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

Happy Sunday and welcome to all the new subscribers here, we hope your seasons are off to a great start!

*Those interested in getting access to every piece of content in this newsletter (plus all past newsletters and thousands of hours more) can join coaches and staffs from the NBA to High School in almost 50 countries taking advantage of SG Plus HERE. ​

ICYMI: Last week we looked at how defenses are scheming against the DHO. Topics include generating steals, being aggressive on the ball and destroying the offensive flow. That vide is HERE.

Today at a Glance:

📺 SGTV: Switching Defense - Big Men Perimeter 1v1 Defense​

🎤 Slappin' Glass Podcast: Jukka Toijala​

🥇 Best of the Week: Flares & Flex​

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Let's dive in..

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Switching Defense - Big Men Perimeter 1v1 Defense

Whether it's late clock, late game or just attempting to disrupt and offenses' flow, the ability to switch ballscreens has become an integral part of successful game planning. How liberally or confidently a team deploys the switch can often be directly related to perimeter size and/or mobility of the big. However, most teams do not have the luxury of a long, fleet-footed big that can defend like a guard, so in today's breakdown we focus on how clubs who are still willing to switch on the perimeter with a more traditional slow footed big can do so.

Today we'll highlight several of the teaching points and skills that emerge with teams that switch their Big's and effectively prevent pull up 3 while also being able to contest shots at the rim. It is worth mentioning there are of course team tactics to help the big on the perimeter, such as zoning up behind the them or sending an automatic trap at the ball, but for purposes of th is breakdown we'll focus solely on the 1v1 battle and the trends that emerge, starting with...

Establishing the Reach

Much like a boxing match, the first thing the Defensive Big wants to do is establish their reach on the ball and find the proper distance between themselves and the ball in order to contest pull up 3s...

...while still having enough cushion to avoid being pummeled by the ballhandler's speed.

Zooming In: In the GIF above, by using his length and keeping his BALANCE the Big is able to provide a few stabs (not lunges!) at the ball. These stabs are enough to deter rhythm dribbles and make his presence known, while being mindful to not over-extend his reach advantage. Lunging or over-reaching on aggressive guards can be no bueno for the defense...

Zooming In: As seen above, breaking the reach advantage neutralizes the Big's size and opens up space for the guard to use their speed. Mike Tyson knocked out a lot of bigger men who forgot to keep a safe distance...

...or drunkenly stole his Tiger...

For more points of emphasis on defending perimeter mismatches 1v1, including:

• "Open Stance" Footwork
• Height vs Length on the Perimeter
• Gapping Drives
• Minding the Gap
• Open Stance vs Squared Stance
• Being the 2nd Jumper
• Detaching & Rim Challenges

View the full breakdown now on SGTV!

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Slappin' Glass Podcast

It was another great week on the podcast as we were joined by the Head Coach of the Estonia National Team, Jukka Toijala! Coach Toijala has the Estonia National Team on the rise in Europe and we were happy to sit down with him to discuss:

• Winning with Less Talent: Coach Toijala has helped Estonia compete with some of the best teams in Europe without having the same depth of talent as other, bigger countries. In the first segment of the podcast with discuss philosophy and ideas ideas on how to play in a way that helps to compete with some of the more talented teams.
• Posting Non-Traditional Bigs: Within our conversation about competing with less talent we talked about Coach Toijala's use of posting his bigger guards and forwards instead of big men. An interesting way to still have rim/post threats without having to go through a traditional big.
• The First Five Minutes of Practice: During "Start, Sub, or Sit?!" we discussed the importance of setting the tempo during the first part of practice and how Coach Toijala prefers to do so.

Listen to the entire conversation with Coach Toijala here...

Listen Now!

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Tactical

📺 Iceland NT - 4 Out Flare Slip​

"Coach Pedersen uses the flare screen out of the corner to generate confusion & closeouts. A difficult screen to defend & communicate when one of the defenders is blind to the action."

✚ Pair With: For more use of the Flare screen, see how Sergio Scariolo uses the Flare to initiatie his offense with the Spanish NT.

📺 Beni Herzliya - UCLA Flex Turnout​

"Continuing to look at the use of the Flex action in the modern game, Israeli & Champions League club Bnei Herzliya uses the Flex to mask the eventual turnout for their shooter."

✚ Pair With: View our breakdown on Clubs using Flex on SLOBs and the reads out of it.

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Interesting Reads

📚 Most Valuable Traits of an NFL Head Coach? Eight Star Players Weigh In​

“He creates order and then his discipline upon that order is what really drives the system. That's everything right there. He creates an environment of this is how it's done. Everybody understands it, everybody abides by it and everybody knows this is how I get better within it. He leaves no gray area. he establishes a set of rules and expectations and demands those expectations be met.”

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📚 What’s Behind the Exploding Prices of Pro Sports Franchises?​

"Today pro sports teams rank among the most reliably lucrative, rabidly coveted investment opportunities there are. They’ve proved practically impervious to the busts, recessions, foreclosure crises, and plagues that have at the very least stalled growth in other industries. From 1996 to 2004, the average NFL team appreciated 321 percent (the S&P 500, by comparison, appreciated by 97 percent); as Lev Akabas, a reporter with Sportico, put it to me recently, pro teams have become “a dream investment.”

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📚 How Great Leaders Communicate: Four Strategies​

"When you introduce a new or abstract idea, your audience will automatically search for something familiar to help them make sense of it. Introduce a novel metaphor and beat them to the punch."

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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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