1st Game as a Coach

Most of you know I have been asked to coach the 16u team out here, because they know Americans have a little better understanding of the game and how to teach it. I have been coaching the 16u team for about a month and today was our first game. But before I get into the 16u game I must first tell you about my 14u team. The 14u coach quit about 2weeks ago and the team was being coach by a parent. My 16u team had been giving everyone great feedback about me, so the president of the club asked me if I wanted to coach a second team for a little extra money. So, I decided to take the second team as another challenge. Today the 14u also had a game which was their first of the season too. I have only been coaching the 14u team a week so all my systems and things are new to them. We ended up losing the game by 18pts but we had cut the game to 1pt before they made run to break our backs. They played hard but they need a lot of work. Teaching basketball is a marathon not a sprint, so I have to be patient and understanding to these kids. Plus the language barrier is a little different for these younger kids so I must speak slowly and make sure they understand what I am saying and asking of them.

When I took over the 16u team they had little to no idea about how to play the game of basketball. All they knew was play as hard as you can and shoot whenever you can. I have slowly been teaching these kids how to play basketball with ones head not just ones skills. I have also been working on their fundamentals and skills because for their age they are far behind where they should be skill wise for their age. Slowly now, they have learned how to read screens, read a defense, rotate on defense, pass correctly, play under control and dribble with pressure to name a few. Their knowledge from my first day to now it is night and day.

In todays game the 16u played a team called Paderborn, which looked like a mens team because of their height. I have been asking around to find out what they have in the water out here in Germany, that makes the kids so big...haha. We used our speed and quickness in order to counter Paddleborn's size. The game was back and fourth with many lead changes. In the end we won by 4 points, 53-49 after being down 12points at halftime (19-31). The boys played hard but they still have a lot to learn. Their next game is in a couple weeks and we have a lot of work to do until then.