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

Happy Sunday and welcome all the new subscribers from around the world! We appreciate your support.

ICYMI: Last Sunday we highlighted a few different strategies offenses are deploying to attack aggressive stunts on off ball screens. View the newsletter HERE.

Today at a Glance:

🏀 Slappin' Glass Coaches Social @ the NBA Summer League!!

📺 SG Plus: "Crunch Time" with Tobin Anderson - FDU vs Purdue {🔒}

🎤 Slappin' Glass Podcast: Damian Cotter {Chicago Bulls}

🥇Best of the Week: Hammer Screens & Double Drag Gut Screens​

Let's dive in...

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We're excited to add another great benefit of being an SG Plus member as we're set to host an unforgettable Coaches Social/ Networking Event for NBA, FIBA, & College Coaches in the backdrop of the NBA Summer League with our friends from Coast2Coast!

Guests will enjoy an open bar, complimentary food, door prizes, & undefeated '23-'24 seasons.

This is an invite only event for SG Plus Members!

Space is limited and we expect a full house, so if you're interested in attending you can become a member of SG Plus and we'll follow up with all the details!

Join SG Plus

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*Special Note: Our partners for the Coaches Social, Coast2Coast Basketball, will be conducting their annual pro basketball exposure showcase July 12 -14 in Las Vegas following the Social. Coast2Coast showcases are widely considered the best in the industry so if you know of an aspiring pro player this showcase provides a great platform for them to be seen. The showcase also presents fantastic networking opportunities, so if you are a pro coach searching for players you don’t want to miss this event following the Coaches Social! For more information about the showcase and to connect with Coast2Coast visit HERE!​

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We were honored this week to be joined in the film room by former Fairleigh Dickinson and current Iona Head Coach, Tobin Anderson! In our latest edition of "Crunch Time," our late-game film series, we sat down with Coach Anderson to dissect FDU's historic upset over top-seeded Purdue in this year's NCAA Tournament.

Picking up the game with about 3:40 left in the second half, we examined all of the key offensive and defensive possessions, focusing in with Coach Anderson on the tactical execution and decisions within them. As always, Coach Anderson was an open book, sharing insights into how they defended and attacked Purdue's center, Zach Edey, late-game pressing, defending BLOB (Baseline Out of Bounds), their pre-game mentality and much more.

Below we have highlighted a few of the key conversations/takeaways from our session with Coach Anderson...

Defending Edey

No surprise, a big topic of conversation was how FDU was going to defend the National Player of the Year, Zach Edey. Beginning with a 3/4 front when the ball was at the top to a full front on the side with help loaded up behind Edey.

From there, the conversation shifted to where they would initiate the double-team and when they would do so. To avoid becoming predictable in their defensive coverage, Coach Anderson discussed empowering his players to make on-the-spot decisions regarding where they would send the double-team. Rather than designating a specific spot/player to double from, such as the top or baseline, the players had the freedom to choose based on the situation. However, it was crucial for the remaining perimeter players to support the decision made by whomever initiated the double-team. Undoubtedly, these decisions were influenced by the specific personnel on the court, and FDU was aware that there were certain players they would be more willing to leave in order to double-team Edey. As the game progressed and Purdue struggled to score from the perimeter, FDU became more confident in collapsing down on Edey, even leaving players they had initially intended to stay more at home on.

High Hands

Within this discussion Coach Anderson stressed the value of closing out with two high hands. These high hands are especially important when attempting to double a dominant post like Edey, as it makes every entry pass more difficult and buys time for backside defenders to provide coverage on the front. As we moved through the film, on every catch Purdue is met with two high hands...

Zooming In: Above is a great example of three straight catches being meet with high hands on the closeouts from FDU defenders. As Purdue's confidence in their shooting waned, FDU didn't necessarily need to apply heavy ball pressure on the closeouts. Instead, they focused on pressuring the passing lanes with their active hands and shorter closeouts. As Coach Anderson alludes to in the video, for the last 9 minutes Purdue struggled to enter the ball into Edey.

Attacking the Big's Dribble

Another point of emphasis in FDU's defense against Edey was the timing of their double-teams, opting to double immediately off a big or sending a guard when Edey began to dribble. This defensive mindset also lead to a number of 50-50 balls won by FDU late in the game.

Zooming In: With the guards conditioned to attack Edey's dribble they were able to win back the ball on Edey's offensive rebound.

