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

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

ICYMI: Last week, we studied a 2-3 zone defense designed to effectively neutralize ballscreens through smart switches, maintaining size matchups and disrupting offensive plays. Read the newsletter HERE.

This Week at a Glance:

🔒 SG Plus Content: Stephen Halstead - Post Play Efficiency {Grace College}

🎤 Slappin' Glass Podcast: Preston Cline {Mission Critical Team Institute}

🥇Best of the Week: More Weaves & Barkley Drives​

📣 3rd Generation Coaching Mentorship, FINAL WEEK!

We are excited to announce the launch of our 3rd Generation Mentorship Program for all subscribers, starting next October, led by Obradoiro Head Coach Gonzalo Rodríguez. This comprehensive 7-month program offers participants the opportunity to elevate their coaching skills through:

• Unlimited email access to Coach Rodríguez for ongoing guidance.
• Monthly personalized one-on-one sessions tailored to your coaching needs.
• Monthly group sessions covering broader coaching topics and tactics.

Participants will also have access to a private group of fellow participating coaches, where they can engage in discussions, share insights, and access replays of group meetings.

To learn more about the program, including a sneak peek into previous group sessions and application details...

Space is limited, and applications will be considered on a "first come, first served" basis. The deadline to apply is September 20th

Now let's dive in...

Post Play Efficiency

Earlier this summer, Grace College Head Coach, Scott Moore, ​joined us on the podcast​ to discuss the intricacies of post play and offensive efficiency. Key to Grace's success is balancing post play with maintaining flow in a motion-based offense. Through Coach Moore's unique approach, Grace College has consistently been one of the most efficient offenses in the nation, making their methods worth exploring.

This week, as a follow-up to our podcast, we are joined by Grace Assistant Coach, Stephen Halstead, in our "Film Room" series to dive deeper into how they maximize post play within their motion offense. The conversation offers key insights that any coach can adapt, especially for teams looking to enhance their offensive spacing, transition efficiency, and ability to capitalize on mismatches.

Transition Seals - First Come, First Serve

We began our "Film Room" session by examining Grace's ability to generate early, easy scores through transition seals. This is a strategy we've highlighted in the past with 4-men, who, as they defend more frequently on the perimeter, can leverage their speed and size to exploit mismatches {🔒}...

In transition, defenses are vulnerable in several ways, most notably due to their inability to get set and take away space. Transition naturally creates better spacing for the offense, leading to 1v1 opportunities in the post, where players can seal without the threat of backside help.

Zooming In: As shown in the clips above and discussed in our "Film Room," the key is for the post player to initiate the seal at the free-throw line. This positioning gives the passer more room for error when making the pass.

While getting your big to rim run and seal is a challenge in itself, the unique aspect of Grace’s approach to posting up in transition is their ability to generate seals not only for their bigs but also for their wings and guards. With several size advantages across positions, rather than rigidly sticking to designated lanes or a numbered break, players are empowered to fill open spots, exploiting mismatches more freely. This freedom allows the offense to stay unpredictable and dynamic.

Zooming In: With the middle lane no longer reserved solely for the bigs, one of Grace’s wings, upon identifying a mismatch, has the opportunity to walk his defender in and seal for an early score.

Maintaining Offensive Flow

Post play can slow down an offense if not balanced properly, which is why Coach Halstead stresses the importance of keeping offensive movement alive. Grace prioritizes keeping their offense dynamic and to avoid fixating too long on the post. Players are encouraged to work for seals and seek mismatches, but they have only 3 seconds to do so. After that, the offense must transition into their motion cutting and screening principles, with the post player either spacing out or screening out of the post.

In the half court, Grace’s offense addresses another common coaching dilemma: how to get a player with a mismatch into the post without disrupting the team’s pace. The solution? Screening actions before sliding into the post. This subtle adjustment keeps the offense fluid while helping players position themselves to exploit mismatches. Whether it's a ballscreen followed by a roll into the post or a teammate setting a backscreen, the emphasis remains on maintaining tempo and movement.

