πŸ€ Pause and Reflect


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

Happy Sunday and welcome to all the new subscribers from around the world! Today is the 198th straight Sunday of the newsletter!

ICYMI: Last week, we released live practice footage with explanation from the past season of a 4v4 "Play-It-Down" Drill. You can view the full video on SGTV HERE.

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This Week at a Glance:

πŸ₯‡ Mid Year Review

🎀 Slappin' Glass Podcast: Kevin Broderick on a Systematic Approach to Limiting Turnovers, Playing a Deep Bench, and Learning from Hard Truths {Nazareth University}

πŸ“š Interesting Reads

πŸŽ‰ Vegas Baby

We'll be back again at the Summer League hosting another great Coaches Social! As an SG Plus member you get an invite! A fun look at last year's event HERE.​

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Let's dive in...


Mid-Year Review

As the sunny days of summer continue to march on we're taking a moment this weekend to reflect back on all the deeper schemes, strategies, and technical details of the game we've covered over the past three months in our SG Plus breakdowns and newsletters that you may have missed while you were coaching, recruiting, traveling, vacationing, etc...

Below you'll find a short recap accompanied by the video, newsletter, and any extra added content we may have explored for each concept. For access to all of this content, plus thousands of hours more just like it, you can join our SG Plus community HERE. πŸ”₯ πŸ€

Best of the "Film Room"

πŸ₯‡ Nick Pasqua - Hybrid Ballscreen/Princeton Continuity​

"Converse University Head Coach, Nick Pasqua, joins us in the "Film Room" to discuss his philosophy and implementation of merging ballscreen continuity with Princeton concepts."

✚ Pair With: Our podcast conversation with Coach Pasqua.

πŸ”’ SG Plus Content: Our "Film Room" session with Baruch HC, John Alesi, on the Princeton Point offense.

πŸ—žοΈ Newsletter​ {Part 1}

πŸ—žοΈ Newsletter​ {Part 2}

πŸ₯ˆ Nik Popovic - Athlete Movement Prep​

"Recognizing that not every program or club has a full-time S&C Coach or access to the latest equipment, we collaborated with Adelaide 36ers Head of High Performance Coach, Nik Popovic, to create a video outlining several warm-up exercises that coaches can use within a 8-10 minute pre-practice warm-up."

✚ Pair With: Our podcast conversation with Nik Popovic.

πŸ—žοΈ Newsletter​

πŸ₯‰ Handling & Passing vs Pressure​

"Most handling and passing drills are stripped of the constraints, the context, and variability of in-game demands. Our latest "Modern Game Truths" series with The Pro Lane is meant to act as a menu of elements a coach can implement into training and practices to better prepare players to find solutions under pressure."

✚ Pair With: The use of the "Hook Pass" in attacking the hedge PNR coverage.

πŸ—žοΈ Newsletter​

Honorable Mention

​4v4 "Play-It-Down"​

"A 4v4 "Play-it-Down" explainer video, in which the defense must get a certain number of successful stops to finish the drill while the offense attempts to keep them in, leading to a highly competitive, game-like battle between the two sides."

✚ Pair With: Our podcast on Practical Thoughts on Ecological Design, Representative Environments, and CLA with Drew Dunlop.

πŸ—žοΈ Newsletter​

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Most Viewed Offensive Breakdowns of the Quarter

πŸ₯‡ Mark Pope - 5 Out Delay Multiple Big Spacing​

"A 5 Out Delay offensive spacing strategy when two bigs are sharing the court, beginning possessions in a 4-out-1-in alignment and flashing the 4-Man out of the weakside dunker to the slot behind the action to create gravity and free the rim."

✚ Pair With: BYU executing a slot PnR with a guard cutting behind the ball handler. Giving the PG the option to keep and attack or play to the pitch.

πŸ”’ SG Plus Content: Our multiple breakdowns on the Delay Offense.

πŸ—žοΈ Newsletter​

πŸ₯ˆ "Get" Rescreens - Middle 3rd Ballscreen Solutions​

"A look at guard Tamir Blatt's tactical use of the "Get" in the middle third ballscreen when navigating a Drop Coverage defense."

✚ Pair With: Slipping out early of the "Ghost" screen into a Get with the elbow big.

