To me the face-guarding D is often a great way to go on a perimeter player. You take a kid like Bolden that is really good with the ball at either scoring or creating for others. Why even let him touch it? Make the other 4 come up with a way to beat you? Is that a bad thing? Is that bad for the game? Hell no. It's smart D. Same with Pangallo. Very, very good PG. Why let him get the big boys set up for the shots they want? Take him out completely.

.....

 

Easier said than done. You might have puled it off with Goetz, but Goetz and Bolden are two different animals. Bolden will not let you deny him. He will juke you with a quick jab step or V-Cut, or he will let you get up on him and then blow right by you or seal you.

 

Just because you write on the board "Deny Bolden" or "Face Guard Bolden" doesn't mean you get the job done. First you better have someone equally as quick and equally as savvy or James will eat your lunch.

My 7th/8th grade cut combo team has played man to man every game and have not been very competitive. At halftime this weekend, The kids asked to play zone during the beat down they were taking. We agreed to let them give it a go even though we really hadn't practiced it. After being down something like 34-4 at half, we ended up winning the second half and losing 42-16. Not a fan of what we did. We are playing in a "B" league where the kids have all been cut from the "A" team. Almost every team in the league plays a zone. Pretty easy to shut down the other team when they don't have the ability make a shot from the outside and you just pack it into a zone. I'd like to see a couple of the kids develop and I think man to man would give them their best chance to learn the game and become better basketball players. We will probably try the zone the next game as we feel the kids need a W. What the kids failed to realize is that part of the reason we were in the game in the second half is because the press was called off (after 20 point margin) and the other team utilized the bench a bit more.

I guess we will see how it goes next game.

 

 

Like your style TAC.

 

Helped a friend coach a Little League team in the 'burbs of San Antonio. Their high school team is really good, but you couldn't tell it from the kids playing who'd be going to their school in a few years.

 

Their LL programs have a number of unwritten rules like each kid having rotation and reps at a number of positions and the whole focus is on player development instead of letting "Lord of the Little Leagues" Dads run wild and play with the only objective being driving the other teams into the ground.

 

Kids would get beat to death if they played against LL teams in other areas of town I'd imagine, but by the time they're in HS, they are one of the best teams in the area, so they do some things right.

My 7th/8th grade cut combo team has played man to man every game and have not been very competitive. At halftime this weekend, The kids asked to play zone during the beat down they were taking. We agreed to let them give it a go even though we really hadn't practiced it. After being down something like 34-4 at half, we ended up winning the second half and losing 42-16. Not a fan of what we did. We are playing in a "B" league where the kids have all been cut from the "A" team. Almost every team in the league plays a zone. Pretty easy to shut down the other team when they don't have the ability make a shot from the outside and you just pack it into a zone. I'd like to see a couple of the kids develop and I think man to man would give them their best chance to learn the game and become better basketball players. We will probably try the zone the next game as we feel the kids need a W. What the kids failed to realize is that part of the reason we were in the game in the second half is because the press was called off (after 20 point margin) and the other team utilized the bench a bit more.

I guess we will see how it goes next game.

 

I'm shocked that you even knew any defense to coach them on...I've seen your game ! :dancingpa

Easier said than done. You might have puled it off with Goetz' date=' but Goetz and Bolden are two different animals. Bolden will not let you deny him. He will juke you with a quick jab step or V-Cut, or he will let you get up on him and then blow right by you or seal you. Just because you write on the board "Deny Bolden" or "Face Guard Bolden" doesn't mean you get the job done. First you better have someone equally as quick and equally as savvy or James will eat your lunch.[/quote']

 

Saw it last year at Holmes. It is not easy but you cannot just stand in the corner like Bolden did much of the time.

Thought this was interesting: