A Pen And A Napkin

Steve Selk, the GBB HC of perhaps the premier program historically in the state of Nebraska, South Sioux City, is our guest for today's pod. In this pod, we discuss stepping into such an established program, adjustments of a first year HC, offensive and defensive philosophy, scouting, crossover from baseball and a discussion on communicating with parents.

"Mental is to physical as 4 is to 1," legendary coach Bobby Knight once said. So how do we get our athletes to become mentally tougher? Here are some tips that may help out at least some of your athletes grow mentally and to help you, as their coach, understand why some players behave the way that they do.

I team up with good friend Casey Hall to discuss "The Last Dance". We discuss points and ideas that coaches can take away from "The Last Dance" to help themselves this next season, including team chemistry, multi-sport athletes, building a culture, work ethic and more. Then, we tackle the two debates; the best dynasties of the Jordan era, and whether or not MJ is the goat over LeBron. Great stuff!

Former Creighton Bluejay and the new Norris (NE) HBB coach, Jimmy Motz, comes on the pod to discuss a variety of topics, from winning a state title at a very young age to influences in his coaching path, along with the evolution of a coach, starting at a new program and what to emphasize and how recruiting rankings and modern technology has made things more difficult on high school coaching.

In part II, we discuss how to use practice to make your teams more aggressive, communication with your players and your parents, infusing your team with passion and excitement, and the things that you should focus on, including making everything competitive. Practice is truly an artform, and the more you practice at practice, the better you'll be!

The Head Girls Basketball Coach from Oakland-Craig (NE), Joe Anderson, comes on the pod to discuss building a consistent winner in a small community, balancing being a head coach in two different sports, how coaching football has helped his basketball coaching and vice versa, breaking down film and maintaining excellence dealing with catastrophic injuries to great players. Great information on this pod!

Practices need to be efficient and they need to be highly organized, but you also need to make sure that your players are having fun and having a great experience; we want to leave them excited to come back the next day. Here are some ideas to help build your practice culture to fit all of these concepts.

We all visualize ourselves being in the room, sitting across from folks discussing what your program will be like, but what needs to be done before you get there? In this episode, we discuss tips to prepare for interviews, what you should have ready and what you should expect during the process.

Bonus Pod! NBA Champion and accomplished author Kevin Eastman comes on the pod to discuss his unique communication style, the qualities of a great assistant coach, what makes Doc Rivers a great coach, discussion of his book "Why The Best Are The Best", how build team chemistry and much more! Enjoy one of the best in the business!

In honor of "The Last Dance", we dive into Phil Jackson's first coaching book, "Sacred Hoops", where he mixes stories from his playing days, his growth as a coach and how he worked to develop a championship dynasty. Mindfulness, vision and relating to players are all part of Jackson's plan of attack, and we sprinkle in a couple of examples from "The Last Dance" into a 20+ year old book. Enjoy!