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Slappin’ Glass Podcast- Coaching Wisdom (Part 1)

We’re 50 episodes into the Slappin’ Glass podcast and we can’t thank everyone enough for the continued support of the show.

As many of us turn to summertime coaching clinics, camps, seminars, and personal reflection, we are also spending some time digging back through many of the learnings and takeaways from the first half of 2021. We started with a full video of the “Mid-Year Top 10 Sets and Actions”, and over the next few weeks we’ll be highlighting some of the top X’s & O’s, quotes, and philosophies from guests of the podcast. 

For each podcast we looked at three Key X’s and O’s covered in the conversation, two key quotes, and one interesting “Start, Sub, or Sit?!” or “Overrated/Underrated?!”, as well as some “Extras” of videos we put out about the podcast.

Here we go…

January 1st – Liam Flynn on Critical Communication, Teaching Cutting, and the Battle for Space {Australian Pro Coach}

*Notes: This was the first episode we did the segment “Start, Sub, or Sit”. Coach Flynn was a real trooper trying this out with us and helping turn it into a staple of the show. 

3 Key X’s and O’s:

  1. Understanding “Wide Drives vs. Line Drives” Coach Flynn discusses how it’s important to understand and teach the difference between a non-threatening “wide drive” and a highly threatening “line-drive”. Teaching players to see and react to both drives has a major impact on helpside, PNR coverages, and switching. 
  2. Teaching “Split Cuts”: Coach Flynn talks about “teaching the concept before the action”, and with split cutting it is more important to “be tricky” and “deceptive” rather than worry about too many rules (who cuts first, etc.). Better to have cues and teach “where to look and what to look for.”
  3. Paying “Defensive Taxes”: This concept flowed from our conversation about “playing high in the gaps” defensively. Coach Flynn talked about how he was willing to give up a backdoor layup once or twice a game as a “tax” you pay for playing that style of defense, but that the positives far outweigh the negatives.

2 Quotes from Coach Flynn:

  1. On measurement of key stats: “I think measurement is really important in deciding whether something is good or bad. You can’t measure everything. You have to find what’s important to you. Generally, that comes from your style of play, your belief in the way the team should play. That’s generally where your numbers will be pointing towards.”
  2. On the “tax” for playing “High in the gaps”: Sometimes we gave up one, maybe two backdoor cuts per game, and we were like, that’s the tax you have to pay for being a great defensive team, because the other forty possessions of defense we were able to impact the offense by being higher…that’s how I’ll be coaching defense for the foreseeable future.”

1 Interesting “Start, Sub, or Sit?!

Question: “When preparing for an opponent, “Start, Sub, or Sit?!”: Video Scouting, a Scouting Report, or a 5 v. 5 WalkThrough?

Coach Flynn’s Answer: Start: Video… and 5 v. 5 walkthrough would be a game to game decision whether they also start or are the 6th man. The Scouting Report would be traded and nowhere near any playing time.

Listen to Liam Flynn

Liam Flynn Podcast Extras:

January 8th – Josh Loeffler on Competition, 5-Out Offense, and Building Automatics {Johns Hopkins}

3 Key X’s and O’s Takeaways

  1. The Value of Competitive Environments & Healthy Confrontation: Coach Loeffler discussed the value of creating, fostering, and maintaining a highly competitive environment where players are able to challenge and push each other in a way that builds the competitive level of the entire group. We also discuss how Coach Loeffler’s “Hustle Stats” aids in building these competitive environments.
  2. Setting a “Low Drag Screen” in Transition Offense: Coach Loeffler discusses why, when and how they would use a “Low Drag Screen” (below the free throw line) in transition. Setting the screen this low makes it difficult for a team to go under the first screen without putting themselves in a compromised position. 
  3. Entering offense with Pace: Coach Loeffler goes over why they emphasize entering their offense in “4 seconds or less” and understanding how to probe for early advantages in a 5-Out Offense.

2 Key Quotes from Coach Loeffler

  1. On handling difficult situations in real-time: “What your team is looking for in those (tough moments), is the path forward… a lot of it is the way we frame things… Players look to coaches for guidance and assistance to help them figure out how to succeed. As a coach you want to just be yourself in that moment…you need to try and take emotion out of it and figure out the best chance to succeed moving forward… and how do I convey that to the team in the most practical and helpful manner.”
  2. On advice from Dave Paulsen about career advice: “As long as you can, taking money out of the equation allows you to make moves that will surround you with the best people, allow you to grow as a coach and a person, and put you in a position to hopefully advance your career in the fashion that you like.”

