Sideline Stories – Basketball Coach Weekly 185

Here is a recent interview that was published in the most recent Basketball Coach Weekly – Issue 185

I appreciate Basketball Coach Weekly’s Editor-in-Chief, Mike Austin, interest in my perspective and decision to step away from the game temporarily due to family obligations.

I am looking forward to getting back to the sidelines very soon.

Follow Bert DeSalvo on Twitter @CoachDeSalvo

Basketball Coach Weekly – Issue #125 – DeSalvo Article

Here is my article that was just published in this week’s Basketball Coach Weekly – Issue 125 – DeSalvo Contribution.

Specifically I want to touch on my second point “Don’t Be Afraid to Change”. Here is the story behind this important point.

Last season, as the Head Coach of Southern Connecticut State University, our team was struggling due to an injury to Mariah Hankton, the team’s senior co-captain, 2nd leading scorer and end of shot clock shotmaker.

The loss of Mariah not only hurt us from an X and O’s standpoint, but our players were demoralized and emotionally void. Before Mariah’s injury we were an impressive 10-5 in the NE-10, with five games to go.

Predictably, we struggled without her, but needed just one win to secure the three seed and a first round bye in the conference tournament.

I told our team “we will not lose the same way” which is one of my philosophies as a coach. It is my responsibility to figure out a way to not keep repeating the same mistakes and do whatever is necessary to help our team be successful.

With that in mind, we played zone defense again the College of Saint Rose, something we had not done all season long. This bold strategy kept Saint Rose off balance for the entire first half and without Mariah, we won a buzzer beater (who had 26 points in our first meeting in a 78-75 road win at Saint Rose) against the Golden Knights, 65-63 (see buzzer beater), on senior day. This strategy coupled with expanding our bench, specifically with contributions from Abby Hurlbert, was really the difference in the outcome of the game

This philosophy held to one our team’ standards of “Flexibility”. I think it is very important to be flexible with your players in all aspects. I think our staff did a nice job of being flexible with players who were late arriving from class, allowing some to miss community service if they had a nursing test to study for, and listening to them as a whole regarding practice intensity/duration.

I hope this personally story helps some coaches have some confidence in being willing to change.

Follow Bert DeSalvo on Twitter @CoachDeSalvo

Basketball Coach Weekly – Issue 84

Here is an article I wrote for Basketball Coach Weekly: Distinguish Players In 5 Steps

This piece discusses ways that High School and AAU coaches can help their players attract attention and distinguish themselves during the recruiting process.

Enjoy!

~Coach DeSalvo

#SEIZE

Basketball Coach Weekly – Issue 54

I recently had the opportunity to contribute to Basketball Coach Weekly which is a resource for youth and high school basketball coaches to help improve their programs.

This weekly features pieces on plays, drills, coaching philosophy, motivation, team management and much more, the combination of X’s and O’s with real-life coaching situations makes Basketball Coach Weekly a must-read for coaches.

You can find out more at basketballcoachweekly.com.

Check out Basketball Coach Weekly – Issue 54 that features Marc Skelton, head boys coach, Fannie Lou Hamer High School, Bronx, N.Y.

Enjoy!

Follow Coach DeSalvo on Twitter @CoachDeSalvo and @SCSUOwlsWBB

Basketball Coach Weekly – 1 Year Anniversary Issue (Issue 53) Feature

I recently had the opportunity to contribute to Basketball Coach Weekly which is a resource for youth and high school basketball coaches to help improve their programs.

This weekly features pieces on plays, drills, coaching philosophy, motivation, team management and much more, the combination of X’s and O’s with real-life coaching situations makes Basketball Coach Weekly a must-read for coaches.

You can find out more at basketballcoachweekly.com.

Check out Basketball Coach Weekly – Issue 53 that features Delta State’s Jim Boone and myself.

Enjoy!