Coach Warren Goodling: “The Master Plan”
Written by: Dell Jackson on December 1, 2019
Coach Warren Goodling provides us with some of his thoughts from a coaching view point heading into the hoops season. Coach Goodling earned over 400 wins in his high coaching career. He is also our color guy on most of our lives steam games this season. Enjoy!
The Master Plan
Another high school basketball season is here again and now is the time that the coaches are installing various concepts from their Master Plan for the 2019-2020 season. Every fall coaches sit down with their assistant coaches and decide what the offensive, defensive, and special situation plan will be for this team. This plan starts as an outline to guide the coach through the first three weeks of practice. A lot of these concepts in this plan are program staples from year to year. There will be some carry over from year to year and some programs emphasize the same fundamentals at all of the levels. This makes for a smoother transition into the new basketball season.
Some things the Master Plan includes are:
Personnel
Offense fundamentals
Foul shooting
Offense vs Man to man
Offense vs Zone
Offense vs various presses
Delay Game offense
Last shot offense
Offensive vs Box+1 and Triangle +2
Out of Bounds Plays
Defense fundamentals
Transition Defense
Defense man to man
Defense Zone
Pressure Defenses
Defense vs a great post player
Defense vs a great perimeter player
Defense vs out of bounds plays
Defense vs a delay game
Time/Score situations
As we get into game week, these are some of the things that a coach has to incorporate into the first three weeks of practice. The high school coach and the staff put a lot of thought and energy in trying to get all of this in before the first game of the year.
Not only does the coach have to get these concepts taught to his team in the first few weeks, the coach has to face the toughest challenge of determining a starting team and a player rotation that can be successful during games. This can be an ongoing challenge as the games begin. Eventually the players that are getting it done in the games will be in the rotation. The best players will play especially it they can develop team chemistry. Discussing personnel is a huge part of the Master Plan because strategies will be determined by the personnel.
Coaches have to get ready for close game situations. This is the can be worked on in the two scrimmages that the team has before the season. It is also needs to be worked on at every practice. A good way to do this is to play a series of “one minute games” during practices. This enables your team to work on the unpredictable end of game situations. It is also a great tool for teaching the strategies needed and the team will have some fun playing these games.
Get ready for some exciting basketball this season in the LL League and District 3. The coaches and players are spending many intense practice hours preparing their Master Game Plan for success.
~Warren Goodling
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