Pre-game Techs

[A Pennsylvania Coach]

Originally posted by Mark Dexter
Let's not forget - this is for a pre-season tournament.

Heck, even during the regular season I'd be tempted to quietly say to the scorer "See who's out there? Mark them down in the book."

For levels below HS varsity, I think you can get away with this. In my varsity games, I ask our scorekeeper, at the 10:00 mark, who my opponents' starters are. It might shape how we want to attack them (how many ball-handlers are in their lineup? how many big people?) and will definitely affect how we matchup if we are playing man-to-man! I use that 10 minutes to consider my matchups and inform my starters who they are guarding and give them one or two tips about their tendencies ("Liz, you are guarding #14, don't forget she's left-handed and won't shoot from outside the three-point line.").

There are reasons for these rules, and at the levels where who wins and loses matters (my job might be on the line!) you need to enforce them.