why do coaches do what they do

[vol4u]

Why do coaches still have their starters in a game in the 3rd and 4th quarters pressing while being ahead by 30 to 40 points? Why don't coaches put their subs in and let them get some playing time when the game is clearly out of hand? Their was a post a few months ago about parents getting mad about their kids playing time this is a time when the parent has the right to get mad when their child is a sub. Coaches want parents to stay way not allowed at practices not allowed to talk about playing time but when it comes time to raise money for travel suites, shirts, shoes, hotel rooms, meals, gas money, driving players around then the coach wants to see the parent. All I'm asking is it to much to put your subs in for a quarter and a half when your ahead by 35 and the clock is running from the mercy rule? Is it too much, when the subs work just as hard as the starters at practice, to show them you appreciate their hard work and reward them with a little playing time? Is it that coaches get caught up in the rankings chase? It's not enough to win their district and try to win the state at the end of the year? Now coaches have to win as big as they can so they can move up in the mid state, state, and now the national rankings. Some coaches pick certain players to promote and try to get them scoring titles, all tourney teams, all dstrict, all state, miss basketball by leaving the starters in games ahead by 30 or 40 pressing teams that can't handle the ball on a good day and coaches wonder why kids quit and parents get mad. All I want to know is why coaches do what they do?

[survivedaytoday]

Why do coaches still have their starters in a game in the 3rd and 4th quarters pressing while being ahead by 30 to 40 points? Why don't coaches put their subs in and let them get some playing time when the game is clearly out of hand? Their was a post a few months ago about parents getting mad about their kids playing time this is a time when the parent has the right to get mad when their child is a sub. Coaches want parents to stay way not allowed at practices not allowed to talk about playing time but when it comes time to raise money for travel suites, shirts, shoes, hotel rooms, meals, gas money, driving players around then the coach wants to see the parent. All I'm asking is it to much to put your subs in for a quarter and a half when your ahead by 35 and the clock is running from the mercy rule? Is it too much, when the subs work just as hard as the starters at practice, to show them you appreciate their hard work and reward them with a little playing time? Is it that coaches get caught up in the rankings chase? It's not enough to win their district and try to win the state at the end of the year? Now coaches have to win as big as they can so they can move up in the mid state, state, and now the national rankings. Some coaches pick certain players to promote and try to get them scoring titles, all tourney teams, all dstrict, all state, miss basketball by leaving the starters in games ahead by 30 or 40 pressing teams that can't handle the ball on a good day and coaches wonder why kids quit and parents get mad. All I want to know is why coaches do what they do?

 

 

I agree you have players who only get a little playing time or none at all. When they finally let them in they may be slow at first to get warmed due to be on the bench and they scream at them when something happen they are not please with and pull them out never to return only when maybe needed. It is all about the coaches image these days not about the player being encourage to grow and learn to better the players. This about makes me made. I see all this and I don't have to be a parent to know the coaches need to take time to improve all the players not just certain ones. But they have got to where certain kids matter and the others don't count. I would like to know the answer from above with bashing the person asking can we please get a answer. How do you deal directly with a coach who coaches like this is there truly a answer???

[coachh17]

This topic has been covered on these boards repeatedly in various forms over the years. Every individual coach is different and there are over 300 of them coaching girls' basketball in Tennessee. Like about anything else, some are great, some good, most average, some below average, and a few that are flat out awful. Some play 12 player rotations, some 10, some 8, some 6, and everything in between. Some are seeking state titles, some region titles, some district titles, some a winning record, and a few just roll out the balls and hope the season ends quickly and that nobody gets hurt. Most coaches are driven by their personal philosophies, personal expectations of success, and the expectations of their communities. Some schools and communities consistently care about girls basketball (Upperman, Jackson County, South Greene, Westview, Obion County, McMinn Central, Memphis Central, and Hillsboro are just a few examples). They hire good coaches, have community support, and build good programs. Other places could care less. I do not know what type program you are in. All that being said, here are some possible reasons, in my experience, to not play subs in blowouts:

 

1. Coach is afraid the subs are so bad that they will blow the game. (I had subs blow a 20 point lead in less than four minutes and only let that happen once).

