Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Knowing Your Assistant Coaches

I was lucky enough to have lunch and talk hoops today with Jason Hoven (@jasonhoven). Coach Hoven is the freshmen coach at Maranatha HS in Brooklyn Park, MN. The Mustangs have a long and successful tradition with many State Tournament runs. It's always fun to talk hoops with a knowledgeable and passionate guy who's been in that type of environment a long time. Coach Hoven shared with me many good things but my favorite was a philosophy that he learned from the girls coach at Maranatha. Coach Buerman has two assistants - one is a back patter and the other one is a butt chewer. When doing drills he assigns girls to the assistant based on what he feels that they need emotionally that day. Got a player who's having a rough time and feeling down? Send them to the back patter's station to get propped up and feeling good again. Have a star who maybe is feeling a little bit too high and mighty? Send them over to the butt chewer's station so that they can be pushed harder.

The idea is really simple, but great. Why not have assistants with different demeanors and use that to your advantage? Play the two off of each other to create an environment where players are getting what they need emotionally from one day to another. Great thought and I appreciate coach Hoven for sharing it with me.

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