5 replies to this topic

[celticcoach]

I coach in a youth basketball league boys and girls ages 9-12 our team has made it to the championship game however we are facing a team that has so much height. Their center is almost six feet tall their power forward is 5'8" as is their shooting forward. This team was stacked by the league sponsors. They've gone through the season undefeated. We've faced them twice during the regular season we lost game one 39-11 and game two 42-28. I've tried everything against them but we don't have anyone over five feet tall but we have to guards that are great ball handlers and shooters but they can't get hot against this team. I'm thinking about going to an overload offense since they play a 2-3 zone most of the time however defensively i am at a loss we cant match up man on man, the 3-2 failed as did the 2-3 we had mild success with our quickness in the 1-3-1 trap but they over powered us in the final quarter of the second game. The thing that hurts us the worst is that our kids dont believe they can beat them no matter what we do. If anyone has any advice they can give me for this match up it would be greatly appreciated we play this weekend coming up

[hollad6636]

The second time you played them you more than doubled your point output and they only scored 3 more points, so something you did must have been more effective.

Maybe you could try a 1-1-3 defense, this would allow you to put pressure on the ball and still clog up the middle against the bigger players.

If you two point guards are that talented, you should be able to fast-break continually and maybe run them into the ground.

I agree your biggest obstacle will be overcoming the mind set that you can't beat the other team.

Good luck, let us know how the championship game goes.

IC,

Schann

[celticcoach]

thanks for taking time to reply to my post. All week in practice we have worked on the fast break like you mentioned. We also worked on our center's aggressiveness i want him to push there big man out as far away from the basket as possible because his shot has no range at all. I will definately go over the 1-1-3 tonight at practice i think it could work. I have a good feeling about this game my kids have had a good attitude all week in practice and seem more focused on winning than they have all year. our ability to rebound and get second chance oppurtunities will be key. Hopefully we can put together a win if not i'll still be proud of what our team has accomplished this year. No one thought we would be in the championship game any way.

[hollad6636]

Coach,

You are correct, they have accomplished alot just by making it a championship game. We always have to be carefully about not placing our focus on winning as being the only determining factor of success.

We had a big game last night as one of my teams is in a playoff to get into the playoffs as we tied two other teams for second place. We lost by 4 points. This doesn't knock us completely out as we have one more chance to beat the loser of the next game.

Anyway, the point I wanted to make is that before the game starts try to keep you kids loose, as you stated they already think they can't beat the other team so they will be feeling pressure. In retrospect our team came out very tight and we had to come from behind in the second half. We tied the game with 45 seconds to go and then the other team scored with 30 seconds left. We missed and fouled and they made both free throws. It was a great game.

Let your players know they have had alot of success already and that the game they are about to play is just another game win or lose tomorrow will just be another day in this thing we call life.

[celticcoach]

well we lost 42-36 but i was very proud of how our team handled itself. the players came in loose and focused. our first three trips down the floor my 2 guard made three point shots and we were up early 9-2. However they just kept pounding us. we were down 20-16 at half time. They couldn't shake us though. The game got pretty heated at times with what i thought were some bad non calls by the refs. My assistant coach got a technical in the third quarter for standing up in the coaches box which i thought was pretty lame for the ref to call. that seemed to inspire our players as they made a run to bring us within four points heading into the final quarter. we stuck with the 1-1-3 defensively and it was successful because their center only scored eight points they had to do most of their scoring from outside. All 14 players on my team got a chance to play i can't say the same for my adversary's players but oh well thats alright. My starters took the loss very hard but i told them afterward that they had nothing to be ashamed of. they new the odds were stacked against them from the start of the year. Nobody gave us a chance in heck to be in the championship game but they stuck together and kept going at that team. You're right though about winning being the only measure of success. At the end of the game I had so many parents come up to me and say how sorry they were that we lost and how it wasn't right how they stacked the other team. I wanted to shake them and say did you not watch the same game i did? did you not see the resolve, determination, and will that your child just displayed on that court. when i watched my players walk out of that gym for the last time i saw 14 champions.

[hollad6636]

Amen to that. That is such a great ending. You know many people will say that it doesn't matter because you lost and the loss is all that they are able to see. However, there is always a winner and loser in competition as far as what the scoreboard shows. What the scoreboard doesn't show is what kind of character you have helped develop on your team. I guarantee that all of the players on your team will remember this season and what you all accomplished together. The focus of the other team was only on the best 5 or 6 players. What about the rest of the team, what did they learn? What opportunities were they given? Was that win about the team or about the coach?

In the long run you team will better off for what they accomplished together. They will remember that you cared about them not so much for their ability but because they are a person.

Thanks for sharing a little of your season with us.