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

Happy Sunday and welcome all the new subscribers from around the world! It's great to have you as part of the community.

ICYMI: Last Sunday we were joined by Drew Dunlop and Jake Grossman of the Pro Lane to help provide coaches with a framework and context for implementing decision-based drills into a warm up environment. View the full breakdown HERE.

Today at a Glance:

📺 SGTV: "Quick Show" Recovery - Ben Lammers {Alba Berlin} 🔓

🎤 Slappin' Glass Podcast: Andrew May {Snow College}

🥇Best of the Week: Pistol Staggers & BLOB RIP Screen​

📺 April Roundtable Replay now on SGTV! 🔓

Let's dive in...

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"Quick Show" Recovery Technique

Over the past couple of weeks we've had some interesting conversations with coaches regarding various PNR coverages teams have been using and the intrinsic pros and cons of each. One point that was discussed is the delicate dance of the "Quick Show" by the Defensive Big and the challenge of being able to both impact the ball while also protecting the rim with as little help or rotation required from the remaining three defenders. More or less asking the question: can a defense take all the advantages of a drop coverage plus be aggressive on the ball without succumbing to the inherent weakness of a trap or hedge? The answer... sometimes, or "it depends." The success of this coverage is largely determined by the IQ, athletic mobility, and technique of the Defensive Big. Those three traits are hard to come by, but luckily, we've got a guy, and his name is Ben Lammers.

Before we dig deeper into Alba Berlin's, Ben Lammers, and his ability to recover out of the Quick Show, it is worth mentioning that we have explored the Quick Show coverage before with both Alba Berlin and Manresa, analyzing both teams' unique approach to the coverage along with their defensive rotations around the PNR. But today, and in the video, we focus primarily on Lammers' technique in impacting the ball, taking away passing angles, and contesting at the rim {🔓}.

Job #1: Plugging the Downhill Gap

First and foremost, the ability of the big to impact the ball at the point of the screen goes a long way in making life easier in their recovery back to the rim. The aim is to take one quick lateral step towards the ball to present their body so the ballhandler is forced to take a split-second hesitation dribble, backup dribble, or best-case scenario, pick up their dribble entirely...

Zooming In: The question the Quick Show often poses is...what is the minimum level of aggression needed on the ball to yield similar results to a Hedge or a Trap? What Lammers excels at is his ability to read and understand the situation of his teammate in the screen when determining his aggression. For sure he never goes past the one-step show-out, but he does recognize when his teammate has gotten through the screen or has remained attached where he can play the coverage flatter and recover back sooner to the big.

This is an important understanding for the bigs to realize within the coverage. "Over"(too aggressive) or Under(not aggressive enough) Helping puts pressure on the big to be more precise in the recovery, or it does not do enough to deter the ballhandler from attacking downhill.

Job #2: Closing Passing Lanes

This is clearly the part where mobility is a huge factor in the success of this coverage, because after the show-out the big must turn and sprint back to the roller to gain back the ground momentarily lost when defending the ball. This is especially critical when teams attempt to attack the coverage with early slip outs...

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To further study Ben Lammers execution of the Quick Show coverage and his ability to recover, including:

• Protecting the rim
• Late rolls
• Recovering on the short roll
• Picking up cuts
• Defending the release pass

View the full breakdown now on SGTV, available only for SG Plus Members.

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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

What a great conversation we had this week with the Head Coach of Snow College MBB, Andrew May! Coach May is in his first year at the helm of one of the best Junior College programs in Utah, and we detailed his learnings and experiences since taking over the job. The episode is packed with great nuggets on:

• First Year Head Coaching Learnings: As we discuss in the episode, Coach May kept a journal of his thoughts, learnings, and mistakes in being a Head Coach for the first time. We spent the first portion of the podcast diving into some of the major takeaways he had this year including culture building, stress management, and much more.
• Mid-Season Scheme Changes: Within our conversation about Coach May's first season we discussed how he changed some fundamentals of their offensive schemes, as well as the reasons behind it. The insights in this section about how a coach can make changes specific to their team is worth the listen.
• Teaching Spacing: During "Start, Sub, or Sit?!" we discussed Coach May's teaching points in helping his players understand spacing. In it we detail 5 v. 4 drills and why he loves to use them as within his practices.

Please enjoy this week's conversation with Coach Andrew May...

Listen Now!

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Tactical

📺 Tenerife - Pistol • Stagger 4​

"Tenerife plays to a stagger screen for their 4-man out of the Pistol entry."

✚ Pair With: The Pistol RIP Flare for a shooting big.

🔓 SG Plus Content: Our recent breakdown on Deceptive Screening Actions for a Shooter by Tenerife.

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📺 Ucam Murcia BLOB - Curl RIP Screen​

"Curling a shooter to the rim to set up the RIP screen for the 5-man."

✚ Pair With: Western Carolina's late clock BLOB.

🔓 SG Plus Content: Our defensive breakdown on Sito Alonso's 5-Man "Spy" Defense with Murcia.

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Interesting Reads

📚 One Big Web: A Few Ways the World Works​

"It might sound crazy, but once you understand the basic principles of your profession, you might gain more expertise by reading around your field than within your field. Connecting dots between fields helps you uncover the most powerful forces that guide how the world works, which can be so much more important than a little new detail that’s specific to your profession.

And I’m telling you: The more you look, the more you start to see these connections everywhere. They are endless. John Muir once said, 'When we try to pick out anything by itself we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.'”

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📚 Jeff Van Gundy Appreciates Tom Thibodeau’s ’90s Knicks Comparison​

“What you learn over and over again in all facets of life, but particularly in sports, is never underestimate the relentless worker. I think Jalen embodies that. I always kick myself when I underestimate guys like that. And call me stupid once again, because I did with him.”

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📚 Thinking Something Nice About Someone? Tell Them.​

"Even well-known people. We assume they must hear it too much... but they do the hard labor of turning their ideas into something digestable, then brave public critique in the media, all for the generous act of sharing their work with the world. It’s not for the money, since they could make more as a banker. It’s for the deeper happiness of making a difference in people’s lives. So I think of it as my duty, when someone has made a difference in my life, to let them know."

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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

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