Slappin' Glass Podcast

This week on Slappin’ Glass, we’re joined by Mihai Silvășan, head coach of U-BT Cluj-Napoca, for a deep dive into motivation, practice intensity, pace, risk-taking, and the daily work of building a team that can sustain success across a long European season.

Coach Silvășan shares how he thinks about motivating players at different stages of their careers, from veterans playing for pride and legacy to younger players trying to make the next jump. He details the standards he sets from the first team meeting, why mental readiness matters more tha...

In this week’s episode of Slappin’ Glass, we’re joined by coach developer and researcher Dan Clements for a conversation on building environments where players are motivated to learn, compete, and keep coming back.

The discussion starts with the difference between mastery-based and performance-based environments, and why the best coaches are able to chase results without letting every practice, conversation, and piece of feedback become purely outcome-driven. Clements details how voice, choice, task design, and differentiation can help players feel more invested in their own development, while still operating inside the de...

In this week’s episode, we’re joined by Dr. Dave Collins for a wide-ranging conversation on coaching, skill acquisition, practice design, and the importance of knowing when different methods fit.

As ecological dynamics, the constraints-led approach, cognitive science, and predictive processing continue to shape modern coaching conversations, Dave brings a balanced and practical lens to the discussion. Rather than treating any one approach as the answer, he pushes coaches toward a more useful question: what are we trying to achieve, with this group, in this moment, and why?

The conversation explores how coac...

In this week’s Slappin’ Glass Deep Dive, we go deeper into one of the most important offensive conversations in the modern game: how to attack switching defenses.

As switching continues to become a preferred solution for defenses at every level, offenses can no longer rely only on simply “getting the matchup” and hoping the possession solves itself. The best teams are finding ways to create the switch, organize spacing around it, and attack before the defense can load up, scram out, or triple switch its way back to neutral.

In this epi...

In this episode of Slappin’ Glass, we sit down with performance coach and leadership expert Rusty Earnshaw to explore the evolving role of the modern coach, from tactician to culture architect. The conversation dives into the concept of multiple mindsets, and how great coaches constantly shift between teaching, challenging, and competing environments, while also navigating emotional, tactical, and relational demands.

Rusty unpacks how elite coaches create shared language and mental models within teams, aligning both staff and players around clear expectations while still allowing for individual growth. He also introduces practical fr...

In this episode, we’re joined by coach Nick Pasqua for a powerful and honest conversation on resilience, leadership, and building a program from the ground up.

Coach Pasqua shares his unconventional path through the profession — from early success and landing a head coaching job at 30, to being fired after one season, and then taking over one of the most challenging programs in Division II basketball. Through those experiences, he unpacks the realities of coaching that often go unspoken: failure, self-doubt, identity, and the pressure to prove yourself.

We dive into the transformational less...

What You’ll Learn

Episode Summary

What actually decides late-clock possessions? And why do most teams break down when it matters most?

Cavs Associate Head Coach Johnnie Bryant joins the show to unpack how elite teams think about decision-making, adaptability, and communication at the highest level.

We start with constraint-based coaching...

In this episode of the Slappin’ Glass Podcast, we sit down with master storyteller and communication expert Clare Murphy to explore the powerful role of storytelling, narrative, and communication in building culture within elite sports teams.

Drawing on her work with organizations ranging from the Mission Critical Teams Institute to elite sports environments and NASA, Clare breaks down why stories—not information—are the most effective way leaders transmit belief, values, and identity to their teams.

Together we dive into how coaches can use storyt...

In this episode Slappin’ Glass welcomes back one of Europe’s most thoughtful and dynamic coaching voices, Andrea Trinchieri. Coach Trinchieri returns for a wide-ranging conversation on defensive identity, in-game coaching, leadership evolution, and the modern coach–player relationship.

With most teams deep into the season, the discussion begins around identity — and whether it’s ever truly fixed. Coach Trinchieri frames the basketball season as evolution, requiring adaptability, clarity of core values, and defensive systems that can toggle aggression without overhauling structure. From simplifying coverage to managing player psychology, this episode dives into the balance between tactical precision a...

Northern Michigan Head Coach Matt Majkrzak joins Slappin’ Glass for a deep dive into how structure can actually create freedom.

Coach Majkrzak walks through Northern Michigan’s unique approach to scripting games in four-minute segments, pairing substitution patterns with offensive play calls to give players clarity, confidence, and rhythm. Rather than scripting to control players, the goal is to simplify decisions early, allowing creativity, reads, and flow to emerge naturally as possessions unfold.

The conversation explores how layered offense evolves from simple foundations—like cross-screen/down-screen—into modern blends of Princeton concepts, ball screens, staggers, and moti...

In this episode of Slappin' Glass, we’re joined by storytelling and communication expert Philipp Humm for a deep, practical conversation on how coaches can communicate more clearly, persuasively, and memorably—especially under pressure.

Philip breaks down why how you communicate often matters more than what you say, and why stories—when used intentionally—can cut through resistance, build trust, and create lasting behavioral change. He introduces his simple but powerful P.A.S.T. framework (Place, Action, Speech, Thoughts), giving coaches a repeatable structure for telling stories that actually stick rather t...

What were the ideas from 2025 that coaches couldn’t stop thinking about—the ones that kept showing up in practice plans, film sessions, and staff rooms?

In this Slappin’ Glass Mailbag Episode, Dan Krikorian, Patrick Carney, and Eric Fawcett revisit the most compelling concepts covered by Slappin' Glass in 2025 as well as questions sent in by coaches around the world, unpacking how modern teams are creating advantages on both sides of the ball—and why the best programs are increasingly focused on flow, disruption, and continuity rather than isolated actions.

