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  #1 (permalink)  
Old Tue Jan 26, 2016, 10:24am
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Proper way to coach this?

Hi Guys,
I always like to preface my posts by announcing that I'm a coach and I appreciate what you all do.

I coach in a very tight gym. There are literally fans on the floor with about 1-2 feet of space between their feet and the sideline. The other side has no fans but the benches are the same, 1-2 feet between the bench payers feet and the sideline. So it is tight, plus I am always standing and have been good about avoiding officials since I'm used to it. But the other night we had a great game, close all the way through. Bleachers were packed and fans everywhere, plus the other coach was up and half on the court most of the night. The officiating crew works our games quite often but for whatever reason they were running in my fast break all night long. On nearly every transition my big guy who is running to one of the corners is waiting for the official(both of them) to get off the baseline to get to his spot. Several times my kid had an official running between him and the ball(ball crossing half court, kid near the sideline, official 6 feet off the sideline).

Now this was not a lack of hustle by the officials or anything and they did a great job and it worked itself out. But I am wondering how, if at all, you could be convinced to take a different path, or start deeper, or something... I truly don't know the answer that's why I'm here. I did ask the official I know best and he just turned and pointed and said look down the line where do you expect me to go? And I agreed, I just told my kid to run past the official(which led to the official between him and the ball) and as the game went on we slowed down or the officials sped up or whatever and it worked out. But I was just wondering if any of you have been in that situation and have some advice... short of building a new gym or changing my break.

Thanks!
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Old Tue Jan 26, 2016, 10:40am
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can you not pull the bleachers out the entire way?
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Old Tue Jan 26, 2016, 10:50am
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Pay for three officials instead of two so that the new Lead can have a better start on the fastbreak and be out of your way.
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Old Tue Jan 26, 2016, 11:18am
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Well..the first two responses don't really fall into the area of "coaching".

I am not really sure there is anything you can do. Obviously the officials need to be on the floor. Starting deeper might solve the break issue but then you may very well get an official trying to make a call who is out of position or didn't get the best look.

Sounds like you have the best solution...just work around them. Also sounds like you need a bigger gym...but that puts us back in an area that isn't "coaching"
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Old Tue Jan 26, 2016, 11:27am
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Yeah, there's not much you can do about it.

The trail official (who will become the new lead official when we head the other way on a fast break), is often going to be out on the court to get the best angle on the action, especially in 2-person. This means that it's entirely possible that the new lead can get caught in the wash on a fast break the other way. When this happens, most officials will pause for a second, let the break clear, and officiate it from behind... which isn't ideal, but them's the breaks of 2-person.

We do try to stay out of the way of players as best we can, even in non-fast-break situations; however, they're younger and faster than us. When I'm transitioning to new lead, I'll hug the sideline if I can; but in tight gyms that's just not an option. I will do my best to not get between a player and the ball, but at some point I need to get to the end line, and if I need to go in front of a player standing on the wing, that's what I've gotta do.

The only coaching point I could potentially offer: the new lead is going to be on one side of the floor or the other... if you can identify where the new lead is, have your big guy set up on the opposite side of the floor away from the new lead. Or, if you're running players to both wings, try to make your first option be on the side away from the new lead.
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Old Tue Jan 26, 2016, 12:30pm
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1) When there's 1-2 feet of space are the fans sitting or standing? Either way, do officials ever ask management to get them back?

2) Educate the officials on your break. There's a coach out here with a great team but the worst gym I think I've seen. Discounting AUX gyms or anything outside of HS. He'll always let the officials know his play lines so we can pre-game the lack of space. The coach is basically the AD and we always run a 3man crew so I'm not sure how much help this will be.
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Old Tue Jan 26, 2016, 12:51pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BDevil15 View Post
Hi Guys,
I always like to preface my posts by announcing that I'm a coach and I appreciate what you all do.

I coach in a very tight gym. There are literally fans on the floor with about 1-2 feet of space between their feet and the sideline. The other side has no fans but the benches are the same, 1-2 feet between the bench payers feet and the sideline. So it is tight, plus I am always standing and have been good about avoiding officials since I'm used to it.
I'm curious to know where you coach at that has such a small gym. I've worked in a couple of similar environments before, but don't think there are many gyms like this around.
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Old Tue Jan 26, 2016, 01:00pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BDevil15 View Post
Hi Guys,
I always like to preface my posts by announcing that I'm a coach and I appreciate what you all do.

