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

Happy Sunday! Welcome to all the newest subscribers from around the world!

ICYMI: Last week, we explored how extended Horns, Spain, and staggered actions are being used to attack full court pressure and create early advantage. Read the newsletter HERE.

This Week at a Glance:

🔒 SG Plus Content: Attacking a Switch - NABC Convention 2026​

🎧 Slappin' Glass Podcast: Nick Pasqua {Coker University}

👀 Podcast Guest Recommendations: Someone in your network a great potential guest? Let us know HERE!​

🥇 Best of the Week: Horns Pin Down & UCLA Entry​

Attacking A Switch

Our very own Dan Krikorian was in Indianapolis this past weekend presenting at the National Association of Basketball Coaches Final Four clinic (thanks to everyone who attended!!), tackling one of the most important questions in today’s game: how to attack a switch. Drawing heavily from trends across the European game, the presentation broke down a variety of solutions built around spacing, timing, and decision-making against elite switching defenses.

Today, we are releasing the full presentation exclusively on SGTV for SG+ members, where it will live alongside our full library of deep-dive breakdowns. If you’re looking to build a complete system for attacking switching defenses, this is one you won’t want to miss.

To give you a preview, here are some of the key concepts covered in the session:

How to actually attack a switching defense.

Pulling from trends across the European game, the session explored a simple truth:

Below is a quick look at one of the key ideas from the session.

Why Switching Works So Well

One of the reasons switching has become so effective is how easily it can stall an offense.

An action is run, the defense switches, and suddenly everything pauses.

• The offense pulls the ball out
• Identifies the matchup
• Begins to assess

But in that hesitation…the advantage disappears.

The defense:

• Settles
• Loads to the ball
• And often “scrams” out of the mismatch entirely

What started as an advantage becomes neutral.

Attack Before the Defense Can Organize

Because of that, one of the simplest solutions is also one of the most effective: Attack immediately.

The moment the switch occurs:

• The defense is still shifting
• Help hasn’t fully loaded
• The floor is at its most vulnerable

One example of this is attacking back into the space created by the switch before it closes, Drive the Wake.

But Here’s the Problem…

Even this isn’t enough anymore.

Modern defenses aren’t just switching…they're anticipating.

Which raises a bigger question:

• What happens when the defense is already loaded?
• What if the mismatch isn’t in a position to attack?
• And what if the defense removes the mismatch entirely?

Where Switch Offense Actually Breaks Down

Most teams approach switch offense the same way:

But against better teams, that’s exactly what the defense wants.

So What’s the Alternative?

The best offenses don’t stop at the switch.

They move it.

Instead of isolating…

They force the defense to:

• Guard multiple actions
• Make decisions in motion
• React across the entire possession

Because against elite switching teams:

The Layer Most Teams Miss

And this is where things start to separate.

Some of the best teams in Europe aren’t just reacting to switches…

They’re solving what comes after:

• How to prevent the defense from reorganizing
• How to keep mismatches from disappearing
• How to force breakdowns over multiple actions

Inside SG Plus, we break down the full system from the Final Four session, including:

• When to attack immediately vs move the mismatch
• The secondary actions that force all 5 defenders to work
• How top teams prevent and punish “triple switch” rotations
• And how to teach these reads through practice with clear progressions

Attacking the switch isn’t about one solution—it’s about understanding when to attack immediately, when to layer actions, and when to stay a step ahead of the defense. This presentation brings those ideas together into one complete framework.

🔐 Become an SG+ Member to watch the full presentation and all the accompanying breakdowns on SGTV!

Together with NABC

If you’re a basketball coach, you belong in the NABC community!

The NABC is the leading professional development and advocacy organization for coaches, serving over 5,000 members across all levels of basketball.

Why join? Members gain access to the NABC Convention and regional clinics, exclusive awards and mentoring opportunities, valuable discounts, and a voice in shaping the future of basketball.

If you're serious about growing as a coach and staying connected to the game’s biggest conversations, this is where you belong.

Become a member today and make your impact as a Guardian of the Game. Learn more HERE.

🎙 Nick Pasqua on Difficult Coaching Paths, Combining Euro and Princeton Offenses, and Efficient Player Analytics {Coker University}

In this episode, we’re joined by coach Nick Pasqua for a powerful and honest conversation on resilience, leadership, and building a program from the ground up.

