re: Ways to Improve College Baseball - LSU Related

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timlan2057

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Baseball is a much slower paced game and therefore it is easier to observe and critique coaching decisions - what pitch to throw, steal, bunt, change pitchers, etc...

Basketball and football are much faser paced. Coaches in either of these sports are making decisions and adjustments the entire game, but the average fan may not realize it or know enough about the game to make a critique.

In basketball, coaches are constantly adjusting defending certain aspects of the opposing offense - pick and roll, when to double the post, zone versus man defense, applying pressure to ball handlers, etc...On offense, they are adjusting offensive sets to attack certain defenders or weak spots in a defense - when to run more isolation, when to work it into the post, pick and rolls against certain players, etc...These decisions are along with substitution patterns, when to foul, use timeouts, etc...

In football, coaches are calling plays on offense and defense. Along with the individual playcalls, they are observing a pre-determined gameplan which could be run heavy out of certain formations, focus on a specific type of pass play - screens, fades, etc... They are also changing blocking schemes, blitzing schemes, how to defend, a hot player, etc...This is why football has many more coaches than a sport like baseball, where one coach can make the majority of the decisions.

I would say that all the 3 major sports can be "smart person sports" from a coaching or observer perspective, but baseball is so much slower that the decision making is much more recognizable and easier to critique. This is not a knock on baseball, this is more of a nod to all 3 major sports.