Season Wrap Up

The Kidlet chases a loose ball.

I was asked to come out of retirement three weeks in to the season to help coach my Kid's town team because the head coach quit for work reasons and the assistant doesn't get basketball.  This year was the first time either coached and both are doing it so that their daughters could play. I became the player development coach.

This is a girls town travel team in a town that doesn't have an in-house / rec level feeder system. These girls have never played before or played on this team last year (except my daughter who plays AAU up two years in the fall.) The town next door that we play the most often has 12 town teams at our age level with 10 to 12 players on each. We have the one girls teams at 4th/5th grade (us), and two boys teams at that age level to that towns  I started teaching the offense because it teaches the players to play basketball the correct way. We use it as a 5 out and have only worked on the first layer.18 teams.

The town next door has a feeder system that starts in first grade with lower baskets, smaller courts, and a serious stressing of the fundamentals. They also have three levels of travel teams. That town's pride is basketball and it shows up in the development and play of both of their high school teams.

The first thing I did was insist that every player on the team bring a basketball (to go with the 6 that I bring from my collection so that we have enough to do two ball dribbling) and a bottle of water.

They had been running practices for 12 kids with the two balls the league provided and sending the girls out of the gym to the water fountain. I tossed out the plays that they were working on because most of the players did not understand them even well enough to run the patterns, could not dribble and had zero idea how to make or catch a pass.

We drill individual skills, play skill building short sided team games and learn the language of basketball. I give them weekly homework with a check list and parental sign off: ball handing, shooting form, foot work and terminology. I insisted that players only leave the floor to get a drink when a coach tells them to do so, that they hold the balls on their hip and close their mouths when a coach is talking and that they try to do whatever is asked of them.

I stress that a player only gets better by making mistakes. I got rid of the endless and mindless running of lines. We still do them occasionally but while dribbling a basketball (or two). We huddle as a team after every practice and every game and I tell each girl something that they did well that session from the notes that I make on my clipboard.

I have the girls coach each other on things such as holding the follow through or not moving the pivot foot during drills. I organize team outings to attend the local high school girls games and the monthly Saturday morning clinics that  the high school coach has started this year. I hold 2 to 3 hour open gyms most days during school vacation days during the school year.

I am running Rick Torbett's Read and React Offense I started teaching the offense because it teaches the players to play basketball the correct way. We use it as a 5 out and have only worked on the first layer.

Most of my girls are doing well with the R&R in practice when you consider how little time I am able to spend on it, but they tended to abandon it in the confusion and stress of real games. It is far from a habit. Most of it is a lack of any kind of meaningful basketball experience and part of it is that for the first part of the season (and all of last year) the out going coach would set up the two tallest girls on the block, two others on the elbow and any one who could dribble with at least one hand at the top of the key. The girls would then stand on their spots and watch the point guard  get stripped.

Anyway, in my program I mostly stress:

1. That the girls be positive about and to themselves and their teammates. We praise and encourage each other as part of every drill that we run as well as on the bench during games.

2. That they hustle at all times. You speed drill to get a drink and speed dribble back. (I try to keep a ball in their hands as much as I can.)

3. That they work for individual skill improvement which includes doing their basketball homework every week. I only give them things to do that can be done with just a basketball. The one kid who still does not have one, I loaned one of mine and will let her keep it at season's end.

4. That they make the R&R team spacing a habit.

5. That all players move with out the ball. Cutting after every pass has become the norm (even when I was teaching the shell drill and did not WANT them to cut), however they don't always face the ball while cutting, get all the way down the lane or fill to the correct spot. Often they don't even fill to an
EMPTY spot. I tell them that as long as they are moving, they are not wrong. Moving to the correct spaces will come as the spacing habit deepens. I hope.

6. That every one learns to play every position. I have three tall for their age girls who can all now dribble with both hands.

7. That they MOVE THE BALL be it pass, dribble or shoot. I'd like to see more passing and shooting and less dribbling. That will come with understanding of the offense and more playing of HOT POTATO in the 5 out.

I explain over and over and over WHY we do what we do. I have them explained it to me, to each other, parents, etc. I'm making sure every player learns what to at every position on the floor in the R&R and that every one of them can bring the ball up the floor to set up the action.

Some of the girls are understanding the read line that rather they have the ball or not, and their defender steps on the arc, they face cut hard to the basket. They don't often DO it but can all explain the why and how of it.

I am teaching them the language of the offense. They may not be able to physically do it well but every girl on the team can tell you what 5 Out (and draw it for you) is, that dribble at is, that dribble drive is, that a laker cut is, that a corner cut is, fill to ball means, Pass/cut mean and there the read
line is. On pass/cut my rule, in order to keep things as simple and clear for them, is that the girls always passes, cuts all the way to the basket and then fill to the corner opposite the direction that they passed. Do they do it? Not often in a even in practice but they can explain the how and why of it. It gets the circle motion started.

