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

Happy Sunday and welcome to all the new subscribers this week! It's great to have you as part of the community!

*Note: You're reading the free version of this newsletter. SG Plus members get access to every piece of content in this newsletter (plus thousands of hours more). Upgrade HERE.​

"SG Plus takes the deepest dive into the game. It is an essential for me. I absolutely love it." - Jay Bilas, ESPN

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Today at a Glance:

🚀 SG Ventures - Exploring and Supporting Basketball's Best Ideas​

🏀 BC Lietkabelis - Iverson Loop Elbow Series​

🎤 Inside the Episode: Iacopo Squarcina​

• You can support and help other coaches find the show by giving it a rating and review HERE! Thank you!!

🥇 Best of the Week

🔥 Top Selling/Most Viewed on SGTV Last Week:

1. Cody Toppert Clinic: "Thoughts on Player Development"​
2. Jimmie Oakman Clinic: "Attacking the Switch: PNR and 5 Out Actions"​
3. Martin Schiller: "Inside the Set - Elbow Zoom and Empty PNR Series"​

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Let's dive in...

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Slappin' Glass Ventures

We are excited to launch a brand new grant giving and coaching support program this weekend called SG Ventures! Below we'll describe the Why, What, and How of this new program, as well as the details on how coaches can apply.

• WHY? - As Slappin' Glass has grown we've received tremendous support from coaches around the world in the way of mentorship, idea generation, community and relationships, as well as financially through SG Plus memberships and our loyal partners (one of whom, Practice Planner Live, is helping make SG Ventures possible). All of this support has provided motivational fuel and resources to help pursue much of what we do today. Through SG Ventures we hope to give that similar support by doing the same for coaches who also have projects, research, or business ideas they are passionate about pursuing.
• WHAT is SG Ventures? - Simply, SG Ventures is a grant giving and support program to assist coaches in projects that will benefit the greater coaching community. Over the next few months we know many coaches have more time to reflect and deep-dive into areas of the game and coaching that they are curious and passionate about. With SG Ventures we hope to provide the extra push to bring these projects to fruition.
• HOW to Apply? - Below are the details of the application process to take part in SG Ventures. After the application is completed, selected coaches/projects will be notified and then go through a Round 2 consisting of a Zoom interview to further discuss the proposed project. After the interviews the final selected projects will be offered the support which includes:
  • A small grant (amounts vary depending on project) to help cover the cost of time, scope of work, and materials needed to complete the project
  • Project support from various members of SG Plus
  • A featured interview on the Slappin' Glass Podcast where we'll discuss and dive into the project (we will be doing a special series on the podcast highlighting the finished work of all coaches)
  • A featured post in the "Sunday Mornin' Newsletter" promoting and sharing the completed project

Examples of projects include (but are certainly not limited to) in-depth themed tactical breakdowns, analytical/statistical studies, research on off-the-court subjects like leadership, mental and physical health, culture building, or any other interesting ideas that would be helpful to coaches.

Thanks again for all the support!

Interested coaches should complete the application below ASAP! We will begin selecting projects immediately.

APPLY NOW!

*Note: Not a fit for you but potentially good for a coach you know? Please feel free to share the application above.

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BC Lietkabelis-Iverson Loop Elbow Series

BC Lietkabelis Head Coach, Nenad Canak, has helped his team reach the Lithuanian League Finals after upsetting perennial powerhouse Zalgiris Kaunas and has done so by running some of the more unique and intricate actions in Europe. One such action we are highlighting this week is their "Iverson Loop Elbow Series." Here's a quick look at the action before diving in...

Building off the good bones of this initial entry, Coach Nenad has the ability to play to the strenghts of his wings, leverage the shooting ability of his 4s, and generate post opportunities for his Center, all of which can be viewed in much further detail in today's breakdown on SGTV.

What we find particularly interesting and will focus on below, is why the Iverson Loop entry is such a unique action to build an advantage from.

Forcing the Chase

One of the best and most obvious things to like about the Iverson Loop is that it forces the defender guarding the loop cutter into a chase with his/her head turned away from the ball. When running a shooter over the top of the initial Iverson screens, very seldom will the defender attempt to cut both the screens and risk the shooter popping back for the shot. As shown in the clip above, the defender cuts the first screen but attempts to chase over the second screen. With the corner cleared on the same side of the loop cut, the option and threat of an easy pop back/flare and shot should the defender cut the 2nd screen can make going under both or even one of the screens a chancy decision for the defender.

Against better defenses, forcing the defender to chase will obviously not result in a lay up drill every time, but what it does so well is put that chasing defender at a disadvantage as the offense connects this cut into a secondary action. In this case below, Lietkabelis flows right from the Iverson Loop cut into some nice "Screen-the Screener" Shuffle Cut action...

Zooming In: With the defender focused on chasing over and fighting to get back to neutral, Lietkabelis does a masterful job of immediately putting him into another screening action, often leading to blown coverages or miscommunication from the defense.

