I’ve always been interested in what is the best allocation of practice time in this respect-do you spend more time polishing a strength or mending a weakness? As it pertains to this Cat team, perfect the high-powered offense or drill defense?
A question for board members who were paid coaches
- Thread starter BluPappi81
- Start date
In my experience, you spend the most time running because kids don't listen. 
I would just roll the balls out. That may be why my days of being a middle school basketball coach were limited. 🤣
Hah! In my amateur coaching of youth sports, my top objective was to do no harm so that the kids still wanted to play the next season. 🙂
I coached itty-bitty soccer. I taught them the only thing I knew: the ball won't go through you, so stay between the ball and the goal.
We never lost by more than 2.
As far as practice goes: don't practice near yellow jacket nests.
We never lost by more than 2.
As far as practice goes: don't practice near yellow jacket nests.
In the Navy, we would just try to stay sharp on offense, get up shots, light scrimmage.It was too late to try something else, plus we didn’t need any injuries going hard.
Hey kid, if you're going to play in the outfield, you have to stand up and face the batterIn my experience, you spend the most time running because kids don't listen.
I have coached and refereed, but never as a paid position, so feel free to ignore my lack of expertise...
If I were Calipari, the first thing I would be hitting on in practice this week is breaking the press. That was a glaring issue at the end of the Tennessee game, and it was also a glaring issue at the end of the Miss St game. I know some of it was nerves and circumstances, but they've got to be prepared for those moments better. Gotta remain calm, gotta make smart decisions, and players gotta be in the right places on the floor. That's where I would start.
As for the original question, I think at this point in the season you gotta get after each other in a real scrimmage and address what needs coaching in the moment. That's what I would be doing this week. Building them up and preparing them for taking a step up for tournament play.
That simple piece of advice would do WONDERS with this current team. How much do you charge?
Sounds like you're qualified enough to be the UK basketball coach to me.
I always worked on weaknesses, but only if it was to be used in a game situation. At the beginning of the season I did the drills for individual skillset, but coaching in a competitive league, I always practiced weaknesses and then at the end of the practice I would implement that into a scrimmage so they would get experience using it in a real game scenario. Being good at drills only amounted into individual success, which works if its a non-competitive league or you know pee-wee.
It really depends on the point in the season that you're in - some things you focus on early, some things late in the season. Some weaknesses you handle with film sessions rather than on the court.
Right now if I'm Cal: I'm spending more time on defense than the high-powered offense. Players get shots up on their own, can work some pick/roll on their own. 24-hour access to the facility along with student managers to fill whatever role is needed.
Can't really work team defense on your own, so that's the focus. They've shown some games where the team is really, really close to being a defensive team that can win a title, but still lacking consistency. They still really just need to trim 8-10 points per game off the average. Playing zone OBU has helped eliminate some easy points they've given up in the past - keep working on that because teams will run some OBU sets vs zone to get quick buckets.
Some things you can work on together: Putting Rob and Tre in a ball-screen while have DJ and Big Z/Ugo defend it
One way to get the ball in against a press is line everyone up 3 ft inbounds. Have dillingham act like he's gonna set a screen or run a play and then take off as fast as he can runI have coached and refereed, but never as a paid position, so feel free to ignore my lack of expertise...
If I were Calipari, the first thing I would be hitting on in practice this week is breaking the press. That was a glaring issue at the end of the Tennessee game, and it was also a glaring issue at the end of the Miss St game. I know some of it was nerves and circumstances, but they've got to be prepared for those moments better. Gotta remain calm, gotta make smart decisions, and players gotta be in the right places on the floor. That's where I would start.
As for the original question, I think at this point in the season you gotta get after each other in a real scrimmage and address what needs coaching in the moment. That's what I would be doing this week. Building them up and preparing them for taking a step up for tournament play.
Have Reed throw the ball to the half court line and he will already have a step on his man, nobody will outrun Rob dillingham
And you weren't offered a lifetime contract? Did you try making snarky comments about the players' parents?
I've coached multiple sports for many years. I was in a paid position once. But I'm nothing to write home about. In my experience I always found balance to be the key. If my teams had a clear strength and a clear weakness I would attack the weakness hard so as to achieve rapid improvement but all the while not abandoning work towards what we do well. It's all about structure and time allocation. Game prep was 3 phase........bread and butter, weakness, opponent prep. Having efficient practices is paramount. All things equal I would put 30% of time/reps into each area. But as the season goes on and the team organically changes and the opponent changes I would adjust the time allocation. Maybe sometimes we would even spend 80% of our time preparing for a specific opponent. Maybe one day/week we would throw 80% into a weakness because that weakness is getting us beat. But you never want to go away from what you do well or it will start to slip. If a team can just be a little better today than it was yesterday then that's really all you can ask of them.
Heck no! I would just complain about how young my players were on my way to the car while being interviewed for my post game press conferences after a loss. I mean I had to get home since my wife was making soup and brownies.
Not a college coach but I oversee one of the largest and most recognized AAU program in our region..
The most successful coaches (high school and AAU) split practice times 50/50 between skill and drill. Individual development is equally important to knowing the plays, etc,
I can tell you with complete certainty, the kids that love and live in the weight-room are the ones that separate themselves from the crowd though. I see it all the time, kids with less skill dominating a more talented opponent because they can physically get to their spots on the court and take advantage of defensive gaps.
