The Complete Guide to Coaching Girls' Basketball: Building a Great Team the Carolina Way (INTERNATIONAL MARINE-RMP) - Softcover

Hatchell, Sylvia

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0071473947 ISBN 13: 9780071473941

Publisher: International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press, 2006

Synopsis

"Coach Hatchell's book is a must-read for every girls' basketball coach. She is fantastic in every phase of the game, and I love watching her teams play."―Roy Williams, head men's basketball coach, University of North Carolina, and Associated Press Coach of the Year, 2006

What does it take to turn a good coach into a great one? You need to be a teacher, a motivator, a guru of X's and O's. Coach Sylvia Hatchell shows you how she manages all these roles and gives you her winning advice to creating a team of champions.

Head coach of the University of North Carolina's women's team, Coach Hathcell combines the Tar Heels' longstanding tradition of basketball greatness with her personal dedication to guiding young women as she teaches you how to:

• Communicate effectively to get peak performances from 11- to 18-year-old girls
• Teach all the fundamentals of the game and run a productive, high-energy practice
• Develop a formidable offense and tenacious defense
• Master 75 of her favorite drills, ranging in difficulty from beginner to advanced

About this title

About the Authors

Sylvia Hatchell has been a college head coach for 30 years, with a career won-lost record of 659-260. Over the past 19 years, she has coached the University of North Carolina women’s teams to a record of 387-180. Her teams have won five Atlantic Coast Conference titles (including 2005), and in 1994 the Tar Heels won the NCAA National Championship. They are certain to be ranked in the top five nationally as the 2005-06 season opens. Sylvia was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2004. Hometown: Chapel Hill, NC

Jeff Thomas, a long-time writer and contributing editor for Sailing Magazine, has published over 50 articles on boats, sailing, and sailors. He coaches high school girls’ basketball and AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) basketball in Richmond, VA. Hometown: Richmond, VA

From the Back Cover

"Coach Hatchell's book is a must-read for every girls' basketball coach. She is fantastic in every phase of the game, and I love watching her teams play."--Roy Williams, head men's basketball coach, University of North Carolina, and Associated Press Coach of the Year, 2006

What does it take to turn a good coach into a great one? You need to be a teacher, a motivator, a guru of X's and O's. Coach Sylvia Hatchell shows you how she manages all these roles and gives you her winning advice to creating a team of champions.

Head coach of the University of North Carolina's women's team, Coach Hathcell combines the Tar Heels' longstanding tradition of basketball greatness with her personal dedication to guiding young women as she teaches you how to:

• Communicate effectively to get peak performances from 11- to 18-year-old girls
• Teach all the fundamentals of the game and run a productive, high-energy practice
• Develop a formidable offense and tenacious defense
• Master 75 of her favorite drills, ranging in difficulty from beginner to advanced

Sylvia Hatchell, a college coach for 30 years, has accumulated a record of 445-187 in 20 seasons at the University of North Carolina. In 2006, her Tar Heels made the Final Four and Hatchell was named the Associated Press Women's Coach of the Year. She was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2004. She lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Jeff Thomas has coached girls' basketball for 16 years at the youth, high school, and Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) levels. He lives in Richmond, Virginia.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

The Complete Guide to COACHING GIRLS' BASKETBALL

Building a Great Team the Carolina Way

By SYLVIA HATCHELL, JEFF THOMAS

The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Copyright © 2006 Sylvia Hatchell
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-0-07-147394-1

Contents

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
INTRODUCTION
1. Preparing for the Season
2. Fundamental Skills
3. Team Offense
4. Team Defense
5. Team Management
6. Game Management
7. Drills
APPENDIX
GLOSSARY
INDEX

Excerpt

CHAPTER 1

PREPARING FOR THE SEASON

Before you can coach basketball, you need to have a basic knowledge of the rulesof the game, starting with where it's played.

About the Game

The Court

Basketball is played on a playing surface called the court. Courts can beindoors or outdoors. The surface can be made of wood, concrete, or asphalt. Somecourts are carpeted, and some have hard rubber surfaces. The best (and mostexpensive) courts are made of maple wood.

College courts are 94 feet long and 50 feet wide, but the dimensions of middleschool and high school courts vary.

Basic Rules

Basketball is a complicated game with many rules. If you're a rookie coach, itwill take some game experience before you learn everything you need to know.Here are the basics:

Object of the game. As with most other team sports, the team with the mostpoints at the end of the game wins.

