A Pen And A Napkin

For most high school programs, the players that you have in your program are going to be pulled in multiple directions, whether that be by other sports, school activities or family activities. You have to show your human side and have some understanding, but you also have to hold players and families accountable for their non-emergency absences. In this pod, we discuss how to create a positive absence policy and how to clearly define repercussions, In addition, we have a quote from one of our Founding Fathers, Benjamin Franklin, and a discussion of the predecessor to Dean Smith at...

Ball handling and passing are two of the three ball skills of the Holy Trinity of player development, but they need to be emphasized DAILY this upcoming season. In this podcast, we discuss how you should implement ball handling and passing in your practices, ball handling techniques that you should be working on, and the difference between in-season and off-season development of these skills. In addition, we have a great quote from Coach Wooden and a study of one of the more underrated modern coaches who people often forget that he won a national championship!

As humans, most of us bounce back fairly quickly and strongly from failure, but where many of us get tripped up is when we experience too much success. In today's podcast, we discuss stories from my career of how success took off the edge, creating adversity in your team, anticipating adversity and more! In addition, we've got a great quote from the Roman philosopher Pliny the Younger, all while discussing the man who had more success than anyone else, yet remained grounded as a teacher his entire life . . .

Preparation is key for everything we do as coaches, but pregame scouting report information and implementation are vital to your team's success! In today's podcast, we discuss putting together scouting reports, what you should and should not include, how to present that information to your team and how to implement it in your practices! In addition, we've got a discussion on one of the great coaches and basketball influences of the last 50 years!

Each and everyone of us have our shortcomings, both as human beings and as coaches. Some of these shortcomings we are aware of, while many of these things we are not. In today's episode, we discuss our personal and professional "Blind Spots", what we can do to both diagnose them and make them a better part of our personality. In addition, we've got a great quote and a discussion of one of the all time greats, Adolph Rupp!

Newly minted as the women's head coach at Texas State, Chris Kielsmeier comes on the podcast this week to talk about a variety of topics, including program building, learning from tough times (including an early Covid-19 diagnosis), entering a new conference, fundamentals, building chemistry and much more! We also throw in a little Harry Caray for old times sake as well, so enjoy the conversation!

If someone is going to pressure you, you can't just break that pressure; you must ATTACK IT! In today's podcast, we discuss various ways that you can attack pressure defenses and make them pay for being overtly aggressive with you, things you should be implementing in practice to attack pressure and late game thoughts. In addition, there will be an "Attacking. Pressure" drill list and press breakers video on the next edition of "The Opening Tip" newsletter on Substack, so be sure to check that out to supplement today's pod! In addtion, we've got a great quote from Coach...

One of the golden rules of coaching is to not allow non-basketball things to trip up your career, and not taking care of your program's inventory is one of those things that you can control with simplicity. In today's episode, we talk about how to take care of your inventory, some important things that you should want and the importance of collecting inventory quickly. In addition, we have a great qoute, and we discuss one of the greatest (short) careers in coaching w/ Pete Newell.

As we wind down the summer and we give our players some time off from either AAU or our program (or both), we need to start planning ahead to when our players come back for individual workouts and how we're going to work with our players. In this pod, we discuss strategies for individual workouts, how to structure them and what you should be working on. We also have a great quote from workout guru Alan Stein and a re-examination of a legendary coach whose legacy is both confusing and also deceiving . . .

Especially when you are builing a program, you need to identify the teams that you NEED to beat, and this season will be true for every team. Who are the teams that you need to put in a little extra preparation and emphasis for tactically? What team is standing in the way of your team getting to where you want to go? Here are some thoughts on how to go about this process, including a great quote from Wayne Dyer and some reason why you should study Norm Sloan, one of the great forgotten coaches in our game!

