One of our most recent games, our girls played against a team far better than us. We are really short, not quick, and have limited basketball experience. Our girls play hard, but when some teams have played since they were in 3rd grade while many of our girls started last year, that shows up pretty quickly.

Well, that was the case in our game. Our opponents were long, tall, and fast. We did not match up with them at all. It showed in our final score. However, one thing happened that really set me off. I’m not a fan of their coach. That’s all I’ll say. I’ve had experence with this person and have never been impressed with their behavior on the bench.

Anyway, she calls THREE time outs in the last 90 seconds to run set plays. We are getting beat by 35 and she disrepects our team by pulling this nonsense. The third time out got an epic eye roll from the referee and our players were not happy. We couldn’t stop them (duh, we are getting beat by 35), so it made it that much worse.

The next game we played, we were in the same situation. Much better team than us stomping us down. However, this time, the coach worked through those sets, not by calling all sorts of time outs, but simply by calling out the plays. No, our girls were not happy (getting beat by 40 does that), but we didn’t have the embarassment of having our lack of skills pointed out to everyone in the gym.

I tweeted out my displeasure and was surprised to find the next morning that it struck a nerve with some.

Many were with me, but some were fairly rude to me and my girls. “Get better or get bitter” was a favorite of mine. Understand, I’m not a big fan of running of the score. I’ve been scolded by my wife about not keeping pressure on oppenents, but when you are ahead by 25, what good can be done by pressing or stealing the ball, making repeated layups, what good can be done?

My thoughts are always, blow outs are a way to practice certain things in game situations. Set plays? Yes. Passing? Yup. Just running your set all the way through three or four times before shooting? You know it. Running of the score? Nope. Showing up your opponent or their coach? Not at all.

However, we won our last games last night, so we finished on a high note.

Please, if you are a youth/middle school coach, don’t be that first coach. If you are kicking someone’s butt, by all means, use it as a practice, but don’t show up other coaches, players, or fans. Just play the game.

The “big win” you get at the expence of middle school athletes, may seem like team building, but in the end, they won’t remember that game. They’ll remember how you make them feel as a player and a team.