This week we’re joined by Head Coach Missy Traversi from Army women’s basketball. With over 16 years of coaching experience at all levels, Missy shares how she’s developed as a leader, been able to adjust her team’s style of play and how the culture at West Point has shaped her coaching.

Show Notes:
• Leadership
• Sprinting toward failure
• Changing style of play
• Understanding the analytics
• Generating the right shots
• Finding what will help your team win
• What others are doing well
• Controlling the pace of the game
• Next Right Thing
• West Point Culture
• Being the model for your athletes

More about Coach Missy Traversi:
Coach Traversi is going into her 4th season as the Head Coach for Army Women's Basketball. Previously, Missy spent 5 seasons as the head coach at Adelphi University. At Adelphi, she coached the Panthers to an 83-37 (.692) overall record, two NE10 Southwest Division regular-season championships, an NE10 Tournament Championship in 2017, and two NCAA Division II Tournament berths. 

In 2019-20, Traversi guided Adelphi to a historic season that consisted of a 27-3 overall record on her way to capturing All-Met Division II Coach of the Year honors. Winners of the NE10 Southwest Division regular-season championship, the Panthers were selected as the East Region's top seed in the 2020 NCAA Division II Tournament before the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the tournament before it began. Adelphi finished the season ranked No. 8 in the WBCA Division II Top 25 Poll.

She has 13 years of coaching experience ranging across the Division I, Division II, Division III and high school ranks. The Attleboro, Mass. native was a standout Division I player at the University of Maine from 2001-05 and played professionally overseas before beginning her coaching career.

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How does your team react when they face a high pressure defense? This week the discussion is around the habits, mindset, and principles you’ll want to instill next season in your players in order to be great at breaking and handling pressure.

Show Notes:
• Intro to Topic
• Teaching necessary skills and habits
• Flipping the mindset - Pressure is a facade
• Being the aggressor
• Making it part of your style
• Who passes the ball in
• Availability of the first pass
• Squirrel analogy
• 3 available receivers
• Attack out of first or second reversal
• Alignment and stretching the defense
• Why you should be a pressing team
• Role identification

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This week TJ and Sam discuss fundamentals, but maybe not in the same way you’re used to. They’re talking about how to develop and communicate core principles that set the foundation for your team’s success.

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If you want to better teacher of the game it’s important to understand how your coaching is received. This week the discussion is about putting yourself in the shoes of the learner so you can maximize your coaching.

Show Notes:

• Why focus on your teaching
• Overcoaching v. undercoaching
• Setting goals and creating a learning environment
• Connecting with players
• Continuous improvement in your coaching
• Understanding the psychology behind coaching
• Embracing the role of the learning
• Final thoughts and a challenge for coaches

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This week the discussion is all about playing time. It’s a topic that plagues most players and coaches all season long. How many players do we need or want in our rotation? How do we handle seniors who aren't going to play much? How do we communicate playing time decisions without closing the door to growth and adjustments down the road? How do we keep players who aren't in the rotation motivated through an entire season? - It's a lot to work through, but TJ and Sam share how we can navigate some of the toughest playing time decisions and reevaluate our approach every season to ensure we're maximizing our current team.

Show Notes:
• Thoughts after watching Team USA
• Coaching philosophies
• Managing egos
• Honesty and empathy
• The realist vs. optimist conversation
• How many in a rotation?
• Navigating challenges
• Other factors
• The Impact on player rhythm and chemistry
• The importance of communication and leadership
• The value of every player
• Challenges in implementation
• Adapting to the team's talent
• Who's to blame
• Closing thoughts

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This week Sam and TJ share 3 Preseason Mistakes you’ll want to avoid in your planning for the upcoming season and how you can begin preparing to have your best season yet.

Show Notes:
• Lack of vision
• Defining the win
• Reverse engineering weekly and monthly plans
• Role clarity for staff
• Humility, empower, train & delegate
• Building culture
• TJ's experience at Emmanuel
• Creating a culture plan
• Sharpening the axe

Interested PGC Coaching Tracks? - Click here: https://coach.pgcbasketball.com/tracks/

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This week Sam shares Coach Pat Summitt's Definite Dozen as the team discusses leadership principles that have withstood the test of time and how coaches can apply them to their teams.

Show Notes:
1. Respect Yourself and Others
2. Take Full Responsibility
3. Develop and Demonstrate Loyalty
4. Learn to be a Great Communicator
5. Discipline Yourself so No One Else Has To
6. Make Hard Work Your Passion
7. Don’t Just Work Hard, Work Smart
8. Put the Team Before Yourself
9. Make Winning an Attitude
10. Be a Competitor
11. Change is a Must
12. Handle Success Like You Handle Failure

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This week we discuss our topic comes to us from a question posed by one of our listeners as we discuss what it takes to incorporate new players into your team. When players leave and new players come in, how do you ensure that your culture as well as your systems and strategies are going to be the right for your current group? In this episode TJ and Sam share things you need to be aware of as you avoid growing complacent and seek to bring the best out of the group in front of you.

Show Notes:
• Intro: The Impact of Player Addition or Subtraction
• Acclimating New Players while Maintaining Confidence and Roles
• Starting from Ground Zero Each Season
• The Interplay Between Culture and X's and O's
• Adapting to Changes in Personnel for Long-Term Success

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This week our topic questions the behavior of basketball coaches on the sideline, simply, are we yelling too much as coaches? In this episode, TJ and Sam discuss the factors that lead to coaches yelling and if and when it’s necessary.

Show Notes:
• Introduction
• Expectations of a coach
• The best coaching happens in practice
• Difference between passion, anger, and putting people down
• Leadership and communication
• Demanding high standards
• Coaching effort and attitude
• Urgency and context of a game
• Teaching mistake reactions
• Getting more out of 'kids these days'
• Why NBA coaches don't yell
• Coaching insecurities
• Reacting to players and their response
• When players tune you out
• Striking the balance
• Reflecting on your experience

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This week, TJ and Sam are joined by Pastor Tracy Reynolds. With a Doctorate in Strategic Leadership, Pastor Tracy shares about the importance of second chair leadership, how not to get caught up in comparison or your next career move, and how you can thrive in your leadership role regardless of position.

Show Notes:
• Introduction
• Why this book
• Advantages of second chair leadership
• Navigating disagreements as an assistant coach
• When the grass isn't greener
• Embracing where you're at
• Synergy and collaboration in well-run organizations and teams
• Where first and second chairs get it wrong
• Final thoughts

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