170 - 35 (100-12 at half)...Starters start 2nd Half

[A Pennsylvania Coach]

Originally Posted by Corndog89

I worked a girls varsity game last night, defending 4A (largest classification) state champs (and still loaded, though their best player was injured and only 7 of 10 players dressed because of injuries) vs a very overmatched 0-13 team. Surprisingly close for the first 5 or so very ugly minutes, then the better team steadily pulled away...56-17 at half, 78-25 after 3 quarters, no press in the 2nd half. In the 4th quarter the winning coach told her girls no more fast breaks, work only on half court set plays with multiple passes. At 98-30 with 1:17 remaining it was obvious they would break the century mark. Instead, coming out of a timeout she had her girls work on a half court offense that stressed inside/outside passing; they ran the clock out without ever taking another shot.

I thought it was a class coaching act because she kept her girls working hard on basics, good defense and offensive areas to improve on while not belittling the losing team (who played hard throughout, BTW) by just pulling back and dribbling/passing around the perimeter or running up the score (they could've easily scored 120-130 had they wanted to). It was neither a pretty game nor fun to work, but it could have been soooooooo much worse.

My first year as a head coach, we gave up 100 a couple (three?) times. It's not a traumatic experience or anything. If the opposing coach ended up giving a live interview on ESPN the next day because the blogosphere had run with it, that probably would've hurt more! We were young, learning to play pressure defense and handle pressure defense. So when we were down 80-30 to start the 4th, we kept playing hard, playing full-court defenses, and improving. Two years later we made a nice run into the playoffs and set a school record for wins.

I think these things get way overblown. I agree a coach who has his team hold the ball with 98 and a minute left is classy. But I don't think that necessarily means that a coach who allows his team to score there is a jerk.