Game Strategy and Tactics for Basketball: Bench Coaching for Success
By Kevin Sivils
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About this ebook
Game Strategy and Tactics for Basketball: Preparing to Win the Sideline Battles is both a how-to book and a guide for how to plan strategy and tactics for basketball for an entire season or an individual game.
Coaches often focus on X's and O's and overlook how and when a particular offense or defense should be applied and used during a game. Game Strategy and Tactics for Basketball: Preparing to Win the Sideline Battles serves as a planning guide and a master checklist for all the possible situations that a coach will face during a season.
The book includes both traditional and some "out-of-the-box" strategies to the common situations that coaches face and provides both the pros and the cons of the approaches described. It is not the author's intention to tell each coach exactly what to do, but to serve as a guide in the decision making process.
Kevin Sivils
A 25 year veteran of the coaching profession, with twenty-two of those years spent as a varsity head coach, Coach Kevin Sivils amassed 479 wins and his teams earned berths in the state play-offs 19 out of 22 seasons with his teams advancing to the state semi-finals three times. An eight time Coach of the Year Award winner, Coach Sivils has traveled as far as the Central African Republic to conduct coaching clinics. Coach Sivils first coaching stint was as an assistant coach for his college alma mater, Greenville College, located in Greenville, Illinois. Coach Sivils holds a BA with a major in physical education and a minor in social studies from Greenville College and a MS in Kinesiology with a specialization in Sport Psychology from Louisiana State University. He also holds a Sport Management certification from the United States Sports Academy. In addition to being a basketball coach, Coach Sivils is a classroom instructor and has taught U.S. Government, U.S. History, the History of WW II, and Physical Education and has won awards for excellence in teaching and Teacher of the Year. He has served as an Athletic Director and Assistant Athletic Director and has also been involved in numerous professional athletic organizations. Sivils is married to the former Lisa Green of Jackson, Michigan, and the happy couple are the proud parents of three children, Danny, Katie, and Emily. Rounding out the Sivils family are three dogs, Angel, Berkeley, and Al. A native of Louisiana, Coach Sivils currently resides in the Great State of Texas.
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Game Strategy and Tactics for Basketball - Kevin Sivils
What others are saying about Game Strategy and Tactics for Basketball: Preparing to Win the Sideline Battles:
"Game Strategy and Tactics for Basketball is a great compilation of ideas and thoughts that any coach for any sport at any level can benefit from. I have been involved in coaching basketball at the collegiate and scholastic level for 25 years, and gained great insight and ideas by reading this book. As a coach, you can never stop learning, regardless of how long you have been in the profession. I have known Coach Sivils since 2002, and he is one of the most knowledgeable coaches I have ever known. He willingly shares his thoughts in this book. His thought provoking approach makes for an easy read and will definitely stimulate thought and, most likely, change the way you go about coaching!"
Rusty Rogers - Two-time NAIA Division II Women’s National Championship Coach and Two-time NAIA National Coach of the Year
Coach Kevin Sivils is a respected coach and administrator who knows what is important in the game of basketball from actual game and practice experience. Split second decisions from the bench are often the defining moment in highly competitive games at any level. The ability to instantly and accurately give your team its best chance to win under pressure with a reasoned and wise ‘gut decision’ cannot be underestimated. Your first step should be to read Kevin’s book and then put his principles to use in your coaching career as you plan your strategy and tactics for the season and individual games.
Jack Bennett – Head Coach University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (retired)
NCAA Men’s Division III National Champions 2004 & 2005
"Anyone who has seen my teams play knows we score a lot of points, but sometimes make poor tactical decisions late in the game. Those bad decisions have always nagged at me, because I know ultimately our lack of execution in tight games is my fault.
Coach Sivils’ book is the best I have ever read on the topic of bench coaching. I wish I’d had this information – all in one place – twenty years ago, because Coach Sivils addresses EVERY aspect of getting your team ready to win those close games: from time and score situations, selecting the right defensive or offensive strategy, making substitutions, or maximizing your home court advantage.
If you have been looking for a rigorously thorough handbook on basketball tactics and strategy, you have found it!"
Coach Doug Porter – Head Women’s Coach,
Olivet Nazarene University
National Scoring Leaders: 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Champions: 2000, 2005, 2007
Coach Sivils clearly brings his experience in the game of basketball to his writing. He is a great teacher who acquired great gifts over the years, and it’s great he wants to share those gifts with other coaches.
Bill Reidy - Long time successful high school and AAU coach
Coach Sivils’ book has a perfect combination of philosophical viewpoints and in-game X’s and O’s strategy. A great example of this approach to organizing the information in this book is the section discussing the importance of
controlling what you can control and another that contains approaches to time and score situations. This is a great book for a young, or veteran, coach!
Robbie White – former player of Coach Sivils and first year varsity head coach
Game Strategies and Tactics For Basketball
Bench Coaching for Success
Kevin Sivils
© 2009 Kevin Sivils
All Rights Reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the author.
ISBN: 978-160844-045-0
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Printed in the United States of America
This book is dedicated to my wife, Lisa, the best coach’s wife a husband could ask for.
Foreword
Game Strategy and Tactics for Basketball: Bench Coaching for Success, by Kevin Sivils, helps the young and the experienced coach wade through the difficult waters of game planning and game adjustments.
