Lack of effort

[SoonerNorm]

If you were the coach and you have talked until you are blue in the face about giving 100% effort only to be disappointed again. Do you risk losing a game by benching the starters and opting for reserves who play hard to send a strong message or do you continue to accept less than their best effort and continue to play the starters?

 

[soonermike22]

My two rules were get there on time, and play like he!! when you are in the game. IMMEDIATE bench time was earned for lack of effort, regardless of effect on the game.
Not for confusion or mistakes, but you stand, you sit. So don't wait for the next game, sit right then and longer each time it occurs.
But the OU wbb team hasn't "loafed", they mostly seem to lose what they are supposed to be doing. Lack of movement on offense isn't usually lack of effort, it's not sure what or when to do something.

 

[rocjunkie]

I can only remember 1 time I benched all five starters for lack of effort, however I had no problem benching kids who did not give effort, I very seldom ever found a whole offensive unit that didn't give me their best. A coach should not settle for mediocrity in any form. It doesn't hurt to set an example, and may I add, parents have no say so in your decisions. That may be one reason I'm not coaching any longer.

To answer one other question Norm asked, "Do I risk losing a game"? That never entered my mind. My kids played to win regardless who sat or who played, so I don't consider it a risk.

 

[SoonerNorm]

If the team just comes out flat, I agree the ones who are not giving 100% should be benched immediately and they should plan on being there awhile.

If the team doesn't know what to do, that raises more questions. Why don't they know where to go, when to go, and what to do when they get there? Supposedly, they play against a better male team everyday than the upcoming opponent. They have video of the opponents along with scouting reports. I don't understand what could confuse them when they should be well prepared.

 

[rocjunkie]

If the team just comes out flat, I agree the ones who are not giving 100% should be benched immediately and they should plan on being there awhile.

If the team doesn't know what to do, that raises more questions. Why don't they know where to go, when to go, and what to do when they get there? Supposedly, they play against a better male team everyday than the upcoming opponent. They have video of the opponents along with scouting reports. I don't understand what could confuse them when they should be well prepared.

They probably are still out "shoe shopping" at the mall and just aren't quite focused yet.

 

[SoonerNorm]

They probably are still out "shoe shopping" at the mall and just aren't quite focused yet.

:ez-roll:

 

[womenssports]

My two rules were get there on time, and play like he!! when you are in the game. IMMEDIATE bench time was earned for lack of effort, regardless of effect on the game.
Not for confusion or mistakes, but you stand, you sit. So don't wait for the next game, sit right then and longer each time it occurs.
But the OU wbb team hasn't "loafed", they mostly seem to lose what they are supposed to be doing. Lack of movement on offense isn't usually lack of effort, it's not sure what or when to do something.

I would say there could be a lack of mental effort and still have physical effort.

And I may be way off but other teams move on offense without the ball, but OU seems to not do that very often. Is it because OU has a specific offense they run that requires them to not move much without the ball?

And I like the team, it just seems this is a constant every year. Maybe it is supposed to be that way, that is why I am asking.

 

[rocjunkie]

I would say there could be a lack of mental effort and still have physical effort.

And I may be way off but other teams move on offense without the ball, but OU seems to not do that very often. Is it because OU has a specific offense they run that requires them to not move much without the ball?

And I like the team, it just seems this is a constant every year. Maybe it is supposed to be that way, that is why I am asking.

Great question. First I absolutely agree on the mental and physical part. I coached girls for 14 years and still haven't figured it out, but boy they were physical, they just sometimes arrived at the gym a little after the game started mentally.

I, like you, really like this team too. I had always thought that a motion offense meant just that, moving without the ball, causing the defense to actually guard you and keep passing lanes open with movement. I don't know why past and present teams are so dribble oriented, it drives me crazy. This team actually has done better this year and I hope it will continue to use the pass as a more effective weapon, than dribbling to spots. We'll just have to watch and see. This team has nice pieces to it and I like they way they fit.

 

[SoonerinNC]

You have to be careful in impulsive benching players. If you read this board regularly some of our posters would have had Cousins, Spangler, Payton Little and Maddie Manning benched last week.

I coached professionally for 8 years, most of it at the high school level and found that the effort issue is best worked out at practice. I have never had a player who played with effort in practice who didn't also play with effort in a game.