Zooming In: Also, part of a bigger discussion we had we Coach Anderson on defending baseline inbounds, FDU's other big would collapse immediately onto Edey off the lob pass to try and poke the ball away.

Playing off the Pop

On the other end of the court, FDU's main objective was to try and attack Edey, forcing him to defend and move on the perimeter. Coach Anderson believed that this approach would not only benefit their offense but also have an impact on Edey's offensive production by wearing him down as the game progressed.

So, throughout the entirety of the game, and especially in Crunch Time, FDU put Edey in middle ballscreens and popped the screener. Coach Anderson then discusses how they wanted the ballhandler to take Edey as deep as possible before coming to a jump stop and playing the ball back to the pop. FDU's quickness coupled with Edey playing in a Drop Coverage led to some key rim attacks and open 3's down the stretch for FDU...

Zoomin In: The success of this strategy relied heavily on the ability of FDU's 4 or 5-man to make shots on the pop, take advantage of Edey on the closeout, or facilitate the next offensive action as Edey struggled to recover in time.

These were just a few of the insights and details Coach Anderson's shares with us in today's newest "Crunch Time" session. To hear Coach Anderson talk on these topics and much more, including:

• Transition defense
• Baseline inbounds and the "Sandman"
• Avoiding switches
• Late game press & traps
• "Fix it" situations
• Late game timeouts
• Sideline inbounds and trapping the 1st pass

Full video now exclusively available for members on SGTV!

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Together with Hudl

We're happy to proudly 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.

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Slappin' Glass Podcast

It was another fantastic week on the podcast as we had the chance to sit down with Chicago Bulls Assistant Coach, Damian Cotter! Before reaching the NBA Coach Cotter spent time at multiple levels of basketball and we dove into his thoughts on:

• Developing Tough Teams: We start the podcast by visiting the topic of toughness, and all the ingredients that go into developing it. You'll hear about kids playing against older kids when they're younger, late-game courage, and much more.
• "Messy Practices": Within our conversation about toughness we also visit the benefit of "messy practices", and how the great teams that Coach Cotter has been around all go through them. This was a great conversation about the benefits of not always trying to be perfect with practices.
• Defending Great Shooters: During "Start, Sub, or Sit?!" we ask Coach Cotter his thoughts on disrupting great shooters during different types of screening actions. Here' you'll hear the differences in defending Ghosts Screens, RIP Screens, Curls, Chasing vs Top Locking and more.

Listen to this entire great conversation with Coach Cotter here...

Listen Now!

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Tactical

📺 Rio Breogan - Post RIP • Hammer Screen​

"Creative post action out of the turnout entry, hammer screening the RIP screener on the post catch."

✚ Pair With: More Hammer Screens out of the post entry.

🔒 SG Plus Content: Our European Post Offense spacing and actions breakdown.

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📺 Double Drag Gut​

"A double drag into a stagger gut screen with spacing to create a single side shake off the curl."

✚ Pair With: Cody Toppert's Double Drag Screen series.

🔒 SG Plus Content: Reggio Emilia's Playbook design to attack tags.

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Interesting Reads

📚 The Seven Types of People You Need in Your Life to Be Resilient​

"You can build resilience in small moments of authentic connection with a range of people in your life. Sometimes we need empathy, but then too much of it can lead us to wallow in self-pity and not take steps forward. At other times, we might need advice on a path forward, a new perspective or just the ability to laugh at the absurdity of life. Here’s how you can find resilience in moments of microstress by reaching out to connections in your life and by making sure you have these particular types of connections in your network."

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📚 "Heat Culture is a Thing": From Butler to Barkley to Brunson, The Heat Way Warrants Praise​

"After the Heat’s 2020 run to the NBA Finals in the Disney bubble, team president Pat Riley — asked about Heat culture — said the standard remains being ‘the hardest-working, best-conditioned, most-professional, unselfish, toughest, nastiest team in the league. And I believe in it to the core.’”

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📚 Mental Health Training for School Coaches Should Be Required​

"'As athletes, we often confide in them about the personal things we may be dealing with -- the stressors, the trauma, maybe some of the problems we are having at home -- and often the coaches aren't equipped to help navigate those conversations'"

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Quote of the Week

Thank you for reading and have a great week coaching,

Dan and Pat

info@slappinglass.com

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