Approach to Player Court Time
Marist Basketball has a commitment to creating an environment where all boys, regardless of their skill level, can learn to play basketball. Every effort is made to ensure that each player is placed in a grade where they can develop their game by making an on court contribution on game days.
Given the dynamic and fast moving nature of basketball coaches need to adopt different approaches throughout the course of a game. Given this it is not possible for coaches to ensure that every player gets equal court time. At any one point in time coaches have to think about issues such as:
- Have they got the right mix of players for the offence or defence they want the team to run and
- Have they got the right match ups against the opposition in terms of size, speed, tactics etc .
While the Club’s policy is that it leaves playing time to the discretion of coaches, generally, every listed player within a team should play each week and receive reasonable court time over the course of a number of games. What the Club expects from coaches can be found here.
There are some universal rules which guide a coaches thinking on who to put on (and leave on) a court. These include:
- Is the player attending training, listening and learning;
- Is the player working hard at training and at all times during games, looking to play near the peak of their capabilities, following instructions and playing a team oriented game;
- Does the player understand team offensive and defensive structures and are they carrying out their roles in game situations;
- Generally if a player is not getting the court time they think they deserve one or more of the above will be on a coach’s mind. Players should be free to talk to their coach one on one about any issues they have with court time. Its best to do this away from the pressures of game day and
- Overall players should always consider what the Club expects from its players.
Exceptions
The Club is committed to placing competitive teams in Premiership Grades (the top two Divisions in the Basketball ACT competitions) to allow our players to reach the highest level possible.
Teams in these grades operate in a highly competitive environment and need to adopt a commitment to excellence.
Our ability to maintain teams in this top level of competition is dependent on ongoing results and sufficiently high table placement at the end of each season. Given this while Club coaches in these competitions will seek to ensure that every player receives court time this may not be possible in every game, particularly finals. This is particularly the case for those placed in a team for development purposes.