Should I or shouldn't I.

[Balldog]

High school basketball season has started here in Ohio. Towards the end of the last season I expressed in interest in becoming a volunteer assistant. This summer I was asked to be a volunteer assistant but declined because I was uncertain of my job situation at that time and I was interviewing 2-3 hours away.

I just attended tonight's game and we lost by 10, the first loss of the season. The coach's son is our point gaurd and probably our best shooter, however he is not real quick so he has trouble creating his own shot. Tonight he scored 0 points, last Saturday he had 1. Last year he was our leading scorer as a freshman and he had 15 and 19 the first two games this year. It seems they are having trouble getting him good looks.

Well I have designed a possible play to use to get him some decent looks and it also creates possibilities for other opportunities to score depending on how it is defended.

My question is, should I email this play to the coach? We have a decent relationship and he has asked in the past to help coach.

[MizzouRah]

Of course, what could it hurt?


Todd

[MikeVic]

Originally posted by Balldog
The coach's son is our point gaurd and probably our best shooter, however he is not real quick so he has trouble creating his own shot. Tonight he scored 0 points, last Saturday he had 1.

This sounds like the kind of basketball player that I am.. although substitute "not real quick" with "out of shape." ;) And I don't play in leagues or anything, but with friends sometimes. I'm one of the better shooters, but can't get open. :p

[korme]

I have become a sharp shooter this year in community ball, hehe. I put up 13 in game 1 and followed up with 6. I have shot 9 FGs this season, all 3 pt attempts, making 6 of them. 1-2 at the line.

9.5 PPG Rec league baller baby. Yet I am overshadowed by my best friend who after 2 games is dropping in 21 PPG.

[vex]

Originally posted by Shorty3281
Yet I am overshadowed by my best friend




heh

[corbes]

I coach the varsity girls basketball team at our high school.

I have to say that it probably depends on the coach, and on your relationship to the coach.

I would not be receptive to you giving me a drawn-up play. NOT because I think I know more about basketball than you, but because we have worked very hard to establish a structure for the offense that the girls know and understand. In-season is NOT a very good time to add new plays -- that work should be done in the preseason, especially at the high school level.

You might have more success if you mention it to the coach in the following way: "Hey, coach, I noticed that PG is having trouble getting shots. I also noticed that he might be open if he steps in to the elbow and receives a pass from the wing." Or whatever. Then the coach can think about it, and maybe incorporate that into the offense, using his own words and his own offensive structure.

[judicial clerk]

Here is what I would do. Hang loose until the next game. If the point guard is still having trouble getting open looks, work your way down behind the bench. Get the coaches attention (maybe by nudgeing him between the ribs with your foot) and tell him you have something to show him. Take his clipboard and draw up the play. If you can, call a timeout on behalf of the team; this would be best so everybody can learn the play at once. Don't forget to wear your old uni underneath your street clothes. The coach may ask you to go in for a few minutes to show the kids how to run the play at game speed.


In all seriousness, there is no problem with submitting the play to the coach. An intermediate step might be to drop the coach a line saying you would like to submit something to him if he is interested. If the coach ignores you or declines, you know he is not interested without giving him a long e-mail detailing a play he will not look at. If he accepts, you are golden.

By the way, I used the first tactic to teach a coach i know named Jerry Slaon a play I invented called the "pick and roll".

[Leonidas]

Originally posted by corbes
I coach the varsity girls basketball team at our high school.

I have to say that it probably depends on the coach, and on your relationship to the coach.

I would not be receptive to you giving me a drawn-up play. NOT because I think I know more about basketball than you, but because we have worked very hard to establish a structure for the offense that the girls know and understand. In-season is NOT a very good time to add new plays -- that work should be done in the preseason, especially at the high school level.

You might have more success if you mention it to the coach in the following way: "Hey, coach, I noticed that PG is having trouble getting shots. I also noticed that he might be open if he steps in to the elbow and receives a pass from the wing." Or whatever. Then the coach can think about it, and maybe incorporate that into the offense, using his own words and his own offensive structure.

This is dead on. Unlike football, basketball teams usually don't run that many plays because there is so much improvisation already, and the plays are usually more like teaching a system than just a specific play for a point in time. In football you can program a new play during the week, practice enough, and can expect the team to run it reasonably well in the next game.

In basketball your team's whole philosophy is geared around your plays. And they aren't really plays as much as what I call playsets. Each playset has at least 5-6 variations to it, possibly more. And it takes much longer for a team to get a game-day feel for how the play should really be run. With more experience you may find the team running the play completely differently than when first practiced.

My high school team had a grand total of three play sets. One against the zone and two against man. We also had three fast break sets, and two buzzer beaters, one for half court and one for full. And our coach was a state Hall of Famer so it's not like he didn't know what he was doing.

Now if you are just proposing a new variation to an existing playset then that is a whole nother deal. He might be keen for that kind of help. I agree you should go subtle with the suggestions, but not many basketball coaches would be willing to install an entire playset in mid-season unless something was drastically wrong with the team.