AND WE LOST.
BUILDING THEIR GAME ARTICLE
DROPPED 30.
BY KEVIN RATZSCH | OCT 1 , 2026 | 5 MINUTE READ
FIVE PLAYERS, ONE BASKETBALL.
I coached a kid once who could really score.
And I mean really score.
He was talented. Skilled. Competitive.
The kind of kid who could put up 30 points and make it look pretty easy.
Which sounds great.
Except we kept losing.
Eventually, we had to have a conversation.
I asked him a simple question:
Would you rather score 30 points a game and lose, or score 20 points a game and win?
He didn't hesitate.
20 and win.
Of course.
But knowing the answer and understanding how to play that way are two different things.
I wasn't telling him he couldn't score 30 again. Heck, maybe he'd score 40.
I wanted him to understand something.
Just because you didn't score the points doesn't mean you weren't responsible for creating them.
Sometimes the best way to become a better scorer is to help the other four players become more dangerous.
THE OTHER FOUR MATTER.
I've watched plenty of youth basketball games where the entire offense is built around one kid.
Give him the ball.
Set a ball screen.
Let him go.
And then do it again.
Sometimes it works. But eventually, teams figure it out.
They know who's taking the shots, so they start cheating. They pack the lane, leave their own man,
and double-team your scorer.
Why wouldn't they?
If the other four players aren't threats, the defense has little reason to respect them.
But imagine something different.
The kid who's a great rebounder sets a screen, slips to the rim, and gets an easy layup.
The corner shooter is ready when the defense collapses on your scorer.
And the kid whose defender is watching the ball cuts behind him.
Another layup.
None of these kids needs to score 20 points. They don't even need the same number of shots.
There's a natural pecking order on a basketball team. And that's okay.
But when the other four players become threats, they make the leading scorer even more dangerous.
And what happens when that scorer gets into foul trouble, has an off night, or gets hurt?
Are the other four ready to step up?
There's a difference between building an offense around your best player and building one that's completely dependent on them.
SOMETIMES FOUR POINTS ARE WORTH MORE THAN FOUR POINTS.
I coached a point guard once who I could hardly get to shoot the basketball.
His previous coach had taught him to get the ball to their best scorer. And he'd gotten pretty good at doing exactly that.
The problem?
The defense didn't have to guard him. They could leave him and give even more attention to our scorer.
It took me four to six weeks to convince him to take the open shot, drive into the lane instead of drifting toward the wing, and attack like he actually planned to score.
I didn't need 20 points from him.
Maybe four. Maybe six.
But now the defense had to respect him.
And when he started understanding that, along with some of our other players, we took off as a group.
Sometimes four points are worth more than four points.
Because those four points might be the reason your teammate gets an easier 15.
You don't have to be the leading scorer to make the offense better.
But you do have to be willing to become a threat.
DON'T JUST WAIT FOR YOUR TURN.
Maybe your kid isn't the leading scorer.
Maybe they're lucky to get three or four shots in a game.
I understand how frustrating that can be, especially when they're putting in hours of work outside of practice.
But here's something I'd encourage parents to ask:
What are you doing to create opportunities?
Are you getting into open space? Cutting when your defender turns their head?
DEMANDING the basketball when you're open?
And when you finally get an open shot, are you ready to take it?
Sometimes a player really is being overlooked. That happens.
But we can get so focused on how many opportunities our kid gets that we forget to ask what they're doing to create them.
Maybe your team doesn't need you taking 15 shots.
But it absolutely needs you ready for the three that come your way.
You can accept your role without being passive in it.
And remember, your role today doesn't have to be your ceiling tomorrow.
STOP THROWING HAYMAKERS.
Basketball isn't a sprint. It's a marathon.
Or maybe a better comparison is a long boxing match.
You can't throw haymakers every possession and expect to have something left in the fourth quarter.
I've watched talented scorers spend three quarters making exhausting moves and creating difficult shots.
But you don't get extra credit for making the game harder than it needs to be.
Come off a screen. Cut for a layup. Let a teammate create an easy shot for you.
And make the entire defense work.
When one player dominates the basketball, the other four defenders can spend a lot of time standing in help positions.
But when five players are screening, cutting, and moving the ball, all five defenders have to work.
Even when you miss, you've made them chase, recover, and box out.
Make them work for four quarters. Not just one possession.
CLOSING TIME.
Now it's the final three or four minutes.
Your opponent can't simply abandon your corner shooter or ignore the screener slipping to the basket.
And your leading scorer?
He's got something left in the tank.
He's gotten easier baskets throughout the game instead of trying to create everything himself.
And now he has room to operate.
It's closing time.
Sometimes this is exactly when you need your best player to go get a bucket.
The other four players have helped put him in a position to deliver.
FIVE PLAYERS. ONE BASKETBALL.
I love individual skill development. I've built a huge part of my life around it.
But eventually, everything we've developed has to work alongside four teammates.
That doesn't mean equal shots. It means understanding how your strengths make others better.
So if your kid is the leading scorer, ask:
How did you help your teammates become more dangerous tonight?
And if your kid isn't getting many opportunities:
What did you do to make yourself a threat?
Because a player can score 30 and make everybody else better.
And sometimes a player can score four and change the entire game.
Scoring 30 points is impressive.
But whether you score 30 or four, understanding how to make those points matter? That's a different level of basketball.
Basketball is Good. God is Greater.