Zooming In: As Coach Halstead mentions, one of the cleanest ways to accomplish this is by using a ballscreen and then rolling into the post. Alternatively, if a player can identify the mismatch, they can set a backscreen to help their teammate get into the post.

Removing Help & Backside Flashes

With a better understanding of how and when Grace seeks opportunities to post up, another central theme of our session focused on spacing around the post. Against a set defense, Grace is deliberate in removing the backside low man to give the post player a chance to play 1v1. Instead of bringing action to the baseline, such as a pin down, Grace encourages the weakside corner to set a flare screen or, at the very least, to lift out of the corner.

Zooming In: If the defense is attempting to defend the post with 1.5 defenders (low help), Grace frees the rim and manipulates the low help by running the corner man up and away into an action. As shown above, when the post player receives the ball, all remaining eight players are positioned above the FT Line

Lastly, another contingency plan Grace prepares their players for is attacking post fronts with backside flashes. Similar to posting up, these flashes have a time limit. If players cannot recognize and execute a flash within the first few seconds of the front, Coach Halstead emphasizes moving off the post and transitioning back into their motion concepts.

Zooming In: While flashing from the weakside corner may be the ideal approach, the priority is on who can execute the flash the earliest, regardless of the source. As shown in today's "Film Room," players may flash from the wing, or even two players might flash simultaneously.

Coach Halstead’s breakdown of Grace College’s offense offers a clear roadmap for creating effective post opportunities without sacrificing flow. By emphasizing early seals, flexible positioning, and smart screening actions, Grace's system maximizes mismatches across the court. Their ability to keep the offense dynamic, with quick transitions into motion if seals aren’t achieved, ensures they maintain their offensive tempo while still exploiting the post.

To dive deeper into Grace’s post strategies and see these concepts in action, become an SG+ Member to view full "Film Room" session now on SGTV!

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Slappin' Glass Podcast

We sat down this week with the Co-Founder of the Mission Critical Team Institute, Dr. Preston Cline! In this highly entertaining conversation with one of the world's best leaders when it comes to working with teams in high pressure situations we dive into Dr. Cline's thoughts on managing uncertainty, assessing risk, and discuss humor as a leader and being "robust" 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.

Tactical

📺 Horns Pop - Weave • Pistol PNR​

"Popping the 4-Man off the Horns Screen to weave the ball back to the PG in the Pistol PNR."

✚ Pair With: Coach Milicic creates confusion and distorts the defense`s shape by running a top weave before flowing directly into a Horns Screens.

🔒 SG Plus Content: Our Breakdown on newly hired Drake HC Ben McCollum's use of the Pick & Pop with NW Missouri State.

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📺 Barkley Spacing - Deep Sealing​

"When inverting the offense with a Barkley Drive, utilize your center to seal off the rim help, creating space for middle penetration and improving offensive rebounding opportunities."

✚ Pair With: Euroleague club ASVEl creating a post seal for your PG off a UCLA Screen.

🔒 SG Plus Content: Our past Breakdown on the Barkley Drive and its advantages, triggers and ability to salvage possessions.

Interesting Reads

📚 Why It Always Pays To Overinvest in Defining "What Excellence Looks Like​

"A good leader is clear about where we're going.
A micromanager controls how we get there.

Don't confuse the two."

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📚 How to Begin Living More Rationally​

"It’s easy to imagine why this is so prevalent: simplifying the world into binaries can give us the illusion of simplicity, confidence, and understanding, offering comfort in complex situations or on sensitive topics (e.g., those that are heated, emotional, or related to one’s identity). But part of being more rational and thinking clearer is not seeking the illusory comfort of inaccurate thinking." ​
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📚 How the Marines are Changing Their Conduct and Leadership Guidance​

"Some of the major changes from the previous version of Sustaining the Transformation include:

• Shifting focus from recruitment and recruit training to after an individual earns the title “Marine.”
• Expanding the focus to include how each grade level (e.g., junior enlisted, staff noncommissioned officer, junior officer) sustains the transformation and supports other grades doing the same.
• Using recent examples to illustrate how each grade sustains the transformation.
• Discussing the importance of professional military education at each grade level."

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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