How To Teach The ‘I’ Generation of Basketball Players

• By Grant Young

Youth basketball coaching has never been more difficult than it is today; especially when it comes to the ‘I’ Generation (the term used to describe children born between 1995 and 2012 who are growing up in the Internet age (therefore the letter I)).

With the access that these young kids have to the internet, it’s easy for them to convince themselves that they’re experts on the sport and don’t need to learn from their coaches. This, combined with the internal and external pressures that over-exposure to social media provides, makes them incredibly difficult to teach. 

Yet, there are coaches in the basketball world who have found ways to negate these negatives that the ‘I’ Generation has grown up with. One of those coaches is Jenny Boucek.

Coach Boucek is currently an assistant coach for the Indiana Pacers. Boucek, has been on the Pacers staff since coach Rick Carlisle took over coaching Indiana in 2021. Before that, Boucek was also on Carlisle's Dallas Mavericks staff, becoming the NBA's third female assistant coach in 2017. She was on WNBA coaching staffs from 1999-2017, including three years as head coach of the Sacramento Monarchs (2007-09) and three for the Seattle Storm (2015-17). As a player, Boucek played 10 games for the Cleveland Rockers in 1997, and professionally in Iceland. She played at the University of Virginia.

When Coach Boucek isn’t helping the Pacers prepare, she’s studying creative ways to teach the ‘I’ Generation. We have pulled some insights from her ‘What You Need To Know About Coaching The `I Generation’’ course, which was recorded when Coach Boucek was still with the Dallas Mavericks and which will give you useful tips on helping the next wave of basketball talent develop.

“I Generation” - Characteristics

The first component of Coach Boucek’s course is detailing some of this generation’s characteristics. 

“We cannot be a great, great, elite leader if we don’t lead from a place of compassion and empathy. And we don’t have empathy if we don’t understand,” Coach Boucek says. 

She then notes how this generation is experiencing spikes in depression, anxiety, suicide, and mental health issues, more generally. And there is a direct link between how much all people (not just ‘Generation I’) spend on social media, and their depression levels. 

Furthermore, Coach Boucek then discusses how, despite how “connected” members of this generation may be, because of their heightened internet presence, they’re extremely disconnected from not only other people, but also from themselves. 

This is important to understand because it can allow coaches to unlock empathy when trying to teach these players. Realizing that a player’s resistance to your wisdom and other selfish tendencies on the court may be because they’re dealing with anxiety or depression. Understanding that there’s usually more to a story than what you can see on the surface (and then showing compassion toward your players) will enable them to trust you, and allow themselves to accept your words. 

Some Suggestions

Coach Boucek offers a few fantastic suggestions when trying to get this generation of players more engaged and receptive of your teaching. Here are a few: 

- No phones allowed in the locker room or on the bus.

- Invest in them individually (spend more 1 on 1 time with each of them)

Taking the time to get to know each of your players not only helps you better coach them on the court, but it will also allow you to make a bigger impact on them off the court. If you show these players that you truly care about why they are as a person, rather than a contributing member of your basketball team, they will learn to trust you more. And the only for you to do this is by making a genuine effort to get to know them better. 

- Create an environment where it’s safe to make mistakes, and where players can be honest with themselves and with others. 

- Promote communication and ownership.

One way that Coach Boucek recommends to accomplish this is by breaking them up into small groups during practice or film sessions. Once you’ve done so, give them small assignments that require them to collaborate and problem-solve together. School teachers often utilize this technique. And while you don’t want basketball practice to feel like a school session, promoting communication is a great way to bring your team closer together.

- Ask them questions before you give them solutions.

Internal Feedback - Learning From Themselves

“The more the feedback can be internal, instead of coming from you as a coach, the more effective it’s going to be.”

Coach Boucek says that any time that the feedback you’re trying to instill within your players is coming from their peers or from the drill is extremely valuable. In addition, having peer leaders who share your values, and can communicate and exemplify those values to their teammates, is also extremely beneficial. 

What Coach Boucek means by making feedback internal is that, rather than just throwing instruction or critique at your players, make them recognize the critique themselves. 

For example, if you want a player to shoot with more arc, don’t just tell them that. Instead, try challenging them to make three straight shots, with the ball touching nothing but net.

This will subconsciously force the player to shoot with more arc. And it also makes for a fun task that will facilitate enthusiasm and engagement from your players. If you can get teammates to institute these types of challenges upon each other, then the culture you’re creating will inspire the “I Generation” to teach themselves.