The ball. There are several sizes of basketballs, but for girls' basketball,you'll use the standard women's ball, which is 28.5 inches in circumference. Allthe major manufacturers, such as Wilson and Spalding, manufacture this size ballin both indoor and outdoor versions. You can buy women's balls at any goodsporting goods outlet.

Number of players and substitutions. There are five players on the court foreach team. The coach can substitute fresh players at any time, from one playerup to five at a time. There are no limitations on how many times in the gamesubstitutions can be made and how many times a player can come in and out of thegame. Substitutions can be made only on a dead ball, when the referee blows thewhistle and play stops. You can substitute after the first of two free throwsand after the last free throw, but you can't substitute before the first freethrow. The only player for whom you can't substitute is the player shooting atthe free throw line.

Time. The length of the game varies, depending on the level and age. Collegegames last 40 minutes, divided into two 20-minute halves. High school games last32 minutes, divided into 8-minute quarters, but some high schools use 16-minutehalves. The time between quarters is brief—1 minute is the norm—and the timebetween halves is no more than 10 minutes. Some high school leagues use a 30-secondshot clock, meaning that the team with the ball must shoot within 30seconds of the moment they gain possession, or the ball is given to the otherteam. Middle school leagues don't have a shot clock, though some use a runningclock, meaning that the clock doesn't stop every time the referee blows thewhistle. This is done to ensure that the game ends on time and the next game canbegin when scheduled.

The baskets. Each basket consists of a rim with a net attached to a backboard,which is attached to a structural support, like a pole. Some baskets are fixedin place, and some can be raised to the ceiling to get them out of the way. Eachteam has its own basket at one end of the court. Both teams sit alongside onelength of the court, each on one side of the scorers' table. At the start of thegame, your team's basket is the near basket. For the first half, your playerswill defend this basket and will try to score at the other team's basket (at thefar end). At halftime, the teams will switch baskets—your team will now defendthe far basket and will try to score at the near basket. Prior to the start ofthe first half, teams warm up at the other team's basket.

Scoring. When a player shoots and scores from anywhere inside the 3-point arc,it counts as 2 points. Any shot made from outside the 3-point arc counts as 3points. (In high school, the arc is 19 feet from the basket.) For the shot tocount as 3 points, the shooter's feet must not touch the arc. If even her toe ison the line, it's considered a 2-point basket, not a 3-point basket. Two-pointshots and 3-point shots are field goals. Free throws are awarded to a player whohas been fouled. Free throws, shot from the free throw line, or foul line, areworth 1 point. The foul line is 15 feet from the basket. If a team mistakenlyscores at the wrong basket (this sometimes happens with younger players!), thebasket counts for the other team.

Moving the ball. When a team has possession of the ball, it tries to move theball close to the other team's basket for a good scoring opportunity. Playerscan advance the ball by dribbling (bouncing the ball on the floor with one hand)and passing (throwing) it to a teammate, subject to certain rules. When theythrow the ball at the basket to try to score, they are shooting the ball. Asnoted above, different kinds of successful shots (made shots), result in scoringfrom 1 to 3 points.

Defending the basket. When a team doesn't have possession of the ball, itdefends its basket. Players are allowed to gain possession of the ball from theother team at any time through stealing passes, stealing dribbles, and gettingdefensive rebounds, subject to the limitations regarding fouls. A good defensiveteam makes it hard for the offensive team to do what it wants to do. A gooddefender makes it hard for her player to catch, dribble, pass, and shoot.

Rules about Fouls

The rules about fouls are designed to keep the game from getting too rough andto penalize players who violate the rules. One of the referee's main duties isto enforce the rules about fouling. Each time a foul is committed, the refereeblows the whistle and play stops. The referee uses a hand signal to indicatewhat the foul was and calls out the number of the player who committed the foul("Number 32 ... blocking"). (See the referee hand signals in the Appendix.)

Personal fouls happen when a player makes physical contact with an opponent in amanner not allowed by the rules. Contact is the key component. If there's nocontact, if the player didn't touch the other player, there's no foul.

A defender can foul a player with the ball or without the ball. When she fouls aplayer who is shooting, such as by hitting her arm or hand, it's a shootingfoul. If the shot scores, the referee signals and one, which means the shootergets to shoot a free throw as well. If the shot misses, the shooter is awardedtwo free throws in the case of a 2-point shot and three free throws in the caseof a 3-point shot.

When a defender fouls a player without the ball, it's a nonshooting foul. Aplayer (the inbounder) from the team that was fouled passes (inbounds) the ballto a teammate from a spot outside of the court boundaries. The spot is along thenearest line (baseline or sideline) to where the foul occurred.

