How to coach a bad basketball team

Preparing to coach an inexperienced, bad team

September 20, 2009 • Features • From the Bench • Winning Hoops

If you’re coaching for very long, at some point you’ll probably coach an inexperienced, bad team.

One of your greatest challenges as a coach is to turn a losing season into a fun and enjoyable experience for all involved. I faced this situation as a high school coach, and after some self-reflection realized that I didn’t provide that particular team with an enjoyable experience.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of coaches who get burned-out and give up coaching after a few bad years because it isn’t enjoyable anymore. The following list offers coaches some valuable tips on dealing with a team that’s struggling.

1. Schedule light. Play teams you’ll have a chance of success against.

2. Lower expectations for the season. Don’t set unattainable goals based on the expectations of your past teams. Understand what your team is capable of, and set your sights accordingly.

3. Simplify. Run the flex instead of motion, or straight up man-to-man instead of pressure man-to-man. Keep things simple offensively and defensively. This allows players to improve throughout the season and make noticeable improvements.

4. Play a style that keeps you competitive. Select a style of play that best fits your team. This allows you to keep games close, and it gives your team a chance to win at the end.

5. Cut down on game goals. Make your team’s goals for each game attainable and based more on improvements and effort rather than winning.

6. Cut down on conditioning. Don’t run your players into the ground when it isn’t going to make a significant difference anyway.

7. Give more days off. In a losing season, more breaks are necessary than during a winning season — mentally more so than physically. Don’t allow your practices to become uninspired and mundane.

8. Remain positive. Don’t beat a dead horse. The losing is hard enough on the players, and they don’t need negative criticism on top of it. Find small successes and celebrate your improvements.

9. Do more fun things. Try movies, bowling or ice cream parties. It’s your job as coach to make basketball fun for your players. It’s a lot easier when you are winning championships, but a good coach finds other ways to make the season fun when necessary.

10. Talk less about history and tradition. Talk more about improving and having fun. Don’t put the pressure from past successes on your players’ shoulders. They’re already aware of the tradition and history of success in the program.

11. Make it a positive experience. Don’t let yourself or your players burn-out. Each season must be fun for the players and the coaches alike. Building a bad reputation for your program makes it difficult to recruit new players down the road.

12. Eliminate bad attitudes. A losing season certainly isn’t the time to allow “bad apples” on your team. Eliminate any discontented players early, or their attitudes become infectious as the season wears on.

13. Develop young player’s skills. While making the season a positive experience for all players, build for the future so you don’t have a similar season next year. Keep your eye on the long term.

14. Continue to learn and improve as a coach. Watch college practices, read books, scan articles, attend clinics and watch videos. This makes you feel better about yourself and allows you to grow as a coach instead of questioning your abilities.

15. Do more individual and family activities. In a winning season, basketball provides a great deal of fulfillment. In a losing season, you need to find that fulfillment at home and not in the gym.

16. Avoid negative feelings. You owe it to your players to remain upbeat. Being negative won’t lead to more wins.

17. Find personal balance in life outside of basketball. Take up another hobby, such as golfing, fishing or working out. Now, more than ever, you’ll need non-basketball releases to provide personal balance. Don’t dwell on this team and this season. Just do your best and realize that’s good enough.

18. Stay in shape. Work out all year and feel good about yourself. Exercise is one of the key factors for avoiding stress and burn-out. Maintain a balanced diet, and get plenty of sleep.

19. If burned out, take a break. You owe it to yourself and your players. If you’re not excited about the season, take a year off (if possible) and recharge your batteries. Move up an assistant coach who would probably be excited to be your team’s head coach for a year. Don’t coach a season when you’re burned out. It will more than likely be your last season if you do.

bad teams, basketball, coaching, inexperienced, Struggling

Coaching a Bad Team - how having a bad team can turn into a great season

March 1, 2022 Don Sicko 3 comments

A coaching colleague told me the other day that his current team is easily the worst that has ever had and that coaching them is not an enjoyable experience.  I responded with only one thought that day and told him to hang in there and that in such seasons like the one he is about to experience, I personally learned more about coaching than I did in the better seasons.

Since that time, however, I’ve had more time to think about that exchange and I’m sorry to say that over the years, I’ve talked that way myself on occasion and have heard that type of negativity numerous times.  But, the truth is such talk is really a weakness especially for a coach who should be setting a positive example at all times for his players and his community.  Players, staff, parents and fans pick up all signals from the head coach.  So, with that in mind, the following checklist might be worth reviewing in this regard:

• Remember how excited you were to get your first opportunity to coach?  You hoped your team would be good but just the chance to have your own team was enormous.  If every coach thought coaching every team, every season was a privilege, their players would be much better served.

• The challenge of coaching any team in competition is one of the key components of why we coach.  The challenge of coaching an undermanned team is even greater.  Therefore, the rewards are greater when such teams meet or exceed the challenge.

• There is absolutely no place for wallowing in one’s prospects or disappointments.  That behavior is counter competitive to the very nature of athletics and, as coaches, we need to be absolute role models in that regard.

• Players on teams which have over-achieved know that they’ve done so and greatly appreciate the coach who took them there.

• Finding new ways to make one’s team competitive is interesting and intellectually challenging.
• Coaching an undermanned team often allows for great creativity (playing five guards together, playing combo-defenses, switching defenses, radical sets/spacing etc.)

• Truly following the “overnight rule” which dictates totally forgetting the last game.  This prevents lingering pessimism after bad experiences.  The head coach and the staff totally dictate how players line up the next day to prepare.  Day to day consistency and resolve from the head coach can determine whether or not a team arrives at its potential.

• Getting back to the original response that I gave my colleague, there is much to be learned from the adversity of being undermanned-both in a basketball sense and in a character building sense.  There really isn’t any other choice except to embrace one’s team, no matter what they are at the moment.

Tagged with feature, sicko

• Articles
• Coach

News

Main ⁄ News ⁄ News

11/30/2022

Team news

Congratulations!

11/29/2022

Team news

The guests from Minsk were not spared: "+49", 12th victory and third "hundred" of the season!

29. 11.2022

Team news

Evgeny Bogachev - 24 years as UNICS President!

11/29/2022

Team news

Daryl Macon is 27!

11/28/2022

Team news

Preview. UNICS vs Minsk

11/26/2022

Team news

Daryl Macon is in the symbolic five!

11/25/2022

Team news

Lokomotiv ice rink!

11/24/2022

Team news

Preview. Lokomotiv Kuban vs UNICS

11/22/2022

Youth

UNICS-2 defeats one of the favorites of the season away

11/22/2022

Team news

Jalen Reynolds is in the symbolic five!

11/21/2022

Team news

Anniversary victory in the Volga derby!

11/19/2022

Team news

Preview. UNICS vs Samara

11/19/2022

Team news

Happy birthday, Iskandar!

11/17/2022

Team news

Well-deserved awards!

11/17/2022

Team news

Georgy Zhbanov is in the symbolic five!

11/15/2022

Youth

UNICS-2 continues winning streak

11/14/2022

Team news

Let's crush Parma-Pari and return to the winning path!

11/12/2022

Team news

Preview. UNICS vs Parma-Pari

11/12/2022

Team news

Drawing of tickets for the match UNICS - Parma

11/11/2022

Youth

UNICS Molodezhka gaining a winning move

Pages: one 2 3 four 5 ... 231 Track.

THE ICE IS BREAKING IN BASKETBALL, GENTLEMEN! THE ROLE OF PROFESSIONALISM IN OUR PRESENT LIFE IS REFLECTED BY THE STAR OF UKRAINIAN BASKETBALL AND A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESSMAN

Topic of the day