Getting Deep Bench Involved

Ask The Coach! -Question #7

Question# 7 - I have the fortunate situation of having a number of athletes that can play this game. Please send me some recommendations on ways to play the maximum number of these athletes?
Coach Case

In my experiences there have been two basic schools of thought about playing players. The first is you only play seven, and never carry more than that number of players who can challenge these seven, because they generally become unhappy at their lack of playing time. Now I personally don't subscribe to this theory, but I have seen coaches who have been very successful by severely limiting the number of talented players. I think this is the cheap way out.

I want as many good players as my leagues rules allow, and in the case of colleges, can afford through scholarship, or professional teams by payroll. On the High School and Junior High level I feel there is a certain obligation to carry as many players as you can, because your teams are still a very important part of the grass roots development of young players. Dr. Julius Erving, the NBA great, was only offered two scholarships directly out of high school, and I'm sure there are many other examples.

So getting on to your specific question, one approach might be called the "John Thompson" strategy, where in Patrick Ewing's years at Georgetown, they had so many players Coach Thompson essentially created two equal teams that got equal minutes and pressed 40 minutes as hard as they could. This takes a certain amount of salesmanship as a coach to convince players that by playing less minutes, and playing harder, they might actually accomplish more in terms of team results and game stats. One of my best professional teams was able to develop this mentality, although it wasn't always smooth going, but in fact several of my starters cut their playing minutes by 6 or 7 minutes per game and actually improved their scoring and rebounding averages from the previous year. You must be very careful with this type of strategy not to over substitute, or change the groups of players on the floor at the same time. A good rule of thumb is to never substitute more than two players at any given time, because it can significantly break the game chemistry on the floor. The five man "Thompson" substitution pattern, was an exception to the rule, and was successful because Coach Thompson, was a master at motivating his players, and convincing them this was their best way to be NCAA Champions, and give each player an opportunity to contribute to this success.

If I were in your shoes I would work to convince the players that hard work and intensity get playing time along with results. These results don't necessarily have to be points, but should be based on the roles that you should establish for each player. You might have a great rebounder who's primary focus is to grab 5 rebounds in a quarter, or a super defender who's job is to completely deny the ball for 4 minutes from the other teams best scorer. By establishing clearly defined roles for all 10 plus players on your team, you can give them the feeling that their talents are special to the team and required for the team to be a winner. If you have very talented younger players who may be nearly as good as a more experienced player, try giving them alternative roles to play with the idea that in the next year they will assume the role of the more experienced player upon graduation.

A final solution you might consider is one of creating a "special team" within your team. When I was coaching at Penn State the head coach called this the pressing team. Their job was to come into the game for the last three or four minutes of the first half, and simply press the dickens out of the tired opponent. You could call this your "green team" or some special name. In my college playing experience we even created this environment in practice where the "green" team was on most day as good or better than the "white" team who were the starters. Needless to say, the "green" team players supported each other in a very special way. This must be approached with a good mind set because you don't want to have animosity between two cliques in your team, simply a good natured and spirited competition for the "Pine Brothers" to show the "starters" they are very capable. Most championship teams have this mentality down the bench. When it get's going it a great motivator for practice situations. Practices become actually more difficult than many game situations. As a coach I love to have this mentality from my players. Thank you for asking such a useful question..

The Coach