Exploring basketball's best ideas, strategies, and coaches around the world

Happy Sunday and welcome to all the new subscribers this week, it's great to have you!

*Note: You're reading the free version of this newsletter. SG Plus members get access to every piece of content in this newsletter (plus thousands of hours more). Upgrade HERE.

Today at a Glance:

🏀 "Crunch Time" Returns with Mike Williams

🎤 Inside the Episode: Mike Williams

You can support and help other coaches find the podcast by giving it a rating and review HERE! Thank you!!

🥇 Best of the Week

📋 Jimmie Oakman Roundtable: Attacking Switching Defenses

Long Island Nets Assistant, Jimmie Oakman, joins Australian Pro Coach, Liam Flynn, and LSU Assistant, Cody Toppert, as the latest coaches to add their terrific clinic presentations to SGTV!

Let's dive in...

"Crunch Time" with Mike Williams

Capital City Go-Go Head Coach, Mike Williams, is one of the bright young coaches in the game, and we are happy to have him for a double header this weekend as both a podcast guest AND the next coach to deep-dive into some late-game film in an episode of "Crunch Time."

In his first season as Head Coach of Capital City, Coach Williams led the Go-Go's to the Semi-Finals of the G-League Playoffs and we sat down with him to comb through the last 3 minutes of their 106-103 victory over Grand Rapids.

This episode is packed with great thoughts and learnings on late-game coaching, as well as offensive and defensive strategy and execution in the areas of:

End of Game Strategy and Tactics:

"Inside Late-Game Timeouts", and Staff Decisions/Discussions
Understanding Your PG and How it Affects Late-Game Offense
Late-Game Play Calling and Half Court Set Execution
Late-Clock Isolation Spacing
Offense/Defense Sub Patterns
To Foul or Not-Foul Up 3?
And breaking down this great EOG SLOB set that helps secures the win...

The episode also discusses how Coach Williams prefers to defend DHO's, "Rocket Screens" aka "Baseline Exit Screens", and Empty Corner PNR Step-Ups, and offensively his thoughts on "Chase Action", aka Guard-to-Guard Pitchbacks, and setting random Backside Flares. As you can see, this episode is loaded.

One interesting area we wanted to further highlight in today's newsletter is our conversation with Coach Williams about seeking out an advantageous switch in late-game situations. In the game we broke down, it was in specifically trying to attack Grand Rapids' big, Tarik Black...

Attacking Tarik Black & The Battle for Ground

Throughout the "Crunch Time" episode, Coach Williams discusses deliberately running actions to put Tarik Black in a PnR. Though Black is a great rim and interior presence, he's not necessarily a strong PnR or Perimeter Defender. Capital City aimed to generate their advantages by attacking him in the PnR or on the perimeter should Grand Rapids switch. What determined the success of this strategy, and bears out in the video, is who won the battle for the "ground" in setting the screen.

In the opening minutes, Grand Rapids was able to erase a 4-point deficit by forcing Capital City into bad offensive possessions and getting out in transition. Part of the reason Capital City ran into a few empty possessions was Tarik Black's ability to "Cancel the Screen" (See Liam Flynn Clinic). Understanding Capital City was hunting him in the screening actions, Tarik Black won the battle for the screening ground in these earlier possessions by being physical and pushing the big out of setting a proper screen.

Zooming In: By pushing up and being aggressive on Capital City's 5 man, it became tougher for the big to set a screen with a proper angle in order to elicit the "over" and a response from Tarik Black. With the guards easily able to get under the screen, Capital City could not take advantage of Tarik Black's deficiencies and were left to settle for lower value shots.

However, the two biggest buckets for Capital City came when they were able to set their screens unimpeded and at a better angle...

Zooming In: As shown above, Tarik Black is unable to be physical or cancel the screen, allowing the big for Capital City to achieve a proper screening angle that forces the guard to go over and elicit the switch. Winning this small battle allows Capital City to achieve their prime objective of attacking Tarik Black on the perimeter mismatch.

