High School Basketball: FIVE First Game Facts

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As the high school basketball season gets underway, we would like to share a few of our thoughts on the 1st game of the season.

It is an Entirely New Season: Last year does not matter. If you were part of a league or state championship team, congratulations! It does not matter. You need to prove yourself this season. Teams and players that struggled last year, who cares. Now is your chance at redemption. It is the same for players. Last season is history. Now is the opportunity to MAKE HISTORY! 

Scouting Reports Stink: Basing a scouting report on last year’s game is extremely flawed. Using a player’s or team’s performance from over nine months ago is not good practice. It is safe to say there is a great deal of uncertainty in preparing for the 1st game of the season. 

There will be some adjustments throughout the game. Match-ups will probably change and unknown players will need to be identified as players who need to be stopped. Coaches will need to figure out what defenses are being used. Players who you don’t even know their names will be having an impact on the game.

Experience Helps: Having returning starters and players is very helpful. Opening night will not be a big deal. Some players will have 20 to 40 varsity games experience. These team are fortunate, but….

It is Just Basketball: If a player has skills, it does not matter what type of varsity experience he has. If he can shoot, he will make open shots. If he makes good decisions, he will handle pressure. If he is strong, he can be a factor on the glass.

50% of the Teams Will No Longer Be Undefeated: On any given night during the high school basketball season, 50% of the teams will win and 50% of the teams will lose. Every coach and player dreams of an undefeated season. Unfortunately, on opening night, alf of the teams will have a loss. But…. Half of the teams will still be undefeated.

Matt Hackenberg: Basketball Coach of the Week

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I’m Coach Matt Hackenberg from Canton, Ohio, home of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. I’m passionate about the game of basketball. My love of the game started when I was 7 years old. My dad came home from work one day to find me playing in a mud puddle in our driveway, feeling pity that his dirty son had nothing better to do, he asked “do you want to go to a basketball camp?” I replied, “sure,” and quickly followed that up with, “what’s a basketball camp?” I attended the camp, and a love affair with the game blossomed.

Growing up I used basketball as an outlet, met most of my friends through the sport, and learned countless valuable lessons about life as I refined my playing skills. I ended my high school career as a 1st team all-state player in Ohio in 2004, and went on to play small college basketball at Kentucky Christian University, amassing over 2,000 points and 1,000 assists in my four year playing career.

After college I moved back to Canton and immediately began coaching at East Canton, a small rural high school. We had a great team returning, and had an exceptionally memorable 20-0 regular season. As a first year assistant coach, I thought, “this coaching thing is easy,” convinced I was much more than just a bystander for a group a talented kids that worked hard for their incredible achievement. When those players all graduated, I got a real baptism in coaching, staying at the same school as an assistant for the next two years and working with a limited roster that didn’t produce many wins. It was an eye-opening experience, fully comprehending that there are a lot of intelligent people in the coaching community, and that I didn’t know nearly as much as I thought.

In 2012, at 26 years old, I got my first head coaching job at St. Thomas Aquinas, a small private school in the area. Taking over a program that hadn’t achieved true success in quite some time but had a decent run of athletes coming through the pipeline, something magical happened. We went on an unprecedented four year run, winning our district (equivalent to the “Sweet Sixteen” of the NCAA Tournament) all four years, and making it to the state finals one season, losing to a very good team. My time at St. Thomas taught me a lot of things, most notably how important a strong support staff is and also how important character is with the players on a team.

Due to the success at St. Thomas, I was able to parlay that success into a coaching job at Canton GlenOak, a large public school in the area. GlenOak is most known for sending CJ McCollum and Kosta Koufos into the NBA. My time coaching at GlenOak didn’t overlap with the aforementioned, but they were great supporting the program.

I got into content creation a few years ago to share what I’ve learned coaching for 12 years. I’m a basketball junkie following my passion as a career. 

Follow me on X for more: https://twitter.com/CoachHackGO

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Is Your Transition Defense Holding Your Basketball Team Back?

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Guest Blog Author Matt Hackenberg @CoachHackGO

The first thing we have to nail down is WHY. And there is a couple reasons WHY your transition defense might be bad:

  • The emotional state of the players.
  • The technique being used.

The emotional state of the players breaks down a bit further: 

  • They are too frustrated to react properly.
  • They are not motivated to react properly.

Players being too frustrated or not motivated enough to get back on defense is an all too common occurrence. A player makes a turnover or misses layup, and they jog back on defense. They want to show everyone in the gym they are disappointed in themselves, making the mistake a “look at me” moment. 