The conversation begins with a d...

In this episode of Slappin’ Glass, we’re joined by John Andrzejek, Head Coach at Campbell and former defensive coordinator for Florida’s national championship team, for a deep dive into the real trade-offs that shape elite defensive systems.

Coach Andrzejek walks us through how his defensive philosophy has evolved across stops at St. Mary’s, Columbia, Washington State, Florida, and now Campbell—highlighting the tension every staff must navigate between precision and pragmatism, technique and energy, and staying out of trouble versus thriving inside the scramble.

We explore the decision-making behind scrambling vs. anti-s...

Slappin' Glass sits down this week with the Head Coach of Texas MBB, Sean Miller! In this highly insightful conversation from when Coach Miller was at Xavier, the trio dive into Coach Miller's thoughts on all things about handling pressure, including playing through the "gray areas" of it, and discuss transition defensive concepts and teaching guards to hedge ballscreens during the always fun "Start, Sub, or Sit?!"

To join coaches and championship winning staffs from the NBA to High School from over 70 different countries taking advantage of an SG Plus membership, visit HERE!

This week on Slappin’ Glass, we’re joined by data scientist and creator of the rapidly growing college basketball analytics platform EvanMiya.com, Evan Miyakawa. Evan’s work has become a trusted resource for coaches at every level—particularly those looking to cut through the noise of early-season statistics and understand which metrics actually matter.

In this conversation, Evan shares how coaches can separate interesting numbers from useful ones, why certain teams have unique statistical fingerprints that predict success, and how lineup data can be leveraged far more effectively than most programs currently use it...

Episode Summary

In this episode, Slappin’ Glass sits down with Youngstown State Associate Head Coach Dwaine Osborne, one of the most consistently efficient offensive coaches in college basketball. Osborne — an eight-time Coach of the Year with a track record of leading the nation in effective field-goal percentage and offensive efficiency — opens the doors to his philosophy on building highly disciplined, analytically driven teams.

Across a wide-ranging conversation, Coach Osborne unpacks how he teaches elite shot selection, builds paint efficiency, and uses clarity-based concepts to help player...

This week on Slappin’ Glass, we sit down with Justin Bokmeyer, Director of Basketball Operations for the Brooklyn Nets, to explore how great teams build sustainable, high-performance environments.

With a background spanning West Point, MLS Next, and the NBA Academy, Justin shares powerful lessons on leadership, systems thinking, and developing people-first organizations that thrive under pressure.

🧠 What You’ll Learn

In this episode, Slappin’ Glass is joined by Ken Pomeroy and Jordan Sperber, creators of the course Basketball Analytics for Coaches. They dive into how data can sharpen decision-making, refine strategy, and help coaches think more clearly about how they play and teach the game.

🧠 What You’ll Learn:

1. Rethinking Pace
Why pace isn’t just about speed — it’s about possession quality and efficiency. Learn how teams like UConn and Alabama succeed with drastically different tempos, and why coaches should focus on avoiding late-clock possessions instead of simply playing...

In this week’s episode, we sit down with Coach Roy Rana — one of the most globally experienced minds in the game — to explore what it truly means to design a program. From his time with Egypt’s National Team and the Kyoto Hannaryz to stints in the NBA, Rana shares how he builds culture through intentional design, clear communication, and relentless attention to detail.

We dive into:

Samford women’s basketball head coach Matt Wise joins Slappin’ Glass to dig into creative problem-solving in coaching, why clarity must precede accountability, and how he recruits around an “IT Factor” of Intelligence + Toughness. Wise shares the frameworks he uses to build confident decision-makers—on the court and between the ears—from ball-screen pedagogy and vocabulary design to mental-state training (green/blue/red) that helps players arrive amped but focused. The conversation hits next-play tools (external communication > self-talk > breath work), defensive non-negotiables (positioning as “science,” offense as “jazz”), and a recruiting rubric that sorts prospects into...

This week, we dive deep into the psychology and physiology of high performance with executive coach and psychologist Dr. Sarah Sarkis, whose work spans elite performers in both sport and business.

In this highly insightful conversation, Dr. Sarkis breaks down how great coaches metabolize stress, regulate team friction, and build cultures that turn pressure into flow. From “stress audits” to boundary-setting and recovery habits, this conversation unpacks how coaches can create high-trust environments where teams—and leaders—thrive under tension.

Key takeaways include:

This week on Slappin’ Glass, we sit down with Marquette Men’s Basketball Head Coach Shaka Smart for a wide-ranging conversation on coaching, leadership, and building winning programs. Coach Smart shares his unique framework of awareness, acceptance, and action, detailing how these principles shape both his players’ development and Marquette’s culture.

We dive into:

This week Slappin' Glass welcomes Bob Richey, Head Coach of Furman Men’s Basketball, for a masterclass on sustainable program building, player development, and offensive innovation. Over the past eight seasons, Richey has transformed Furman into one of the most consistently successful programs in college basketball, averaging more than 20 wins per year while competing at the highest levels of the Southern Conference and beyond.

In our conversation, Coach Richey shares how his philosophy was shaped by studying leaders like Rick Byrd, Bob McKillop, Jay Wright, and Lenny Acuff, and how he’s bl...

In this episode, Belmont Head Coach Casey Alexander sits down with Slappin' Glass and breaks down his offensive philosophy, defensive evolution, and coaching journey. From assisted-basket strategies to player empowerment, Coach Alexander shares how three decades of culture and continuity shape Belmont basketball.

Offensive Philosophy & Efficiency