This small battle for space pops up again in the fantastic EOG SLOB set the Go-Go's run to go ahead with just under 2 seconds remaining, (the story of how a replay review and seeing the defenses' initial alignment caused Coach Williams to change his initial play to run this one is well worth listening to in the episode. That conversation start at about the 19:10 mark of the video) here's the play again...

Zoomin In: In EOG clip, Capital City's big gains separation from Tarik Black by first faking a down screen to the corner before sprinting the midline for the actual screen for the ballhandler. This subtle fake causes Tarik Black to be a step late and gives Capital City's big free reign to line up his screen. With the proper location and angle of the screen, the offensive guard can "win the race" on the under, forcing Tarik Black to have to help. The domino effect of Black be forced to help on the drive is that Capital City's center is able to roll unimpeded to the front of the rim for the game winning put-back.

Maintaining Late Game Aggression

Always an interesting thought for discussion is how aggressive to be defensively late game? Coach Williams points out that earlier in the game they had experimented more with a drop coverage in the PnR, but by the end of the game were trying to be up at the level of the screen to try and force the ballhandler into a "wide drive."

Zooming In: Coach Williams talks about making the ballhandler uncomfortable in these PnR situations. With the predominance of Drop Coverage in the G League, the ballhandler's tendency when faced with a more aggressive coverage can be to beat the coverage with the dribble instead of the pass, thus playing into the defense's hands. Here Capital City is able to force Stauskas out of bounds in his attempt to turn the corner.

There are certainly more aggressive, trapping PnR coverages that teams deploy in late-game situations, but no matter how a team chooses to apply the pressure, two defenders will momentarily be on the ball. As always, it depends on your team/philosophy/personnel etc., but in a late-game situation, when an offense has drawn up their best play or wants to run an action for a certain player there can be real value in being aggressive.

How willing will the "Go-To-Guy" be to pass? Can the offense get to a secondary action? Will another player be ready to step up and take the big shot or make the right decision? In the closing seconds of this game, Nik Stauskas, (who was having a career 38 point night in which Capital City was having difficulty defending 1 v. 1) does make an incredible high hanging cross-court pass to a shooter who makes a tough, contested shot to pull ahead with under 5 seconds to go, thus setting up this game's dramatic finish shown above. Hat tip to the offense here...

Another great example of being aggressive in late game coverages comes from the other side of the Atlantic in Baxi Manresa's early season victory over FC Barcelona in which they elected to trap Barcelona in the backcourt with a 1 point lead and under 15 seconds to play. Here's that possession...

Zooming In: It is a question for sure of one's comfortability with risk, as Barcelona does end up moving the ball out of the traps to find a standstill three for Nigel Hayes-Davis, but, Manresa is able to dictate terms of the possession and force the offense to be reactive. As the lesser-talented team, Manresa was able to take Barcelona out of any action they may have drawn up in the timeout and forced them into being in a more uncomfortable and reactive situation in searching for the game-winning basket, and thus able to live with the result of the possession.

Here is this week's deep-dive and the latest installment of the "Crunch Time" Film Room Series with Mike Williams...

We are proud partners with InStat Basket, their platform has been a tremendous aid in producing our weekly breakdowns and this newsletter. With InStat we get access to their complete catalog of NBA, Euroleague, NCAA, WNBA, and International film. Coaches at every level can use InStat to prepare for opponents, self-scout, and develop players for the next level.

Followers of Slappin' Glass can now get a Free Month trial and 10% OFF the platform. Go to the InStat Form and enter the the promo Code SGPOD

Inside the Episode

As mentioned above, it was a double header this week with Capital City Go-Go Head Coach, Mike Williams, as he also joined us as a guest on the Slappin' Glass Podcast. In this week's "Crunch Time" film room session we were able to zero in on Coach William's late-game coaching tactics and philosophies, and the podcast allowed us to get a more 360 degree view of who he is as a coach as we deeply explored the areas of:

