Last night I accompanied my long-time friend coaching partner, Ralph to a pair of his games as an assistant at a holiday tournament. When I got to the gym, I spent some time with some of the parents trying to get a sense of how they were feeling. Ralph is very experienced and demanding and always plays his team against the best competition he can find, which is tough with a heterogeneous level of skill.
Assisting also allows one to ponder, "what would I do?" which I generally keep to myself in this setting with a very experienced coach.
Ralph's team is also very perimeter-oriented because the interior players are very much a work in progress and need a lot of work on finishing and interior defense.
I thought I'd share some of the comments that I made generically to the kids during the two games (I wish I had written them down).
"Don't make a simple game complicated. Space, cut, screen, and pass."
"Shooting percentages are higher off passes than off dribbles. To get better quality shots, you need better passes."
"The best scoring teams are the best passing teams."
"Against the zone, you (shooters) need to space to the corners which will open up lanes for your penetrators as well as give you space."
To one player: "You cannot get beaten four times to the strong side in one half off the dribble. Don't run with the player; beat her to a spot."
To another player, "As a coach, it's easier to live with a bad pass that has a high reward (a layup) on the other end. I see what you saw."
"If you want to be a scorer, then you need four ways to score. Some of you are only looking at one (three-point shooting), and when that's not there, what do you have?"
"You're a good shooter, but there's no need to force lesser quality shots when you're turning down some good ones."
"We're getting in foul trouble because we only start defending the post after ball entry. You make your life easier when you deny ball entry, then you don't pick up as many fouls."
To one player, "don't bail out on the drive. Draw the contact and get to the line."
To another, "I like what you're doing, really getting after it."
"We need more energy. No matter what, do not quit."
To a ballhandler, "Get to the middle on the fast break. You open up your options."
Constantly, "run wide in transition" (to improve spacing and passing angles).
What were the results? The first game was a rout, something like 47-22 that just reflect a mismatch against a weaker team. The second game was something between a nightmare and a revelation. The team played erratically, trailing 25-20 at the half and fouling in the backcourt with 1.7 seconds left in the half to yield a pair of free throws. The girls trailed by 18 with about ten minutes left, and then got really hot (6-13 overall on threes) to lead 53-50 with about 90 seconds left. An opponent then hit a three from over 25 feet to even the score after a turnover and our team got outplayed inside, leading to fouls and lost 60-56.
I go (I'm crazy?) because there's always something to learn and when I'm assisting, I can 'see the game' better because I'm less distracted by primary decision-making and substitution. Assisting allows me to give more individual time to players on the bench and I also get to track the development of players that I have coached in the past. Does it add any value? That's really not for me to say.