A Pen And A Napkin

Evan Miyakawa is one of men's college basketball's best analyst's, largely using data to drive his analysis. Along with that, Evan and I dive deep into the transfer portal, the outlook of some local teams (to Omaha), how to use statistical analysis to help with your program. "kill shots" and much more! A really good conversation with one of the up and coming analysts of the game!

There's only so much you can control as a coach once the ball goes up, but one thing you can control is your dead ball huddles. In this episode, Tony and I discuss keys to a great huddle, how to practice them, how to communicate in a huddle, how to use your AC's and more! Along with that, we have trivia, a tribute to Jerry West, Dan Hurley's decision, updates on the finals and more! We also have a...

Tim Capstraw, the longtime radio color man of the Brooklyn Nets, jumps on the podcast this week to discuss a bunch of different topics, including his time as one of the youngest head coaches in Division I basketball at Wagner College. We discuss the Nets, some NBA chatter, John Wooden, influential coaches, and a rapid fire segment on the current state of the NBA. Alot of fun talking with a great c...

Running a team camp or a league at some level in the summer time is a win/win for your program; your kids get to play while you also should clear a profit to help finance your program. But . . . what are some things that you should be doing to ensure that it is a consistent success? Tony and I break that down this week with a bunch of really good ideas. We also have trivia, a deeper breakdown of t...

In a series of short burst interviews, I have eight coaches this week discussing how they are looking to make themselves, their program and their coaching staff better this "Improvement Season"! We also dive into how they are going to go through that process, and with a couple of our coaches, we discuss coming off a state championship and how they are going to look ahead to the 2024-25 season. Alo...

I've always believed that you need to have three half court defenses; one man philosophy, one zone package and one junk defense. This week, Tony and I break down implementing junk defense, how to communicate the concepts with your team, different types of junk defense and some stories about how we implemented junk defenses. We also have trivia, TWIB (including an NBA Finals preview) and a tribute...

In Part II of our two-part podcast with Alex Sarama, we dive deeper into "Transforming Basketball". In Part II, Alex dives into how to take the concepts of part I and implement it into your 5 on 5 game and your practice structures. We discuss conceptual offense vs. patterned offense and how to implement drills to make your player development practical during your practices. Along with that, we dis...

In the first of our two part series, Alex Sarama, the author of "Transforming Basketball", jumps on the podcast to discuss his book. In the first half of the pod, we discuss Alex's background, the basis of his philosophy, challenging traditional views of basketball, solutions to your problems and much more! You're really going to enjoy this pod! If you're interested in ordering "Transforming Baske...

Two of the most undertaught skills in the game of basketball is pivoting and passing. Inspired by the passing of Snow Valley legend Tates Locke, Tony and I discuss these two basic skills and give out around 10 of our favorite drills to help with your teaching of pivoting and passing. Along with that, we have "the ice cream man", trivia, NBA playoff predictions and WNBA news. Enjoy!

Longtime Division I AC and HC Randy Brown of Fort Dodge, Iowa comes on the pod this week! Coach Brown has been a life long learner and looks to impart wisdom from both his own experiences, positive and negative, and the experiences of others. We discuss networking, his influences, helping with the IBCA, "Elite Coach Mentoring", the skill of resilience and much more!! Great conversation with Coach...

While most of us understand the analytics of "new basketball", we've also all discussed "the lost art of the mid-range game". In this episode, Tony and I break down ways that you can have your players work on their mid-range game, and we also discuss the importance of sharing the ball and how to get your team to buy into this concept. Along with that, we have our usual trivia, TWIB and a guest app...

Episode #223 features Jim Simons, the head boys basketball coach at Omaha Westside (NE) High School. Coach Simons has built a consistent winner at Westside step by step, and Coach Simon's rise up the ranks was literally step by step. Jim tells us about his journey, how his coaching philosophy has changed, the influence of other coaches and coaching baseball on his philosophy, coaching AAU and much...

