re: Is basketball hard to coach?

Football is a lot of position coaching and getting it all to work together. In basketball, you have less players on the court, so there aren't quite as many variables.

That being said, coaching basketball is difficult. You have to recognize what your players are doing right and what they're doing wrong. Changing a player's shot technique is difficult-- probably on par with changing a QB's throwing technique (see Tebow). Players have to know how to use their body based on their position, and everyone on the court needs to have a good basketball IQ because everyone touches the ball. A lot of that comes from practice and drills set down by the coach.

Players knowing when to foul, when to slow the pace of quicken the pace comes from coaching.