Wanted to get the take on others about playing summer games. Most teams take the month of June to get as many games as possible. What are your thoughts on playing lots of games in June versus working on team skill development with practice? Is there a happy middle, and if so how many games would that consist of with your team in June?

Boyle County didn't play any games due to a gym floor mishap. While I personally missed being able to watch a ton of games I know and feel like the team got more from the two weeks of practice they had than from a bunch of meaningless games in June.

Wanted to get the take on others about playing summer games. Most teams take the month of June to get as many games as possible. What are your thoughts on playing lots of games in June versus working on team skill development with practice? Is there a happy middle, and if so how many games would that consist of with your team in June?

 

Welcome to BGP, great topic and first post.

 

My answer: depends on the team. I'd rather see at least some games in almost any situation though.

They go hand in hand. There are good things that come from live games against quality opponents. Practice makes perfect, but they have practice time when games can't be played.

No easy answer here, especially since AAU started dominating May and July. These games probably help develop teams but I'm not sure it's great for the individual player. That's a lot of strain on a teenage body that may still be growing. Plus, a lot of high-schoolers need summer jobs and some need summer school on top of that.

Great input from everyone. I was the type that wee must play play and play more. The older I get and the more AAU is involved, the more practice I have leaned towards. You just have to keep in mind that the majority of the players on most teams may not have the AAU opportunity. Thus for skill development, team unity, and overall improvement I feel that putting a number of 15-20 practices and 12-15 games would be a good mix for the game today! Thank you all for the input and the information to come.

I think a player will benefit more from individual skill type work than just playing games and not working on your skills. It is kinda like shooting a gun you can go out and shoot 1000 rounds a day not shooting at anything and your precision won't get any better. But go out and shoot 50 rounds of precision daily and you will get much more out of it. Sometimes less is more. Just my opinion. I may be wrong.

Great input from everyone. I was the type that wee must play play and play more. The older I get and the more AAU is involved, the more practice I have leaned towards. You just have to keep in mind that the majority of the players on most teams may not have the AAU opportunity. Thus for skill development, team unity, and overall improvement I feel that putting a number of 15-20 practices and 12-15 games would be a good mix for the game today! Thank you all for the input and the information to come.

 

So true what you just said. I don't Coach in Ky but in Fl but I only have 1 player playing on an AAU team so playing at least some games is essential for us to see where we are. We will end up having 20 practices and 22 games with the majority of the games coming at team camps over 2 & 3 back to back day periods. I used to play many more games but I don't think these days much over 20 is beneficial. Great question though.

Zero AAU players on my sons team. Games are a must for the kids to have any chance of competing in the winter. The problem is that football practice eats up a lot of time also for these same kids.

 

Dead period on the horizon is a welcome sight.

Games in June can particularly be helpful for teams from smaller schools, where you usually cannot duplicate game situations in practice due to a lack of depth (particularly a lack of quality depth) and few if any players play AAU basketball. I watched quite a few games last season in which I thought the talent on the teams was fairly equal but the winning team played better as a team, which usually comes from playing games.

Games in June can particularly be helpful for teams from smaller schools, where you usually cannot duplicate game situations in practice due to a lack of depth (particularly a lack of quality depth) and few if any players play AAU basketball. I watched quite a few games last season in which I thought the talent on the teams was fairly equal but the winning team played better as a team, which usually comes from playing games.

 

This is us.

I think playing games is a good idea. Coaches get a chance to see who is working, less their recent graduates and make plans for post dead period. Also allows the coaches to see where they need to improve, who can execute the offense and give chances for the teams to work together prior to skills work post dead.

I think playing games is a good idea. Coaches get a chance to see who is working, less their recent graduates and make plans for post dead period. Also allows the coaches to see where they need to improve, who can execute the offense and give chances for the teams to work together prior to skills work post dead.

 

Also lets the coach to try different players to see if they are ready for Varsity action.

No easy answer here, especially since AAU started dominating May and July. These games probably help develop teams but I'm not sure it's great for the individual player. That's a lot of strain on a teenage body that may still be growing. Plus, a lot of high-schoolers need summer jobs and some need summer school on top of that.

 

 

Welcome to the site, ZF!

Well, games wouldn't happen in a vacuum I don't think/would hope, so hopefully teams aren't just showing up to play games with no practice. So they both should go hand in hand. I have always said, there are things you can do in practice that you can't do in games, and things you get in games that you can't get in practice.