From player relations, to diagramming plays, and inspiring the players who don’t get in the game as much, coaching is about teaching. Coach C explains.
It cannot be stated enough: The art of being a good coach means learning how to be a teacher, too. Whether your player is struggling on the court or bumming out over a lack of playing time, how you handle him says a lot about how you coach. What’s the secret? Coach C has your game plan.
Q: Why is it important for a coach to be a teacher as well as an “Xs and Os” person? Coach C: It’s extremely important, because when you are a teacher, you are taking each kid as an individual – really putting your heart and soul out there for that individual. Now, when that player – any player – respects you, you can start game planning those Xs and Os. I cannot tell you how many times we’d come out of a time out and have a player do the exact opposite of what we told him to do. It’s because they didn’t respect us. The only way you are going to get respect is through teaching – not yelling, not screaming and not forcing kids to do things. Respect comes by getting close to each individual player. That’s what a teacher does. If you jump over the teacher part and go straight to the Xs and Os, you’re not going to be very successful.
Q: How do you handle a player who is struggling to make shots or perform during a game? Do you let him or her work through it? Coach C: There are a lot of different approaches to this. After awhile, you can only take so much. In some cases, you want to give a little leeway. I can remember when Dean Smith coached at North Carolina. He never took a player out of the game when he did something wrong. He always waited for a positive thing to happen. That was a psychological thing. If a young player keeps doing the wrong thing over and over again, we have to wait to correct it in practice – not in a game situation. That’s a touchy situation. You must watch how you handle it. This goes back to the teaching part. Are they respecting you? If they are, you’re going to get it straightened out much faster.
Q: How do you keep up a positive morale for the players who do not get as much playing time? Coach C: This is one of the biggest things in coaching that is overlooked. I think we take those last five or six kids for granted. Nobody ever talks to them. I think this is where the assistant coaches come into play. You have to keep them pumped up, because they are so vital to the team. Everybody on the team has a role. If your role is to be a part of practice, that’s important. They have to be encouraged. Not once a week. But three to four times a week, you have to let them know how important they are. OC
With more than 27 years of coaching and recruiting experience, Kevin Cantwell knows the physical and mental impact the game has on today’s players. For 16 years he served as an associate head coach for Bobby Cremins at Georgia Tech. He also served as an assistant and head coach for Appalachian State University. He has coached and recruited 22 NBA players.
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