Some of the most common nonshooting fouls are the following (most are self-explanatory):

Reaching across a player's body with your arm

Holding a player (any part of her, including her jersey)

Pushing a player (with any part of the body)

Tripping a player

Blocking a player who is driving to the basket by getting in her way andknocking her off her path

A player can also commit a personal foul if her team has the ball. She cancommit a moving pick by moving too soon after she sets a screen. She can push adefender with her hands as she tries to get open. She can commit a charging foulwhen she dribbles into a defender who has established position and is no longermoving. When an offensive player drives (dribbles hard to the basket) andcollides with a defender, this is one of the more difficult calls a referee hasto make. Was it a charge by the dribbler or a block by the defender? Thecollision happens in an instant, and it's hard to know if the defenderestablished good position prior to the contact. Whichever way the referee callsit, you can be sure half the fans in the stands and one of the coaches willdisagree.

There are three other kinds of personal fouls:

An intentional foul happens when a player makes illegal contact with an opponentand is obviously trying to incur a foul (probably to stop the clock)—she isn'ttrying to steal the ball. Intentional fouls result in two free throws awarded tothe player who was fouled.

A flagrant foul is called for excessive roughness, such as when a playerpunches, kicks, or fights with another player. It seldom happens, but when itdoes, the referee has the right to eject the offending player from the game.

A technical foul can be assessed to a player or a coach (this means you and yourassistants!) at the referee's discretion for various unsportsmanlike actions,including using profanity, insulting the referee, and throwing the ball at aplayer. A technical foul is also assessed when the defender reaches across theimaginary plane of the baseline while guarding an inbounder or when a team'sscorekeeper doesn't list the right player numbers in the scorebook. The penaltyfor a technical foul is that a player from the other team (any player the coachchooses) shoots three free throws without anyone standing along the sides of thelane. Regardless of how many shots she makes or misses, that player's team theninbounds the ball from their end of the court. Obviously, technical fouls can becostly to your team.

Each player is allowed a maximum of five personal fouls per game. When a playercommits her fifth foul, she fouls out and, regardless of how much time is leftin the game, must leave the game immediately. The coach must replace her with asubstitute. A player who fouls out can't come back into the game.

Since you don't want to lose an important player before the game ends, know atall times how many fouls each of your players has. If a player accumulates foulsquickly or is in danger of fouling out, take her out for a while so she'll beable to play later in the game. A player with four fouls is a liability ondefense, because she can't play aggressively for fear of fouling out. Goodcoaches will gear their team's offense to attack a defender in foul trouble.Throughout the game, keep track of the individual and team fouls for the otherteam. Depending on how the referees are calling the game, you might want one ofyour players to drive at a defender who is in foul trouble.

Team fouls are the totals of the personal fouls each team accumulates during ahalf. There's no limit to the number of team fouls a team can accumulate. At theend of the first half, the team foul total for each team resets to zero. Eachteam's scorekeeper keeps team foul totals. In addition to the points scored andthe time left, some scoreboards also show the number of team fouls for eachteam.

Once a team commits its seventh team foul in a half, the other team is in thebonus. They are awarded a one-and-one free throw for the next three nonshootingfouls that occur during the rest of the half. The player who is fouled shootsone free throw. If she misses, the teams fight for the ball. If she makes it,she shoots a second free throw (the one-and-one term means that if she makes oneshot, she gets another one). Once a team commits its tenth team foul, it'spenalized further. The other team is now awarded a two-shot free throw for everynonshooting foul. Every player fouled from now on gets to shoot a second freethrow, even if she misses the first one.

Fouls are a huge factor in games. A team that fouls a lot puts itself at adisadvantage to the other team. It risks losing players and giving the otherteam extra points. Conversely, a team that knows how to play tough defensewithout fouling is tough to score points against. A team with good free throwshooters has an advantage over a team that shoots poorly from the line. Often,close games are decided by who wins the "Battle of the Free Throw Line." Yourteam should practice free throws every practice.

Other Rules

Here are the other basic rules of the game. If a player on your team violatesany of these rules, your team immediately gives up possession of the ball to theother team.

• 10-second backcourt call. Once a player inbounds the ball in the backcourt,her team has 10 seconds to advance the ball past the midcourt line. Some middleschool leagues waive this rule.

• 5-second closely guarded call. A player with the ball who is guarded by adefender standing within 6 feet of her must advance the ball within 5 seconds.This prevents a player from dribbling in one spot as a stalling tactic.

