# Basketball coach who would yell at players for making a bad shot **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** basketball-nba\ **Created:** [February 5, 2024, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basketball-coach-who-would-yell-at-players-for-making-a-bad-shot/997132 "2024-02-05T10:31:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![curwin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@curwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curwin)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basketball-coach-who-would-yell-at-players-for-making-a-bad-shot/997132/1 "2024-02-05T10:31:33Z")
Years ago, on the Cracked podcast, they mentioned a basketball coach who would yell at his players if they took a bad shot, even if they made it. I don’t remember what episode it was, and haven’t been able to find it, nor any external mention of this coach. Anyone familiar with the story of this coach? Any sources? ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basketball-coach-who-would-yell-at-players-for-making-a-bad-shot/997132/2 "2024-02-05T11:55:55Z")
> [@curwin](#): > > a basketball coach who would yell at his players if they took a bad shot So…every basketball coach ever? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basketball-coach-who-would-yell-at-players-for-making-a-bad-shot/997132/3 "2024-02-05T13:52:06Z")
Yelling or not, part of a coach’s job is to make sure the players take appropriate shots. Taking medium range 2 pointers is considered poor shot selection. Making the shot is better than missing, but it’s still going to get you a word from the coach. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basketball-coach-who-would-yell-at-players-for-making-a-bad-shot/997132/4 "2024-02-05T14:35:03Z")
When I think quintessential yelling basketball coach, I think Bobby Knight, but it can be pretty much anyone. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basketball-coach-who-would-yell-at-players-for-making-a-bad-shot/997132/5 "2024-02-05T14:54:03Z")
Good guess. I think Pop can be fairly critical, as well. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basketball-coach-who-would-yell-at-players-for-making-a-bad-shot/997132/6 "2024-02-05T15:10:09Z")
I don’t think this type of coaching is a good practice. A coach yelling at players in some circumstances is a legitimate coaching tactic to wake up a player but a coach who yells at players a lot is not doing that. I’ve been amazed to see coaches for youth sports who I knew off the field as calm and casually attituded turn into maniacs while coaching kids. This kind of coaching wasn’t exclusive in the 60s and 70s but far more common. I was quite pleased to see how much it had diminished in the 90s and later when my kids were growing up. With adults there’s a time and place, but I can’t see it as a common practice providing any advantage. I suspect it’s more harmful than helpful but unfortunately in an environment where players are inured to being yelled at it’s neither and just continuing a style that could be eliminated. A good coach who knows and understands they’re player well might find the appropriate use for yelling at a player as a motivational technique, but even then it’s pointless if it doesn’t stand out from the coaches normal style. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basketball-coach-who-would-yell-at-players-for-making-a-bad-shot/997132/7 "2024-02-05T15:15:25Z")
I like Finch’s approach in the locker room. He tells the players where they’re fucking up, but without all the histrionics. Then he tells them how they can improve what they’re doing, basically laying it on them to make the decisions. > [@TriPolar](#): > > I’ve been amazed to see coaches for youth sports who I knew off the field as calm and casually attituded turn into maniacs while coaching kids. Boy, howdy. I coached Cap Little League one year and was appalled at the behavior of some coaches and a lot of parents, some of whom would actually curse at their kids. I had one mother booted from the field for being drunk and abusive. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basketball-coach-who-would-yell-at-players-for-making-a-bad-shot/997132/8 "2024-02-05T16:18:53Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > So…every basketball coach ever? Ha ha; yeah, I’d say pretty much. LOL When you have the ball, the idea is to move the ball around the court, stretch the defense, and get the best shot possible. You may make a bad shot once in a while but, overall, habitually taking bad shots loses games. Coaches don’t like it, and they’ll say so. On the other hand, if a player misses a good shot, coaches don’t chastise them because they did the right thing, it just didn’t go in. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basketball-coach-who-would-yell-at-players-for-making-a-bad-shot/997132/9 "2024-02-05T16:29:07Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > You may make a bad shot once in a while but, overall, habitually taking bad shots loses games. Coaches don’t like it, and they’ll say so. - Or they could be a coach and figure out _why_ a player is habitually taking bad shots and fix the problem. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basketball-coach-who-would-yell-at-players-for-making-a-bad-shot/997132/10 "2024-02-05T16:36:03Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Or they could be a coach and figure out _why_ a player is habitually taking bad shots and fix the problem. The “or” implies that they aren’t doing both, and I don’t think that is fair. High school basketball, for example, has 3 time outs per game, and they have to be used for strategic purposes. You can’t call a time out every time a player messes up and quietly explain to him what he is doing wrong, can you? If a play is “habitually taking bad shots”, he has no discipline and apparently cannot follow directions. The fix for that is the end of the bench where he will have time to think about his sins and his future as a player. