My daughter plays for a very successful high school basketball program and the coach (in her second year) is an old-school kind of coach. She's very good and I am glad she's our coach, but one of the things she is teaching the kids is that she wants them to take charges. I am dead set opposed to it and let me explain why.
1. It is dangerous. When you stand there to take a charge, you are TRYING to get run over. That's the point. Instead of trying to block a shot or strip the ball or find another way to defend the driver, you are standing there with the sole purpose of getting trucked. You try to do it as safely as possible (and there are better ways of doing this than others), but the point is: you are standing there expecting to get run over. In our world of increasing awareness of concussions, this seems to be a recipe for disaster. Why encourage your players to stand in front of a player moving at full speed directly towards you? Aren't you essentially asking them to risk injury?
2. It is bad defense. Think about taking a charge. You stand there, straight up, not moving (or it's a blocking foul), and not trying to deny a shot. You're just stock-still bracing yourself. Kids today are often so skilled that if you just stand there, they'll just euro-step right around you for a layup.
3. It is ineffective in what it tries to do. Interesting article here (http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1837009-how-the-defensive-rule-change-will-be-a-disaster-for-college-basketball). I've long contended that *AT BEST*, even if you're in great position to take a charge, it's a 50-50 call from a ref. At best. Now rule changes are such that it's even harder to get a charge call. One quote from an NCAA referee (in the article cited above): "We had a power point seminar with 200 bang-bang, block-charge calls from last year. Last year, those calls were 50-50. Now, maybe 25 out of 200 would actually be charge calls."
So even if you do everything right, it's a 1 in 8 chance you'll get the call. Not 1 in 2. 1 in 8. That alone makes it a low percentage play. So what can happen if you try to get a charge? Even if there's no injury - I'm just talking basketball outcomes.
- You can get a charge but they still count a basket.
- You can get a blocking foul on yourself.
- You can get a blocking foul and they make the basket for a three point opportunity.
- They can euro-step right around you for a layup while you stand there looking stupid.
In almost every scenario, the possible outcome is a bad one for you and your team. Only 1 in 8 can possibly qualify, really, as good outcomes. Yes, they can miss a layup but since you're not actually playing any defense on them if they miss it you can't really get credit for that. So most basketball outcomes when you stand there trying to take a charge end up being bad. And that's not even factoring in the injury issues.
Ok. So here I am coaching my sophomore daughter, a starter on the varsity team (yay!). She's tough as nails, but slight of build. The coach wants her taking charges. I'm of the completely opposite view, obviously. I want her to actually try to play defense instead of taking charges. For injury-sake and to increase the likelihood of a positive basketball outcome.
Do you guys think I should have a conversation with the coach? She's pretty approachable and I don't want to be coaching my kid at cross-purposes with the coach. But I'm pretty against the old-school "stand there and take a charge" approach.
What say ye?
1. It is dangerous. When you stand there to take a charge, you are TRYING to get run over. That's the point. Instead of trying to block a shot or strip the ball or find another way to defend the driver, you are standing there with the sole purpose of getting trucked. You try to do it as safely as possible (and there are better ways of doing this than others), but the point is: you are standing there expecting to get run over. In our world of increasing awareness of concussions, this seems to be a recipe for disaster. Why encourage your players to stand in front of a player moving at full speed directly towards you? Aren't you essentially asking them to risk injury?
2. It is bad defense. Think about taking a charge. You stand there, straight up, not moving (or it's a blocking foul), and not trying to deny a shot. You're just stock-still bracing yourself. Kids today are often so skilled that if you just stand there, they'll just euro-step right around you for a layup.
3. It is ineffective in what it tries to do. Interesting article here (http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1837009-how-the-defensive-rule-change-will-be-a-disaster-for-college-basketball). I've long contended that *AT BEST*, even if you're in great position to take a charge, it's a 50-50 call from a ref. At best. Now rule changes are such that it's even harder to get a charge call. One quote from an NCAA referee (in the article cited above): "We had a power point seminar with 200 bang-bang, block-charge calls from last year. Last year, those calls were 50-50. Now, maybe 25 out of 200 would actually be charge calls."
So even if you do everything right, it's a 1 in 8 chance you'll get the call. Not 1 in 2. 1 in 8. That alone makes it a low percentage play. So what can happen if you try to get a charge? Even if there's no injury - I'm just talking basketball outcomes.
- You can get a charge but they still count a basket.
- You can get a blocking foul on yourself.
- You can get a blocking foul and they make the basket for a three point opportunity.
- They can euro-step right around you for a layup while you stand there looking stupid.
In almost every scenario, the possible outcome is a bad one for you and your team. Only 1 in 8 can possibly qualify, really, as good outcomes. Yes, they can miss a layup but since you're not actually playing any defense on them if they miss it you can't really get credit for that. So most basketball outcomes when you stand there trying to take a charge end up being bad. And that's not even factoring in the injury issues.
Ok. So here I am coaching my sophomore daughter, a starter on the varsity team (yay!). She's tough as nails, but slight of build. The coach wants her taking charges. I'm of the completely opposite view, obviously. I want her to actually try to play defense instead of taking charges. For injury-sake and to increase the likelihood of a positive basketball outcome.
Do you guys think I should have a conversation with the coach? She's pretty approachable and I don't want to be coaching my kid at cross-purposes with the coach. But I'm pretty against the old-school "stand there and take a charge" approach.
What say ye?