End of Season Review: Coaching Staff
Adam Spinella
When evaluating your basketball season and trying to analyze what worked and what did not, you have to ask the right questions – and tons of them. Look at the season from many different perspectives, start at the very beginning and realize that the narrative to the season is going to be just as important as analyzing each individual part. What caused something to happen? What was outside your control as a coach? What could you have done differently at the beginning of the year to prevent something from happening late in the year?
Chronological Review
This is where the narrative comes into play. You want to analyze each aspect of the season while telling the story of how the season evolved throughout. Hit on each of the following categories and figure out what worked well and what could have been better in each of them:
-Pre-season workouts
-Tryouts and Training Camp
-Practices
-Games
-Tournaments
-Postseason Preparation
-Postseason
Start at the very beginning with pre-season workouts, training camp or whatever was the first official team activity of the school year. Examine that area with great detail: it may be farthest back in your memory but is also the first aspect of next season you have to face.
When looking at practices, examine what went well and what did not in each practice’s plan. Was there a plan? Was each coach used appropriately? Did the format change throughout the year? Examine drills – what were most and least effective? Examine players – were some guys hard to reach in practices and would only show up on game day? Most of all, were players engaged and challenged by practices? Practice is all about preparing for the games; were they effective in accomplishing those goals?
Looking at games and tournaments is another useful task. Look at the schedule of games, or even paste it in this section of the evaluation. Why did you feel you won some games and lost others? Having a clear reflection on each game can tell the narrative of the season in a much clearer way. Tournaments, including postseason tournaments, factor into this as well. Did anything change from the regular season to postseason? Were you able to have success when playing in a tournament format? What changed or what obstacles did those types of games present that weren’t there in the regular season?
Coaching Aspects of the Program:
A lot of the time the decisions made by the coaching staff before the season. This is where you can analyze the basketball decisions that your staff went throughout the season. Think of this section as a self-evaluation, not reflecting on the season as a whole but the decisions you made as a coach and your role in the decision-making process. Ask the same questions regarding what worked and didn’t work for each section:
-Style of Play: Offense
-Style of Play: Defense
-Playbook
-Rotation
-Scouting
-Film Review
-Timeout use and Game-day adjustments
-Input and Responsibility Sharing
Start with a review of your team, decisions you made based off the strengths that your team has. Style of Play and plays in the playbook were conscious decisions made based off a preseason vision you had for the team. Did they fulfill that vision? If they did not, was it because the vision was off or were other factors at play? What did you do later in the season to change that style or add plays to the playbook and why?
A discussion about rotations should be very fluid. Rotations change throughout the season due to injuries or certain players improving. Have a candid discussion about your best rotations, the decisions you needed to balance and how you used your bench. All coaches can think about ways in which they could use their role players better; get your thoughts down on paper in regards to how you could make this happen in the future.
The final four points in this question have to do with preparing your team for outside forces of the program and the balance among coaches in this regard. Were all coaches strong at scouting and did a good job scouting? Were film cutups accurate in preparing players for the opponent? Did they highlight the strengths and weaknesses that needed to be addressed of your own team? Did each coach feel like they could communicate their ideas on game day effectively? Having a grasp of the balance of duties on the staff will help you prepare best for the future: this is where you will find if any coach felt over-worked or under-valued.
Personnel
Finally, wrap up your analysis by looking at each individual player. Rate their performance in games, practices and general demeanor. I like to do this section last because it builds off the first two sections so much. The narrative of the season helps illustrate what path each player may have taken to playing time: if you are thinking about a streak of games where a player was injured in the first section, that is indicative of how crucial they are to the team. Likewise, when you analyze the decisions made for style of play at the beginning of the year and who you based them around, you can better analyze if an individual player fulfilled the expectations your staff set for them.
After examining personnel, look at position battles going forward. Include any players you expect to have in your program next year. This review will prepare you to best equip your players on what they need to do in the offseason in order to improve. What are your expectations going to be for them next year?
Coach Adam Spinella is entering his first season as an Assistant Coach at Culver Academies in Culver, IN. Spinella spent the three years prior as a Student Assistant Coach at Division III Dickinson College. The Dickinson Men’s Team advanced to two NCAA Tournaments and accumulated an overall record of 59-26 (.694) during the three-year span, with the 2013-2014 season ending in the Division III Elite Eight. A native of Bow, New Hampshire, Spinella has a keen interest in X’s and O’s, particularly in professional basketball, and skill development.
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