I committed more than my share of coaching mistakes. I'll share.
I've met several guys who were the 'smartest guy in the room' in every room - Dr. Carl June and Scott Reamer for two. I'm absolutely not smart enough to know which basketball minds belong in that conversation. Better to have more talented players than a MENSA basketball mind.
1) Communication. Coordination with high school coaches. There absolutely could have been better communication from bottom to top. When the high school team was winning ten consecutive titles, there wasn't much. And when the program struggled after the high school coach retired, there was less. There's an old medical saying, "there are no street signs on drains." Bacteria go in both directions.
2) Practice. I think we should have scrimmaged more. I used a variety of alternatives (small-sided games, 5 vs 7 pressure, and 3 possession games initiated by special situations). Economics studies the allocation of scarce resources and practice (two ninety-minute sessions/week) was never enough.
3) Playing time. If anything, in a fee-based system (I volunteered), playing time was too fair. That cost the best players even more development. In developmental basketball, development should take priority over winning and it did. I regret not playing the top players more but 2 of 25 (total players coached) earned D1 scholarships and both will play in the A-10 next season.
4) Strategy. We played less than five percent zone defense (mostly on BOBs). Parents and some players would have been happier if we played more zone. "Why can't we play zone?" Should coaches care about those opinions? If parents want to coach so badly, coaching would have been an option. With young players, investing more time on fundamentals adds more value than complex offenses or multiple, multiple defenses.
5) Work-coaching-life balance. It's almost impossible to optimize work-life balance. To the young coaches, ask your family "what can I do for you?" on a regular basis.
I'm sure that parents could supply far more negatives.
Lagniappe. Put your team first. Be a great teammate. Impact winning.
Important AAU weekend ahead for a lot of hoopers.
— Jeremy Brooks (@PGHBrooks) April 24, 2025
Some things to keep in mind on the road:
• Play aggressive. Don’t play passive. You get rewarded for acting. Not standing still.
• Demonstrate that you can play off the ball. 95% of the game is played without the ball. Most…
Lagniappe 2. Playoff NBA sets.
The best sets from every team in Game 1 of the 1st Round of the NBA Playoffs: pic.twitter.com/kPcvIyjQsK
— Thibaut Tagnon (@TagnonThibaut) April 22, 2025
Lagniappe 3. Successful offense also happens with not great defense.
Sideline inbound play where the action is all after inbound.
— Chris Oliver (@BBallImmersion) April 17, 2025
✔️ Entry
✔️ Inbound passer ghost flare
✔️ Double ball screen with ghost as 1st screen. pic.twitter.com/0rNf9HUWo3
