Coaching Community Basketball

[Stacey 0]

This season I'm coaching a team of 7-9th grade girls in the community league. There are three other teams that consist mainly of girls who play for their middle and high schools, and some have even gone All-Star or NJB. My girls are so GREEN! They're all very tiny and inexperienced. I'm having trouble figuring out what to work on in the hour practice I'm allotted by the city once a week. Should I focus on one skill at a time and not worry about defense or offense and let the games just ride? Or should I spend more time teaching them how to play man to man so when they play their weekly games they don't get cremated by the other teams? I can't create additional practices, or extend practice hours, and the one practice I'm given is in a two court gym that I have to share with two other teams (We get 40 minutes half-court time and 20 minutes full-court time on a rotation). Any advice or suggestions? I really want to see them improve individually, but I also don't want their confidence destroyed in these horrible weekend massacres.

[hoops4kids 0]

Are you coaching for development regardless of the score or are you coaching to win? It appears by your post you need development first.

If you're playing to win, zones and zone traps can create havoc on the other team and allow you to hide a weak defensive player on the weak side.

If you're playing to develop strong defensive skills, teach them man-to-man defense. It's better for foot work and court awareness development.

It sounds like you need to start with the basics of dribbling, passing, layups and footwork (offensive, defensive, rebounding).

In this age group, shooting percentages are low. If your team can learn to play good defense, protect the ball, rebound and make layups, they should be OK. Don't worry about outside shooting.

If you think your team is that weak, tell the opposing coach before the game. When the opposing team gets ahead by a certain unbeatable margin, if the coach has any dignity at all, he will play his bench and not run up the score.