Every program, in this day and age, has to do some modicum of fundraising to afford what was once considered extras that have now become mandatory expenses in a quality program. In today's pod, we discuss what to do and what not to do when it comes to the structure of your fundraiser, how to distribute those funds and what you, as a coach, should and should not be doing! In addition, we've got a great quote from Coach Meyer and a discussion on the "40 Minutes of Hell"!

Your "Improvement Season" progress needs to be measured and have an analytical component, so how do you do it? Not only do you need to have analytics, you also need to make sure that you're working on the right things, building culture and keeping things fresh for your program. In today's podcast, we talk about all of these things and more, including a great quote from James Clear ("Atomic Habits") and one of America's most underrated coaches (with a personal connection)!

Scott Gullion, the head boys basketball coach at Scottsbluff (NE) HS, comes on the podcast this week! Coach has a great story of coming back to his home region after his apprenticeship with Nebraska basketball and how he worked his way up the ranks, taking over the helm of the Bearcats 10 years ago. We discuss his influences, how he's grown as a coach, failures before success, reloading this season, scouting, program and player development and much more! This was a really fun conversation with an up and coming coach in Nebraska!

As Coach Meyer would say, it's not called "Zone Offense", it's called "Zone Attack"! In today's episode, we discuss various plans of attack that you should be implementing into your zone offesne, regardless of what you run. We also discuss one of my favorite drills that you can run to prepare for any zone defense in practice. In addition, we also break down a great quote by Robert Greene, and we discuss one of the greatest coaches that was at the same school for over four decades!

For most coaches, perhaps the most difficult relationship(s) that we navigate in our career is our relationship with our players parents. In this episide, we discuss ideas for a preseason parent social, the benefits of it, different ideas for running a social gathering and some outside the box suggestions for the coaching staff. In addition, we've got a great quote from James Clear, along with suggestions for studying one of our great modern coaches, Tara VanDerveer.

Rebounding is one of the two major ways in which you can create more opportunities on offense (the other is forcing turnovers), so today we're talking about one of the most important, yet one of the most primal skills of the game! We'll talk about different philosophies, along with the discussion of how to implement rebounding into practices. In addition, we've got drills for you to use, but you can't get those drills here . . . We've also got a great quote about rebounding and a coach to study!

One of the hardest things for any head coach to do, especially newer head coaches, is to delegate tasks and manage a staff. In today's podast, we discuss some tips on how to delegate authority on your staff, what you can do as an assistant coach to make your head coaches job easier and a discussion on a couple of mistakes that I made when I was not as "seasoned and experienced". We also have a great coach to study today that is one of the legends in the game and a great quote to help with today's topic!<...

In order to be successful at anything, let alone coaching basketball, you have to become organized! In this podcast, we talk about the importance of organization, how to get organized, what to prioritize and how to eliminate distractions. In addition, we have a great quote from Philip Dormer Stanhope and a coach study on a forgotten but absolutely terrific coach!

One of the most important things that you can do as a coach is to look back on your past experiences, both positive and negative, and adapt them to your upcoming team. In today's podcast, we're going to discuss some of the things that you should look back upon from last season and how you can apply it to your upcoming team. In addtion, we've got a GREAT quote and an underrated coach to learn about!

Hunter Price's first book, "Care to Compete", is a winner! In this episode, we discuss the origins of the book, its structure, the four different types of players that you usually have in your program, and how to build a culture in your program where everyone buys in and cares about what you're doing! This was alot of fun to break down this book with Coach Price, and I encourage you to go out and get a copy of it for yourself!

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The best way to learn is through previous experiences, to repeat the things that went well and to not repeat things that didn't go well. One of the best things that you can do is to take a good, long, hard, analytical look at your season last year and examine your successes and failures in all aspects of your program. As you do that, also be thinking ahead to the upcoming season; how can those lessons, for better or worse, make us better for the upcoming season? In addition, we've got a great quote, a great coach to study...

