Friday, May 11, 2007

Coach Teas' Pet Peeves

COACH TEAS' PET PEEVES

Coach Teas is a basketball coaching veteran and has seen thousands of games during his career both on the bench and in the stands. Here are a sampling of his pet peeves when it comes to watching basketball.

OFFENSIVE

#13 Coaches complaining about officiating----sends all kinds of bad messages and your kids pick up on it.

#12 Use a ball fake to move defense when passing----do not be so predictable and advertise your choice.

#11 Grabbing the ball going out of bounds when you are sure it is yours. Blind saves are not good-----you don't know where the opponent is.

#10 Doing flashy things when the simple move is safer AND more effective. It is all about doing things that increase your chance of scoring.

#9 letting your own player get a five second call by not moving to the ball and providing help.

#8 Not being aware of the clock and time/score situations

#7 Complaining, making a show of disgust, or trying to lobby the ref for a call. That will not help you get a call the next time. What might help is to bite your tongue and hustle after loose balls that go out of bounds. Refs don't like running and might appreciate the help.

#6 players not concentrating on free throw attempts. rushing, hurrying the shot.

#5 Use of spin move vs pressure defense in traffic. The end result is a double team trap, turnover and lay up the other way. players need to keep vision on the basket to keep aware of the situations

#4 Rebound outlet to the wrong side (far side) after a defensive rebound. The outlets also need to do a better job of yelling for the ball and coming to the ball.

#3 Player not using the glass on lay ups, put backs or post ups.

#2 One handed passes....how can you fake with the ball in one hand or bring the ball back when you realize the player is no longer open.

and drum roll please.....#1 Wing players in poor position to see and feed the low post. You need to see the players numbers when trying to feed the post.

DEFENSIVE

Listing defensive pet peeves was fairly easy once I thought about it. Defense is very much mental requiring less skill but a lot of willingness to work and having a great "team first" attitude. Coaches love players who sacrifice for the team, who think about and do the little often unheralded things.

Defensive pet peeves became things I love to see. A wonderful place to view even more great things to do is in " Stuff Good Players should Know" by Dick DeVenzio.

Lucky is the coach who has kids on his/her team who takes great defense and hustle to heart. I think girls coaches are fortunate in having athletes who seem more willing to please their coach than coaches of boys teams. The pressure to be "cool" is greater on boys thus their game not as entertaining as games where players are less into themselves. (my prejudice) "

12. Failure rotate under the hoop on weak side when strong side penetration takes place.

11. Failure to help when a teamate is beat.

10. Double or triple teaming a defensive rebounder thus opening up folks down court. I saw it happen way too often in a state tournament game when the team doing it gave up a 10 point lead in a semifinal game.

#9: Letting offensive players beat you down the floor. A coach I know well is famous for yelling "Get ahead!"

#8: Not knowing how to switch and recover on screens.

#7: Trying too often to block shots looking for the roar of the crowd. Boys are more guilty of this than girls on this. Bad things happen when you lose your feet: fouls, coming down out of position to block out, mad a fool of by a good ball or head fake.

#6: Failure to bump someone crossing the lane. Hips are not just for hockey. It also may throw their offensive timing off a bit.

#5: Playing defense too high. A great example of doing this right is Jordan Barnes, guard at the University of Minnesota from Hopkins. So often quickness can be defeated by good body position.

#4: In man (or individual) defense letting your person make a ball side cut to the basket.

#3: Failure to play the strong hand of a weak perimeter player who is or may dribble.

#2: Not communicating with teammates: "Pick" "Help" "Shot" "Outlet" and even an occasional thanks. You can also communicate by touch. That will refocus a teammate that needs a boost.

#1: Not know who you have when playing man (or individual). This is nearly too obvious to mention but does happen for various reasons, none of them excusable.

OTHER TEAS TOPICS
Things that please Coach Teas

Team Unity Part 1 (#5-#8) and Part 2 (#4-#1)

Making the Team