We are fortunate to have Dave Lepisto returning to the podcast for this episode. Lepisto is the head girls coach at Kimberly High School in Wisconsin where he lead the Papermakers to the 2025 Division 1 State Championship.

If you are like me, you’ve benefitted from one of the many resources Lepisto has shared over the years. Whether it’s teaching movement to youth players or borrowing actions and terminology for my conceptual offense, Dave has been a valued resource for me.

Topics in this episode include:

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We are fortunate to have Eric Fawcett on this edition of the podcast.

Fawcett is an assistant coach for the Edmonton Stingers in the Canadian Elite Basketball League. He is also a consultant for Division 1 basketball programs in the United States and pro teams around the world.

In addition, you can find his writing and breakdowns at different sites, including Slappin’ Glass.

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EPISODE BREAKDOWN

1:55 - Working as a basketball coach in Edmonton

3:20 - Practical use of analytics in determining team strategy

8:20 - Approaches for coaches without an analytics department

12:20 - Balance between personnel, opponents and familiarity of actions

20:55 - Creating strategies based off your season goals

23:00 - How analytic efficiencies find their way into team strategy

28:00 - Effective ways for coaches to convey efficiency to players

31:20 - Scaling a playbook to be effective while not overloading players

35:45 - Tips for watching film while game planning for an opponent

39:40 - Offensive trends for the upcoming season

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We are fortunate to have Colby Blaine back for this episode.

Blaine is the head men’s coach at the College of Idaho. He collected his second National Championship this past season with the Yotes. 

The title — College of Idaho’s second in the last 3 seasons — capped a 35-2 record that included a 25-game winning streak to end the campaign.

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EPISODE BREAKDOWN

1:20 - Sustaining success at UofI 

3:20 - Keys to connection in a program

4:50 - Overcoming challenges  during a title run

6:30 - Strengths of 2-3 vs. other defenses

8:00 - Getting players to think conceptually on defense

 9:30 - Placing players in a zone defense

11:30 - How defense factors into playing time

12:20 - Toughness & Communication in a zone

14:40 - Matching up against different formations

16:15 - Mixing zone with man defense

17:10 - Basic principles of the match-up zone

19:05 - More advanced concepts

20:00 - Handling cutters

21:00 - Skip Passes

21:25 - Flare Screens

22:30 - On-Ball Screens

24:40 - Allowing players to make decisions

25:15 - Harder to Guard: Post or Perimeter

26:36 - 1v1 at the high post

28:40 - Rebounding out of the zone

30:25 - Onboarding new players into the system

31:50 - Zone defense resources for coaches

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We are fortunate to have George Vaz on this episode. 

Vaz is a basketball coach based in Brazil. He’s also coached in Portugal and the England.

If his voice sounds familiar, it’s because Vaz is the current host of the Transforming Basketball podcast. He is also a clinician for Transforming Basketball.

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EPISODE BREAKDOWN

1:20 - What are Principles of Play (POP)?

4:05 - How is the POP presented to players?

6:05 - Identifying micro principles in your POP

8:35 - Building a POP based on Personnel

10:40 - How constraints tie into POP

11:45 - The role of Intent in building Small-Sided Games

15:40 - Keeping the focus the focus in SSGs

17:25 - What to do when things go wrong with a constraint

20:30 - Common constraints that don’t typically have an impact

23:25 - Building SSGs that fit your team’s needs

27:05  - Timeline for adoption in nonlinear learning

32:05 - Narrowing down the focus during practice

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We are fortunate to have Boise State basketball legend Roberto Bergersen on this podcast. 

Bergersen is an assistant coach at BSU, where he starred for the Broncos from 1996-99.

After a 11-year professional career, which included a D-League Championship with the Idaho Stampede, he was a co-founder of an extremely successful AAU program in Boise and was head coach at a prep school in Missouri. 

Before joining the Boise State staff, he started his college coaching career at Eastern Washington University.

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We are fortunate to have Matt Fletcher on this episode.

Fletcher is the head coach at Concordia St. Paul in Minnesota. 

The Golden Bears are coming off one of the most successful seasons in the school’s season, finishing with a 22-9 record, a first-ever conference title and a trip to the NCAA Division II Tournament.