Coach Pasqua shares his unconventional path through the profession — from early success and landing a head coaching job at 30, to being fired after one season, and then taking over one of the most challenging programs in Division II basketball. Through those experiences, he unpacks the realities of coaching that often go unspoken: failure, self-doubt, identity, and the pressure to prove yourself.

We dive into the transformational lessons that reshaped his leadership approach — moving from control and ego-driven coaching to clarity, adaptability, and player-centered communication. Pasqua details how simplifying standards, prioritizing effort and accountability, and embracing authenticity became the foundation for rebuilding culture and driving a historic turnaround.

On the court, we explore how necessity fueled innovation, including blending Princeton concepts with Euroflow motion to create adaptable, hard-to-scout offensive structures built around decision-making and spacing.

This is a must-listen for any coach navigating adversity, building a program, or striving to evolve their leadership.

🧠 What You’ll Learn

• How failure and adversity can accelerate growth and clarity as a coach
• Why authenticity and adaptability are critical to leadership success
• How to build culture through simple, consistent standards
• Creative ways to merge offensive systems to enhance decision-making

⏱️ Key Moments

[0:00] Intro + Pasqua’s journey begins
​[2:30] Landing a head coaching job at 30 and early expectations
​[5:30] First-year struggles: trying to be someone else as a leader
​[7:50] Getting fired and navigating uncertainty
​[10:00] Taking over one of the worst programs in Division II
​[12:00] The 2–26 season that changed everything
​[13:50] Breakthrough: transfer portal + 20-win turnaround
​[15:20] Leadership lessons: ego, communication, and player connection
​[18:00] Family conversations and deciding to keep coaching
​[21:30] Rebuilding a program: culture, standards, and accountability
​[25:15] The “3–4 rules” framework (effort, respect, accountability)
​[27:30] Start/Sub/Sit: merging Princeton + Euroflow concepts
​[28:30] Building offense through 3-man actions and structure
​[32:00+] Creating adaptable, hard-to-scout offensive systems

Listen to the entire episode below...

Together with Hudl

Hudl Powers Every Possession

If you’re already using tools like FastDraw, FastScout, or FastRecruit—you know how essential they are to your workflows. And now that they’re fully part of the Hudl ecosystem, they’re more powerful than ever. From film and play diagrams to scouting reports and custom recruiting boards, everything flows together. One system. Built for high-performance programs.

​Learn more about Hudl and their variety of products or subscribers to Slappin' Glass can also directly email Winston Jones of Hudl at winston.jones@hudl.com.

Tactical

📺 Horns Entry - Pin Down • Ghost Flare​

"A Horns dribble with pin down for the opposite corner, followed by a ghost flare screen on the catch."

✚ Pair With: A motion-based horns set designed to shift the defense before creating a top flare shooting option.

✚ SG Plus Content: Coach Oded Kattash empowering undersized guards to use a "Get" rescreen in the middle third to open up scoring and passing solutions.

🔒 UCLA Entry - Zipper Rescreen • Step Up​

"UCLA screen to rescreen the PG back to top of the key. Creating separation and momentum leading into the step up screen."

🔒 Pair With: Off the UCLA Entry, routing the guard directly into a Peja action and exit a shooter off a subsequent turnout screen.

🔒 SG Plus Content: Our defensive breakdown on how teams are using a weak/ICE coverage to defend middle third step up screens, pushing the ball back to the full side of the floor.

Interesting Reads

📚 The Radical Necessity of the NBA Nice Guy ​

But Mike Conley calls bullshit (in probably the nicest way possible). “People grow up thinking you have to have this certain type of edge in order to be labeled whatever star you wanna be or whatever type of player you need to be, to feel success,” Conley says. “But I find it quite the opposite.”

📚 The Thin Line Between Resilience and Self-Sabotage​

Psychologist George Bonanno, one of the leading researchers on resilience, has argued that resilience is not a fixed trait but a pattern of regulatory flexibility — the ability to choose different strategies depending on context. The paradox appears when resilience gets mistaken for a single strategy: to endure and keep going. This turns resilience into a rigid form of grit.

📚 Discipline = Freedom

Discipline is not a lack of freedom, it is a harmonious relationship with time...

Quote of the Week

Thank you for reading and have a great week coaching,

Dan, Pat, and Eric

info@slappinglass.com