What many people consider to be one of the greatest teams of all-time, if not THE greatest team of all time, the 1985-86 Boston Celtics featured NINE Hall of Famers or future Hall of Famers in various ways, including "Old Testament" players Larry Bird and Kevin McHale, along with one of the greatest guards of the era in Dennis Johnson, along with 6th man Bill Walton. The stats and the eye test speak for themselves, but how great of a team was this truly? You tell us . . .

Really excited to share Babe Kwasniak's story with "Maverick Leadership", a new book highlighting taking risks in your leadership style. A good read detailing 20 different leadership styles, "Maverick Leadership" covers everything from coaching to business to military thoughts. Coach Kwas dives into the book and his own story and how "Maverick Leadership" can help any leader, including basketball coaches, be better at what they do!

We had alot of fun recording a Zoom podcast with three great coaches; Dexter Goodner, AC for Hastings (NE) WBB, Ryan Cahak of Tennessee United AAU program and Brandon Shaver, Boys HC at Lake Travis (TX)! We talked about a variety of topics, including practices in February and March, shooting drills, using the shot clock (kind of . . . ) and other topics! Enjoy this really fun conversation!

Featured in this edition of "The Notebook":

*Here comes KU Men's and UCLA Women's teams

*Potential #1 seeds in both tournaments

*The importance of the FT Line, team length and proper preparation for each game

*The NBA trade deadline

*Why girls basketball numbers are dipping, and some strategies to fix it

Episode #311 features Nick Thompson, the head boys basketball coach at Elkhorn (NE). Coach comes from a lineage of great coaches and has learned from some of the best coaches in the state of Nebraska. Coach discusses his journey, being selective in the jobs he applied for, why Elkhorn was the job for him, growing as a coach, building a fundamentally sound program, the importance of defense and more! This was a fun conversation with one of Nebraska's best up and coming coaches!

We've got a lot of great stuff to talk about in this edition of "The Notebook", including:

*College basketball achievements by freshman and old coaches

*Fixing collegiate eligibility

*Navigating up's and down's of January

*Preparing for late game scenarios

*Putting together your rotation based on analytics

ENJOY!

It is GREAT to have Mike Neighbors, the former HC at the University of Arkansas and current assistant coach for the Los Angeles Sparks, back on the podcast! Coach and I break down a bunch of different topics, including the new Refindex.com to help rate officials at the collegiate level. We also talk about the last year of his life, from getting let go from his dream job to moving into the professional ranks and we also spend some time talking about some of our recent favorite books. This was alot of fun to have on Coach once again!

Blake DuDonis is the lead Assistant Women's Basketball Coach at Fairfield University, one of the best mid-major women's basketball program in the country. Coach DuDonis and the Fairfield staff have a unique philosophy to their program, which he dives into in the podcast! Coach also talks about his basketball journey, going from a head coach to an assistant coach, the next steps for their program, offensive transition, special situations and more! This was a really fun conversation with one of America's up and coming assistant coaches!

Ryan Hintz is the head boys basketball coach at Blue Valley (KS) High School, where he has built a really consistent program. He comes on the podcast this week to talk about a bunch of different topics, including being a transformational coach and how to motivate young people today, growing as a coach, developing back to the basket post players, developing a solid youth program and much more! A really fun podcast with one of the best coaches in the Kansas City Metro area!

The latest edition of "The Notebook" features an extended discussion of "January Season" and how to navigate perhaps the toughest season of the year, including growing your own team. We also have a segment on game situations to cover and prepare for. Our last segment deals with "New Year's Resolutions" and how to best prepare yourself for the New Year and how to make yourself better. Enjoy!