To fix this issue, we need to start to drill down on and demand a proper mistake response from our players. It is the constant messaging to our players that no one cares that you just made a mistake, and we need to, as Coach K would say, get on to the “next play.” 

We emphasize quick transitions from making a mistake to moving on to the next thing. And in this case, the next thing is getting back to build a strong team defense.

This all comes down to building PRIDE to compete for something bigger than any individual player. If players don’t have pride to get a stop, they won’t have any urgency to join their teammates in trying to get a stop when the odds don’t look favorable to do so, which is a common occurrence after a turnover or a missed layup.

Your messaging should be consistent on having pride to get stops and moving on to the “next play.”

Then, you reinforce those habits. 

As the coach, you can reinforce those habits using a carrot or a stick. I always prefer to use the carrot first. 

The carrot is simply a reward for the proper behaviors.

You can reward your team to get back by setting a team goal of 10 or fewer transition points given up in game. If they reach the goal, they get a reward – maybe donuts the next morning at practice.

If the carrot doesn’t work to get them to do what you need them to do, then you use the stick.

The stick is simply negative consequences for improper behaviors.

The best stick you have as a coach is the bench. By stating, and following through on the messaging, that players that don’t run back on defense will be immediately pulled out of the game, you are deploying the stick method.

You now have methods to control the emotional state of your players in the moment of truth in converting from offense to defense. Now, let’s look at the techniques:

First, you need to break down on a granular level what you’re looking for in transition defense. This involves outlining the expectation to SPRINT back and get matched 5v5, and what kind of communication they should be having with their teammates

You can break down disadvantage situations, and how you want the protect the basket and play from the basket out.

Even though it seems basic, a lot of players don’t know until you show them and set the expectation for how they should react in transition defense.

Obviously, conversion defense is a part of every full court basketball game, so you have plenty of chances to work on it. If you’re looking for a drill, my favorite drill for training the transition phase of defense is called “Louisville.”

Using “Louisville,” you can isolate the transition phase of the game so that it does not get lost among all the other facets of the game of basketball. “Louisville” looks like this:

To see video of “Louisville” being used as a small sided game, ​CLICK HERE​.

So there you have it, addressing transition defense through the emotional and the technical side of things.

Best of luck coaches,

-Coach Hack

The diagrams for this email were pulled from my guide on the ​“Wolfpack Defense System.”​ It’s the defensive system I’ve used most of my coaching career. It is a heavy ball pressure and heavy help gap defensive system. It covers the defense in great detail, as well as connected elements to defense like rebounding and transition defense. If you’re interested in installing the defensive system, ​CLICK HERE​.

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High School Basketball: Preseason Scrimmages

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The process of becoming a team starts on day one of tryouts and continues until the final whistle blows. We are breaking down a high school basketball season week by week to help players, parents, and fans understand the intricacies of each week. 

The 1st week is an emotional rollercoaster for players, coaches, and parents. The transition into the season is a challenge. Hearts are broken with cuts and player placements. Conditioning is a huge part of the 1st week, so players will be hurting both physically and mentally. 

Scrimmages are a very important part of the high school basketball preseason. The first scrimmage usually happens towards the end of the first week of a basketball season. Some coaches prefer to have a scrimmage before making the final cut, so they can see players compete against a higher level of competition. In many cases, scrimmages happen after teams have been selected. The scrimmage is a chance for coaches to evaluate the skill level of the players individually. It also is the 1st chance to see the team compete as a unit to see how best to prepare the team for the 1st game and the season.

For players, it is important to remember that a scrimmage is not life or death. “It is just basketball.” If it is your first varsity scrimmage, don’t make a big deal about it. Just go out and play good fundamental basketball.

“They said you have to use your five best players but I found you win with the five who fit together the best.” Red Auerbach

Understand Your Role: There are several different roles on a high school basketball team. Each has value and players are needed to fill those rules. The best way for a player to earn a starting spot or get the most minutes is to know his skill set and focus on these skills. The MAJORITY of high school players have very limited skills. Self-aware players, can focus on what they do well and do this BETTER than any other player on the team. 

Some skills that most players do not focus on are defense, rebounding, setting screens, running the floor, and playing turnover-free basketball. Other skills that ALL players should be able to complete consistently but few do are: playing hard, talking on defense, having great body language, and having great shot selection. If a player chooses to REALLY focus on these aspects of basketball, they will increase the chance that they will be a contributing player on their team. 

Next Play Mentality (Do not worry about mistakes): Scrimmages are an ugly event. Players are coming off fall sports, playing together for the 1st time, and are very nervous. This is an awful combination for good fundamental basketball. There will be many mistakes during preseaon scrimmages. Even though players may have played together during a fall league high school basketball is a very different level. The officiating is tighter, the competition is better, the defense is intense, and the intensity is at a much higher level. 

Many fall athletes will be rusty. Do not get frustrated. Remember, it is the start of the season and the goal is to get better each day. When you do make a mistake, forget about it and focus on the next play. Sprint back on defense. Do not play in reverse. Do not let mistakes and turnovers impact how you play.

“Success is not final; failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” Winston Churchill

Just Work: Work hard all the time. Players who make this a habit will have great long-term results. Play hard. Get on the floor. Take a charge. It is just work. If you work hard during preseason scrimmages and every day in practices, everything else will take car of itself.  

Line-ups & Depth Chart: A primary goal of preseason scrimmages for a coaching staff is to finalize the starting line-up and rotations. Coaches will try different lineups and different positions for players. The only concern a player should have is to try to do what the coach is asking to the best of his ability. Do not worry about whether you are playing with the 1st unit or the 3rd unit. Do not worry whether you are playing in the post or on the wing. Just play good fundamental basketball. Trust your teammates. And most importantly, work your tail off.   

Good luck and be ready for the next practice and the 1st game.

Basketball Coach of the Week

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Click on the links to read more:

North Carolina

  1. Brian Carter Guest Blog: NCBCA COACHES VS CANCER

Ohio

  1. Matt Hackenberg Guest Blog: Is Your Transition Defense Holding Your Basketball Team Back?

Brian Carver: Basketball Coach of the Week

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Guest Blog by Brian Carter: NCBCA COACHES VS CANCER

This is our 1st profile of out Basketball Coach of the Week.

A lifetime of excitement, thrills, memories and most importantly,
relationships. “Today, I consider myself to be the luckiest man in the world,” a
quote attributed to Yankee legend Lou Gehrig but I would certainly say applies
to me.

My name is Brian Carver, and I am the Head Basketball Coach and
Athletic Director at Enka High School in Asheville North Carolina. I am
currently in my 33rd season coaching high school basketball. As I look back at
the years spent on the sidelines, I also realize just how lucky I have been. I am
thankful for all the players and experiences that I have been fortunate to be
apart of.

Growing up in the Enka community as a high school player, fate intervened as
when I was in elementary school, someone new moved into our neighborhood.
The new Head Coach at Enka High School was now my neighbor. Over the
years, he watched me grow up in the driveway playing pick up. After an up and
down playing career of my own, he needed a coach to take the JV’s to team
camp the summer after I had graduated from high school. I was hooked! I have
been coaching ever since.

After spending seven years as an assistant at Enka, fate again intervened and I
landed at a local rival high school and had the chance to spend a few years as an
assistant for one of our state’s all time great high school coaches. Those
formative years under those two legends has meant more than any classroom
lesson I could have ever had.

Eventually, I ended up back at my high school as the Head Coach, a dream
come true for me. This is a place that I love dearly, and have devoted my life
too. Along the way, I have had some successes and had some tough defeats but
it’s the players and love of this school that keeps me energized and ready for
another season of Enka Basketball.

The game of basketball has given me so much in my life, I am honored to try
and give back to the game. Now in my 22nd year as the head coach, I have
become the schools all time leader in wins, led our teams to the first ever back
to back 20 win seasons, and made the deepest run into the state playoffs in
school history in 2022. I have been named conference coach of the year (23), 2x
district coach of the year, the North Carolina Coaches vs Cancer State Coach of
the Year (13). I have been selected as coach in the historical Blue/White All Star
game 3 times, selected as assistant coach of the North Carolina East/West All
Star game played in the Greensboro Coliseum. Most recently I have been
selected as the Head Coach of the North Carolina All Star team in the annual
North Carolina/South Carolina Carolinas Classic.

At the conclusion of last

season, I was blown away as I was named the NABC National High School
Champion Coach of the Year. Attending the Final Four in Houston and being
recognized while sitting with multiple Hall of Fame college coaches such as
Roy Williams, Jim Boeheim, and Tubby Smith among many others was
certainly a thrill of a lifetime and a memory that I will cherish for the rest of
my life.

