A Coach’s Cheat Sheet For Big Games

Here is a ‘cheat sheet of dot points to print and keep with you (or your assistant) as a reminder during big games** such as finals or key tournament games. If you have any questions regarding these dot points, please chat to your Lead Coach.

**It should be stressed, there are very few (if any) ‘must-win games’ in junior basketball…

Pre-game…

• Have a quick 1:1 check-in with each player, and give them confidence + role clarity.

• In your team chat, boil the game down to 2-3 key areas (e.g. Win Rebounds, No open shots on D)

• Normalise the nerves. “Nerves mean you want to do your best today – it’s a good sign!”

1st Quarter…

• Drive a positive energy from the bench

• Observe: What offences / defences are they running? Where are the gaps appearing?

Quarter / Half Time / 3 Quarter Time breaks…

• Take a breath! Refer to your Assistant, and plan the message your athletes need.

  • Whose ball will it be next? From where?

• Give them 3 things: the next offence, next defence, and the one big thing that will shape the next part of the game.

2nd Half

• Manage your subs in Q3– the game may be heating up but you still need to rotate a bit.

• Keep the game on the hook – call a timeout before small momentum shifts become big ones. A reminder:

  • VJL Coaches have 2 timeouts to use

  • VC Coaches have 3 timeouts, with a maximum of 2 in the final two minutes.

IN CASE OF EMERGENCY…BREAK GLASS!

Don’t wait for a whistle to call time-out – get the ref’s attention and call one when opposition scores. If you’re out of time-outs, you can use a substitution to try and shift momentum, but either way think about things like:

• Change the defence: full-court pressure, traps, ‘no catch’

• Focusing the team’s effort on a specific action or play.

• Change the line-up (go with strongest 5 OR trust others to light a spark)

Final 2 minutes

• Know when to ask players to “Steal it” – strip the ball-handler by any means necessary, get steal or foul. Players cannot ‘bear hug’ their opponent, and calling “foul” can prime the referees to deem it an unsportsmanlike foul (USP),

Post-game

• Chat to players who played relatively less court time, showing empathy and care.

• If you lost, remember…the sun will rise tomorrow! Praise effort and character.