A Pen And A Napkin

Welcome to "The Coaching Staff"! One of my oldest friends in coaching, Tony Vis, was wrangled into this weekly series on coaching advice. This week, we're going to talk about your coaching inventory; what are your programs needs and what are your wants when it comes to putting a quality program together? At the end, we have a little basketball trivia and some other information, so enjoy!!

Ever seen a 5'5" point guard with a 56" vertical leap? Probably not, unless you've witnessed Michael J. Fox in his classic 80's film "Teen Wolf"! One of my oldest friends, Ryan Meyer, comes on the pod to discuss the ins and outs of this movie, including observations that most basketball coaches may not notice. We had a great time recording this, so enjoy the same banter we've had for almost forty...

GBB HC of Holy Innocents (GA) and my Snow Valley Basketball School camp friend Nichole Dixon jumps on the podcast with me this week! On this week's pod, we chat about coaching multiple sports, embracing AAU as a HS HC, "Wisdom Wednesdays", "Truth Tuesdays" and the "Tradition Board", among many other things. Great conversation with one of the best from the state of Georgia!

Reading is the lifeblood to the brain, and we, as coaches, must have a solid foundation of reading to keep ourselves sharp and also have the ability to share the most pertinent information to our players to make them better. This week, I'm going to discuss some of my favorite coaching books, then, in the second half of the pod, we have a major announcement about "A Pen And A Napkin"

Episode #2 in our "Film Room" limited series features myself and my (awesome, beautiful, wonderful) daughter Genevieve Plum breaking down the ESPN 30 for 30 "The Bad Boys". We go through our father/daughter basketball documentary history, the legacy of this edition of the Detroit Pistons, the very complicated legacy of Isiah Thomas, basketball lessons learned and much, much more; sit back and enjo...

We're starting a new feature this week on APAAN; we're going to review five Hollywood features and five documentaries where some/most/all of the focus of the film is on basketball and how these films can help you become a better coach! This week's feature is the Nick Nolte/Shaquille O'Neal classic from 1994 "Blue Chips"!! I break this movie down with Scott Polacek, head girls basketball coach at H...

One of the major aspects of "special teams" in basketball is baseline and sideline out of bounds execution on both sides of the ball. On this week's "Foundation Friday" we discuss the importance of BLOB and SLOB execution, when to implement, how to implement and different thoughts on one of the most important aspects of "winning on the margins"!

Boys Basketball Head Coach of Waukee Northwest (IA), Brett Watson has done a great job of taking a first year school and got them to the state tournament. In this podcast, we talk about "The Process", stepping into a championship level program, his "Core Values", "Marginal Gains" and many other aspects of the mental game. Alot of great information, especially on some non-traditional coaching conce...

Usually we have a pretty good idea of how our teams work behind the scenes, but sometimes you need to drill down a little deeper with your teams. Here are three "team tests" that we have used in the past to help you and your coaching staff figure out what your team is REALLY like and what they really think about themselves and their teammates.

Mike Hilmer, Head Boys Basketball Coach at North Linn High School (IA), jumps on the podcast this week to talk about coaching his kids, hosting the team hangout, getting your team ready to play in February and March, run and jump pressure defense, shot selection and more! Great conversation with a coach that has been to five straight state championship games!!

98-99% of our AAU programs do things the right way, both on and off the court. However, the incidents that happen at AAU and youth events continue to escalate in intensity and violence from all areas; players, coaches and even parents in the stands. This week, I'll share some experiences that have happened recently and some proposals to help bring this madness under control.

Doug Billman, Boys Basketball HC at Antwerp (OH) comes on the podcast this week to chat about a variety of topics, including half court offense and defense, coaching at his alma mater, taking a program to unprecedented heights, high standards and much more! Really good conversation with one of Ohio's best!

Many of us, in some way, shape or form, track our players progress in the summer. It is also important to reward our players and recognize the efforts that they put in, so we came up with a system for this summer and beyond that we call our "Wall of Honor", which is tangible, measurable and can be reached by EVERYONE in the program, but only if you are willing to put in the time!

Really excited to have Brendan Dittmer, GBB HC at Elkhorn Valley (NE) High School, on the podcast this week! In this episode, Coach Dittmer and I chat about building a great culture in a small community, as well as rebuilding a program from within. Along with that, we discuss transition offense and defense, statistical analysis and the Junior Falcon program. Great listen for our listeners this wee...

Most of our programs are going to be active in the summer, but what is the purpose of our summer activities? Along with that, how do we evaluate and measure our summer activities, both in our individual players and as a team/program.? Here's some thoughts and ideas on how to take a look back on your summer or look ahead to what you have to accomplish this summer.

Happy 4th of July everyone, and welcome to this week's episode! This week, we chat with Shana Gerberding, who is the GBB HC at Bruning-Davenport-Shickley (NE) High School. Coach Gerberding discusses coaching in a coop school, the MUDECAS tournament, growing as a program, her defensive philosophy, superstitions and much more! Alot of fun with Shana this week!!

As coaches, we're all competitive, and we're all coaching our teams for a reason; to win. However, there are people that we sometimes work with that make either your job or everyone else's job very difficult for a variety of reasons. In this pod, we talk about warning signs of tough co-workers, situations we should worry about and how to handle those situations.

The "Dean of the Big Ten", one of four active coaches with over 800 wins (joining Tara Vandeveer, Geno Auriemma and Gary Blair) and the 2019 National Coach of the Year are all ways you can describe Lisa Bluder, head women's basketball coach at the University of Iowa, and she is our guest this week! In this episode, Coach Bluder and I discuss starting small and going big, Title IX, coaching great p...

A couple of days late on this, but hey, it's been busy!! When we put together our practice plan on a daily basis, we focus on drills, X's and O's and other entities, but we also should be reminding ourselves of what is important culturally to our program. In this podcast the cultural reminders that I have listed on my practice plan to help remind me of what I should be doing to properly teach and...

We all have mentors in our life, but when's the last time you really thought about the influence of mentors and what they've exactly done for you and your development in your life and your coaching career? When's the last time you've told a mentor what they've taught you and what its meant to you? Here's a bonus (or make-up) Foundation Friday to make you think a bit more about where you're at in y...

Really excited to have Mark Downey, the head men's basketball coach at Arkansas Tech University, on the podcast! Coach Downey has had a wide variety of experiences in his career, which he shares in the podcast. Along with that, he discusses his "High Standards of Excellence", "Building People", being part of the "Glory Road" cast, "Stingy Defense" and much more. Great conversation with a great coa...

Kassie Schuett, girls basketball head coach at Gothenburg (NE) is our guest this week! Coach Schuett discusses a variety of topics, including building trust and loyalty with her players, preparing a team for a state tournament, lessons learned from a deep post-season run, player development in a small town program and much more. A terrific conversation with one of the best young coaches in Nebrask...

Summer basketball is a great way to develop your program and your individual players. It's an exciting time with a feeling of new growth and opportunity, but you also have alot of different variables that you need to consider. In this podcast, we chat about some of the things that we do in the summer to help our program grow!

University of Nebraska Men's Assistant Coach Nate Loenser comes on the pod this week to discuss a variety of different topics. Coach Loenser talks about his basketball journey from high school to being an assistant coach with the Bulls, coaching in the G-League, different coaching styles, player development and other topics. Great discussion with one of the best assistant coaches in the country!

Many of us will be watching the NBA Finals over the next couple of weeks to satisfy our "basketball junkie" needs, but what can be learned from watching these games? How can we make ourselves better while we watch the best in the world, whether it is players, coaches or front offices, show us their craft? Here's some things to think about as you're watching these games, along with my (very amateur...