I truly believe in servant leadership and one thing that my career has afforded
me is the opportunity to serve and give back! I am proud to serve as an
Executive Board Member of the North Carolina Basketball Coaches Association
(NCBCA), Board Member of the North Carolina Coaches Association, and I am
on the Board of Directors for the North Carolina High School Athletic
Association. I am the founder of the NCBCA Coaches vs Cancer Shootout, an
event that has raised over $185,000 for fight against cancer. However, none of
these experiences can replace the relationships and connections that I have
over a 30 year coaching career, for that, I am truly thankful and blessed.

High School Basketball: Tips for a Successful Basketball Season

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Time management find management is one of the most important life skills that a student athlete can learn. It will be helpful in college, in a career, as well as being a parent. One “the drives this point home is

How are you going to spend your day? Hi school basketball player school and academics will take up the majority of your day. Basketball will be another few hours, and the rest is going to be up to you. Cell phones have become an increasing problem with teenagers Spending an average of hours a day in hours a week. If you can eliminate or reduce cell phone use during the basketball season you’ll have more time to focus on things that will put you in a position for success.

Rest and recovery if you are a competitive high school basketball player, you probably have been exposed to strength training. Rest and recovery is critical to build muscle mass. Rest rest is critical for a growing adolescent. It is recommended by experts to teenagers get between eight and 10 hours of sleep. However most teenagers fail and this will result in decreased performance and mental awareness. It will impact your school performance, as well as your performance on the court. If you can make rest a priority this will significantly increase your chances of having the basketball season you have worked for.

Sleep studies have shown that in catching up on sleep during the weekend can also be beneficial. Parents may not be pleased with this however if you can get additional sleep on the weekends that will prepare you better for the week and will help your body recover.

Eat healthy this probably sounds familiar and you’ve been hearing it from your pediatrician, parents, coaches, health teachers, and grandparents. Cookie Monster has even changed them on this one over the years. Be sure to eat as healthy as possible. It is tempting to have candy soda and other sweets that might not help with your performance. Include fruits, salads, and other healthy options. Drink milk with meals. Eat breakfast every morning. Make eating healthy during the season is top priority. This should be a top priority all year, and can be a great life habit.

Make school and homework take care of your academics once again this is advice that you have heard from many different people over the years. Your basketball career will end one day. For many student athletes that day will be in high school. If you are fortunate enough to play in college or professionally they’re still moving into your career, and you would like to have as many skills as possible to have a career after your playing days are over. So pay attention in class. I don’t wander the halls during school. Take it vantage of study periods. Seek extra help when necessary. Raise your hand and participate in class. Make eye contact with teachers. Say thank you at the end of each class.

There are many great Division III basketball programs that have great academics. Do you want to have as high GPA as possible, good SAT test scores, and positive teacher recommendations so that playing at a challenging academic institution is a viable option. Many division two and Division I athletes forgo a scholarship to play at in an excellent academic institution at the Division III level. This will be a goal of many high school players. Having good grades will give a player many more options than being a mediocre or poor student.

Have a positive attitude in the documentary survive and advance Jim Valvano sites to call “by Ralph Waldo Emerson nothing great was ever accomplished without enthusiasm. Be the most enthusiastic person you know. Be the most enthusiastic person in your grade. Be the most enthusiastic person in your program.

Understand the meaning of success authors and philosophers have often grappled with the question what is success? as a call as a high school basketball player you should familiarize and analyze John wooden pyramid of success. This was a life long mission of coach wooden to figure out how to define success, and how to achieve it there are many blocks to achieving greatness and his definition of success is one that makes a lot of sense to a high school basketball player.

Wouldn’t carefully selected to cornerstones industriousness and enthusiasm. Make these cornerstones a part of your basketball season and he will be pleased with the results.

NCBCA COACHES VS CANCER

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Leadership, maybe one of the most over-used terms in coaching today. Every team needs it, every coach wants it, every player thinks they are a leader. The question is really, how do we teach leadership? How do we model that leadership as coaches? Are we developing leaders for tomorrow or more worried about winning in the moment. The North Carolina Basketball Coaches Association firmly believes that leadership is far deeper than winning a game or even a championship. Leadership is preparing our youth, our players, for a better tomorrow and how to be better, more productive citizens! We promote servant leadership with our coaches and our athletes. 

