Incirlik High School Basketball

INCIRLIK AIR BASE, Turkey -- Question: It appears that there is favoritism in the Incirlik American high school in regards to the basketball team, while recognizing not every player is talented enough to be on the floor at all times several of the team have earned the right to be on the floor but have not been given the opportunity to be on the floor until the game has degraded to the point that there is no chance of them winning.

Coach Daniels continually starts players that fail to show up to practice, when he sends letter home to the players that state if you are not in practice you will not play.

There are those that have shown up for every practice without getting playing time when others continually miss practice and are allowed to play...due to their height and father being a coach on the team.

You have those that are on the floor that are less talented than those sitting on the bench and the response is they are a senior and they are allowed to play. That's not what life is about, that's not what sports are about. The bottom line is that we are penalizing players that work hard every practice and only let them play when the game is at a point of already being over. Based on their height alone players over 6 ft, those players don't make all the practices which is one of the coaches own rules.

I don't mean to second guess the coaches ability, but I do have a problem with the blatant favoritism and it needs to be fixed.

Tip, I encourage you to come out and watch everything I've just explained and you will see for yourself everything I've outlined. Maybe that will aid in your decision to determining that coach's contract. The reality check is that I know he will not be fired but I would like you to take a look at the abilities of the coach.

Response: I will attend the 23 Jan game with the AMS. It appears you are looking for consistency in the approach the coach employs when determining the line-up on the floor, which I believe is reasonable. I fully appreciate the fine line coaches have to walk when it comes down to determining who to put on the field or floor.

As both a player and a coach I have lived this issue first hand in high school as well as at the collegiate level. The approach at these levels of competition usually comes down to putting the best combination of players on the floor most likely to produce winning results. On occasion, I'd take a malfunctioning star and put them on the bench at the potential cost of losing the game in order to make a bigger point and ultimately make the team stronger for the rest of the season.

As a youth league soccer coach my approach was generally different as I sought to achieve equity of play for everyone and prioritized winning a second to this objective. I do not know the specifics of our high school basketball coach's approach but will endeavor to learn and understand. As an aside, if we have a bunch of players not getting floor time maybe we should create a second team.

Give me some time to get smart on this one and I'll discuss options with the school with the objective of achieving consistency in our approach and greater transparency with our rational.