1 Interesting “Start, Sub, or Sit?!”

Question: Actions to Attack a Zone… “A High Post Catch, an On-Ball Screen, or Off-Ball Cutting”?

Coach Loeffler Answer: Start… Off-Ball Cutting. Sub…On-Ball Screen. Sit…High Post Catch.

Listen to Josh Loeffler

Josh Loeffler Podcast Extras:

January 15th – Sam Dekker on How Players Learn, Process, and Execute the Game { Turk Telekom }

3 Key X’s and O’s:

  1. “In-game” communication of opposing team sets and concepts: Sam discusses some of his favorite ways coaches can effectively communicate tiny bits of information during a game that doesn’t overload a player on the court. Having key words or phrases that help trigger recall is key.
  2. The difference between healthy and toxic locker-room conflict: Sam dives into how great teams are able to have a healthy amount of conflict, and the ways great leaders navigate potentially sticky situations. 
  3. Reading and Attacking Closeouts: Sam talks about the differences and teaching points of attacking a closeout at the NBA and European level. Sam also dives into the reads and progressions that took him longer to get a feel for and the drills that helped improve his process.

2 Key Quotes from Sam Dekker:

  1. On understanding and developing a player’s role: “What are the skills that you need? What does every team need? What is your role? And once you figure that out, you’re not going to waste time with certain things in the gym in the summer. Work on what is going to make you successful in the game.”
  2. On learning to be present: “I’ve gotten better at being present. One big thing I live by is “be where your feet are”. Your feet can be somewhere but your mind can be somewhere else… mentally and physically I have to be in the same space. That’s been big for me and super important, and its helped me grow up.”

1 Interesting “Overrated/Underrated?!”

Question: Overrated or Underrated… “playing 3 v. 3”?

Sam’s Answer: “Overrated”… he sees the value at times, but doesn’t think coaches should put too much stock into it when making decisions about how good/bad a player is because there’s so much more space on the floor.

Listen to Sam Dekker

Sam Dekker Podcast Extras:

January 22nd – Will Voigt on Peel Switching, Servant Leadership, and Building Systems {Telekom Bonn/Angola NT}

3 Key X’s and O’s

  1. Implementing offensive systems: Coach Voigt discusses putting in his “absolutes” first before getting to deeper concepts and using the “Whole – Part – Whole” method to drill down on the things that matter the most. He also talks about how valuable competition is during the learning process and how it forces players to explore and push themselves.
  2. “Peel Switching” Philosophy and Rules: Coach Voigt talks extensively about the philosophy and rules of his “Peel Switching” defensive system. One of the main benefits of the system is that it allows the defense to keep “one on the ball” while also applying great ball pressure. There is a 30 minute segment in the middle of the podcast where Coach Voigt discusses all the rules and rotations of the system.
  3. Transition Offensive Actions for a 5-Man: Coach Voigt goes into the different ways he might use a trailing big and the reasons behind each. Discussion includes the Drag Screen, a Rim Run, and Reversing through the Big to the 2nd side.

2 Key Quotes from Coach Voigt

  1. On winning and connecting with people: “Your ability to connect with people is going to be more important than than your ability to come up with “peel switching” or whatever it might be. At the end of the day, if you take a group of guys and get them to play as a team and…with maximum effort, and play unselfishly, you’ll win.”
  2. On pre-game preparation: I think we spend maybe a little too much time on opponent’s sets when we don’t really know how much we’ll see them…If there’s a base (set) and we know we’re going to see it, great, but at the end of the day…if you stop your man 1 on 1 you’re in good shape. I think player tendencies are important, and on the other end of that, who can we attack? What are the matchups that we can exploit?”

1 Interesting “Start, Sub, or Sit?!” 

Question: The pre-game speech, the half-time speech, or the post-game speech?

Coach Voigt’s Answer: Start…Half-Time Speech, Sub…Pre-Game Speech, Sit… Post Game Speech

Listen to Will Voigt

Podcast Extras:

January 29th – Mike Martin on Unique 5-Out Actions, Forcing Left, and Seeking Knowledge { Brown University }

3 Key X’s and O’s

  1. Forcing Left or “Weaking”- Coach Martin discusses the key tenants and philosophy of “weaking” in half-court defense. We dive into how he teaches his teams to force players to their weak hand at all times and some of the analytics behind it.
  2. “Get Action”: The “Get Action” (pass and follow for a handoff) is an increasingly popular action at all levels. Coach Martin dives into how he uses the action within the flow of a 5-Out Offense. He also discusses his “number system” that helps his players communicate the types of screens and actions they can run in the half-court.
  3. Posting Guards within the “5-Out”: This conversation flowed from the “Start, Sub, or Sit?!” segment. Coach Martin discusses his love of positing a playmaking guard and the actions he runs to get the ball to the post.