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EPISODE BREAKDOWN

1:30 - Enjoying the growth of a program

3:15 - Coaching the program you have

4:50 - Recruiting locally

5:55 - Factors of adopting an uptempo style

7:50 - Playing quickly, but not rushed

9:35 - Shot selection as a team

11:20 - Recruiting decision making

12:10 - When teams try to slow down

13:50 - Creating & maintaining good spacing

15:20 - Perimeter spacing concepts

16:50 - Using SSGs for teaching spacing

18:00 - Developing practice plans & activities

19:50 - Using your best player as a spacer

21:50 - The big in early offense

23:35 - Flow after the initial trigger

25:15 - Replicating neutral situations after actions

27:30 - Communication in a conceptual offense

29:35 - Teaching the pace of actions

31:40 - Adopting NBA concepts

34:15 - Rebounding as a weapon

We are fortunate to have Ryan Lundgren on this episode of the podcast. 

Lundgren was one of the first coaches to appear as a guest back when the podcast started in 2020. 

At the time, he was the associate head coach at the College of Southern Idaho. Lundgren went on to serve as the head coach at Carroll College in Helena, Mont. 

Lundgren is now entering his second year as the associate head coach at Eastern Washington University.

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EPISODE BREAKDOWN

2:00 - Value of working as a high school coach

3:20 - Core Values of EWU’s offense

4:40 - Building an offense: System or Players?

5:40 - Identifying strengths with changeover

7:10 - The value of stats in offense building

10:20 - Using stats to determine summer workouts

11:25 - Film sessions with players

12:50 - Staff meetings on player development

14:05 - Summer timeline for installing offense

16:00 - The importance of 5v5 in teaching

17:25 - Decision-making against coverage solutions

19:00 - Game plans versus different opponents

21:05 - Process for making a change

22:45 - Coaching an “untraditional” player

24:50 - Playing off an “untraditional” player

25:55 - Quickfire: Attributes of Leon Rice, Jeff Reinert, Jeff Linder, Dan Monson

28:35 - Takeaways as head coach at Carroll College

We are fortunate to have Dan Krikorian on this episode. Krikorian finished his first season as the head coach at Chapman University in California, where he was a longtime assistant.

There’s a reason if Krikorian’s voice sounds familiar. He is part of the duo that makes up popular basketball coaching podcast Slappin’ Glass.

The episode focuses on offseason reflection and preparation. We also ask Krikorian how Slappin' Glass has impacted his coaching.

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EPISODE BREAKDOWN

1:15 - Evaluating the previous season

5:30 - Evaluating your own coaching

9:10 - Offseason timeline for coaches

11:40 - Utilizing assistant coaches during the offseason

13:25 - Decision-making process for next season

16:05 - Freedom within the structure

19:15 - When more structure is needed in-game

23:00 - Practice plan development in the offseason

25:00 - Decision-making as a fundamental

29:00 - Impact of Slappin’ Glass on coaching

33:40 - Dealing with expectations

We are fortunate to have Alex Sarama returning to the podcast.

Sarama is the author of Transforming Basketball, and the founder of an incredible coaching resource under the same name.

Sarama spent the last season as the Director of Player Development for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Before that, he worked in different capacities for the London Lions and the Portland Trailblazers.

In this episode, we focus on the idea of modern concepts for a double-big lineup.

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EPISODE BREAKDOWN

1:20 - The impact of motor learning on NBA players

2:55 - Principles of Play & half court efficiency

4:45 - Timeline between player development & in-game transfer

 7:05 - Playing with a double-big lineup

12:45 - Cutting as a concept vs. a motion principle

16:10 - Helping bigs develop modern offensive skills

17:45 - Unique spacing opportunities in a double-big lineup

19:40 - The dunker wheel as a concept

20:35 - Being OK with multiple “right” answers

22:10 - Teaching points in a Big-Big on-ball screen

23:35 - Rebounding responsibilities in a Double Big lineup

25:25 - Making rebounding an overriding Principle of Play

27:10 - Don’t end drills on the shot

29:05 - Implementing “sacrificial” cuts as a concept

31:00 - What’s next?

We are fortunate to have Doug Novak on this episode of the podcast.

Novak's contributions to the game are notable. Coaches around the world have benefited from his sharing of the game through various clinics and his website, CoachDougNovak.com.

This episode was recorded in-person after Novak completed a two-day clinic with players from Lake City and Sandpoint high schools.

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1:05 - Protection Plans as an Offensive Attack

4:00 - Giving players they need to succeed

6:35 - "Home Base" as a starting point

9:15 - Providing opportunities for less athletic players

10:25 - The importance of the Stride Stop

12:15 - Offensive Concepts out of Protection Plans

14:30 - Building breakdown scenarios

16:15 - Giving up some control as a coach

19:10 - Taking over a new program