12 November 2026
Ep 2071 What Do You Say to the Kid Whose Minutes Just Disappeared?
Basketball Coach Unplugged (A Basketball Coaching Podcast)
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https://teachhoops.com/
CoachingYouthHoops.com/nuke: clean sports hydration made with coconut water. Use code youthhoops25 for 25% off
Two weeks into the season, a player who was in the rotation is now on the end of the bench. Here is how to have that conversation honestly, and keep the kid.
Coach Steve Collins still remembers a junior who started the first two games of the season and, by game four, did not get off the bench. After that game, the player slowed down at Steve's office door, looked in, and kept walking. Steve let him go. He figured the player would ask if he wanted to know. That was a mistake, because a sixteen year old who just lost his spot rarely walks into the head coach's office, and he goes home and fills in the blanks himself.
Two or three weeks into the season, rotations settle and someone's minutes disappear. In this Teaching Mode episode, Steve explains how to go to that player first, how to be honest and specific about why the role changed, and how to send him out of the room with both a path back and a job that matters right now.
Part 1: Go to Him First
The junior who walked past the office door, and why waiting for him was a mistake
How silence lets a player invent his own explanation
Talking within a day or two, before practice, in a quiet spot, never right after a game
The simple opening line that lets a player relax
The dinner table question, and why the player should hear it before his parents do
Why a clumsy conversation on Tuesday beats a perfect one that never happens
Part 2: What to Say and What Comes Next
Why "just keep working hard" tells a player nothing
Giving the real reason, kindly and clearly, then letting him respond
What not to say: turning it into a contest with a teammate, or promising minutes you cannot guarantee
Pairing honesty with a path: one or two things you need to see in practice
Giving the player a job right now: scout team leader, bench energy, deflection charting
The senior who became the scout team point guard and fought his way back by February
The thirty second follow up a week later that proves the first talk was real
Chapters
00:00 Coach Unplugged intro
00:15 Opening hook: the junior at the office door
01:03 Pre roll: TeachHoops.com evaluation tools and role guides
01:23 Takeaway 1: Go to him first
04:18 Takeaway 2: Honest and specific
05:34 Mid roll: TeachHoops.com skill development plans
05:56 Takeaway 3: A path and a job
07:30 The challenge
07:41 Post roll: TeachHoops.com
This week's challenge: Find the player whose minutes dropped the most this month and talk to him before your next game.
Format: Teaching Mode, two parts.
Resources: Role conversation guides, player evaluation tools, skill development plans, practice plans, and courses at https://teachhoops.com/
Recorded at the Fifth Quarter Studios in Madison, Wisconsin.
https://teachhoops.com/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
CoachingYouthHoops.com/nuke: clean sports hydration made with coconut water. Use code youthhoops25 for 25% off
Two weeks into the season, a player who was in the rotation is now on the end of the bench. Here is how to have that conversation honestly, and keep the kid.
Coach Steve Collins still remembers a junior who started the first two games of the season and, by game four, did not get off the bench. After that game, the player slowed down at Steve's office door, looked in, and kept walking. Steve let him go. He figured the player would ask if he wanted to know. That was a mistake, because a sixteen year old who just lost his spot rarely walks into the head coach's office, and he goes home and fills in the blanks himself.
Two or three weeks into the season, rotations settle and someone's minutes disappear. In this Teaching Mode episode, Steve explains how to go to that player first, how to be honest and specific about why the role changed, and how to send him out of the room with both a path back and a job that matters right now.
Part 1: Go to Him First
The junior who walked past the office door, and why waiting for him was a mistake
How silence lets a player invent his own explanation
Talking within a day or two, before practice, in a quiet spot, never right after a game
The simple opening line that lets a player relax
The dinner table question, and why the player should hear it before his parents do
Why a clumsy conversation on Tuesday beats a perfect one that never happens
Part 2: What to Say and What Comes Next
Why "just keep working hard" tells a player nothing
Giving the real reason, kindly and clearly, then letting him respond
What not to say: turning it into a contest with a teammate, or promising minutes you cannot guarantee
Pairing honesty with a path: one or two things you need to see in practice
Giving the player a job right now: scout team leader, bench energy, deflection charting
The senior who became the scout team point guard and fought his way back by February
The thirty second follow up a week later that proves the first talk was real
Chapters
00:00 Coach Unplugged intro
00:15 Opening hook: the junior at the office door
01:03 Pre roll: TeachHoops.com evaluation tools and role guides
01:23 Takeaway 1: Go to him first
04:18 Takeaway 2: Honest and specific
05:34 Mid roll: TeachHoops.com skill development plans
05:56 Takeaway 3: A path and a job
07:30 The challenge
07:41 Post roll: TeachHoops.com
This week's challenge: Find the player whose minutes dropped the most this month and talk to him before your next game.
Format: Teaching Mode, two parts.
Resources: Role conversation guides, player evaluation tools, skill development plans, practice plans, and courses at https://teachhoops.com/
Recorded at the Fifth Quarter Studios in Madison, Wisconsin.
https://teachhoops.com/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices