Ten Tips To Help You Get More Playing Time
Things Coaches Really See to Which
You May Not Be Paying Enough Attention
There isn’t a player alive who doesn't think they deserve more playing time. The problem is that not every one of you is, or will ever be, a Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant. In reality, at least 50 percent or more of a team gets less than 10 minutes playing time per game. I've heard it all before: “Coach, I'm better than Billy” or "I'm working hard and doing everything you ask, and still I'm not playing”. However as a coach of many years, I can honestly say it is not just the points, the rebounds, or the athletic ability that gets you prime time minutes. They are important, no question about it, but there are other things too. These are my tips for getting the coach to sit up and take notice, and believe me, they will if you can improve and consistently produce in these areas.
TEN NOT SO SUBTLE SKILLS THAT WILL GET YOU PLAYING TIME
1. Develop Rebound Radar- There is absolutely no reason in the world you cannot react and go to the basket to put yourself in rebound position every single time a ball is shot. It has nothing to do with size, speed, or jumping ability. I have seen many average players who, with a limited number of minutes, consistently produce 2 or 3 rebounds. If you finely tune that skill, you will attract more attention and get more playing time. Get PT by consistently pursuing the ball.
2. Get Back- It is impossible to succeed as a team if you do not have the mentality of getting back every single time your team loses possession of the ball. You must be obsessed with not giving up easy baskets. It is a pride thing and demonstrates your commitment to playing both ends of the floor. You can take this even further by saying "if my player is ahead of me in transition, I'm going to chase them down and get into position. If I am back and ahead of my player, but a teammate isn't, I'm going to help until they can recover. Get back, and you will get more playing time.
3. Help on Defense- If you haven't experienced it before, you will only understand how important a selfless mentality is to a team's success when you play on a team where you have confidence that every time you get beat someone is coming to help you out of trouble. This in turn leads to a "you helped me, now I'm going to help you even more" attitude. Your coach and teammates want to know with full certainty that when they are in trouble you are going to make every effort to help. Not some of the time. All the time. Helpers get PT.
4. Deliver Your Passes Consistently on Target-With so much emphasis in today's game on one-one-one play and scoring, it's no surprise that there are a lack of players who can consistently pass the ball to a teammate in perfect scoring position every single time. You don't even have to be an assist man in the purest sense. But when a teammate is open and you throw the ball low, or somewhere that takes their high percentage open shot or pass opportunity away by forcing them to recover the ball to a safe position, you are lacking a fundamental skill required to get PT. As a young player, I had a coach tell me that enthusiasm for a teammate to score from your pass is determined by where and how you deliver the ball. You should be disappointed if you don't hit your teammate in their "ready-shoot" position when they are open. Get on target and get playing time.
5. Communicate to Your Teammates on the Court. You and your teammates can often recover from mistakes if you talk on the floor. For some reason some players are intimidated in terms of telling their teammates what's coming. Call the screens, tell them where your help position is, call out I've got the ball, call the shot, talk and keep talking. Basketball isn't a game for the meek. Your voice is a vital skill to becoming an efficient player. However, yelling at a teammate isn't necessarily communicating an important piece of information. Communicate things that help your team, not tear down your team.
6. Hustle When It Hurts. On my teams I often called these hero plays, and we even charted them so that players could see over a series of games who these exceptional effort hustle players were. It might be sprinting past 3 offensive players on a break-a-way to deflect a ball out of bounds preventing a lay-up. It might be smart and exceptional defense to stop a 3 on 1 fast break as a defender. It might be rotating over and taking an offensive foul from a player who has broken down the defense. Or it might be simply getting back in transition when you have no more gas to give. This could also be called mental toughness. If your coach knows you go to the gas when there is no more to give, he is more likely to have the confidence to play you at critical moments when the game is on the line.
7. Go For The High Percentage Play- Coaches can always find playing time for someone who creates scoring opportunities for their teammates and doesn’t make mistakes. You might say I'm not a great passer. The truth is, you don't have to be a great passer to keep your turnovers down. You can do that by passing only to open players. Never force a pass where the defender can get a deflection. It is better to hold the ball, even if it results in a 5 second violation, than give your opponent a "fast break assist" off your turnover. Reduce your turnovers by learning to see open passes, and learning to complete them without looking directly at your teammates. Finally, play percentage basket. Hero passes result in turnovers 90% of the time. Safe passes to open players are less spectacular but result in scores 90% of the time. Better to be a safe player with PT than a hero on the bench.
8. Be The Best Player You Can Be- No team can be successful unless each player on the team knows their role, and performs it consistently to the best of their ability for the team. Even if you are an extremely talented player, if you chose your own way, your team cannot win with you in the game. You may not like your role, but there are numerous examples of average to slightly above average players at the professional level who have made a healthy living rebounding, running the lane every time, or being the stop gap defender. Whatever your role is, strive to be the best at it you can be. My championship professional team had the best inbounder after a made shot in the league. It doesn't sound very glamorous, but we have a championship trophy, and to this day I swear he is the best inbounder I ever coached. We also had a pair of brothers who were probably the best trapping duo in the league. Their abilities to be the best in their roles as trappers allowed me to play them in many more circumstances than if they had performed their role underneath their ability. Take pride in your role, even if you are the last man on the bench and your role is to create a war like atmosphere in practice to keep intensity high. Great role players get PT.
9. Be Loyal to Your Coach and Teammates- Two-faced players, no matter what their reasons, will never get playing time. I don't care how angry you are or how disappointed over a poor play or coach’s decision, nothing will cost you playing time faster than being critical of your coach or teammates. Put yourself in the shoes of the coach. Would you substitute in a player who doesn't believe in your systems or organization? Would you substitute in a player that tears down his teammate’s confidence? Be loyal and supportive. Good teammates get playing time.
10. Practice to Improve Every Single Day- Many players often can give a great performance in a game or practice one day, and then they disappear for a few days. Consistent performance only comes from regular practice. You may not lose PT because of one poor performance, but you may eventually lose your playing time to someone who is working harder than you. Improvement can only occur through daily effort. Your skills are sort of like weight training. If you don't lift you don't get stronger. If you don't stretch you lose flexibility. If you don't strive to improve every single attempt you make at a skill, you will never string together the large number of small but significant steps necessary to make giant leaps in your skill level. I find playing time for players who are improving daily. I notice skill improvement, it's my job. Actions to improve speak much louder than words and get you PT.