There wasn't alot of major planning on arranging topics with Hoops 365: A One Year Guide to Becoming a Basketball CEO, but one thing that was planned was that "Defensive Transition" was going to be the first X's and O's topic that we would cover, and that is the same for the "Win The Season" podcast! In this pod, we talk about strategies to build your defensive transition, why it's so important & how to implement it! In addition, we've got a great quote from Shane Parrish and a discussion on one of the best modern coaches of our time period!<...

Life is far too short to not enjoy what we do, so as you prepare for the upcoming season, are you still enjoying coaching your team and your program? Do you get excited to go to the gym? When inevitable obstacles get in the way of your program, do you have the necessary energy to fight for the good of the program? These are all questions that you need to ask yourself as you prepare for the upcoming season!

In addition, we've got a great quote to think about, along with all the reasons why you should...

The highly successful girls basketball out of Centralia, Kansas, Dusty Thompson joins the pod this week. Coach Thompson has built a highly successful small school program in Northeastern Kansas, and in this episode, he tells us about his program building philosophy, along with discussions on pressure defense, influences on his career, preparation, scouting and alot more! This was alot of fun to break down the game with Coach Thompson, so enjoy!

In our second consecutive Zoom roundtable, I whole-heartedly welcome back to the pod two of my dear Snow Valley Basketball School friends, Liz Kay and Nichole Dixon!! In addition to all of our inside jokes (including our newest "sponsor"), we discuss our favorite drills, advice that you would give to your younger self, what you're working on to make yourself better and important coaches that you've studied to make yourself better! Hope you enjoy listening to this as much as we enjoyed recording it!

Get your copy of Hoops 365: A One Year Guide to Becoming a Basketball...

The first of two June roundtable Zoom chats features Matt Thomas, the boys basketball coach at Highland (MO), Tom Stannard, the boys HC from Brownell-Talbot (NE) and Brandon Schwab, the girls HC at Algona Garrigan (IA). In this pod, we discuss building a culture, summer development philosophy, organizing a youth camp, favorite quotes and sayings and much more! We had a lot of fun recording this pod, and we hope that you enjoy listening!

Perhaps the greatest team ever to not win the championship at the end of their season, the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors have numerous buzzwords and phrases that bring you right back to a decade ago; 24-0, 73-9, "The Death Lineup" and "The Splash Brothers" amongst others, It was Steph Curry as unanimous MVP and close to his apex as a player who broke one of the great records in team sports; the Chicago Bulls 72-10 record. Without a doubt, this was a great team, but how great were they? Nate Wall, Jacob Brindle and I had our opinions, but...

I'm really excited to have on Tim Strauser, the head girls basketball coach at Gothenburg (NE) High School for Episode #330! Coach Strauser's program is known for pressure defense and fast paced offense, and he gets into both topics on this podcast. We also touch on his day job as a funeral director and how that helps him with his coaching, influences on his career, community service and connecting with the community, taking the next step and much more! Hope you enjoy this fun conversation!

Get your copy of Hoops 365: A One Year Guide to Becoming...

Harvard Men's Basketball Associate HC Mike Sotsky comes on the podcast this week to discuss a bunch of different topics, including his experiences with Duke basketball, winning a national championship in 2015, what he's learned from Coach K and Tommy Amaker, growing as a coach, defensive transition, favorite drills, game day procedures and more! This conversation was a lot of fun with one of America's up and coming coaches who is destined to have a great career!

Get your copy of Hoops 365: A One Year Guide to Becoming a Basketball CEO here! https://www.amazon.com/Hoops-365-Guide-Becoming-Basketball...

This bonus pod features the 2016-17 South Carolina Gamecocks, Dawn Staley's first national championship team! Staley had been knocking on the door of greatness, but she finally gets over the hump with this team, led by future WNBA super-duper star A'ja Wilson and a slew of terrific role players. The first team other than UConn to win a national championship in half a decade, Staley's squad got the job done in Dallas. Nate Wall, Jacob Brindle and I break down this team; it was a championship team, but was it a great team? You tell us . . .

