Welcome to another episode of the Championship Vision Podcast. I’m Coach Kevin Furtado, and today we’re talking about something that goes far beyond X’s and O’s.
We’re talking about building a program with an identity.
My guest today is Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame coach Kevin Orr, longtime head coach at Rice Lake High School.
Coach Orr has spent more than two decades building successful basketball programs, winning hundreds of games, conference and regional championships, and leading Rice Lake to back-to-back appearances in the Wisconsin Division 2 state championship game.
But today's conversation isn't really about the wins.
It's about culture, relationships, leadership, trust—and getting players to become completely invested in something bigger than themselves.
Kevin has a phrase that I absolutely love:
“All In or Average.”
We're going to talk about what that looks like inside a basketball program. How do you move players from simply participating to becoming fully invested? How do you intentionally teach leadership and character? And how do you create experiences where your players learn that being part of a team is about serving others?
Then we're going to take that culture onto the basketball court.
We're going inside one of the most unique defenses I've come across—the Squid 2-1-2 Pressure Defense.
Why Squid?
Because Kevin wanted five defenders to feel like 10 arms surrounding an offense—getting into passing lanes, creating deflections, forcing uncomfortable shots and making opponents feel like there was nowhere comfortable to go.
We'll break down the philosophy behind Squid, how Kevin teaches it, and some of the different ways Rice Lake can create pressure with GO, LAVA and GATOR.
But what really interests me is the connection between the two.
You can't play an aggressive, trapping defense without communication. You can't rotate without trust. You can't create pressure without effort. And you can't build something special with players who are only halfway invested.
That's where culture and basketball meet.
All In or Average.
Today we're going to find out what being ALL IN looks like in Coach Kevin Orr's program.
Coach Orr, welcome to the Championship Vision Podcast.