So you think you can coach?

There are a lot of things in sports that make not only me mad but also many others. Dan Snyder thinking he’s better at buying a team than George Steinbrenner.  Flopping. Cheating in sports, lying that you cheated and than admitting you actually did cheat. But one of the biggest things that bug me is high school basketball. Not all but most high school basketball. Don’t get me wrong; there are a lot of great high school basketball teams in the country. Examples: Oak Hill Academy (VA), Montrose Christian (MD) or Findlay Prep (NV). Each of these schools have produced great college and NBA players. That’s a great accomplishment in the sports world but most schools are like the crappy ones. We have schools like Salmon High School (ID) or James Madison High School (VA.) which just don’t play good fundamental basketball. More than likely teams like these don’t have bad players, they just have bad systems or coaches. I can’t say that I would be any better at coaching basketball at the high school level. I can say that holding the basketball for 5 minutes while you have one of the most ridiculous athletes I know on the court would not be in my playbook. A play I would have would be the Kobe. You get your best player the ball and everyone gets out of the way.

Now, I’m not trying to blame just coaches because it’s not always their fault their teams do bad. There are some teams that are always at a disadvantage. Lets take the Leadore Mustangs for example who only have a handful of players to choose from. In this situation I am glad that a town of 105 has a desire to have a basketball team and it’s OK that they make the Jimmy Chitwood-less Hickory Huskers look like champions. Sometimes, though you have situations where you have great players in bad systems. Example: Salmon High School Savages.  When you have several solid players who run the break like no man’s business, you design a system to fit them.  We could even use a professional example like the Lakers. When you have Dwight Howard, Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash, who are poorly suited to running for 48 minutes, you do not hire Mike D’Antoni. I don’t understand why a front office would hire someone who wouldn’t help their players play to the fullest.  Man like, Greg Popovich, Bill Belichick and Herb Brooks. Each of these men have specific players they want and look for. Players contribute to the team in their own special way. That’s why drafting players like Kawhi Leonard or Tom Brady aren’t a waste of a pick. Every move is to help the team become the best. I wouldn’t say though that I would invite all coaches to use this style. To each, his own. John Calipari has done great with recruiting the best players and making “dream” teams. That works for the teams that have the ability to do that. You could even be like Mike Shanahan who had a successful system but changed it because of one draft pick. Look now; he’s done very well this past season with his new system and his draft pick leading the way.  There are many ways of having a successful program but you need to be aware of whom you have, your goals for the program and being realistic. As the saying goes if you build it, they will come. Strive to build a realistic system for your team and success is likely.