Also I feel that a single player in basketball affects the total team more than in any other sport. No matter how good a player they can really hamper to total team performance if they are doping off. As good a player that Vegas was you may remember during her senior year that we were about as good with her out of the lineup as when she was playing. I'm not sure it was an effort thing but something was missing.

Then you have to consider team morale. If you are making knee jerk decisions you could mess up team flow and create concern about your ability and fairness among the players. Having said that you don't fail to address bad behavior hoping it will go away. But such behavior will also show up in practices and should be addressed firmly there.

My last years in coaching were the most successful. My last year at Star-Spencer we finished ranked 4th in the state behind Classen, Northeast and Clinton. My tallest player was 6-1. I made the decision that the only way to compete with bigger teams was to change up things a lot. I believed the kids could learn more than one defense, one press and one offense against the zone and the man to man.

I scheduled shorter time frames for each thing we were trying to run and made it clear to the kids that I believed that they could learn them all and also made it clear that the players who learned would have a better chance to play. Learning was not a problem. They actually learned better than when we ran a limited number of things and ran them over and over in practice. Young people are quick to become bored and they begin to shut down with the drudgery.

I also had a couple of team managers chart every bit of practice, even the layup drills. Players knew we were doing that and that kept them focused.

 

[sybarite]

In order for the motion offense to work, it requires more than just passing around the perimeter. The motion should create openings or should get defensive players trapped leaving someone open to shoot or drive. We should be able to penetrate off of this and get good shots or be able to pass out to someone who is now open.

Some examples: Peyton penetrated off motion. There were two people there to stop her. She pitched out to Maddie in the corner who hit a three--wide open.

Similarly, Gioya drove and penetrated, kicking it back out to Peyton and Maddie for wide open threes. Peyton hit. Maddie missed.

But, the motion also created open lanes for Maddie to go to the rim for three layups. Gioya did it twice, once for a layup and once for a short jumper.

There were other examples in which the fact that we were moving well let us free up someone. Usually, we didn't even need a screen. They just got trapped as we went past another player who really wasn't screening.

On one of Maddie's drives, I think it was Vivi in at the time, and she was at the right side of the free throw lane. She moved towards the right side of the lane down low. As she did, two players moved with her, freeing up the lane through which Maddie drove on the left side of the lane. Just one step to the other side was enough to free a lane for Maddie.

Clouds can move all they want, and it is a nice peaceful day. It's when they are moving and begin to have up and down or circular motion that things get stirred up. The motion offense really isn't that much different. You can dance around the perimeter, or you can move in and out. Something has to come free. Someone on defense will make a mistake.

 

[rocjunkie]

You have to be careful in impulsive benching players. If you read this board regularly some of our posters would have had Cousins, Spangler, Payton Little and Maddie Manning benched last week.

I coached professionally for 8 years, most of it at the high school level and found that the effort issue is best worked out at practice. I have never had a player who played with effort in practice who didn't also play with effort in a game.

Also I feel that a single player in basketball affects the total team more than in any other sport. No matter how good a player they can really hamper to total team performance if they are doping off. As good a player that Vegas was you may remember during her senior year that we were about as good with her out of the lineup as when she was playing. I'm not sure it was an effort thing but something was missing.

Then you have to consider team morale. If you are making knee jerk decisions you could mess up team flow and create concern about your ability and fairness among the players. Having said that you don't fail to address bad behavior hoping it will go away. But such behavior will also show up in practices and should be addressed firmly there.

My last years in coaching were the most successful. My last year at Star-Spencer we finished ranked 4th in the state behind Classen, Northeast and Clinton. My tallest player was 6-1. I made the decision that the only way to compete with bigger teams was to change up things a lot. I believed the kids could learn more than one defense, one press and one offense against the zone and the man to man.

I scheduled shorter time frames for each thing we were trying to run and made it clear to the kids that I believed that they could learn them all and also made it clear that the players who learned would have a better chance to play. Learning was not a problem. They actually learned better than when we ran a limited number of things and ran them over and over in practice. Young people are quick to become bored and they begin to shut down with the drudgery.

I also had a couple of team managers chart every bit of practice, even the layup drills. Players knew we were doing that and that kept them focused.

Wonderful post. Very important to keep them engaged.

 

[okjim]

very good

 

[califca]

Coach needs to get off sitting on the bench and give more effort.