What's the most important skill in basketball? SHOOTING! So, how do you teach shooting? Tony and I discuss some of our basic fundamentals that we use to teach shooting, and then we each throw out five of our favorite drills that we use in our practices. Along with that, we have trivia, a discussion about the NBA playoffs and our (very) amateur WNBA predications for the upcoming season!

We're really excited to have on for Episode #222 Brad Fischer, the Head Women's Basketball Coach at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh! Coach and I start the pod discussing the Milwaukee Bucks and what they need to do this offseason, then we dive into his high retention rate in his program, building a once proud program back up, pack line defense, practice planning, scouting and much more. Terrif...

We, as coaches, are supposed to evaluate our players and our AC's, but how much time do we spend evaluating our own performance as a head coach? This week, Tony and I break down different things that we can evaluate ourselves on, and how to do it, from the people you should talk to other evaluation methods. Along with that, we have trivia and a deep dive on the NBA playoffs. Enjoy!

Really excited to have Matt Ducharme, the WBB HC at UMass-Dartmouth, on the podcast this week! Coach Ducharme has done a great job building his program into a consistent winner, and he talks about recruiting, being at an institution for an extended period of time, offensive philosophy, scouting, influences and much more. Really fun conversation with a very good young coach!

After the season, we know that we, as coaches, need some time to recharge and get your feet back underneath you. At the same time, we sometimes lose sight of that for our players and what is good for them, so how do we help our players recharge? Tony and I dive deep into this topic, along with other topics, including trivia and our TWIB segment, where we discuss NBA playoffs and the transfer porta...

We're really excited to have Sharman White, the Boys HC at Pace Academy (GA) who moonlights as the HC of USA Basketballs U17 team. Coach White is also just coming off of coaching the McDonald's All-American game and the Nike Hoops Summit, so we chat about that entire process, building a program from scratch, coming back to high school ball after coaching collegiately, X's and O's and much more! Gr...

Our lives as coaches are becoming more and more demanding and busier than ever, so how do you balance all of the responsibilities that you need to perform and stay on top of it all? This week, Tony and I discuss methods and philosophies of what you can do to make sure that you are organized and on top of everything that needs to be done within your program. Along with that, we have trivia, and in...

Really excited to have one of Nebraska's best, Johnson-Brock's Boys HC Lucus Dalinghaus, on the podcast this week! Coach talks about his background, running the table and repeating this past season, how his educational background has helped with his coaching, some of his favorite drills, and much more!! Really good conversation with a terrific small school coach from Nebraska!

What a great month March was!! So many story lines, alot of great basketball, the growth of the women's game and two great champions . . . Tony and I break down the tournaments and what we learned from watching the tournament and how it can affect your program. We also have a special trivia section right before we discuss the Kentucky job, Tara VanDerveer retiring and more!

Episode #218 is a great episode with Franqua "Coach Q" Bedell, the WBB HC at Odessa (TX) Junior College. Coach Bedell tells about his basketball journey, including his penning of four books, keys to a great interview, his dissertation on the effects of NIL and much more! We also go through SLOB philosophy, an outline for player development and many other things. Really great conversation with one...

One of the most important things that you can do as a program is to get your local community involved with your program. This week, Tony and I go through a variety of methods that you can do to attract people to your program, some of which are pretty labor intensive while others are really, really simple. We also dive into some of the latest controversies in the women's college game, including the...

I'm really excited to have on Matt Hackenberg, one of the greatest sharer's of todays game. Coach Hack and I discuss alot of things, including building a complete program, how he got into the "sharing" business, his new "Encyclopedia of Zone Offense", post player development and much, much more! Sit back and relax a great conversation with one of the smartest basketball guys on social media!!

Basketball is a game where things usually start out at the top and then slide down to the lower levels. A new thing that we are now dealing with at a high level at the high school game is the "Transfer Portal". This week, Tony and I discuss what to do to try to retain your own players, what to do when a player knocks on your door and an overall look at how to handle the process. We of course have...