3 on 2 on 1 was the absolute best drill.

Make sure every kid knows how to throw a pick.

don't yell at the refs

this x10000

I only coached basketball for a year, but I did coach baseball for 11 years and soccer for 5, so I'll echo some of the same things mentioned. Work on fundementals and keep your practices moving because if there's a lull, there's trouble. If you have 10 kids, that's perfect for scrimmage. Try to keep the the sides as even as possible. At that age, skill levels will be all over the place.
You're going to have some parents that are uber-competitive and some that are just looking for a babysitter, so be prepared for some grief about playing time. Communication is important not only to your kids, but to the parents. If you do send out an email, you can do just a broad overview about the team and tailor a short message about the kid's progress only to the each set of parents.

I'm no pro, but I've helped a little.

Focus on the fundamentals. Shooting in particular. No kid is going to do much of anything in high school if they can't shoot.

Most of what we worked on was defensive movement (helpside and closeouts), screen and roll and basic stuff along with a lot of setting up shots at various spots on the floor.

We also did some 3 on 2 drills. If they can manage that, 3 on 2-2 on 1 drills are better. Those type of drills are good for conditioning, ball handling, and are competitive, so it is fun.

3 man weave is a big one.

Screen and roll against defense is a good one.

I guess some tips I've learned are:

• Don't take and ounce of shit from them. Don't let them **** off or make fun of each other. They'll continually try to push the limits. Suicides are your friend.
• Keep constant feedback coming. Kids that young often don't have a clue what they're doing, so the more feedback, the better
• Keep the energy up, even though it is tough with fundemental drills.
• Keep as much competition in there as you can. It doesn't all have to be scrimage, freethrows, passing drills, ball handling drills can all be competitive. Just find a way to keep track, and find a way to reward the winners.

Good luck.

One other thing, don't let scrimages be worthless.

Install an easy offense (pass and screen away is a good one) and don't let them get away with poor execution.

Totally agree on the 3 man weave.

On the fundamentals, have them do the drill where they dribble two balls at once too. Lots of focus on looking up when dribbling and seeing the whole court.

If you can get them comfortable with dribbling and keeping their eyes looking ahead, making passes - that's huge.

I've been coaching BB for over 15 years. A 1 hour practice will seem like 30 mins. I'm just telling you right now, unless you are going 3 nights per week, there is no way to jam everything in, in one hour.

I go 90 mins 2-3 times per week, depending upon game schedules. I am currently coaching 6th Grade Boys. I do about 15-20 minutes of really hard 3 on 2. There is so much to be learned in 3 on 2 for both O and D. I then do 10 mins of FT's and line drills. Then we spend about 15 mins into some fundamentals with Rebounding, passing and ball-handling. Next, we do some defensive work - primarily shell drills and blocking out -10-15 mins. Back to FT's and line drills. Then we work on Offense and press/press break drills. Finishing up - yet again, with FT's and line drills.

I work my ass off to get all that in during my 90 mins. But, the boys have fun, work hard, and I love the opportunity to Coach. Have fun!

If you have a tall kid, don't just stick his ass on the block. Make him learn to play guard.

This!

I run a motion offense, so my kids are all over the floor. Each of them handling the ball at different times. Tall kids stop growing, and short kids often get a lot taller. Today's Center, might have to play Guard in HS. Plan accordingly.....

Just practice three pointers, slam dunks, and trick passes.

That's why I told him to hook up with another coach that practices and get some scrimmage time in. We were able to run back to back practices in the gym for 2 hours, run 1/2 court for 30 minutes to 1 hour and scrimmage what we worked on.

At the 5th grade level, kids with talent are really starting to show up. I was able to win our County league that year, help assemble a AAU team and travel. Later we took 2 players from our county and played with a group of boys that took 5th place at the AAU Nationals in Coco Beach,Fl. The 2 boys we took to Fl were both starters.

Bothcof these boys are 8th graders this year, both skipping MS ball and starting both Fr. & JV ball. My grandson is one of them and he gets to back up Varsity team as well. 6'4", been dunking for a year and working as a 3 instead of the traditional 4 & 5 on the Fr.,JV & of years past.

Motion, move them around and drill fundamentals in them at an early age.....defense, closing out, recovery steps, footwork to gain speed, etc.

I was proud of my grandson that year and the work we accomplished