Expert: Sanket - 1/24/2005

Question
I coach a 5-6th-grade girls team. We are shortest team by far in 13-team league. I literally have 8 guards (in size). We are 12-2 and overachieving, but there are two teams we simply cannot beat because they tower over us and just keep throwing up bricks from the paint until one goes in. We actually are not a very good shooting team. 17-of-71 last game, 15-of-68; 21-of-65, 7-of-50 (loss to good team), etc. We full-court press and live off steals, layups and getting off about 30 more shots per game than the other teams -- except for the two loaded teams. So, any suggestions on how to stop the ball from going inside so much in the half court -- other than growth hormones? They have good guards, OK forwards and unathletic giants in middle that are a head taller and 30 pounds bigger than my girls.  

Answer
There are quiet a few options although this has only happened to me in one of my coaching years.

1.Step down as coach (Don't do that, it's just an option).

2. You need to try everything, I assume you have four periods, try zone in the first, try man to man in the second, try full court defense in the third, and also try to cheat a tiny bit, tell the girls to SOFTLY foul the opponents by stepping on the other girls foot. It's cheating, but it works, well I guess it isn't cheating unless they call it. You may lose that one, but atleast you'll know what works and you can get them back next time you play them.

3. Tell your girls to be aggressive, play full court D and if the opponents want to just plow right by them tell them to just stand their until the opponent moves to a different side. I'm guessing since your girls are short they get run over sometimes. Make sure they're aggresive. And have shooting practices, tell them to bend thier knees and have soft release. And coach, you can never overachieve in my opionion, you can only underacheive.

If none of this works, well, you can ask for a follow up and I'll send you more information.

If this information helps you at all tell then I would really appreciate some ratings. And if this helps a lot, nomination for volenteer of the month would be highly appereciated too.