A Pen And A Napkin

If you do this job long enough, you're going to coach some players that are not a walk in the park to work with. This week, Tony and I take an extended amount of time to discuss difficult players, using NBA players to break down different personality types and traits to differentiate what makes a player difficult to work with. Alot of good stuff passed along in this podcast, along with our usual trivia and playoff breakdown!

AND WE'RE BACK!!!! "The Film Room" is back for the second season, and we lead off with a heavy hitter, the great 30 for 30 documentary "The Fab Five"! My friend Marc Kruger and I break down the documentary from start to finish, including some of the old categories while adding a few new ones. A great discussion on the legacy of one of college basketball's most famous teams!

Scott Guzinski, GBB HC at Oakland-Craig (NE) jumps on the podcast this week for a great conversation! We discuss building a philosophy based on aggressive offense and defense, along with how his philosophy has evolved over the years, building a consistent winner, how his stints as an AD has affected his philosophy and building a strong program through the weight room. Really good stuff from this year's Class C2 runner up!

DeLisha Milton-Jones, the head women's basketball coach at Old Dominion University and two time Olympic gold medalist, joins us on the podcast this week! Coach and I go through alot of different discussion points, including her evolution from a great player to a coach, her coaching journey, the influence of international basketball on her career, player development and much more. Terrific conversation with one of the all-time greats!

There are numerous reasons why you not only should be watching film in the off-season, but why watching film in your off-season needs to be done. In this episode, Tony and I go through numerous things you should be doing with your film. In the second half of the pod, we take a deep dive on the legacy of Steph Curry and our predictions for the second round of the NBA playoffs.

Coaching is about relationships and personal dynamics, and often times we associate that with our players, our parents and our administrators. An often forgotten group of people that you need to communicate with in a positive manner is your relationships with your other head coaches. In this episode, Tony and I breakdown different strategies and perspectives that you should consider when navigating these complex needs and relationships. Of course, we'll also have trivia and NBA playoff discussions, but unfortunately . . . no Chad Angel

Part II of our two-part podcast with Matt Kramer drops this week! This week, we jump more into Coach Kramer's philosophy as a coach, including taking care of the classroom, what you should be looking for (or not looking for) in a job, hiring assistant coaches, fundraising, "Run and Stun" and much more. Really enjoyed this episode with Coach Kramer, and don't forget to check out his books on Amazon!

Most quality programs in today's modern basketball environment have players playing for AAU programs, but it is part of our job, as high school coaches, to help our players with this process. This week, Tony and discuss things that you should be doing as a high school coach to make your players aware of when picking a program, including finding the right fit, financial considerations. expectations, development and much more!

In the first half of my conversation with Matt Kramer, we discuss both of the books that he has written; "The Best Laid Plans of a High School Basketball CEO" and "A Coaching Life". In our conversation, we discuss the origins of the books, building up his program, getting fired twice, coaching at a basketball factory, and other things! If you're interested in ordering Coach Kramer's two books, here's the Amazon links:"Best Laid Plans": https://www.amazon.com/Best-Laid-Plans-High-School-Basketball/dp/1457508087/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2RV5BN9HGWQM0&keywords=The+best+laid+plans+of+a+high+school+basketball+CEO&qid=1681737466&s=books&sprefix=the+best+laid+plans+of+a+high+school+basketball+c%2Cstripbooks%2C874&sr=1-1"A Coaching Life": https://www.amazon.com/Coaching-Life-Leadership-Journey-Best-Laid/dp/B0BW2SL4Q5/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=A+Coaching+Life&qid=1681737535&s=books&sr=1-1

Formal discussions and sit downs with your players are necessary to run an efficient program, to build trust and to show transparency within your program. This week, Tony and I discuss things that you should do in your exit interviews, things not to do and other ideas to help with your formal sit downs with your players. We also have our weekly trivia, an extended numbers discussion and the usual off-topic chatter. Enjoy!