[canesboy6Participant]

For all the great basketball minds out there, I could use some stragetic input. I have my last practice before a playoff game saterday. I coach 11 and under basketball. The team we are playing has the biggest, strongest kid in the league, but he is good too. Basically the shaq of the league.

My team is average sized, and needless to say I dont have anybody who can just handle him by themselves. We are much faster than them and have better ball handling.

My question is this. How, offensively and defensively, should I best try to nuetralize this kids impact. Does anybody know any really good presses for kids?

Offensively, any idea how I can get offense from my bigs despite the big guy bieng there? My guards cant shoot anywhere near him, what are some ways I can free them up?

[knicksfan7Participant]

Run on them. The big is going to get tired, and won’t be able to play at his best. Also, defensively I would run a 2-3 zone on the team to collapse on the big and make him either pass or take bad shots. Just my suggestions, best of luck.

[aarondsonixfanParticipant]

Well what I would do if i were you is have the person he is guarding to just keep his hands up. This way if he tries to overpower him, he will be called for a charge. Offensively, just try and run circles around him. If you guys can run him to the ground, like knicksfan said, he will get tired. Another thing to do is have the person that HE is guarding on the perimeter, that way people can get back cuts and get easy lay-ins without him trying to contest it. I wouldn’t double team him. Have your guy play him straight up. Good look dude

[nateoak10Participant]

LOTS OF BALL MOVEMENT. Run him into the ground, deny him the ball and if he gets it swarm him if hes not a great passer which most lil kids arent. Go 2007 Nellie on there donkey!

[dmo21Participant]

on defense i would do a 3-1-1 press with trapping at the entry pass and at half court.

with the half court defense i would throw out the box and 1 with one kid, who is very athletic, handsy, and doesnt get tired, to always be on the ball handler so it makes them difficult to get the post entry to the big man, if they do get it to the big man, the kid that is always on the ball will double down on him with one of your corner post players and will hopefully strip the ball or cause a hassle

on offense, it matters what they are throwing at you. if its man to man i say pull the big man away by getting who ever he is guarding out on the perimeter, even if he doesnt touch the ball, he will get the job done.

if they have a zone with the big man underneath.. its all about ball movement and hitting open shots.. maybe a drive and kick offense..

also, id try to run as much as possible and maybe set lots of screens on the big guy to frustrate him and maybe get some cheap lil fouls on him

thats all i got, hope it all goes well, hard to beat a big man in that age group..have fun 🙂

[esperanzafleet69Participant]

also… i dont think any 11 year olds are gonna understand the concept of a 3-1-1 zone… keep it simple

[esperanzafleet69Participant]

ive had to coach 11 y/o when i played varsity ball. first off its 11 and under so dont take it too seriously… second off, if you teach your post players to set picks for each other and run just 1 play i doubt they could stop it… as far as defense goes… if hes really that big theres not much anybody is gonna do..

[wuteverParticipant]

I used to coach 12-13 yr old boys. For offense yeah if you have the speed advantage run them off the court. Press them too, tire them out, make their dominant big man not want to run and fight for the ball anymore. For my main defense I made my boys do a 2-3 and pack in the paint tight so we could fight for boards and close the passing lanes. I didn’t really care for the other team shooting 3’s, because most kids that age haven’t really developed a consistent enough shot to warrant any contesting. I always made my kids give the opposing guards a lot of space to tempt the 3pt shot, I just didnt want any 2nd chance points and points in the paint. I’m pretty sure there is some weak link player on the other team too, you could just double the big man as well, kids this age probably can’t pass well enough to the big man in position with him smothered by a double. And the big man will probably wont look to pass or struggle to pass when doubled..

[OrangeJuiceJonesParticipant]

I coach 5th and 6th graders now. My league has a lot of rules that are geared towards fairness (no back-court press until the 4th quarter, everybody has to play a certain amount of time, high scorer has to come out at a 16-point lead), but it’s still very competitive. Anyways, it seems like everybody who posted before me has the idea. Also, have faith in your players; I teach my team the 2-3, 3-2, 1-3-1 zones every year, and it only takes 1 or 2 practices to master. One thing I would suggest is to have somebody run in front of the kid on fast breaks. I tried that against a similar kid last year, and he got so frustrated to the point where he couldn’t even make a lay-up.

[the I in winParticipant]

Have your big kids move around in the paint, play a 2-3 zone, pressing is a good idea, if you have a player that can jump ok have him front the post, if they play man expose him with a faster player, if they play zone (probably will) you have to make them respect the outside shot.

If all else fails you could go man and try to double team.

[JoeWolf1]

Front the big in the post and helpside double team. most 11 year olds aren’t great outside shooters so make them beat you from the outside instead of giving up high percentage shots from their center around the basket.

[gatorheelsParticipant]

Defense should be pretty simple….Just deny Shaq from getting the ball.  

 

[canesboy6Participant]

all helpful. I set up a press, and Have a zone with somebody fronting him at all times.

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