Career Growth from Student Manager to G-League Head Coach: We dive into the learnings and key takeaways from Coach Williams career trajectory from a Student Manager role at Maryland to his eventual hiring as the Head Coach of the Go-Go's this season. A great segment for young coaches especially!
Efficient Offense with a Below Average 3pt Shooting Team: This was one of the more interesting and informative conversations we've had in some time, as Coach Williams walks us through the ways he was able to push the Go-Go's into the upper echelon of the G-League offensively with a team that struggled to shoot consistently from the three. This is a situation many of us find ourselves in so the nuggets of wisdom about pace, shot selection, cutting, spacing, and much more are great here.
The Art of the DHO: Within our conversation about efficient offense, Coach Williams describes why the Go-Go's transitioned into using more DHO's as the year progressed because they were an average PNR team. We dive into the details of what makes for a good DHO, the areas on the floor to run the action, and how to use the Rescreen on "DHO Unders."
"Start, Sub, or Sit?!": In this always interesting segment we discuss the most difficult areas of coaching to manage as a first year Head Coach, helping cut down on turnovers, and much more.

Listen to the entire episode with Coach Williams here...

Listen to Coach Williams!

Official Sponsor of "Start, Sub, or Sit?"

As a Coach we understand you are always looking to maximize your time, which is why we are excited to bring you a special offer from Practice Planner Live. An easy to use platform that combines all the components of effective, efficient, and time saving practice planning into one. Create clean customizable practice plans in minutes to printout, view on your device, and share with your staff & players. Build your drill library, track your trainings and view how you allocate your practice time all with the click of the mouse. To experience how Practice Planner Live can benefit your program, take the 21-Day Free Trial now.

Visit PracticePlannerLive.com to sign up, Subscribers can receive 10% OFF their subscription with the Promo Code SGPOD.

Tactical

📺 Warriors & Lithuania NT - Horns Twist Flex

"Warriors opened the 2nd half of game 3 with this flex action out of the Horns Twist elbow entry also utilized by the Lithuanian NT during the 2015 EuroBasket Semi-Finals."

✚Pair With: Trevor Gleeson's Flex Offense with the Perth Wildcats and the Flex being applied by Manresa & Alba Berlin on SLOB.

📺 Pinar Karsiyaka SLOB - Moving the Tag

"A nice inbound action from Turkish Club Pinar Karsiyaka, masking their eventual PnR spacing in order to prevent the defense from establishing their coverage behind the screen."

✚Pair With: Our Deep Dive Breakdown on 12 Modern Ways to "Attack the Tag."

Interesting Reads

📚 Pat Riley's Empire

"Riley is more mechanic than messiah, truth be told, no matter the packaging. The work, the work, the work. He has always hidden in the work. Can’t quit. Won’t quit. Addicted to the fight. Still can’t talk to Jordan or Larry Bird, all these years later, because of the competitive scars they left a lifetime ago as they built the league atop their battles."

📚 How Patience Pays Off

"Most people, including us, are not naturally inclined to wait, to be content building energy and potential. In fact, 'progress anxiety' is a term regularly used around the office. We balk at the idea of passive, unproductive, non-strategic waiting and also believe that 'good things take time.' The quality of restraint is downstream from purpose."

📚 Ten Commandments For Living From Philosopher Bertrand Russell

"Find more pleasure in intelligent dissent than in passive agreement, for, if you value intelligence as you should, the former implies a deeper agreement than the latter."

We had a fantastic Clinic and Q&A this past Thursday with Long Island Nets Assistant, Jimmie Oakman, who gave a live film room session for SG Plus members on "Attacking the Switch." Coach Oakman zeroed in on a variety of PnR and 5 Out Delay concepts that teams across the NBA have used to run efficient offenses against a switching defense.

You can get Coach Oakman's clinic today on SGTV by becoming an SG Plus member, or by purchasing it for $23.99 here...

Jimmie Oakman Clinic!

“One of my guiding principles is don’t do anything that other people are doing. Always do something a little different if you can. The concept is that if you do it a little differently there is a greater potential for reward than if you do the same thing that other people are doing. I think that this kind of goal for one’s work, having obviously the maximum risk, would have the maximum reward no matter what the field may be.” - Seymour Cray

Thank you for reading and have a great week coaching,

Dan and Pat

info@slappinglass.com

Slappin' Glass

🏀 Attacking Switching Defenses...