2. Coach is paying back the opposing coach for a similar beating against their team. (Revenge factor).

3. Coach is chasing rankings by blowing out inferior opponents. (Ego factor).

4. Coach has a philosophy to press and run for 32 minutes with his top 5 or 6 players and has to keep them in game shape. (Like Arkansas' old 40 minutes of heck)

5. Coach does not have any subs that have earned playing time. (Highly unlikely)

6. Coach does not understand sportsmanship and does not care about the bench players. (Jerk factor)

7. Coach has no idea how to run a team and should have never been hired. (School Board Chairman's son/daughter political factor)

 

Note, most of those reasons are not very good. Reason #1 may have a little merit and I can see reason #4 has some validity until the lead reaches 25 to 30 points (Coaches have different comfort levels with leads, based on the quality of their subs and the time left in the game). Good coaches should find roles and playing time for as many kids on their rosters as they can to build an effective team. Good sportsmanship should lead to "calling off the dogs" when a game is out of hand. Put in your subs, sit in a 2-3 zone, and practice your motion or delay offenses only shooting wide open layups. Also, when you are getting beat to death you can also play your subs. That is assuming the other coach is not a jerk and will continue trying to embarrass your kids. Hope that helps and that your answer is in there somewhere.

[coachh17]

Welcome Back Doodle! I wonder how long it will take for you to get reported and placed on probation this time. Just because I have the time, I will reply to you at least one more time. You might want to talk to someone about your repressed anger and bitterness. It is not healthy.

 

1. I was a first year coach with 7th grade boys when we lost that lead. I had my Principal and Athletic Director prodding me to clear the bench in the 4th quarter. I did and the opponent pressed, made about five steals, slopped in several threes and nearly caught us. I did put the starters back in and we won by a couple of points. The AD and Principal were laughing at me after the game and I told them never again and we all had a good laugh.

 

2. I didn't say that I had run up the score because it had been done to me or my players. I posed that as a possible reason because I have seen it done.

 

3. Most good coaches are fiercely competitive and believe in their players and themselves. They need to create a "culture of winning" if they want to be successful. What some perceive as ego, others recognize as confidence. It can be built without tearing down inferior opponents.

 

4. My signature "Just Win Baby" is a satirical borrowing of the famous Raider owner Al Davis' quote. You have chosen to interpret it in a negative way, assuming that it means win at all cost no matter who it hurts. To me it means:

• We have done the work
  

• We have made the sacrifices
  
• We know what to do
  

• There are no excuses
  

• Therefore, "Just Win Baby"
  

Edited January 9, 2011 by coachh17

[creekercalhoun]

I think it is always good to have 1 or 2 starters in with your subs or younger kids just for the fact you get a good mixture of experience to help your younger kids take care of the basketball,create opportunities for other kids to get open shots ETC. I dont think it's right to press when you are up by 30 or 40 points in a basketball game just for the fact as a coach no matter if you hate the opposing team or coach you as a program/coach always want to show class and not embarrass the opposing teams kids.

[jeffs]

I think it is always good to have 1 or 2 starters in with your subs or younger kids just for the fact you get a good mixture of experience to help your younger kids take care of the basketball,create opportunities for other kids to get open shots ETC. I dont think it's right to press when you are up by 30 or 40 points in a basketball game just for the fact as a coach no matter if you hate the opposing team or coach you as a program/coach always want to show class and not embarrass the opposing teams kids.

If pressing is the way the team plays your SUBS should press the other team up 30 or not .If not how will the every know the press.I agree with your saying JUST WIN BABY I think parnets think differnt than coaches and players.Most of the time you son or daughter would want you 2 just shut up and watch the game belive me most coaches know what there doing just watch the games and if your going just 2 find something to talk about stay home .When your kid gets home they will let you know how it turn out then you want be so stressed out

[vol4u]

If pressing is the way the team plays your SUBS should press the other team up 30 or not .If not how will the every know the press.I agree with your saying JUST WIN BABY I think parnets think differnt than coaches and players.Most of the time you son or daughter would want you 2 just shut up and watch the game belive me most coaches know what there doing just watch the games and if your going just 2 find something to talk about stay home .When your kid gets home they will let you know how it turn out then you want be so stressed out

What if the team just presses the bad teams they know manhandle and gets back on the good teams to pad the stats. If you don't put subs in they are not going to learn to press or anything else. I think parents have a hard time when their child comes home and asks why a coach does what they do and all I can say is I don't know, but if you want to coach someday you will know how not act.

