Hey coach, you've got a weapon on the bench…..

Normally I'm not one to belittle a coach in the high school ranks. Unless the coach has done something to such a degree that I cannot ignore the indiscretion then I will say something about it. As far as X's and O's, they know far more than I do and thus I should not rag on them and respect them for who they are. Here is my problem with this……….When you team lacks that little something !!Like SHOOTING!! Or any perimeter game what so ever and teams can shut down that great low post player you have with out event thinking about it, its time for action. I'm a fan of situational substitutions to take advantage of what you have on the bench. In today's game the specialization has reached such epic proportions in the fact that you have to substitute in ways that you didn't have to as long as 10 years ago. 5 straight times down the court and all you come up with is 2 points off of 2 trips to the line for your dominating low post player. The wings and guards are all trying to force the ball to the low post and at times seem, dare I say, afraid to shoot the ball from the perimeter. When I coach my city league team, I tell them that if they are open they should attempt the shot. I know I can get caught in a bad situation with that as well, but its always going to give you a better chance to win the game if you can spread the court and create spacing. Being able to shoot the ball even marginally will give you this chance. This brings me to the situation at hand. When you have the weapon on the bench to create this spacing and to keep the defense honest you have to give it more than 16 seconds of tick. Your team will not do anything in the playoffs if you cannot achieve this spacing that you so need. A well rounded team that can play inside as well as outside will have the best chance at winning especially in the playoffs when the defenses get stingier. Its not like these kids expect to start or to play the whole game they just want to affect the game in a good way and help the team to the ultimate goal: a Championship. Hey coach, use all your weapons and do something that will be very challenging in the very near future……win!

JasonBall