Quote:
Originally Posted by tdomeski
I coach an 11-12 yr old youth basketball team in a competitive rec. league....
I think you have a good idea with the 1-3-1 trap defense and the box and 1. When I was this age my team played a ton of box and 1 and it works incredibly well. Kids this age being followed around and face guarded freeze up so much.
When people adjust to this I would switch into a 2-1-2. Two guards out around the sides of the key extended (give them each a range of their side of the court), kid at the center of the free throw line, and two on the low blocks. This can be used as a trap as well, where the 2 guards both pressure the other teams point guard, or work with the 1 at the free throw line to trap the first pass (of which the 1 denies a pass to the center and the off ball guard then shifts to anticipate the 2nd pass). Have the really fast kid as one of the first 2 and have him focus on forcing the pass to the opposite wing. Then the 1 and the other guard go trap, he tries to deny/steal the next pass. Put the best player as the 1, as he is likely to have the best basketball instincts and he can move up top to help with trapping and creating turnovers, or drop down low as the action moves. It also allows him to get in as much quality action as possible on defense, and be in a good spot for transition.
For substitutions, there really isn't a magic formula. Usually its a pretty good idea to have more balanced teams so the 3 subs don't create a B team for the 2nd half of quarters. But watch what the other coach does, and don't get caught with his best 3 subbing in against a super favorable lineup for him. Another trick is when the other coach calls timeout or is putting in subs and clearly about to try and exploit something to change defense. More than likely he is going to tell them to do something pretty specific, and if you change they are going to try and do it anyway and get confused.
It is a GREAT and underused strategy imo to sub your best and fastest players out for short breaks in the 4th to catch their breath and grab some water. If they know it is going to be 1-2 min until they are back in they will stay with the flow of the game and be able to really push it when they get back out there. The worst is when kids are on the bench for extended times and get cold. Much better to give everyone subs here and there but just give the worst kids less, at that age the kids that arent that good care more about playing every quarter (especially the 4th in a close game!) and will not care if they are on the court for a few possessions.