One things that I do in practice to help with spacing are:

1. Have the players take turns putting the marks or numbers on the floor for the five out, if we are using numbers. We've been working to fade then. I started with 11 by 14 sheets of paper and am now down to a 2 inch square piece of painter's tape. They also collect the marks. We don't use them the entire practice, or we only used them on one end of the floor.

2. Assign a player to be the coach for each team when we practice. That coach gets a whistle and can stop play to "fix" the spacing. They are also now allowed to stop action to "fix" the defense, but all are still pretty weak on the shell.

3. Have 10 girls (on the whistle) run to the other end of the court and set up in the five out and the shell defense. I hand a player the ball first. That player has to dribble down the floor to a spot. Make sure every one is sprinting from the top of the key to the top of the key which we call "running the race track." A player coach if we have extra players "fixes" the offense and encourages every one to hustle.

I thought, until one game, that they understood at least the spacing part of the offense. Most do not. We played at middle school that did not have a three point line which is something that I did not anticipate and train them for. The results were interesting. They did better at remembering to cut and to move without the ball than they did with their spacing.

The first group to play during the first quarter reverted to top of the key, elbow, elbow, block, block spacing. BUT they still cut after passes, filled toward the ball and rotated. While they were out on the floor I got the girls on the bench talking with me about what was wrong with the spacing. One kid asked, "How do  we know where to go if there isn't a three point line?" My kid, who played last year on an AAU team that ran the R&R, explained that it has to become a habit but if you are touching the lane you are always way too close and 10 steps out would be better. When that group went in, they got the spacing at the start of their possessions but could not hold it. During half time we spent our 3 minutes working on spacing without a line. It wasn't enough time. Next year and during the summer we will practice some in places with out the 3 point line.

I have to explain that we are an equal playing time league. I had 10 girls show up dressed. I am required to split my minutes as equally as I can between those girls. My assistant coach takes care of that for me and is anal about it. He keeps little charts and time tables. While he is handling whom is in and whom is out, I am watching the game with the girls and talking about what is going on and why. I am explaining what our team is doing well and not so well. I am pointing out what needs to be done to defend the other team. And I am cheering (and pointing out) good defense on our teams part. I also cheer (and point out) great shots or plays on the other team's part. I need for cheering and encoraging each other to be part of the team's culture.

I love the offense. I've never used it with inexperienced players before. I had (still have to) to spend a lot time on dribbling, jump stops and pivoting. I believe that R&R teaches what I think are the three most important principal - player movement, floor spacing and ball movement. I love the collection of drills that break the layers in to small manageable pieces. The girls finally have enough body control to start running some of them.

I also believe that just working hard on the offense will force the team to learn defense. That and my stressing that a man with the ball in the paint is EVERYONE'S man. At this age man to man, which we are required to run, mean stick to your mark even if someone with the ball drives by or at you. Fixing that misconception was why I introduced the shell drill. Defending the R&R every practice out of the shell drill will instill a nice help mentality. Our league requires man to man be allows help within. I believe in man to man is the best defense to teach youngsters as it helps them to become better athletes, aids in the development of court vision and teach the fundamentals of defense.

We did not get to much more of the R&R offense before season's end, and I am okay with that. We'll revisit it often during the off season.

We had our last regular game of the season on Saturday. All 12 girls showed up - 10 before or at my required 30 minutes early to warm up and shoot around. Of the 12, 8 scored during the game. Generally we have two or three who even bother to shoot. We've worked a bit the last couple of weeks on not passing the ball out of the paint if they are standing under the basket or in their personal shooting zone. I'd rather they force it up for a foul than try to pass it out in traffic to have the ball stolen.

Everyone played defense well. We won almost every 50 / 50 ball. They all now believe in help defense and will call for it if they get beat. That is the ONLY time they talk on the court, most of them, but more communication will come as I coach them to do it.

The best part, for me, is that they maintained their 5 out spacing on offense and remembered to cut after passing. They MOVED the ball, moved without the ball and hustled up and down the floor - with and with out the ball. A couple of girls still dribble too much. I believe that trusting their team mates and understanding the offense will correct a lot of that.

We had a lot of unforced turn overs as they are still learning to look the ball in to their hands as they jump to the ball to receive a pass. I don't care about our turnovers at this stage. I coach 9 and 10-year-old girls, most of whom haven't played before. I think protecting the ball will come with experience and maturity.

We are now 2 for 10 for the season. I am pleased with that. Everyone on my team can dribble with both hands (and about a 3rd do it with their heads up.) Everyone will attempt a shot if they are near our basket. Everyone believes that it is their job to protect the paint. Everyone works hard to keep their man in front of them (and about a 3rd are good defenders at this level.) Everyone will crash the boards for a rebound, dive for a loose ball and tie up the ball handler for a jump if they get the chance. everyone understands when they are on offense and when they are on defense, with is not a small thing for new, young basketball players.

I am proud of the progress that every one has made and that every one is still having fun. I am looking forward to the play off game(s). In our league, every team makes it in for a single elimination tournament.

I'll have the fourth graders next year and will work with ANYONE who wants to work with me all summer long doing skills and drills, holding open gyms and organizing some "pick up" games.