January 13, 2023 | Tagged Coaching,
Basketball Coaching Strategy during Tournament Time
Some of the greatest basketball coaches love strategy. John Wooden was a master strategist. He loved the chess-like action of the game, he loved to find ways to overload the court and to maximize advantage. Some coaches hate strategy and focus solely on encouraging the individual talents of the team to win the moment. At NBC Camps, we fall into the strategy camp. We like the game of basketball to be played not only with the body but especially with the mind. We also love the underdog. Our camps have had campers who eventually become pro players but the ones we are most proud of are the short kids that no one believed in that go on to be the game-changers.
As a coach into the tournament this year, your players need you to be good a strategist.
If you are an underdog in the tournament—your best strategy is to change the dynamics of the game. This requires your ability to take more risk than your opponent in order to win. Slow down games benefit the better offensive teams. You are better to pressure and get intense with your scrappy but undersized/under-skilled team. Heart, tenacity, and hustle can turn the game to your favor.
Lack of heart is a spiritual issue. If you don’t have heart, you have issues of bitterness, apathy, division, and selfishness on the team. This is hard to navigate during the season and may be better for you to ask forgiveness as a leader for allowing this kind of chemistry and encourage and create positive moments together until you can regroup for the next year.
The best gift you can give your team heading into the tournament is to be as healthy as you can be spiritually, emotionally and physically. If you are in pain, this can distract your thinking. If you are thin-skinned, you can lose your cool. If you are irritated, frustrated, emotionally unstable, your team will not trust you. Get a good strategy to be healthy for tournament time. Have a plan to navigate uncertainty. Get some good mentors who can help protect you from failure. Having an assistant who can adjust you if you are getting to fiery or provide quality counsel is key.
About NBC Basketball
NBC Basketball offers intensive basketball programming to help your athletes improve fundamental skills, mental toughness, personal character, self-discipline, and leadership skills. Camps include shooting camps, offensive skills camps, complete player camps, leadership camps, high school team camps and more. For more information about NBC Basketball Camps visit www.nbccamps.com/basketball.