Not Getting the Playing Time You “Deserve”? Here’s Why…

Every summer, nearly every dedicated player who walks into the classroom on Day 1 at a PGC Basketball Camp raises their hand when asked, “Who would like a bigger role on their team this season?”

It’s an obvious answer for any serious, dedicated player.

The player at the end of the bench wants to get into the rotation. The sixth player wants to start. The starter wants more shots. And the second-leading scorer wants to become the player the offense runs through.

There’s nothing wrong with any of that. In fact, I hope every player has the ambition to grow into a bigger role (I know most players who attend PGC certainly do!).

The problem is that most players spend far too much time thinking about the role they want and not nearly enough time thinking about what would make them valuable enough to earn it.

They ask, “How do I get more playing time?” or “How do I get my coach to notice me?” or “How can I score more?” Those aren’t terrible questions, but they put the focus in the wrong place. Instead, I’d encourage players to ask something much more useful:

“What does my team need that I could become exceptionally good at providing?”

That question changes everything because coaches aren’t trying to distribute minutes according to who wants them most. They’re trying to solve problems. They’re trying to figure out which five players give their team the best chance to succeed.

If you want a bigger role, become one of the players who solves those problems.

Find a Problem Your Team Needs Solved

Every basketball team has needs. Maybe your team struggles to contain quick guards. Maybe you’re getting crushed on the offensive glass. Maybe your offense desperately needs another player who can consistently knock down an open three. Perhaps your team turns the ball over against pressure, lacks communication defensively, or loses its energy every time the starters leave the floor.

Young players often see those things as weaknesses in their team. Smart players learn to see them as opportunities.

If your team desperately needs rebounding and you become the best rebounder on the roster, you’ve created value. If your team needs someone willing to guard the opponent’s best player and you embrace that responsibility, you’ve created value. If your best scorer needs a teammate who screens, cuts, spaces the floor, and gets them the ball in the right places, becoming that player can make you incredibly valuable without adding a single point to your scoring average.

This is where players sometimes get the idea of “earning a bigger role” backward. They assume becoming more valuable means showing the coach more of what they can do. That often leads to more dribbling, more shots, more attempts to make spectacular plays, and more concern about personal statistics.

But becoming more valuable sometimes means doing less. Move the ball half a second sooner. Stop taking the contested shot. Defend without gambling for the steal. Sprint back in transition instead of complaining about the missed call. Set a screen that actually creates an advantage.

You don’t have to become great at everything before your role can grow. Sometimes you simply need to become exceptionally useful at something your team badly needs.

Alysha Clark’s career is a great example.

Clark had been an extraordinary scorer in college, twice leading all of NCAA Division I in scoring. But at 5-foot-11, the same role that allowed her to dominate as an undersized post player in college wasn’t going to make her indispensable in the WNBA.

So Clark evolved.

She became capable of defending multiple positions and embraced the responsibility of guarding some of the best offensive players in the world. She rebounded, developed into a dangerous three-point shooter, and found ways to impact winning without needing an offense built around her scoring.

In other words, Clark didn’t spend her professional career trying to prove she deserved to keep playing the same role she’d always had.
She figured out what championship teams needed from her and became exceptional at providing it.

That evolution helped Clark become a three-time WNBA champion and a two-time All-Defensive selection. In 2023, she won the WNBA’s Sixth Player of the Year Award with the Las Vegas Aces while averaging just 6.7 points per game.

Think about that.

One of the most valuable bench players in the entire WNBA averaged fewer than seven points.

Clark’s story is a powerful reminder that sometimes the fastest way to earn more opportunity isn’t to prove that you can score more. It’s to give your coach something your team can’t afford to be without.

The Difference Between Production and Value

One of the most important distinctions a young player can learn is the difference between being productive and being valuable.

Production is easy to see. It’s points, rebounds, assists, steals, and everything else that eventually finds its way into the box score. Those things certainly matter, and highly productive players are often extremely valuable.

But value is bigger than the box score.

A deflection can force a bad pass two seconds later without the player who caused it ever receiving credit for the turnover. A hard cut can drag a defender out of the lane and create a layup for someone else. A great screen can create an open three. A help-side rotation can prevent a shot from ever being attempted.

There isn’t always a statistic for those things, but good coaches notice them because they understand what actually causes possessions to be won and lost.

That’s why some players become incredibly difficult to take off the floor without being their team’s leading scorer. Their coach trusts them. They communicate. They defend. They make good decisions. They know where to be. They make the players around them better, and perhaps most importantly, the coach knows what they’re going to get from them every night.

That reliability creates trust, and trust creates opportunity.

If you’re frustrated with your role right now, then, don’t spend the next month trying to convince your coach that you deserve more minutes. Find out what would make you more valuable.

One of the best conversations you can have with your coach might be surprisingly simple:

“Coach, what’s one thing our team needs that I could become really good at providing?”

Notice how different that question is from, “Why am I not playing more?”

The second question asks your coach to defend a decision they’ve already made.

The first asks them to show you a path forward.

Then your responsibility is to take the answer seriously.

If your coach says defense, become a defender. If it’s rebounding, become obsessed with pursuing the basketball. If your team needs shooting, become automatic on the shots your offense actually creates. If your coach needs you to take better care of the ball, become the player they trust against pressure.

Become useful. Then become reliable. Eventually, you become difficult to replace.

For Coaches

When a player comes to you frustrated about playing time, resist vague advice like “keep working hard.” Tell them what becoming more valuable actually looks like in your system. Give them something specific and observable they can pursue.

A player can’t chase a target they’ve never been shown.

For Parents

When your child says, “I should be playing more,” your first instinct may be to decide whether they’re right. A more productive response is to help them move the conversation toward something they can control.

Ask them:

“What could you become so good at that your coach would have a hard time keeping you off the floor?”

That question doesn’t dismiss their frustration or tell them to settle for their current role. It redirects their ambition toward growth.

Alysha Clark didn’t build a long professional career by clinging to the player she’d been in college. She figured out what winning teams needed from her and became exceptional at providing it.

That’s the formula.

Don’t chase minutes. Chase value.

Figure out what your team needs. Become great at providing it. Build your coach’s trust and make the players around you better.

Do that consistently enough, and the conversation about your role has a funny way of changing on its own.

Keep THINKING the game,

Mano