Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"What you have to do is direct everyone's efforts toward being sure those kids help the high school win in 8 or 10 years. That means learning to win now and shaping the team to develop their talents. "

Because if the high school loses what exactly happens? There is an obesity epidemic because of children dropping out of sports due to coaches like you who only focus on the best kids. That is a national issue. Whether a high school team wins or loses is not a national issue or even a local one.

It's a pretty huge issue where I live. Just the other day the old-timers at the bar had a 45-minute debate over whether John Yates should have gone to the 4-corners against Martinsville from the get-go in the '76 state championship (which Martinsville won by 8 with a score in the low 60s). Of course, you were probably playing NBA 15 on PlayStation rather than appreciating the history of the game.

It's also a pretty huge issue to college basketball recruiters. A lot more kids are getting scholarship money to play basketball then they are to "fight obesity".

Plus, there's nothing stopping these other kids from skipping that fourth cheeseburger at McD's after school, or saying "you know what, I think I'll have some vitamin water rather than the Big Gulp". But, you know, it's not trophies for participation that lead to failure--it's coaches like me who push kids to get better and to support the stars. Got it -- loser.

Anonymous wrote:"What you have to do is direct everyone's efforts toward being sure those kids help the high school win in 8 or 10 years. That means learning to win now and shaping the team to develop their talents. "

Because if the high school loses what exactly happens? There is an obesity epidemic because of children dropping out of sports due to coaches like you who only focus on the best kids. That is a national issue. Whether a high school team wins or loses is not a national issue or even a local one.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you all think you can coach, then GET OUT THERE AND COACH!!! With all the time I put in, I've earned the right to coach the team as I see fit. And obviously it's worked because I've won a number of 8-12-year-old rec league championships.

And for those who say nobody cares because it's not in the Post--tell that to the two HIGH SCHOOL athletic directors who had me as runner-up to coach their FRESHMEN teams!!!

If you understood your role as a Rec Coach you would be telling us about the players you developed and how they later blossomed as basketball players. But no, you think winning some Rec league championship and being asked to coach 6th grade means you have some kind of "program"

Exactly what is your development curriculum that is fail safe in the competitive world of rec basketball?

Anonymous wrote:If you all think you can coach, then GET OUT THERE AND COACH!!! With all the time I put in, I've earned the right to coach the team as I see fit. And obviously it's worked because I've won a number of 8-12-year-old rec league championships.

And for those who say nobody cares because it's not in the Post--tell that to the two HIGH SCHOOL athletic directors who had me as runner-up to coach their FRESHMEN teams!!!

Anonymous wrote:If you all think you can coach, then GET OUT THERE AND COACH!!! With all the time I put in, I've earned the right to coach the team as I see fit. And obviously it's worked because I've won a number of 8-12-year-old rec league championships.

And for those who say nobody cares because it's not in the Post--tell that to the two HIGH SCHOOL athletic directors who had me as runner-up to coach their FRESHMEN teams!!!

Anonymous wrote:Did I read that double-teams are prohibited? If so, then that's your answer.

When you only have one good player on the floor in the first quarter, on defense you play your good player against their tallest player to start. At age 8, let the other kids shoot and be sure you have your good player in position to get rebounds. It's a make-miss league; if they sink their shots then tip your cap to the opposing coach.

But generally they'll miss, and at some point you'll rebound or the ball will fly out off them. So then you have your good player take the ball up the court. So long as he makes forward progress he can take the ten seconds to cross midcourt, and there should be no backcourt defense at this age level. Then he can cross midcourt against one defender with a head of steam, so have him continue all the way to the hole for layup after layup as one-on-one will be cake for him.

What about the other kids, you say? If it's a rebound you tell them to stay in the defensive half of midcourt. No double-teams, remember? Then as I note above, bet on your son to beat his opponent down the court to the hoop. Even if he misses he can follow his own miss with abandon, as his teammates are all back the other way and can get in the way until he catches up.

If you have to in-bound from midcourt so your players are supposed to all be in the offensive end, then just line them up along the left sideline bunched against the baseline. That will leave 8 kids effectively out of the way in the corner, while your son can go one-on-one with the sole defender. What's more, you probably won't have the absolute best defender on your kid in the first quarter since scouting isn't really done very much at the 8-year-old rec league level.

Look, it's not like your son and the other good kid are missing out on team play. The other poster mentioned clustering your good players in the fourth (all) and third (the two good ones) quarters. That's where they learn about using their teammates, passing, and whatnot. Plus the other team will come out of halftime thinking you're a one-on-one team, and all of a sudden they'll get rotated and pick-and-rolled to death.

