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

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

🗓This is the 194th straight Sunday of the newsletter! All past deep-dive articles are available in the Coaches Corner for members of SG Plus.

ICYMI: Last week, we looked at Moncho Fernandez's screening automatics against Ice Defense in the empty-side ballscreen. View the breakdown HERE.

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This Week at a Glance:

🔒 SG Plus Content: May Coaches Roundtable - Offensive Efficiency & Practice Evaluation​

🎤 Slappin' Glass Podcast: John Beilein​

🥇Best of the Week: Grenade Flares & BLOB RIP Screens​

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Let's dive in...

Offensive Efficiency & Practice Evaluation

Ahhh... summer...finally some time for a little relaxation, special projects, and studying how to gain an edge over the rest of the conference next season. We're taking a slight detour this week to highlight one of our favorite, and what some members call most valuable parts of SG Plus, our Coaches Roundtable Series. These intimate discussion with coaches from all levels offer the ability to share, connect and learn from others on relevant topics that most of us are thinking about between trips to the lake, Vegas, and recruiting events this summer.

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Start, Sub, or Sit?” Increasing Efficiency - Spacing / Shot Selection / Pace

One of the major interests around the SG Offices (garages) this offseason has been in studying the most efficient offenses from around the world last season. This includes looking at play types {🎙}, actions, players, etc. So, to continue scratching that itch and gain some wisdom from our own members, we started the Roundtable with a "Start, Sub, or Sit?!" question for the entire group to gage their thoughts on creating a more efficient offense.

The question was...

What ensued was a thoughtful discussion around:

• The connection between talent, level, and pace of play?
• "Tempo" as opposed to "Pace", and how it relates to screening actions, transitioning between play types, "action to action", and more.

This part of the discussion also took a fun detour into screening concepts, arriving with separation, creating mini-closeouts, 4v0 to start practice, and more.

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Drills to Teach Concepts

After solving the efficiency problem, we then shared some of our favorite drills from this past season when it comes to Teaching Concepts. Many great examples were given including:

• Continuous 5v0
  • Including No Stoppage, Hockey Subs • Creating unusual lineups
• 4v4v4 Continuous
  • Giving the teams that are off avenues to talk and communicate.
  • Questioning the team after the drill.
• Using Constraints to Emphasize and Teach
  • Scoring Systems, Weighting Shot Types, etc.

Evaluating Practice and Late Game Coaching Mindset

To finish the session we had two great topics presented by different members about 1) how a coach can evaluate whether their team is on track when it comes to "practice-to-game" carryover of concepts, and 2) thoughts on late-game coaching and the overall mindset needed to be successful in making clear decisions.

For Evaluating Practice, some great points were given on:

• Time on Task? Emphasizing Values & Identity or Preparing for Opponent • If it doesn’t fit into these two things then not worth the time.
• Intensity & Competition
• Getting feedback from players
• Practicing live the day before a game
• "Get good reps" vs "feel good reps"
• And more

For Late Game Coaching Mindset, we discussed:

• Watching film and talking through late game moments with the team.
• Making as many decisions as you can before the game so you are prepared to make them in the game.
• Working with a Sports Psychologist as a Head Coach.
• Evaluating decisions post-game with your staff.
• And more

It was a terrific learning experience and thanks again to all the coaches who participated. This, and all previous roundtables can now be viewed now on SGTV when you become an SG Plus Member!

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

Just Play is the premier platform for engaging your team and managing workflow within your organization. Just Play consolidates the platforms you use and integrates with industry-leading video tools to help you win in four major areas: Teaching, Opponent Scouting, Prospect Recruiting, and Analytics. If you are interested in learning more, go to justplaysolutions.com/slappinglass.​

Slappin' Glass Podcast

We had the pleasure of sitting down this week with the great, John Beilein! Coach Beilein has been a Head Coach at every level from the NBA to HS, and shares with us his thoughts on the history, teaching points, and evolution of the 2-Guard Offense, the value of pivoting, and we discuss opponent scouts and beating a 1-3-1 Zone during the always interesting "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

📺 Posting Forwards - Grenade Flare​

"Revisiting one of our favorite actions for a shooting forward out of the post....the Grenade Flare."

✚ Pair With: Tenerife adding to the action by layering in a RIP Screen for the Flare Screener.

🔒 SG Plus Content: Facundo Campazzo's Post Mismatch Defensive Techniques.

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📺 Flex • RIP Screen BLOB​

"A sharp baseline out of bounds play: a flex screen seamlessly into a rip screen, creating tough-to-guard rim cuts and ideal scoring opportunities."

✚ Pair With: Murcia getting to the same action by curling a shooter into the RIP Screen.

🔒 SG Plus Content: Alba Berlin & Manresa using the Flex Offense in their SLOB's. Additionally, Olympiacos utilizing the Flex to set up their ballscreen offense.

Interesting Reads

📚 In Defense of Rudy Gobert​

"Despite the memes and mockery, the Minnesota Timberwolves center makes his team better every time he takes the floor."

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📚 50 Things I Know​

"I know that environmental influence is the most effective form of behavioral control. Accordingly, if you want radical change, radically change your environment. Being in the wrong city will cancel out years of self-improvement."

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📚 Lazy Work, Good Work​

"Look at famous thinkers who didn’t have to impress anyone by looking busy, and you see a theme: They spent a lot of time doing stuff that didn’t look like work, but in fact was stupendously productive."

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Join the conversation, gain insights from others, check up on previous newsletters and help your fellow peers! As we use this community of coaches to make ourselves and our teams better, get caught up on some of the latest conversations in the Coaches Corner. If you have not already joined the Coaches Corner, please check your initial welcome email for the invitation. Can't find it? Feel free to reach out to us, and we will promptly resend the invite.

Quote of the Week

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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