[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

Originally posted by Hawks Coach
Mark
I have one assistant coach. I absolutely need his basketball mind on the bench. He does a great job getting my players ready to go in, making adjustments with players who come out, keeping the bench into the game. He picks up things I don't see during the game, and helps me with my substitution pattern. Can't do without him. Buuutttt. . .

There is this ongoing running commentary that I can't stand, and have let him know this. But I got a game to coach, and can't spend every minute focussing on what he says, and coaching a coach rather than my players. I have toned him down (he used to get us Td once a month) to the annoying running commentary from the belligerent shout. He is actually acting in a controlled manner if you know how he used to be. I have also had to teach him how to appropriately address players, because that was a problem.

If I feel he is really pushing it or crosses any lines, I let him know. But you gotta choose your battles - and, by the way, the refs are able to ignore it as much as me - it is kind of like a soothing background noise after a while. And we periodically discuss bench behavior, but he has a hard time controlling it. I could say I don't have a replacement for him, but I don't really think I want a replacement. On the positive side, incidentally, he is the first to give our players the business if they don't help an opponent up after fouling them - he is a real advocate of sportsmanship, just has a hard time with one aspect of it.

And if he gets Td, he shuts up and I take that as part of the bargain that I cut - may not be the best deal, but you take what you can get when you ask someone to give up 10 months of their year as a volunteer coach, going to games almost every weekend for that whole time. And none of us are perfect, he just has different weaknesses than I do. We both have the same values and love the game and teaching it to our players.

[Edited by Hawks Coach on Apr 30th, 2002 at 12:44 PM]

You are giving me excuses for why you are not doing your job. An assistant coach is to be seen by and not heard by officials. Now having said that, I have no problem with assistant coaches asking me where the designated spot is for throw-ins and other such information as long as is it is done in a curtious manner.

The fact that he has a great basketball mind and gives his time for free for ten months a year is not a reason for not doing your job. If he cannot control his bench behavior then you have to control it for him. That means that maybe you need to ban him from the bench until he understands what is acceptable and unacceptable behavior for bench personnel. If he is a real advocate for sportsmanship then he has to lead by example, because your players see how he acts on the bench and they see how you accept his bench behavior. An assistant coach who gets a technical foul has real bench behavior problems and the head coach as leadership problems.