In Up the Organization Robert Townsend writes, "everybody must be judged on his performance, not on his looks or his manners or his personality or who he knows or is related to."
We have to "hire tough", selecting players as objectively as possible. I know one coach who includes speed, strength, and jumping ability as part of his evaluation. When a parent asks why his daughter didn't make the team, he can say that she was last in each area in addition to more subjective tryout metrics.
Fairness means praise for praiseworthy performance but not false praise. When possible, I prefer to critique effort and play privately and with another adult (ideally a parent) present.
Statistics help objective analysis. Shot charts can illustrate what is working and what needs reassessment.
Distribution of 'minutes' will ALWAYS produce some unfairness. Minutes aren't carrots and sticks. More skilled and experienced players can view more playing time to less experienced players as unfair. As a coach in a developmental setting, I favor more equally shared minutes during games as preferable. I see practice as the most vital part of basketball growth.
Coach Wooden's "Letter to Players" shares his approach. It includes, "the coach has many decisions to make and you will not agree with all of them...my maturity and years of experience enable me to be more accurate in the selection of playing personnel, the style of play most suitable to the abilities of the players available, and to what is in the best interest of the 1972-1973 UCLA team, than the judgment of any player or other interested third party."
Fairness, like coaches, is imperfect. The best we can hope for is to convey our intent to do what is in the best of the team and communicate why we do what we do.
Fairness, like coaches, is imperfect. The best we can hope for is to convey our intent to do what is in the best of the team and communicate why we do what we do.