[BBALLTN]

Bugdoodle, i have no horse in this race but, looks to me you are trying to pick a fight that you cant win Coach17 has been on Coacht for years and is a very knowledgeable person and most of time is very correct in most all of his comments. I have also been on here many years dont comment much anymore just read, but i can tell you, you have chosen the wrong person to try and shake here.

[dare]

If pressing is the way the team plays your SUBS should press the other team up 30 or not .If not how will the every know the press.I agree with your saying JUST WIN BABY I think parnets think differnt than coaches and players.Most of the time you son or daughter would want you 2 just shut up and watch the game belive me most coaches know what there doing just watch the games and if your going just 2 find something to talk about stay home .When your kid gets home they will let you know how it turn out then you want be so stressed out

 

 

They learn the press in JV games, not by continuing to run up the score in an already lopsided affair.

[Redog]

Why do coaches still have their starters in a game in the 3rd and 4th quarters pressing while being ahead by 30 to 40 points? Why don't coaches put their subs in and let them get some playing time when the game is clearly out of hand? Their was a post a few months ago about parents getting mad about their kids playing time this is a time when the parent has the right to get mad when their child is a sub. Coaches want parents to stay way not allowed at practices not allowed to talk about playing time but when it comes time to raise money for travel suites, shirts, shoes, hotel rooms, meals, gas money, driving players around then the coach wants to see the parent. All I'm asking is it to much to put your subs in for a quarter and a half when your ahead by 35 and the clock is running from the mercy rule? Is it too much, when the subs work just as hard as the starters at practice, to show them you appreciate their hard work and reward them with a little playing time? Is it that coaches get caught up in the rankings chase? It's not enough to win their district and try to win the state at the end of the year? Now coaches have to win as big as they can so they can move up in the mid state, state, and now the national rankings. Some coaches pick certain players to promote and try to get them scoring titles, all tourney teams, all dstrict, all state, miss basketball by leaving the starters in games ahead by 30 or 40 pressing teams that can't handle the ball on a good day and coaches wonder why kids quit and parents get mad. All I want to know is why coaches do what they do?

The "game" knows - I know of 2 teams with a lot of tradition and great teams that ran up some scores ridicuously - and then drew the top seed in the state tournament and were out in 1 game.

[coachh17]

Bugdoodle, i have no horse in this race but, looks to me you are trying to pick a fight that you cant win Coach17 has been on Coacht for years and is a very knowledgeable person and most of time is very correct in most all of his comments. I have also been on here many years dont comment much anymore just read, but i can tell you, you have chosen the wrong person to try and shake here.

Thank you for the kind words and civility. We are bringing Doodle along slowly.

[swanson71]

This is an interesting question . Coaches do a lot of things and what they do isn't going to make everyone happy, but if a coach is winning then there isn't much anything someone can say to make the coach change his ways. I don't think a team being up a lot in the 3rd or 4th quarter necessarily means you put in your subs immediately. I understand parents want to see their child plays and they go to 99% of the ball games and hates to make the long road trips to see their kids sit on their bench, but what parents needs to understand is that the coach has a job to do and that job is to win as many games as possible no matter the sport. However, like I said before a coach doesn't always need to take the players out so early in the game. For example, a few years back when Clarkrange girls went undefeated on their way to a state championship only 1 team came with in single digits as the rest Clarkrange beat by double digit points. Clarkrange played a lot of lopsided games that year which means Coach Rodgers probably pulled his starters early, a lot. When you pull out early in the 4th or even before the 4th quarter starts the players get a tendacy to get lazy for when they do play a hard 4 quarter game they struggle because they haven't been pushed for 4 quarters. I know being up by a long late the coach isn't going push his team, but a coach wants them in their late running up and down the 4th so they won't get lazy as the season goes on. Also you want a young team to be on the court together as long as possible every game so they can grow up quick for when they play a good team. Also like coachh17 said a coach does it because some teams who are decent can still come back, and i've witnessed it happen in all sports, not just basketball.

 

However, some coaches do keep their players in for the wrong reason such as running up the score on another coach who he doesn't like and other things like that and it isn't fair to the players on the bench or the parents of the players on the bench. Butt for a lot of coaches a lot of variables go into why his/her starters are out their in the 4th quarter still playing.