• 5-second call on the dribbler. A player who picks up her dribble (stopsdribbling) must pass or shoot within 5 seconds.

• 5-second call on the inbounder. An inbounder must pass the ball within 5seconds.

• 3-second lane violation. An offensive player can't camp out (stay) in the lanefor more than 3 seconds. She must keep moving in and out to avoid this call.However, once the ball has been shot and hits the rim, the 3-second count startsover.

• Moving pick. A screener can't move any part of her body after setting a screen.

• Backcourt violation. After bringing the ball over the midcourt line, a teamcan't allow the ball to go back over the line into the other half of the court.

• Traveling. A dribbler can't take more than one step without dribbling.

• Double dribble. A player can't dribble with both hands more than once.

• Palming. When dribbling, a player can't carry the ball; her palm must makecontact with the top half of the ball. Referees call carrying less than theyused to, so more dribblers take advantage of this.

A held ball occurs when a defender grabs the ball while it's in the hands of anoffensive player, and both players hold the ball at the same time. This oftenhappens when two players dive to the floor after a loose ball. The held ball isa unique rule violation in the way it's handled. While other violations resultin an automatic change of possession, the held ball uses an alternating arrow oralternating possession system. Regardless of which team is on offense or whichteam is on defense, the ball is awarded to the team that is attacking in thedirection of the pointed arrow. Most coaches dislike the alternate possessionsystem because it doesn't always reward the defender for a good play.

Most scorers' tables have a box that displays a red LED arrow or a mechanicalpointer used as an arrow. The arrow points to one basket or the other. The clockkeeper is in charge of the arrow. At the beginning of the game, the arrow isneutral. If team A gets possession of the ball off the center jump, the rulesconsider that team A has used its possession, so the clock keeper points thearrow in the direction of team A's basket. That means that on the next heldball, team B gets the ball. Team B inbounds the ball along the nearest point onthe sideline or baseline where the held ball occurred. As soon as team Binbounds, the clock keeper switches the arrow so that team A will get the nextheld ball.

The Positions

Basketball players fall into one of two general categories: guards (or perimeterplayers), who play away from the basket along the 3-point arc area, and forwards(or posts), who play near the basket and around the free throw line.

Each player is assigned a position to play. The way basketball coaches label thepositions has changed over the past ten to fifteen years. The old terminologyhas evolved into numbers. For example, instead of talking about the shootingguard, many coaches now talk about the two guard or the 2. This has come aboutbecause the distinctions between the traditional positions have blurred over theyears. Today's players are more versatile and can play more than one position.Players like Magic Johnson (who played for the Los Angeles Lakers) showed thatheight no longer dictates where a player plays on the floor. He was 6 feet 9inches and played point guard.

Whether you prefer the old designations or the numerical approach, here are thegeneral characteristics of the positions you need to fill on your team.

Point Guard or 1. This is the most important position on the team. If you have agood point guard, your team will have a good chance of succeeding. If you don't,your team will struggle offensively. Your point guard is your team leader on thefloor. She directs the offense and knows where everyone is supposed to be. Putyour best ball handler at the point. Ideally, she can dribble with both handswith her head up and is a good passer. She should have good court savvy—sheshould know when to pass, when to drive, when to shoot, when to slow thingsdown, and when to speed things up.

The point guard is more important to a basketball team than a quarterback is toa football team. While the quarterback rests when his team is on defense, thepoint guard often has to guard the other team's best player. I'll say it again—thepoint is the most important position on the team. Most teams have plenty ofwing players (players who play on the perimeter in the free throw line extendedarea), but many have no true point guard. The coach is stuck with trying to makea point guard out of a player not well suited to the position. If you have atrue-blue point guard on your team, consider yourself lucky. If you don't, makeit a priority to develop your best perimeter player into one and expect a lot offull-court presses.

Shooting Guard or 2. Put your best outside shooter in this position. She shouldbe a good ball handler. This player should have the best shooting range of yourplayers, ideally beyond the 3-point line, and should have confidence in her shot(balanced with good judgment on when to shoot and when not to shoot). She shouldbe able to shoot not just when catching the ball but also when facing a defenderand dribbling. If she can also fake the shot and drive, so much the better. Aspart of your offense, design ways to get your best shooter the ball in the spotson the court where she likes to shoot.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from The Complete Guide to COACHING GIRLS' BASKETBALL by SYLVIA HATCHELL. Copyright © 2006 by Sylvia Hatchell. Excerpted by permission of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc..
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

Edition details

• Publisher: International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press
• Publication date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0071473947
• ISBN 13: 9780071473941
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 260