πŸ”’ SG Plus Content: Our technical breakdowns on the Skip Dribble and Hostage Dribble for smaller guards in the ballscreen.

πŸ—žοΈ Newsletter​

πŸ₯‰ Nikola Mirotic Transition High Seals​

"With the game valuing perimeter skills and tasking forwards/4-Men to defend on the perimeter more than ever. Unique opportunities arise for them to be the first ones out on a break & use their combination of size & speed to pressure their opponent's transition defense with seals at the rim."

πŸ”’ SG Plus Content: Our technical breakdown on bigs defending perimeter mismatches, or our tactical breakdown on "Hitting" perimeter mismatches.

πŸ—žοΈ Newsletter​

Honorable Mention

​Moncho Fernandez - Empty-Side Ice Automatics​

"Coach Moncho FernΓ‘ndez offensive strategy to punish opponents who attempt to "Ice" (force down to the baseline) the Empty-Side Drag Ballscreen."

✚ Pair With: Coach Fernandez attacking the switch with weakside flares.

πŸ”’ SG Plus Content: Pedro Martinez's Empty-Side Step Up Flow offense.

πŸ—žοΈ Newsletter​

Where's the Defense?

🧱 Multiple Defenses - 1-3-1 Trap to 2-3 Zone​

"A "multiple defenses" strategy in which the defensive possession begins with a 1-3-1 Half-Court Trap, then transitioning into a 2-3 Zone on a skip out pass, and ultimately matching up Man-to-Man on a high post catch."

✚ Pair With: Dropping into a zone defense on post mismatch catches.

πŸ”’ SG Plus Content: Running a "Free" Trap in the backcourt off the 5-Man.

πŸ—žοΈ Newsletter​

🧱 3-Man Side Zone Up - Defending Empty-Side Drag Ballscreens​

"An aggressive 3-Man side "Zone Up" behind an empty-side drag screen, with the rim and nail defender strong in their shifts and the 3rd defender playing the pass line on the 2nd side."

✚ Pair With: An excerpt from our podcast with Coach Igor Milicic on how he teaches his bigs to hard hedge in the PNR.

πŸ”’ SG Plus Content: Coach Milicic's 2-3 Match Up Zone.

πŸ—žοΈ Newsletter​

Thank you all for your continued support and if you have further questions or want to discuss any of these breakdowns with us please feel free to reach out at info@slappinglass.com.


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Slappin' Glass Podcast

We sat down this week with the Head Coach of DIII Nazareth University, Kevin Broderick! The past two seasons Coach Broderick's teams have been the best in the nation at limiting turnovers, and we dive into his systematic approach to doing so including "patient pivots", off-ball cutting, and more. We also discuss playing a deep bench and the benefits of a personal advisory counsel 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.


Interesting Reads

πŸ“š 6 Types of Meetings that are Worth Your Time (and 3 that Aren’t)​

"3. Problem-solving and brainstorming meetings

These two types of meetings are lumped together because they’re so closely related. You wouldn’t bother brainstorming unless you were trying to solve a problem, and you rarely solve a problem without a little brainstorming."

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πŸ“š Coach Paul Maurice is Entering Year 2 with the Florida Panthers, Looking for Even More Fun​

β€œLast January, I knew I had to get these guys to walk through a gate they don’t want to walk through,” Maurice said. β€œAnd then they did, and after that, it was just a whole hell of a lot of fun to come to the rink because you didn’t have to worry about anybody’s compete level. There’s absolutely no laziness here. I worked them so hard and they did the rest.”

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πŸ“š NBA Draft Grades​

"Looking at this year's draft class is like heading to your favorite steakhouse only to find out they’re out of steak. Sure, there are still plenty of other delicious options: your trusted bigs, two-way upside wings, and guards who can cook up their own shots. But there’s no Wagyu porterhouse like Victor Wembanyama last year. There isn’t even a consensus on which entrΓ©es are the best."

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Quote of the Week

β€œEvery great improvement . . has come after repeated failures. . . Virtually nothing comes out right the first time. Failures, repeated failures, are fingerposts on the road to achievement.” - Charles F Kettering

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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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Slappin' Glass

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

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