Selecting a Squad

[Essen]

This Tuesday I'll be watching an open run of boys to select the U16 team for our high school.

I've never really done this and have usually just "inherited" teams. I know most of the players and have a reasonable idea of what I'm going to do with them, but my question is, what should I look for when selecting a squad?

[SLICE23]

Mate goodluck,
Definatley pick athletic players you cant teach athletism you are gifted with this but you can teach basketball !!!!
There is so many ways that coaches go about it ,my keep it simple stupid method is,
Athletism
Height
Talent & skill
Most importantley Attitude
players that can work together in a team.
Goodluck

mate, cant agree more..
player wise look for athletism, height, players with good balance, flexibility and agility...


also before selecting your high school team, find out what kind of kids tey are with their school work... you want players who are prepared to work and learn....

[Optimal Crime]

I disagree. At under 16 look for at least a few kids who can actually play. You don't want to feild a bunch of goobers who can't catch or shoot. I've played many an athletic team but you can always out pass and out shoot them if they have no skill.

who do you think as a coach you can teach and improve more.. a bunch of pretty decent players, or athletes with good attitudes adn work ethics?

[Btdg]

Essen, from my limited experience I reckon its good to remember you are picking a team, so work from that viewpoint. 4-5 guys will probably pick themselves; the most talented, the most athletic, the biggest, and most experienced etc. From there, you want to go with players who will complement these 4-5 and contribute. If you have 4 guards picked, you need some bigs; and if you are weak in the bigs you'll need a few to compensate. If your first 4-5 are talented but a bit slow you need some athletes, etc. Outside the top 4-5, though, attitude becomes very important - these guys are likely to be playing less minutes initially, or to be developing players so they need to have the right attitude to fit in.

At the end of the day, though, just use your instincts. Seems you know a bit about the game so at the end of the day, whatever you pick will probably be right!