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

Happy Sunday and welcome to all the new subscribers from around the world!

ICYMI: Last week we released UCLA Associate Head Coach, Darren Savino's, clinic on "UCLA's Defensive Concepts and Drills." View the full clinic newsletter HERE.

This Week at a Glance:

🔒 SG Plus Content: Kristopher Weems - Daily Skill Improvement & Communication​

🎤 Slappin' Glass Podcast: Darren Savino {UCLA}

🥇Best of the Week: High Slot Spacing & Inverted DHO's​

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Merging Skill Development & Gameplan Discipline

As we round the corner on our SG SoCal Coaches Summit clinic series, this week we spotlight longtime Golden State Warriors Assistant Coach, Kristopher Weems, and his presentation on "Daily Skill Improvement and Communication." Before heading to the court, Coach Weems shared insights from his experience on several key factors in building a winning environment, including:

• The impact of competition and confrontation in building great teams and cultivating leaders.
• Creating practice environments that afford players the opportunities to enhance and cultivate the environment.
• Taking time to not only talk through the practice plan but walk through it as well with your coaches, giving them space for feedback and opportunities to lead drills with the team.
• Recap the Week: Reviewing key aspects after each week, such as ATO plays, lineups, best possessions, offensive and defensive priorities, etc. The process includes not only discussing the week with the coaching staff but also providing players with a brief video recap that highlights key themes, concepts, and habits essential for team success. Additionally, they preview the upcoming week, outlining what will be important for the team’s progress. For example, if the coaching staff feels the team has been too loose with the 'No Middle' closeouts, clips of middle drives will be included in the video recap...

One key aspect from Coach Weems' presentation and court work was his thoughts and methods for fostering better synergy among video analysis, skill development, and gameplan discipline. By integrating these three elements within individual sessions, coaches can help players stay on the court longer and enhance their impact on winning.

Gameplan Discipline

In his presentation, Coach Weems emphasizes the importance of transitioning from film study to on-court application when helping players retain gameplans and defensive principles. He encourages coaches to guide players through different positions on the court to orient them to how their defensive stance and positioning should adjust based on matchups, location and coverages. For example, he highlights where they should aim to force the ball depending on court location, or how they should position themselves in relation to the location of the PNR...

Zooming In: In the above example, the Warriors aimed to send Anfernee Simons to his "weak" hand in the PNR, which requires Podziemski to ICE the ballscreen back to the middle. Taking to the court pregame, Coach Weems would walk Podziemski through his defensive stance on various ballscreens to check for clarity. Conversely, if working with Jackson Davis, Coach Weems would check for understanding and recognition of his positioning and defensive call based on the location of the screen.

Infusing Drills

While individual sessions can be used to help players with gameplan discipline, skill sessions can also be used to infuse micro-habits or team concepts into the repetitions. Such as finishing a rep with an offensive rebounding crash through the elbows...

Zooming In: In the "3v0 Quick Swing to DHO Drill" Coach Weems shows during the clinic, the weakside player crashes through the elbows on the shot. If the shot is missed, the drill finishes with a kick-out three-pointer, reinforcing the habit of "Dagger 3s" on offensive rebounds.

Coach Weems has a wealth of experience working with some of the best players and teams in the world, and his presentation at the Coaches Summit details a variety of important on and off the court concepts that can be used to build great programs. For much more from Coach Weems, SG Plus Members can now enjoy his clinic on SGTV...

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Slappin' Glass Podcast

We sat down this week with the Associate Head Coach of UCLA MBB, Darren Savino! Coach Savino has been at Mick Cronin's side for over 15 years helping build some of the best defenses in the country year after year, and shares his thoughts on those core principles and philosophies. The trio also discuss teaching methods in practice and PNR screening angles during the always fun "Start, Sub, or Sit?!"

Listen to the entire conversation here...

Together with Hudl

We're proud to partner with one of the best tech companies in the world of sports, Hudl! Every play, every stat, every breakdown. On their own, they’re essential. But all together, they’re undeniable. Hudl recently introduced their newest product, Hudl Instat – a new advanced data platform that integrates with Sportscode and every Hudl product you rely on to create an all-in-one data powerhouse. Hudl Instat’s advanced tagging and next-level stat reports help you develop your team – and its global film library helps you find the missing piece to get the most out of every second of film. Visit ​hudl.com/slappinglass​ to learn more.

Tactical

📺 Furman University - High Slot Brush Cut & DHO​

"Great use of the high slot spacing to create a downhill DHO for a cutter off the brush screen."

✚ Pair With: Another use of the high slot spacing to create a downhill catch for a cutter off the brush screen

🔒 SG Plus Content: Our "Film Room" session with G League Coach, TJ Saint, on unique offensive spacing concepts and the Dribble Point offense.

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📺 Finland NT - Inverted Burn & DHO​

"Using the rescreen to attack back toward the side of the 4-man, setting up a DHO from the corner."

✚ Pair With: Drake Head Coach, Josh Schertz, running an inverted step up screen for the 5-Man with a corner exit screen.

✚ Pair With: Last week's podcast with Finland NT Head Coach, Lassi Tuovi.

🔒 SG Plus Content: Our breakdown on the use of the Rescreen in the PNR to combat various PNR Coverages.

Interesting Reads

📚 Should You Just Give Up?​

"Burkeman isn’t saying that we should give up completely on our ambitions, hopes, plans, and so on. Instead, his idea is that acknowledging our limits will allow us to accomplish more of what matters to us while 'enjoying life now.'”

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📚 Indiana Coach Curt Cignetti's Approach for Constant Improvement​

"How you do something is how you do everything. You have to be fully committed to being the best you can be. Be a great team guy. Those are non-negotiable. Be early, do your best, improve as much as you can every single day."

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📚 How to Beat Worry​

"Worry is driven by the fear of uncertainty, and being aware of this fear is further acknowledgement that you don’t know what will happen next. You can tell yourself, “Hey, there’s nothing to be worried about,” but it will often feel like a form of self-deception. After all, the future is nothing but predictions and projections, and our tendency to imagine bleak pictures provides no shortage of things to ruminate over."

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Quote of the Week

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Thank you for reading and have a great week coaching,

Dan and Pat

info@slappinglass.com

We're proud to partner with the leading Sports Travel company in the basketball world, Beyond Sports! Follow the link above to learn more about why more than 600 universities have trusted Beyond Sports for their team's foreign trips. Let them know Slappin' Glass sent you!

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