Turning a cutter into a screener is often hard enough for a defense to guard, but adding the blind chase over the top of the Iverson Screens immediately before it can work opposing defenders and coaches into a bit of a frenzy...

With the single mindedness of chasing over the Iverson Screens, the defender is left playing catch up on the next action. Here's another action we loved from Lietkabelis as they run the shooter out off of a double stagger after the Shuffle Cut Post Entry...

Zooming In: This is a good example demonstrating how the defender is left "flying blind" after chasing over the entry screens. In the example above, the defender has little awareness of where the ball is and in poor position to impede the wing's movement coming back off the stagger screens. He does an admirable job competing but everything is reactionary at this point.

Freeing the 4

Another strength of the Iverson Loop entry is its ability to loosen up the defender of the second screener, in this case the 4 man. Here's Lietkabelis flowing into a Gut DHO for the 4 after the Loop Cut...

Zooming In: Not a great example of "Cutting Hard" by the wing, but regardless, the 4 man/elbow defender will almost always be playing behind and on the low side ready to support the cut over the top. In most of the clips on the video you'll see the elbow defender needing to take at least one step back to help control the Loop Cut allowing Lietkabelis to flow into secondary actions with a slight advantage.

Lietkabelis runs a handful of the actions that flow out of the above action because the entry can generate an easy catch for the 4 man with the added advantage to then facilitate...

Zooming In: With the defense loosened after the initial Loop Cut, Lietkabelis can connect a number of actions through their 4 man. Notice above how the ball never hits the floor after the entry pass. The Iverson Loop has created the opportunity for Lietkabelis to build the advantage off the wing's movement with the 4 man then able to bridge these actions unimpeded.

From there, the sky's the limit for Coach Nenad and the actions he can stack on top of this entry. The complete breakdown and PDFs are now available on SGTV...

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Inside the Episode

We had a great week on the podcast as we welcomed Assistant Coach/Video Coordinator for EuroCup Champion, Virtus Bologna, Iacopo Squarcina! Coach Squarcina is one of the great young coaches in Europe and we had an insightful conversation with him as we broke down:

• Coaching Coordinators and Staff Roles: Coach Squarcina is working for one of the game's best coaches, Sergio Scariolo, and we dive into his role as a video coordinator, as well as how the staff is broken down into "American Football-esque" coordinator roles. A nice conversation with thoughts on how staffs communicate effectively.
• Set Design and the Power of "5 on 0": We dive into how Virtus Bologna introduces and implements their offensive sets or actions, and the role that "5 on 0" plays in it. Coach Squarcina describes a typical practice buildup and how they differentiate the different types of feedback they'll give to players.
• "Start, Sub, or Sit?!": During the always fun segment we explore growth opportunities as a coach, cutting to post, and more!

You can listen to this great episode with Coach Squarcina here...

Listen to Coach Squarcina!

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Tactical

📺 Brescia - BLOB against 2-3 Zone​

"Simple but effective concept of stacking 3 players opposite ball side in order to screen out the complete weakside of the zone on the inbounds."

✚Pair With: Our Extra Pass Podcast with Yale Coach, Matt Kingsley, on Offensive Zone Concepts.

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📺 Mayday Ghost Screens - Creating Space​

"The Ghost Screen is an effective weapon in saving late clock possessions. Equally important is the floor spacing to play out of the advantage. For example, timely burn cuts by Telekom Bonn."

✚Pair With: Coach Cody Toppert's Clinic on Saving Late Game Possessions and our Deep Dive Breakdown on the Ghost Flare.

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Interesting Reads

📚 Why We Worry​

"Our behaviour might be easy to mock and dismiss but the fact that we need to find something to worry about isn’t mere indulgence. It’s evidence of a particular kind of problem that deserves special compassion and patient understanding. The compulsive need to worry is evidence that – somewhere in a past we haven’t fully unpacked and understood – we underwent something properly worrying..."

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📚 All Stars - Is a Great Team More Than the Sum of Its Parts?​

"Interest in collective behaviour is not new. It’s been the research subject of organisation scholars, anthropologists, economists, ethologists studying group-living animals and evolutionary biologists interested in the evolution of cooperation. And, of course, it’s the chief occupation of coaches and managers building teams across a wide range of sports....Part of the reason why recruiters and others resort to going after the best players rather than building the best team is that it remains unclear what other factors contribute to team greatness, and how to quantify them."

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📚 Joy & Competitiveness & Culture​

"Earlier in my career, I thought young people talked about strategy and execution being important and old people talked about culture being important. I actually think they are both true. It’s just a timing difference. The thing that matters right now is the strategy and the execution. The thing that matters in the long term is the people who are setting that strategy and driving that execution."

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Thank you for reading and have a great week coaching,

Dan and Pat

info@slappinglass.com

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