do this man to man stuff." Me: "OK, we'll play woman to woman." "Frankie is gender-less. Frankie's prefers we not use gender-based pronouns." Me: "Player to player? Number 4 cover number 12?" "F it, we'll play zone."
We did very little actual basketball. The next morning my daughter informed me that the team decided that they no longer wanted me to coach them. They were shut out in a number of their games. But they just laughed at each other all game long. They actually enjoyed that. Totally incompatible with my win at all costs attitude.
Now the ice hockey boys, they love my uncontrollable intensity. My job with the peewees was the pregame speech. Herb Brooks is an amateur compared to me in this regard. Of course we always had a team that was so good that you could tell them anything and they would win (The coaches would say we were the Red Army, not USA).
As Adam moved up to U18s, others took on these roles and I was a parent and fundraiser. Two years ago for a trip to Auckland, the coaching staff and manager were all unavailable. Of course this is the weekend when our top player and league leading scorer can't go, and our second leading scorer is injured. Top goalie injured. They ask me to take the team to Auckland. Go with back-up and emergency goalie.
I arranged to have a seat on the airplane away from the players...needed the time to put together a hell of a speech. The captains just kept haggling me the entire flight. Wanting to see what I was writing, what was I going to say? These guys actually believed that they won in peewees because of those dumb speeches. Well, I wasn't going to disappoint!
Game 1, I had them so fired up from the locker room they warmed up great, but by the time the game actually started, they were a bit off. Played really well, but lost on an unlucky goal and an empty netter made it look worse than it was. All kinds of texts from the coaches---good job keeping it close etc. Put that in the back pocket.
Next day. All expecting some rah rah before the game. Tried to keep them in the low down. Captains pleaded to not play the emergency goalie. Not negotiable. You fly for a weekend, you play. Goalie kind of a weird kid, but he could do it if on, and was terrible if off. I knew these kids for years, so knew how to manage them. Kept the goalie separated from this discussion.
Warmed them up and nearly every shot in warm up went in. Man they were flat. Got them to the bench and told them how happy everyone at home was with being close the day before. I told them let's play to keep it close today. That hit a nerve. Kids who barely spoke were pissed at me, questioning if I thought they could win. I told them what I thought meant nothing. What they thought is what mattered. They were so cranked up! An early and manageable shot went in and we were down 1-0. From there on our goalie was money. Had to kill a few penalties and guys were blocking shots and skating like maniacs. And short and intense shifts.
After a brief talk to the team I pulled Adam to the side and told him I needed him to take some chances and score. I told him I wasn't sure our forwards could deliver so go for it. One of the really young kids heard this, He came up to me and said " Mike, I'll get one. Guaranteed". Sure as shite, he did. He evened it up early in the second, and scored again on a powerplay late in the period.
After that, I didn't even talk to them between second and third periods. Told the captains to handle it. They held on after killing a couple of penalties and Auckland pulling their goalie. Some amazing individual efforts preserved that W. Afterwards I asked Adam what they said between periods. He said one guy said "Pressure makes a diamond". Then they played music and danced. He said they were so in the moment that nothing else needed to be said.
And their memory now is that "Mike gave an awesome speech and we won". Man, I love sport psychology!
Maybe Capel needs me to come in for the next few games?
Could you imagine SMF’s post game speeches?
“Good win! I told you kids MY plays would work if you do what I told you! SMF knows basketball!!!”
“Good win! I told you kids MY plays would work if you do what I told you! SMF knows basketball!!!”
Similar threads
Latest posts
-
-
Josh why are you locking threads, making them not open for future replies?- Latest: Zeldas Open Roof
-
-
-