One of my favorite pastimes is to monopolize the remote at our home. As I wander through the many sports channels available, I am constantly on the lookout for late game situations whether they are in basketball, football, or baseball. You can learn so much from these real-life situations that can make or break a possession, a game, a season, or a coaching career.
This book is going to make you take a long hard look at your game preparation, game planning, and execution of your game plan. Coach Sivils’ book can give you a jump start on planning and make you think about what you want to do, are doing, and will do in the future.
As you use these ideas, please keep the words of Coach Lon Kruger in mind... PLAN, PREPARE, PRACTICE, AND PLAY LIKE YOU JUST LOST YOUR LAST GAME!
Coach Don Meyer
Head Men’s Basketball Coach – Northern State University
College Basketball’s All-Time Winningest Coach
NAIA National Champion 1986
National Coach of the Year 1989, 1990
A word of thanks is necessary for the fact that this book is even in existence. Had it not been for so many people throughout my life, I would have never had the chance to learn the information contained on these pages so that I could share what I have learned with others, who like myself, wanted to learn as much about the game of basketball as possible.
My parents deserve considerable credit. They not only raised me and provided me with an excellent education, they always encouraged me to try any endeavor I wished to pursue, particularly when it came to playing a game I passionately love: basketball.
My grandparents, particularly my grandfather, taught me to be curious about things and instilled in me a passion for learning. From my grandfather, I gained my love for all things related to railroads and trains, which led to a passion for history.
My high school coach, Gary Niehaus, did so much to help me improve as a basketball player and then went above and beyond to help me have an opportunity to play small college basketball. My college coach, Jack Trager, has been a great mentor and had the courage to steer me in the right direction when he did not always know the answer, and he gave me my first coaching job as his assistant. Coach Trager also served as a role model of a coach who had integrity and lived it each day of his life, and always believed that God had put him on this earth to serve others first.
Coach Don Meyer, the legendary coach at Northern State University, was my other mentor and it was from him that I learned so much about how to teach the great game of basketball, how to organize a program, and much of the information in this book. Without his patience and help with a young coach who was a little too big for his britches, I would not have achieved many of my 464 career wins.
All of my many players without whom my coaching career would not have been possible or mattered at all, they are the reason we coach. Appreciation goes to my assistant coaches who were invaluable and became such close friends, especially Bill Reidy and Mark Landry.
Mickey Riggs, the wonderful football coach from Texas and Athletic Director at Houston Christian, deserves many thanks for making it possible for the Sivils family to become better-late-than-never Texans, and for sharing so much of his wisdom as a career educator.
I have to thank God for so many opportunities that the average individual in the coaching profession never gets, that by His grace came my way. All too often we as humans lose our humility and think it is we who are in control, forgetting who is really in charge.
My dear wife Lisa deserves special thanks as any long-suffering coach’s wife does. She made a career in coaching possible and went above and beyond as a coach’s wife, feeding players, keeping score, and spending countless hours alone while I was traveling to a game or practicing with my team. She has been a great mother to our three children, Danny, Katie, and Emily, who deserve special thanks for being great kids who supported their father’s coaching career.
Any time you set out to thank those who have helped you along your path in life, you are bound to forget many who deserve mention. For those whose names are not listed, thanks!
Table of Contents
Foreword
A Word of Thanks
The Hathaway Game
Chapter One: The Right Approach Goes a Long Way
How to Use This Book
The Wooden Rule
The Meyer Concept
Control What You Can Control
How to Win – Fundamentals
Building a Positive Relationship with Officials
Chapter Two: The Logic Behind it All
Strategic Thinking
Tactical Thinking
Chapter Three: Management Issues
Facilities – Preparing to Play at Home and on the Road
Bench Decorum
Bench Organization
Chapter Four: Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail
Planning for Special Situations
Practicing for Special Situations
Chapter Five: Controlling What the Coach Can Control
The Pre-game Warm-up Routine
Substitutions
Timeouts
Jump Ball Situations
Chapter Six: Some Thoughts on Defense
Fouling for Profit
Specialized Defensive Strategies
Changing Defenses
Chapter Seven: How Fast Do You Want To Play?
Speeding the Game Up
Slowing the Game Down
Chapter Eight: The End Game
Time and Score
Killing the Clock
The Comeback Game
Chapter Nine: It is All in the Details
Going Long
The Little Things
Never Stop Learning: Suggested Reading List
Planning for Special Situations/Season Checklist
About the Author 107
The Hathaway Game
Down by three with less than a minute remaining in the Bi-District round of the state play-offs, the Raiders managed to steal the ball and advance it across half-court. The determined Raiders patiently ran their trademark motion offense in their usual deliberate style, looking for a high percentage shot. With 10 seconds remaining, the point guard called time-out as the gymnasium was filled with deafening sounds as the anxious fans of both teams yelled and cheered as loudly as possible!
The Raiders sat down on their bench, looking expectantly at their young head coach. Thoughts raced through their coach’s mind and suddenly, at the worst possible moment, the coach’s mind went blank, leaving him speechless and unable to help his young charges.
The young point guard finished drinking his water, wiped his face with a towel, and asked calmly, "Coach, want us to run Wolf