After several years of dipping our toes in the waters with our servant leadership model, we decided to put our name to it and promote it. Along the way, we were partnering with Coaches vs Cancer for some small events and donations across our state. In 2013 we launched an event unlike any other in the country, The NCBCA Coaches vs Cancer Shootout. The event is hosted in the beautiful mountains of Asheville North Carolina. This two-day event has brought high school basketball teams from across our state together for one cause, to help the fight against cancer. To date we have raised over $185,000 for Coaches vs Cancer and The American Cancer Society. Cancer is an opponent that we are familiar with and that has no loyalty. Everyone in their lifetime has been or will be affected by this disease. We hope that by inspiring the current generation to get behind this cause it may eventually lead to a cure.  

Each year of the event, we select a large number of schools to participate in this event and invite them to Asheville, North Carolina.  We have the teams participate in a formal banquet where they will hear how they can be a part of the team in the fight against cancer. We ask each school participating to engage in some form of fundraising at their school level over the course of the fall sport season and be prepared to make a donation to Coaches vs Cancer on the night of the banquet. Each school is also asked to select a “hero” that is someone from their respective communities that has or is currently battling cancer. We honor those heroes at the banquet and ask the schools to discuss what their hero means to them, the ways that they raised money in their honor, and most importantly, the lessons that have been learned along the way. Its an evening filled with lots of smiles, lot’s of laughs, and not to mention, a lot of tears are shed. The next day, we have the teams come back to play a game vs an opponent that that would not really ever see in any other format. We have used the amazing facilities at UNC-Asheville with the Sherrill Center formally known as Kimmel Arena. 

Like most things, Covid wreaked havoc on our event causing a two-year shutdown of the event. After those two years, we decided to relaunch the event and rebrand the event. We have now moved the event to a two-day event where each team plays two games at a local high school in the Asheville area, and we are very proud that the NCBCA Coaches vs Cancer Shootout is now back up and running and as successful as it was pre-pandemic. We are most proud of the impact we have made in the lives of student athletes across our state and the communities that they live in. We would encourage all coaches, state associations at all levels to get in some event or association, be more about the life lessons you can teach your athletes. If you would like more information, please contact coachesvscancer.org or contact your local American Cancer Society. 

High School: The Winter “Basketball” Season

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The high school basketball season is what every player works for. The whole year is designed to get to the point where a player can have a successful season and team can reach it’s potentional.

It is still important to focus on one week at a time. We will try to provide with some key points for each week of the season.

Week #1 November 27th – December 3rd High School Basketball: Tryout Week

Week #2 December 4th – December 10th High School Basketball: Preseason and Scrimmages

  1. High School Basketball: Preseason Scrimmages

Week #3 December 11th – December 17th Let the Games Begin (Week #3)

  1. High School Basketball: FIVE First Game Facts

Week #4 December 18th – December 24th Last Week Before Christmas Break (Basketball Jokes for Christmas)

Week #5 December 25th to December 31st: High School Basketball: Christmas Vacation Week

Week #6 January 1st to January 7th

  1. New Year’s Day Practice
  2. High School Basketball: Back to School Week

Week #6 January 2nd to January 14th

High School Basketball: 13 Tryout Secrets

For tryouts it is important to have a great mental approach. You determine what type of player the coaches see. Remember it is everything other than offensive scoring that will help you make the team.

  1. Relax: It is just basketball. Basketball is very important, but remember it is not life and death. Just go out and play the best basketball you can. Play within yourself. Don’t try to do too much. KISS keep it simple stupid.
  2. Be early: Get to a side hoop and do Mikans and form shoot if you can. This will show coaches you know fundamentals and will be a great warmup.
  3. Be up front when coach is talking: Listen with you eyes and ears.
  4. Be first or last in drills: When you do drills if you know it, be in the front. If it is a new drill, be towards the back to see how the drill is done correctly.
  5. Want it: Give it all you got. You have worked hard for this. If you are fighting for a loose ball fight for your life. That player is trying to take your spot. Get on the floor.
  6. Sprint all the time: Don’t stop sprinting on offense, defense, when the coach call everyone in.
  7. Great Shot Selection: Scoring is not critical. Good overall fundamentals are. Get to your baseline front and reverse.
  8. Box Out and Rebound: Coaches love players who box out and rebound.
  9. GREAT body language no matter what, have great body language.
  10. Next play: Always play in the present. Do not worry about the previous play. Play in the present.
  11. Talk on defense. Be the most talkative player. This will separate you from others. The majority of players are mutes on defense.
  12. Move without the ball. Set screens on offense OFF THE BALL. Raise your hand with a fist and say “use me use me.” Another thing no one else will do.
  13. Thank coach at the end of each practice. Not all players will do this. Little things are the big things.