I've coached all my boys to championships in rec league for ages 8 through 12; after that they were just too busy with travel basketball and travel lacrosse. Yes, I've had lawyer, doctor, lobbyist parents complain to me about how I run my program. I tell them look, I run a landscaping business so that I can be with my kids. You can't run away from your kids all day to work in your high-powered job, and then expect me to fix your relationship with your kid. If you're gonna impose a kid who can't play or just isn't getting better onto my team, and then push through fair time rules and stuff, then I'm gonna do what I need to do to build a program of success.

Anonymous wrote:Did I read that double-teams are prohibited? If so, then that's your answer.

When you only have one good player on the floor in the first quarter, on defense you play your good player against their tallest player to start. At age 8, let the other kids shoot and be sure you have your good player in position to get rebounds. It's a make-miss league; if they sink their shots then tip your cap to the opposing coach.

But generally they'll miss, and at some point you'll rebound or the ball will fly out off them. So then you have your good player take the ball up the court. So long as he makes forward progress he can take the ten seconds to cross midcourt, and there should be no backcourt defense at this age level. Then he can cross midcourt against one defender with a head of steam, so have him continue all the way to the hole for layup after layup as one-on-one will be cake for him.

What about the other kids, you say? If it's a rebound you tell them to stay in the defensive half of midcourt. No double-teams, remember? Then as I note above, bet on your son to beat his opponent down the court to the hoop. Even if he misses he can follow his own miss with abandon, as his teammates are all back the other way and can get in the way until he catches up.

If you have to in-bound from midcourt so your players are supposed to all be in the offensive end, then just line them up along the left sideline bunched against the baseline. That will leave 8 kids effectively out of the way in the corner, while your son can go one-on-one with the sole defender. What's more, you probably won't have the absolute best defender on your kid in the first quarter since scouting isn't really done very much at the 8-year-old rec league level.

Look, it's not like your son and the other good kid are missing out on team play. The other poster mentioned clustering your good players in the fourth (all) and third (the two good ones) quarters. That's where they learn about using their teammates, passing, and whatnot. Plus the other team will come out of halftime thinking you're a one-on-one team, and all of a sudden they'll get rotated and pick-and-rolled to death.

I've coached all my boys to championships in rec league for ages 8 through 12; after that they were just too busy with travel basketball and travel lacrosse. Yes, I've had lawyer, doctor, lobbyist parents complain to me about how I run my program. I tell them look, I run a landscaping business so that I can be with my kids. You can't run away from your kids all day to work in your high-powered job, and then expect me to fix your relationship with your kid. If you're gonna impose a kid who can't play or just isn't getting better onto my team, and then push through fair time rules and stuff, then I'm gonna do what I need to do to build a program of success.

Anonymous wrote:Did I read that double-teams are prohibited? If so, then that's your answer.

When you only have one good player on the floor in the first quarter, on defense you play your good player against their tallest player to start. At age 8, let the other kids shoot and be sure you have your good player in position to get rebounds. It's a make-miss league; if they sink their shots then tip your cap to the opposing coach.

But generally they'll miss, and at some point you'll rebound or the ball will fly out off them. So then you have your good player take the ball up the court. So long as he makes forward progress he can take the ten seconds to cross midcourt, and there should be no backcourt defense at this age level. Then he can cross midcourt against one defender with a head of steam, so have him continue all the way to the hole for layup after layup as one-on-one will be cake for him.

What about the other kids, you say? If it's a rebound you tell them to stay in the defensive half of midcourt. No double-teams, remember? Then as I note above, bet on your son to beat his opponent down the court to the hoop. Even if he misses he can follow his own miss with abandon, as his teammates are all back the other way and can get in the way until he catches up.

If you have to in-bound from midcourt so your players are supposed to all be in the offensive end, then just line them up along the left sideline bunched against the baseline. That will leave 8 kids effectively out of the way in the corner, while your son can go one-on-one with the sole defender. What's more, you probably won't have the absolute best defender on your kid in the first quarter since scouting isn't really done very much at the 8-year-old rec league level.

Look, it's not like your son and the other good kid are missing out on team play. The other poster mentioned clustering your good players in the fourth (all) and third (the two good ones) quarters. That's where they learn about using their teammates, passing, and whatnot. Plus the other team will come out of halftime thinking you're a one-on-one team, and all of a sudden they'll get rotated and pick-and-rolled to death.

I've coached all my boys to championships in rec league for ages 8 through 12; after that they were just too busy with travel basketball and travel lacrosse. Yes, I've had lawyer, doctor, lobbyist parents complain to me about how I run my program. I tell them look, I run a landscaping business so that I can be with my kids. You can't run away from your kids all day to work in your high-powered job, and then expect me to fix your relationship with your kid. If you're gonna impose a kid who can't play or just isn't getting better onto my team, and then push through fair time rules and stuff, then I'm gonna do what I need to do to build a program of success.

Anonymous wrote: Nobody seems willing to quit the team to free up playing time so that's off the table.

Anonymous wrote:

This is a scary statement coming from a youth sports coach for young kids. It is very clear that he should not be coaching kids anywhere.