2 Key Quotes from Coach Martin:

  1. On learning from other disciplines: “I think whether it’s a CEO of a company, coaches of other sports, I think you can take so many things from people who are not basketball coaches that if want to learn and grow and try and be the best you can be, seek anyone and anything out that you think can come back to fitting into how you do things with your program.”
  2. On investing in relationships with players: “A great coach once told somebody who relayed it to me ‘I’ll know I’m doing my job if I’m at your wedding.’ I want to be invited to a lot of weddings. We want to win championships, but we want to be at a lot of weddings.”

1 Interesting “Start, Sub, or Sit?!”

Question: Skills for the “Trail Man” in an Open Offense… Passing, Shooting, or Dribbling?

Coach Martin’s Answer... Start…Passing, Sub…Dribbling, Sit…Shooting (reluctantly…”he’s gonna play”)

Listen to Mike Martin

Podcast Extras:

February 5th – Jeff Van Gundy on Attacking Zones, Inverting Screens, and the Elements of Innovation { ESPN }

3 Key X’s and O’s 

  1. Inverted Offense & Posting Guards: Coach Van Gundy discusses some of his favorite actions when posting a guard, including setting an on-ball screen for a guard at the block. An interesting conversation about inverting parts of your offense. He also discusses some of the best ways to guard these actions on the defensive side of the ball.
  2. Attacking a Zone: We dive into some of the fundamentals of beating a zone defense at any level. Coach Van Gundy discusses flares, middle catches, and more. He also gives insight into why zones can be so successful at standing an offense up. 
  3. Building Winning Cultures: A discussion about building and fostering a winning culture from the top-down. Coach Van Gundy also discusses how the Phoenix Suns had arrived at having a winning culture with the arrival of Chris Paul and Monty Williams, as well as the fundamental pieces that Phoenix was building beforehand.

2 Key Quotes from Jeff Van Gundy 

  1. On balancing simplicity and complexity: “You gotta be as simple as you can without being too simple. And that’s hard too, to find the right balance between simplicity and ‘hard to play against’. But usually you’re hard to play against because your players are good and your players are relentless, not because you try and out-trick the other team.”
  2. On the privilege of coaching: “As I’ve gotten older, I wish I had a greater appreciation when I was younger for the privilege it is to coach. And I don’t care what level that is…to have an opportunity to lead people.”

1 Interesting “Start, Sub, or Sit?!”

Questions: “Late-Game PNR Coverages on a Middle PNR… Switch It, Trap It, Hedge and Recover?”

Jeff Van Gundy Answer: “It depends…against Bigger Wings “Switch” would Start, against PG’s or smaller guards, Trap or ‘Influence the Ball’…Sub… Hedge and Recover… Sit forever.”

Listen to Jeff Van Gundy

Podcast Extras:

February 12th – Michael Roll on Winning Locker Rooms, PNR Reads, and the Art of Shooting { Olimpia Milano }

3 Key X’s and O’s

  1. Pnr Reads as a Shooter: As an elite shooter, Mike talked about his reads and progressions when he’s the ballhandler in a PNR. Against the “Drop” he will look to come off and shoot. Against the hedge, which he is usually expecting, his first look is to the short-roller to let his teammates play 4v3. If he can beat the hedge, then his read is usually the low-man on the tag and he will look for the corner skip pass. 
  2. Stack/Spain Screen Reads: Mike walked us through his reads as the screener in the “Stack/Spain Action”. His reads are based off of the coverage, not dictated or premeditated. If the defense hedges the on-ball, he will slip out to provide an extra release pass for the PG as it puts his defender in a bind to help on the roll or follow him out. If the guards are switching and he sees his man on the inside, he will slip out to create confusion.
  3. Shooting Drills/In Season Shooting: Mike discusses quality over quantity when it comes to working on his shot during the season. He values small task or goal orientated shooting in order to create serious reps. Example, making 4 in a row or 7 out of 8.

2 Key Quotes from Mike Roll:

  1. On Shooting Slumps: “I work throughout the whole year to have this good shot… and then I am gonna get to the game and start thinking about, ‘I don’t think I can make this’…? It doesn’t make sense…go out and think your gonna make it and shoot the ball with confidence.”
  2. On locker rooms after tough losses: “…a quick talk about it after the game right after the coaches leave the locker room… and then you move on, the season is so long, there are so many games. You can’t dwell on the losses. You have to be prepared for the next game… keep your mind fresh.”