Get...

Ryan Stanley is the new WBB HC at Union Commonwealth (KY) University, and he jumps on the pod to discuss his unique basketball journey, going through the interview process, melding AAU experiences with his new job, networking, player development, special situations, statistical analysis and a lot more! Coach Stanley has already made inroads in kickstart the Union program, so enjoy our conversation!

It's the day after Memorial Day, and we are officially into summer, so I thought it would be a good time to do a short, one-off pod on some things that are changing and things that are coming from APAAN, including:

*No more napkins! (But we're still sending stuff out there daily)

*Send me stuff so we can send it out to other people!

*"Win The Season" Podcast starting July 7th!

*The importance of daily improvement and "Hoops 365"

*Six goals that you should have for the summer

...

We had a lot of fun breaking down a bunch of topics with Josh Thompson, the head boys basketball coach at Bishop McGuiness (NC), "Weekday" Wade Coulter, the GBB HC at Gretna East (NE) and Jordon Klein, the WBB HC at Fort Hays Tech CC (KS)! We chat about a variety of topics, including the summer focus for each program, favorite drills, personal summer improvement and learning from higher levels. We had a blast recording this; I hope you enjoy listening to it!

"Woo, Pig Suey! Razorbacks!" was one of the most commonly heard chants of the 1990's as Nolan Richardson's 1993-94 squad dominated the season, finishing it up with an epic victory over Duke in Charlotte for the national championship. Led by Corliss Williamson and Scotty Thurman, Richardson's "40 Minutes of Hell" dominated the game while playing 9-10 players regularly. Myself and my co-hosts, Nate Wall and Jacob Brindle, had our opinions on this team, but as always, you tell us . . .

Liz Flooks, the women's head basketball coach at East Stroudsburg State (PA), is our guest this week! Coach Flooks has had a interesting career to this point and is one of the rising stars in the community. In this episode, we discuss her journey, her communication style, player development, practice scheduling, building a program and much more! This was alot of fun to record, so enjoy this episode!

We reopen "The Notebook" to look at a variety of topics this week, including the NBA Draft Lottery and predictions for the draft (one of my favorite days of the year), a quick preview of the WNBA season, tips to help run a good youth camp and make it productive for both you and the campers, "Range" and much more. At the end, I tease our big summer project that will be in more detail in the coming weeks!

Dr. Tony Miller, the head men's basketball coach at Bob Jones University (SC) and the host of "A Quick Timeout" podcast, jumps on the podcast to talk about a variety of topics, including teaching the game, small sided games, when is information too much information, influences in his career, transition and conceptual offense and much more! This was alot of fun talking with a terrific coach!

"The Heatles" burst onto the scene after "The Decision" by LeBron James and the simulataneous signing of Chris Bosh to join Dwayne Wade in Miami. What was once thought to be potentially one of the NBA's greatest dynasties lasted only four years, but it produced two NBA championships and one of the greatest seasons ever. In this episode, Nate Wall, Jacob Brindle and I break down this squad, it's forgotten depth, the 27 game winning streak and "The Shot" by Ray Allen? Was this a great team? We have our opinions, but you tell us . . .

A terrific coach originally from the Hawkeye State, Rob Brost is our guest this week! Coach heads up the program at Bolingbrook (IL) HS with the boys program, where he has built one of the most consistent winners in the state! In this episode, we discuss his journey, coaching his son, coaching the elite player, being the hunted, building great relationships, playing fast on offense and much more! A really fun conversation with one of the best out of the Windy City!

It was great to have on old friend Ryan Psota, the head girls basketball coach from Lincoln Pius X (NE) this week! Coach Psota discusses a variety of topics, including working effectively with his assistant coaches, winning multiple state titles early in his head coaching career, creating numbers in your program, not beating yourself and adapting to your personnel offensively. This was a really fun podcast as we went down memory lane a little bit, so enjoy!