Dear Coach, Where is Plan B?

Where to start?

I keep hearing from our $1M coach how much basketball he knows. In fact, in today’s Coloradoan he tells us how smart he is about basketball.

If he’s so smart, why did it take him over 39 minutes yesterday to actually try to do something different?  Why did he let Utah State possess the ball for nearly an entire shot clock with just over a minute to go with his team trailing by 7.  Why did he wait until the final minute before he trapped Utah State in the backcourt?

I’m sure plenty of you that read this blog have worked in the business world for a lot less than $1M per year. And I’m sure when the business isn’t going as well as you want, you make changes.  If the current path isn’t taking you where you want to go, you change direction.

Out $1M coach has Plan A.

Soft man-to-man defense that never disrupts the flow of the other team’s offense.  Hope that they miss shots and then keep them from getting offensive rebounds.  But when the other team is making shots, nothing changes other than throwing a different player out there.  No pressure in the backcourt. No denying the wing pass. No switch to a zone defense. No trapping.  Absolutely zero disruption to the flow of the opponent.  The same look every time.

I played basketball when I was younger. My 8th grade team was more versatile defensively than our $1M coach’s team.  Our base defense was man-to-man.  We played that 80% of the time.  But we played a little 2-3 zone. We played two different presses. One that extended full court and a half court trapping 1-3-1 zone.  

We were not a big, powerful team.  We were guard heavy and had basically one guy who could play inside.  

Sound familiar?

Maybe it’s time for a coach who has a Plan B.