Slappin’ Glass sits down with former Seton Hall and Manhattan College Head Coach, and current International and Professional Coach, Bobby Gonzalez. The trio dive into Coach Gonzalez’s successful career as a recruiter and evaluator of talent, the core philosophies and tenants of his full-court pressure system, and talk Baseline Out-of-Bounds plays, post moves, and watching film during the new segment “Over or Under?!”
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Bobby Gonzalez – Inside the Episode
We had the pleasure this week of sitting down with former Seton Hall and Manhattan College Head Coach, and current international professional coach, Bobby Gonzalez. “Gonzo”, as he is affectionately called, lent his wisdom on topics ranging from evaluating talent, pressure defense, to helpful and meaningful career advice. Sticking to our 3-2-1 format from the past couple of week’s Podcast Wisdom Newsletters, here’s a look inside the episode with Bobby Gonzalez.
3 Key X & O Topics
- Evaluating Talent and Finding Fit: Coach Gonzalez has long been known as a great evaluator of talent and finding players that fit into his system and style of play. We discussed the coaches he learned from when it comes to evaluating players, as well as some of the core philosophies that have guided him throughout the years.
- Full Court and Half-Court Pressure Defense: Coach Gonzalez dove into his Defensive Pressure System and the philosophies behind it. We discuss the different fronts, strategies, and special situations in which he would apply his constant man and zone pressure.
- Baseline Out-Of-Bounds Sets & Special Situations: During a new segment of “Over or Under” we discussed how many BLOB sets Coach Gonzalez would use for a season, as well as how he drilled and perfected the sets during practice.
2 Key Quotes from Coach Gonzalez
- On learning simplicity: “I think the biggest thing, as a young coach, you think you know all the answers. There’s a great line that says ‘The rookie sees the answers, the veteran sees the complexities, but the master sees the simplicity.'”
- On using practice to try new things: “From a leadership position, you can’t shy away from adversity and conflict. Practice is where you take risks. I think that’s where you can make your mistakes.”
1 Interesting “Over or Under” Answer
Question: “Over or Under, 2.5…the number of Post Moves a player should have in their arsenal”?
Coach Gonzalez’s Answer: “Under”… A go-to move and a counter is mostly what’s needed.