I coach in a very tight gym. There are literally fans on the floor with about 1-2 feet of space between their feet and the sideline. The other side has no fans but the benches are the same, 1-2 feet between the bench payers feet and the sideline. So it is tight, plus I am always standing and have been good about avoiding officials since I'm used to it. But the other night we had a great game, close all the way through. Bleachers were packed and fans everywhere, plus the other coach was up and half on the court most of the night. The officiating crew works our games quite often but for whatever reason they were running in my fast break all night long. On nearly every transition my big guy who is running to one of the corners is waiting for the official(both of them) to get off the baseline to get to his spot. Several times my kid had an official running between him and the ball(ball crossing half court, kid near the sideline, official 6 feet off the sideline).

Now this was not a lack of hustle by the officials or anything and they did a great job and it worked itself out. But I am wondering how, if at all, you could be convinced to take a different path, or start deeper, or something... I truly don't know the answer that's why I'm here. I did ask the official I know best and he just turned and pointed and said look down the line where do you expect me to go? And I agreed, I just told my kid to run past the official(which led to the official between him and the ball) and as the game went on we slowed down or the officials sped up or whatever and it worked out. But I was just wondering if any of you have been in that situation and have some advice... short of building a new gym or changing my break.

Thanks!
Starting deeper is not an option, because it compromises the play on the other end. With 2, the T needs to be lower, not deeper. They'll likely need to take a different path. I've had games where I had to go wider on my way to the end line because of the breaks. I adjusted on my own when I realized my normal path was likely to be in their way. Or I would speed up my approach.

Have your kids play their game early. The refs will likely adjust on the fly.
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Old Tue Jan 26, 2016, 01:19pm
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You know...you could also have your team stop running. That makes it easier for us old guys to stay ahead of the play.
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Old Tue Jan 26, 2016, 06:43pm
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Small school in California. Gym was built in the 40's and bleachers are either down or up so this is what we get. Thanks for the responses. Building Gyms and cancelling the break on crowded nights are not an option. We have had the fire marshal threaten to throw people out of the gym in the past. In the late 90's we would have three deep against the wall on the endlines with a space a little wider than the lane for the official to get into on rivalry games and playoffs. Gym bond failed by 4% a few years back and likely will never happen.

Thanks for the idea of covering it in the pre game just never sure about what reaction I'd get. Like I said, the officials adjusted and it wasn't a big deal but when it changes your pace of pay you look for solutions.

Thanks guys!
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Old Tue Jan 26, 2016, 09:27pm
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Originally Posted by Nevadaref View Post
Pay for three officials instead of two so that the new Lead can have a better start on the fastbreak and be out of your way.
I really don't understand this comment.

The T belongs at the 28 foot line and shouldn't be leaving the frontcourt any earlier in 3 than he leaves in 2 in most situations.
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Old Wed Jan 27, 2016, 12:50pm
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Coaching ideas:
Always have your players run to the inside of the officials.
Practice a secondary break, by having your two leading, wide players cross, under the basket, and set up for the wide endline shots, on the opposite side of the floor from where they started. From that set, you can then run your offense as usual. (Defenders often act as if there's a wall at the basket, side to side, and will often ignore the player who has crossed.)
During practices, when working on having both players cross, decide which side will always cross behind the backboard, and which side will always cross in front of the backboard.
A variation is to add a side pick, and on cue, your signal, on a particular fast break, the endline side shot can be facilitated using a single crossing player, and a pick by his teammate on the other side. A slightly different version has the crosser setting the pick, midway between the side of the key and the 3-point line, and then his teammate using that pick to drive the endline to the basket. This will also give an opportunity for the delayed teamate, usually a guard, to set up on the wing, opposite the pick action described, for a second pass, from the driving player, and a jump shot by the guard.
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Old Wed Jan 27, 2016, 02:28pm
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I've run into this issue before. Don't allow fans to sit in the front row. It helps alot.
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