# Ep 1966 Are You Coaching Your Bench… or Letting It Drain Your Team?

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/basketball-coach-unplugged-a-basketball-coaching-podcast-174496/ep-1966-are-you-coaching-your-bench-or-letting-it-drain-your-team
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/basketball-coach-unplugged-a-basketball-coaching-podcast-174496/ep-1966-are-you-coaching-your-bench-or-letting-it-drain-your-team.md
Podcast: [Basketball Coach Unplugged (A Basketball Coaching Podcast)](https://stenobird.com/podcast/basketball-coach-unplugged-a-basketball-coaching-podcast-174496)
Published: 2026-07-07T11:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://teachhoops.com/
Audio file: https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/p.podderapp.com/3154757013/pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.megaphone.fm/COMG5372909739.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/basketball-coach-unplugged-a-basketball-coaching-podcast-174496/episodes/ep-1966-are-you-coaching-your-bench-or-letting-it-drain-your-team
Duration seconds: 595

## Resource

teachhoops.com Episode Title: Are You Coaching Your Bench… or Letting It Drain Your Team? Your bench is never neutral. It is either giving your team energy or taking energy away. Too often, coaches focus only on the five players in the game while the players on the bench sit, pout, whisper, or check out. In this episode, Coach breaks down how to build a bench culture that creates readiness, energy, ownership, and team-first habits. Players do not magically become ready when their name is called. They become ready because they have been engaged the whole time. The bench is not where players disappear. The bench is where readiness is built. 1) EyesBench players must watch with purpose. They should be watching: matchups who is tired how the opponent guards screens where rebounds are coming off what defense the team is in time, score, and fouls 2) EnergyBench players must add life to the team. That means: clapping for teammates standing on big plays celebrating charges bringing positive energy staying connected when they are not playing 3) EchoBench players must repeat the team standard. Examples: “Sprint back.” “Next play.” “Get a stop.” “Hit first.” “Talk early.” Your bench should echo your culture. Body language spreads fast. One player pouting can drain the bench.One player checked out can impact the group.One player with bad energy can make the team feel divided. Players can be frustrated.Players can want to play more.But they cannot take energy away from the team. Play 5-on-5, but let the bench earn points too. Plus One For: calling out a screen early celebrating a charge reminding a teammate of the standard knowing time, score, and fouls bringing energy after a mistake Minus One For: silence pouting not knowing the defense negative body language checking out Once th…

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## Transcript

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