A Pen And A Napkin

There's only so much you can control as a coach once the ball goes up, but one thing you can control is your dead ball huddles. In this episode, Tony and I discuss keys to a great huddle, how to practice them, how to communicate in a huddle, how to use your AC's and more! Along with that, we have trivia, a tribute to Jerry West, Dan Hurley's decision, updates on the finals and more! We also have a new guest making their podcasting debut!

Tim Capstraw, the longtime radio color man of the Brooklyn Nets, jumps on the podcast this week to discuss a bunch of different topics, including his time as one of the youngest head coaches in Division I basketball at Wagner College. We discuss the Nets, some NBA chatter, John Wooden, influential coaches, and a rapid fire segment on the current state of the NBA. Alot of fun talking with a great commentator who continues to invest in the youth of the region both on and off the floor!

Running a team camp or a league at some level in the summer time is a win/win for your program; your kids get to play while you also should clear a profit to help finance your program. But . . . what are some things that you should be doing to ensure that it is a consistent success? Tony and I break that down this week with a bunch of really good ideas. We also have trivia, a deeper breakdown of the NBA Finals, and a discussion on perhaps the saturation of Caitlin Clark, with Tony comparing it to my back fence (trust me, it'll make sense) . . . Enjoy!

In a series of short burst interviews, I have eight coaches this week discussing how they are looking to make themselves, their program and their coaching staff better this "Improvement Season"! We also dive into how they are going to go through that process, and with a couple of our coaches, we discuss coming off a state championship and how they are going to look ahead to the 2024-25 season. Alot of great stuff from these eight coaches!

I've always believed that you need to have three half court defenses; one man philosophy, one zone package and one junk defense. This week, Tony and I break down implementing junk defense, how to communicate the concepts with your team, different types of junk defense and some stories about how we implemented junk defenses. We also have trivia, TWIB (including an NBA Finals preview) and a tribute to the late, great Bill Walton.

In Part II of our two-part podcast with Alex Sarama, we dive deeper into "Transforming Basketball". In Part II, Alex dives into how to take the concepts of part I and implement it into your 5 on 5 game and your practice structures. We discuss conceptual offense vs. patterned offense and how to implement drills to make your player development practical during your practices. Along with that, we discuss optimal challenge levels, player development and much more! Enjoy the second half of our discussion!

In the first of our two part series, Alex Sarama, the author of "Transforming Basketball", jumps on the podcast to discuss his book. In the first half of the pod, we discuss Alex's background, the basis of his philosophy, challenging traditional views of basketball, solutions to your problems and much more! You're really going to enjoy this pod!

If you're interested in ordering "Transforming Basketball", here is the Amazon link to the book: https://www.amazon.com/Transforming-Basketball-Changing-Think-Performance/dp/B0CY438DZR/ref=sr_1_1?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.5LSpoTEMkWOCUpnWeK7jDA.HT5U8vEB_29TRMiCc7XXKUzjbhc0MGa2as5KmBSvXI8&dib_tag=se&keywords=alex+sarama+transforming+basketball&qid=1716903830&sr=8-1

Two of the most undertaught skills in the game of basketball is pivoting and passing. Inspired by the passing of Snow Valley legend Tates Locke, Tony and I discuss these two basic skills and give out around 10 of our favorite drills to help with your teaching of pivoting and passing. Along with that, we have "the ice cream man", trivia, NBA playoff predictions and WNBA news. Enjoy!

Longtime Division I AC and HC Randy Brown of Fort Dodge, Iowa comes on the pod this week! Coach Brown has been a life long learner and looks to impart wisdom from both his own experiences, positive and negative, and the experiences of others. We discuss networking, his influences, helping with the IBCA, "Elite Coach Mentoring", the skill of resilience and much more!! Great conversation with Coach Brown!

While most of us understand the analytics of "new basketball", we've also all discussed "the lost art of the mid-range game". In this episode, Tony and I break down ways that you can have your players work on their mid-range game, and we also discuss the importance of sharing the ball and how to get your team to buy into this concept. Along with that, we have our usual trivia, TWIB and a guest appearance by one of my favorite movie characters of all time!