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Sensitive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/58956e/32.png) [@Darth\_Sensitive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Sensitive)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basketball-coach-who-would-yell-at-players-for-making-a-bad-shot/997132/11 "2024-02-05T16:40:14Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > Ha ha; yeah, I’d say pretty much. LOL > > When you have the ball, the idea is to move the ball around the court, stretch the defense, and get the best shot possible. You may make a bad shot once in a while but, overall, habitually taking bad shots loses games. Coaches don’t like it, and they’ll say so. On the other hand, if a player misses a good shot, coaches don’t chastise them because they did the right thing, it just didn’t go in. I mean I’m not much of a yeller, but I certainly let my middle school players know when they took bad shots (make or miss) that I did NOT want that shot, possibly including a quick sub and a seat by me on the bench. We don’t practice the dumbest shot in basketball (three range with a foot on the line) or running turnarounds or shots where we chuck it up without looking at the rim. And so I repeat my coaching points there, occasionally at volume. And at the same time, when they took good shots and missed them, I let them know that it was a good choice and to keep making it. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basketball-coach-who-would-yell-at-players-for-making-a-bad-shot/997132/12 "2024-02-05T16:43:47Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > You can’t call a time out every time a player messes up and quietly explain to him what he is doing wrong, can you? - Game film and next practice “skull session”. I expect that’s the norm at any level above single digit yutes. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basketball-coach-who-would-yell-at-players-for-making-a-bad-shot/997132/13 "2024-02-05T16:44:32Z")
Of course. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basketball-coach-who-would-yell-at-players-for-making-a-bad-shot/997132/14 "2024-02-05T17:03:31Z")
I was a student at UALR when they started the basketball program. There was a ballot to vote for a team name. The first coach they hired was initially quite successful in the Sunbelt conference. There was a home game when he just exploded at his players. Spewing very raw obscenities that could be heard in the stands. The Chancellor and several Deans were present. He was fired not long afterwards. Apparently an internal investigation confirmed extreme abuse. There were articles in our Campus news, but I don’t remember details. ---
**Author:** ![curwin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@curwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curwin)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basketball-coach-who-would-yell-at-players-for-making-a-bad-shot/997132/15 "2024-02-05T17:40:02Z")
Ok, perhaps I wasn’t clear enough about the context. First of all, I’m fairly certain it was a college coach (but not Bobby Knight, since I’d have remembered that). I suppose it’s possible it was NBA, but certainly not high school or younger. And it was brought up in a conversation about intent vs results, not basketball. It was an analogy to those who determine the justification of an event based on how it turned out in the end, not how it _should_ have turned out according to probability. Normally you might think that making a very difficult shot would be praiseworthy, and criticizing it would be counterintuitive. But the discussion was showing that we should focus on whether it was a good decision at the time, not based on whether the shot was successful or not. So now does that sound more familiar to anyone? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basketball-coach-who-would-yell-at-players-for-making-a-bad-shot/997132/16 "2024-02-05T20:01:27Z")
> [@curwin](#): > > Normally you might think that making a very difficult shot would be praiseworthy, and criticizing it would be counterintuitive. But the discussion was showing that we should focus on whether it was a good decision at the time, not based on whether the shot was successful or not. This whole paragraph is pretty standard coaching. Every trip down the court represents an opportunity. If you are taking poor percentage shots (even if they go in) you making poor choices. You may be doing much better by attempting 3-pointers and missing a higher percentage, or driving to the hoop and picking up a basket and a foul on the opposition player. It’s all part of the team strategy. Sucessfully making a poor shot choice doesn’t magically make them right. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basketball-coach-who-would-yell-at-players-for-making-a-bad-shot/997132/17 "2024-02-05T21:13:36Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I like Finch’s approach in the locker room. He tells the players where they’re fucking up, but without all the histrionics. Who is Finch? I’m afraid I didn’t catch it if it was mentioned. > [@aceplace57](#): > > I was a student at UALR when they started the basketball program. Not all Dopers would know US universities so for those don’t know, UALR stands for University of Arkansas Little Rock (I’m assuming). ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2024, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basketball-coach-who-would-yell-at-players-for-making-a-bad-shot/997132/18 "2024-02-05T21:22:25Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > Who is Finch? Sorry, he’s the Timberwolves’ coach. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2024, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basketball-coach-who-would-yell-at-players-for-making-a-bad-shot/997132/19 "2024-02-06T00:21:52Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Boy, howdy. I coached Cap Little League one year and was appalled at the behavior of some coaches and a lot of parents, some of whom would actually curse at their kids. I had one mother booted from the field for being drunk and abusive. Little League isn’t a contest between the kids. It’s between the coaches, the umpires, and the parents. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2024, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basketball-coach-who-would-yell-at-players-for-making-a-bad-shot/997132/20 "2024-02-07T15:01:59Z")
You can go deep deep deep down a rabbit hole finding examples of parents and coaches losing control during yute sports. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basketball-coach-who-would-yell-at-players-for-making-a-bad-shot/997132.md?page=2)