Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:If this is first-year basketball, all the coaches are dealing with this issue (some good, some not-so-good players). Have you thought about talking to other coaches and playing an "A" team for the first quarter and a "B" team for the second quarter? Would allow you to have your good players be able to play with each other and learn the game, and would allow the B players have a shot at making some plays if they are playing a B defense too.
Then second half, mix and match as you see fit.
Just an idea. Good luck.
Another idea is to focus on the practices as a method by which you weed out the losers. At least in Arlington County a monitor from Parks and Rec shows up at each gym to keep an eye on things and make sure each kid gets a fair shake. But they don't go to practices.
So get together with another team, preferably a really good one in another division or in a "one-year-up" age group, and practice at the same time. Run demo drills using only your best players, except for pick and roll drills put in the kids you want to quit as the ones who get slammed on the "pick". Then scrimmage the last 20 minutes of the hourlong practice, but use your best players for all but the last couple of minutes. That way your good kids get just as much focused practice time as in a "fair" program, while the losers just sit around for an hour. Tell the parent that you need to maximize practice time, but the kid will play in the game "when it matters". Then you tell your good players to run pick-and-roll or pick-and-pop iso work in the games, so that the other kids never touch the ball.
The end result is that the losers have a miserable time. You get one or two to quit, and you're down to say seven players instead of nine. As you only have to play the stiffs a couple of quarters, you can max out the time your good kids play.
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