The most successful coaches (high school and AAU) split practice times 50/50 between skill and drill. Individual development is equally important to knowing the plays, etc,
I can tell you with complete certainty, the kids that love and live in the weight-room are the ones that separate themselves from the crowd though. I see it all the time, kids with less skill dominating a more talented opponent because they can physically get to their spots on the court and take advantage of defensive gaps.
I coached junior high and high school basketball for 20 years. Each team and situation was different. It ultimately depends on the make up of the team itself. I had some really good teams and spent more practice time with the finer points of the game and challenging them by adding new things. I also had some bad teams and would have to continue to work on very basic things, finding something that works and instilling some kind of confidence in them. One take away from my coaching career is that confident players will perform better. Whether that confidence is justified or not does not matter.
This is my experience as well. 50/50 or 60/40 when something needs a little more emphasis
I wasn’t paid but was lightly involved w SDSU a few years ago. Most the in season non weights conditioning was worked into the individual skill drills and full speed shooting drills mixed w about 5-10 minutes of traditional conditioning. The other 60/40% in season time is spent of next game specific prep, drilling plays, team defensive drills/rotations (this portion of practice is often burst of intensity w with a lot of stoppage for instruction and “do it again”…this is where you’re over emphasizing perfection) and occasionally a heavy hyper focused day if you’re really struggling with something such as stepping through ball screens or bigs hard hedge and recover.
If your team has a natural strength, it’s easier to steal 10-15 minutes away from that strength and still maintain efficiency while directing that time to focus on the weakness . You can also steal the 10 or so minutes of traditional conditioning for the weakness emphasis and adjust the individual skill drills to be more high intensity for that week to get the most bang for your buck.
I wasn’t paid but was lightly involved w SDSU a few years ago. Most the in season non weights conditioning was worked into the individual skill drills and full speed shooting drills mixed w about 5-10 minutes of traditional conditioning. The other 60/40% in season time is spent of next game specific prep, drilling plays, team defensive drills/rotations (this portion of practice is often burst of intensity w with a lot of stoppage for instruction and “do it again”…this is where you’re over emphasizing perfection) and occasionally a heavy hyper focused day if you’re really struggling with something such as stepping through ball screens or bigs hard hedge and recover.
If your team has a natural strength, it’s easier to steal 10-15 minutes away from that strength and still maintain efficiency while directing that time to focus on the weakness . You can also steal the 10 or so minutes of traditional conditioning for the weakness emphasis and adjust the individual skill drills to be more high intensity for that week to get the most bang for your buck.
We worked on trends that affected that particular team at this point in the season but always took some time for fundamental defensive drills even at the end of the season. Special situations got some attention, and of course we made some time to run through some shooting drills. Making sure everyone is rested and eating the right things so energy levels stay high is important too. I assisted on both girls and boys in high school, not at the same time of course, and doing a good amount of individual work. It was very rewarding working with kids in varsity and freshmen teams, especially those recruited to play at D-I schools.
I was so impressed and proud of the guys and their energy and intensity against UT. We've been inconsistent all year partly because that effort defensively and in rebounding just hasn't been at championship levels, but it was against Tennessee. We essentially beat a one-seed (they deserve a one-seed IMO) on their home floor, and that should be good for our confidence. I'm hopeful this team can hit even another gear -- consistent hard-nosed effort would be great -- as they play in these tournaments. Let's hope we see this team become the juggernaut we think they can be. I know they can solidify things even more in terms of their own confidence and how they feel about themselves. Go Cats!!!
We focused on strengths during the season while doing our best to mitigate weaknesses, especially this late. We focused on weaknesses in the offseason.
at this point you concentrate on what your team does well, encourage this and them, tell them to do their best and let the cards fall where they may … and then, win or lose, tell them you love them and will always be there for them … and mean it!!!
What do you think of having Reed take the ball out every time? I understand the reason - he's the most trustworthy passer on the team. But he's also the guy you want with the ball in his hands on the floor as well....
Head scratcher for me..even more concerning down the stretch when you absolutely need it in his hands for protection and to be the guy going to the line to seal the game.
I’ve ran a press break for years that I don’t even know how to defend. It works and it doesn’t matter what you stack against it, there are 3 options and 1 is always available. I’m saying this to say there are options to give your team greater advantages, but most coaches are truly only experts at what they know and run and they are very stubborn to change things up even if the personnel they have doesn’t match what they know and run.
Recruiting for AAU and college is much of the same.. you have to get guys that fit what you do best or you’re toast!
I coached basketball for the YMCA U19 for several seasons. Most of the practice was spent on man-to-man defensive principles and playing the 1-3-1 zone. We worked on rebounding positioning a lot as most of these kids could no shoot. Very little time spent on offensive practice
Obviously we all know the first pass is a huge priority - can't turn that pass over or it's a bucket the other way. But whoever catches the first pass has to make a very, very important decision, and most likely against a trap. Reed has had some bad TO's late vs pressure in the run of play (LSU being a big one), but man I'd love to have the ball in his hands IN-bounds down the stretch
I used to coach Hs varsity tennis
I would focus on finding each individuals strengths and getting better at that
I would focus on finding each individuals strengths and getting better at that
Yeah, he and Reeves need to be on the receiving end of the ball, in bounds. In the tournament, games are often won and lost at the free throw line so it is critical..
Here is the thing with him that I love.. TO’s piss him off and he busts his ass to make a play to get the ball back. Most young players fail miserably at this.. head drops and the last play lingers for the next 3. He was the same kid with us at Midwest Basketball Club-last play is over, only the next one matters.
