I am looking for guidance in developing a consistent top 65 team in D1. I have experience with about 800 games (Mostly d2) coached and I have always enjoyed recruiting and developing players. As one can see by viewing my coaching history I like to take over poor teams and try to build conference contenders at each stop. So far I've done o.k but I'd like to make the next step and start  taking teams to the National Tournament on an annual basis.

I feel like my major weakness as coach is gameplanning since I'm capable of beating some very good teams but I also drop some easy games. I just finished up in year 1 of a total rebuild at S. Alabama so my main goal was to recruit and develop...next year should be a little better but more of the same development.

Any constructive feedback on my team is appreciated.

Questions:

• What kind of Skills/Players are most important for motion offense?
• Should I have a greater focus on Off/Def team practice or individual skill development for a young team? 
• This past year I pracitced the press at 25, Man to Man 5 and Motion at 15. I recruited guys with high Defense and Ath/SP potential as my goal starting the season was to start building a defensive power house in my division...am I on the right track?
• I also feel my team has a good group of young guards and was pondering the idea of starting 3 of them next season and dealing with another year of growing pains in the hopes that it pays off down the road. Good or bad idea with my guys and offense/defensive style?

Hoping to getsome helpful tips and insight along the way from those who've successfully coached top teams. Thanks in advance.

slam, feel free to shoot me a sitemali any time.

Why are you practicing M2M?  You'd be better off with 20 minutes on the motion.  15 really isn't enough for your primary offensive set...

Thanks girt...I probably will reach out to you.

Dahs - My thinking was occassionally running half court/man to man which I assumed would require some man defense IQ to execute effectively. Is this necessary or can I build a winner that runs full court press 100% of the time as long as I get Ath/Speed Guys?

Dear slamaddams,

Feel free to ask me any questions as I've been good the last 5 years 4 of the last 5 years as a non Top 6 conference team at Wyoming.

http://whatifsports.com/hd/TeamProfile/History.aspx?tid=6201

5 minutes of practice isn't enough to make your man defense tenable.  You either need to go at least 15-20 minutes or just let it go.  You can definitely compete with the straight up press.

Posted by dahsdebater on 4/28/2011 9:24:00 PM (view original):
5 minutes of practice isn't enough to make your man defense tenable.  You either need to go at least 15-20 minutes or just let it go.  You can definitely compete with the straight up press.

Agreed.

Thank you everybody for th early feedback

I posted this a few weeks ago, might help, it is sort of on topic:

http://whatifsports.com/forums/Posts.aspx?TopicID=438263&TopicsTimeframe=30&TopicsPage=3

Thanks OR - thats what I'm looking for