1 Interesting Start, Sub, or Sit 

Question: “When receiving a pass as a shooter, what’s most important… location of the pass, timing of the pass, or spin on the pass/ball”?

Answer: Start: Timing, Sub: Location, Sit: Spin (we had an interesting follow-up conversation about how he likes to have the laces of the ball when he shoots and how much it matters.)

LIsten to Mike Roll

Podcast Extras:

February 19th – Joe Boylan on Mindfulness, On-Ball Defensive Techniques, and Coaching Bench Players { Hoops Mind }

3 Key X’s and O’s

  1. Meditation, Mindfulness, and Emotional Control in Coaching: A great discussion from Coach Boylan about the importance of finding routines and practices that help maintain a level of emotional control throughout the course of stressful seasons. Coach Boylan discusses quick breathing and meditation techniques that he has found useful.
  2. On-ball defensive technique: Coach Boylan dives into his learnings from working with great defensive players like Jrue Holiday when it comes to guarding the ball. We discuss the “float step”, a “deep defensive stance”, “turning and running” and more.
  3. Coaching and Motivating Bench Players: We talk about ways to continue motivating and coaching players in role positions. Coach Boylan discusses pre-game workouts, honest conversations, and other techniques to help keep bench players locked-in.

2 Key Quotes from Coach Boylan

  1. On the “correct” defensive stance: “I made a video of Jrue Holiday, of his defensive technique. And what I saw was, the idea of a deep defensive stance, I used to call it the ‘universal athletic position’, that’s all I’d ever taught, that to defend you need to get low. That’s the key, ‘low man wins’, you’re quicker when you’re lower. Ya…I was wrong about that, because, it depends, it depends!”
  2. On helping players with anger/emotional on-court issues: “I know that the best advice means very little. It has to be practiced. So I try and bring awareness to it, I try and show them on film what they look like, I say ‘How does this benefit you? How does this benefit the team? Look at your reaction, and then look at the chain reaction that comes. Now look at your four teammates, look what they do…How is our group right now? What’s our focus level? Where is our attention at? And it’s a result of what you did. You’re leading by example whether you want to or not.'”

1 Interesting “Overrated/Underrated?!”

Question: “Overrated or Underrated… Catching in a ‘Triple Threat’ Position”

Coach Boylan’s answer: “Overrated…I think you should be meeting every pass on the move.”

Listen to Joe Boylan

Podcast Extras:

Crunch Time – David Gale

We were excited to dive back in for another “Crunch Time” film session with former podcast guest, David Gale, who spent this past season as the Head Coach of BC Nevėžis-Optibet in Lithuania’s top Professional League. As always, these “Crunch Time” film sessions analyzing late-game decisions and philosophy are jam packed with interesting and useful topics of study. Here are a few that stand out in Coach Gale’s session…

  1. Mismatch Hunting Down the Stretch: As Coach Gale states, “Lithuania was a lesson in (mismatch hunting)…You have a guy you want to go to and you’re finding a mismatch to get your guy the ball with someone else on him. In Lithuania there like ‘He’s the weakest defender, we have to find a way to go at that guy…I started going at mismatches more the longer I was there.” During “Crunch Time” we talk more with Coach Gale about his thoughts on finding ways, both complex and simple, of getting his most trusted playmaker and decision-maker the ball in late-game situations.
  2. Personnel Decisions: Figuring Out Who You Can’t Play EOG: Coach Gale became the Head Coach of Nevėžis midway through the season, and thus didn’t have a ton of practice time to figure out who he could trust during late-game situations. Coach Gale discusses how he began to figure out who he couldn’t play down the stretchduring this game and the reasons behind it, mostly because of the defensive side of the ball. Figuring out who not to play can be just as important as who you can.
  3. Offense/Defense Substitution Patterns and Timing: We dive into Coach Gale’s thoughts on subbing certain personnel for offense and defense, including when and why he does it. Discussion includes subbing after a Free Throw, and subbing for the ability to switch. 

Beyond these topics we also get into Nick Nurse’s “Football SLOB Set” he uses to get the ball in against pressure, guarding “Split Action”, the balance of attacking verse pressure or pulling the ball out when leading, the intricacies of fouling when up 3, and more.

Here is the entire “Crunch Time” Film Room Session with Coach David Gale, available for SG Plus members on SGTV…