What is your rotation? How many players should play in a typical high school basketball game?

[Grond]

A raging debate that went on at our high school was: How many players do you play in a game?

I have seen a team that won a game by 20 points, and played 6 players. And even though some parents got flustered, the coach has been successful, turning a losing program into a winning one. (Which is no small accomplishment!)

I tend to favor an 8 to 10 player rotation, but I saw another team do that......and have a losing season. (I had expected them to do better.)

[TheGovernor]

Just depends really. Who is having a good night, how many players have equal ability, what roles are interchangeable etc.. I have seen coaches play 10 players a game but five may play a combined 8 min throughout the game. So is the coach really playing 10 players or just spot subbing for brief moments throughout the game to give his better players a min rest?

[Moonshiner]

I'd say it's the coaches decision. With that said I feel you can play too many, but it depends on his/her style of play.

[Intelligentsia]

I've always argued for playing ad many as possible, especially upper classmen, though most may only play a short time.  I like to see 10-12 players hit the floor, with likely 4 of those playing a couple minutes or less, filling in prior to quarter breaks or when the player the sub for needs instruction or appears to need a break.  The only player you may not be able to pull out is a dominant ball handler.  All others can come out for 30 seconds here and there.  In addition to the reason for subbing mentioned above have to do with player morale and effort.  When less skilled, but hard working upperclassmen get even 30 seconds playing time, they work harder in practices, pushing the better players, they are more into the game, improving team morale, and playing them even a little, shows underclassmen that hard work in practice pays off, and improves support in the stands.  If a guy/gal, especially an upper class man is good enough to get a suit, they are surely good enough for thirty seconds in a game.

[MDXPHD]

I've always argued for playing ad many as possible, especially upper classmen, though most may only play a short time.  I like to see 10-12 players hit the floor, with likely 4 of those playing a couple minutes or less, filling in prior to quarter breaks or when the player the sub for needs instruction or appears to need a break.  The only player you may not be able to pull out is a dominant ball handler.  All others can come out for 30 seconds here and there.  In addition to the reason for subbing mentioned above have to do with player morale and effort.  When less skilled, but hard working upperclassmen get even 30 seconds playing time, they work harder in practices, pushing the better players, they are more into the game, improving team morale, and playing them even a little, shows underclassmen that hard work in practice pays off, and improves support in the stands.  If a guy/gal, especially an upper class man is good enough to get a suit, they are surely good enough for thirty seconds in a game.

Shhh, don't tell anyone you're from Batesville or they might not take your basketball opinion seriously.

[playhard]

I've always argued for playing ad many as possible, especially upper classmen, though most may only play a short time.  I like to see 10-12 players hit the floor, with likely 4 of those playing a couple minutes or less, filling in prior to quarter breaks or when the player the sub for needs instruction or appears to need a break.  The only player you may not be able to pull out is a dominant ball handler.  All others can come out for 30 seconds here and there.  In addition to the reason for subbing mentioned above have to do with player morale and effort.  When less skilled, but hard working upperclassmen get even 30 seconds playing time, they work harder in practices, pushing the better players, they are more into the game, improving team morale, and playing them even a little, shows underclassmen that hard work in practice pays off, and improves support in the stands.  If a guy/gal, especially an upper class man is good enough to get a suit, they are surely good enough for thirty seconds in a game.

Well said

[Grond]

I've always argued for playing ad many as possible, especially upper classmen, though most may only play a short time.  I like to see 10-12 players hit the floor, with likely 4 of those playing a couple minutes or less, filling in prior to quarter breaks or when the player the sub for needs instruction or appears to need a break.  The only player you may not be able to pull out is a dominant ball handler.  All others can come out for 30 seconds here and there.  In addition to the reason for subbing mentioned above have to do with player morale and effort.  When less skilled, but hard working upperclassmen get even 30 seconds playing time, they work harder in practices, pushing the better players, they are more into the game, improving team morale, and playing them even a little, shows underclassmen that hard work in practice pays off, and improves support in the stands.  If a guy/gal, especially an upper class man is good enough to get a suit, they are surely good enough for thirty seconds in a game.

Well said

I agree.

An interesting side note to the team that was only playing 6 or 7 guys:  Players 8 through 11 all QUIT!

The head coach decided that there wasn't enough "B" team guys to play JV games. So, halfway through the season, the five JV guys aren't seeing the court, period. I will fully admit that the 7 "starters" deserved to get more court time than the others; but if the other boys/girls feel there is no hope of playing time, then you may not have a team.

This team could be divided into three groups:

"Chosen Ones" - 3 or 4 players - Unlimited playing time, unlimited shooting, almost unlimited turnovers.

"One Mistake" - next 3 or 4 players - You make one mistake, and you are out. You are only allowed to shoot layups; shoot a 3 and miss - you're off the court.

"No Chance" - rest of team - No matter how good you play at practice, no matter how many points you score in the JV game, you are not playing in the high school game.

Note that the Chosen Ones are not necessarily Seniors. They are The Best players.

But I have to admit, there is a logic to all this. The Starters aren't going to get that much better playing the JV squad. A team gets better by playing better talent. The more time the Starters play, the better they get.

The result has been a Winning Program, that had not been winning for years. I don't like it, but that doesn't make it wrong.

[kennyboy]

I don't think there is one Really good answer here... I think it depends on several factors.

1. what's the skill level of the players you have ... and what are the differences in the skill players you have

2. What style of play do you play... games with lower amounts of possessions (slower games) probably don't need to have a long rotation etc. If you play uptempo... or press a lot... you may need to have a longer rotation.

3. What is your offensive Philosophy? If you run a lot of Set plays etc. ... motion read and react offense...

I personally like the 8-9 man Rotation if you're playing a "regular game" ... not necessarily up tempo but not slow either.   

[Downnotout]

The answer is 8. To win at Basketball you need 8 who can play and 4 that will cheer their hearts out.

[jaxalum2008]

Having a two platoon roster tends to work very well. Example: Kentucky Wildcats of 2014.

[WPWells]

So did they win the National Championship?

[jaxalum2008]

No, but they did come very, very close.

[WPWells]

So they lost to a team that didn't two-platoon?

[jaxalum2008]

Yes, and that was due to a boneheaded coaching error that cost them game. That's calipari for you though. Lol

[jaxalum2008]

What's your favorite style of offense, defense?

Mine is 1-2-1-1 and Pick-n-Roll.