Hoop Heads

On this episode Mike and Jason discuss Games 1 & 2 of the NBA Finals and look ahead to Game 3 in Boston between the Warriors and the Celtics. Visit our Sponsors! Give With Hoops Give With Hoops is a groundbreaking initiative that fuses basketball analytics with modern sponsorship. Built for teams who see data as opportunity, from AAU programs to college powerhouses. By tying on-court performan...

Author and basketball researcher Seth Partnow covers the NBA and basketball analytics for The Athletic. He is the former Director of Basketball Research for the Milwaukee Bucks. His book, The Midrange Theory, dives into topics from shot selection to evaluating prospects to considering aesthetics and ethics while analyzing box scores. Before joining the Bucks Seth was the lead writer and managing e...

Danny Gallagher is the Girls’ Basketball Head Coach at Magnificat High School in Cleveland, Ohio. Gallagher just completed his 5th season as the Head Coach after previously serving as both the boys’ freshman coach and varsity assistant at St. Edward High School under Eric Flannery. Danny is also the Cleveland Old School Athletics AAU Basketball Director. If you’re looking to improve your coaching...

On this episode Mike and Jason look back at Heat-Celtics and Mavs-Warriors. They discuss the late Miami run in Game 7 that almost cost Boston a Finals appearance. Should Jimmy Butler have gone to the basket or pulled up for the three like he did? Plus, the outsize impact role players and their three point shooting have had in these playoffs continues to be a trend worth watching. Finally, they loo...

Joe Crispin, a former college standout and professional player, completed his sixth year as head men’s basketball coach at Rowan University in 2021-2022 and now owns a 90-48 record. It was his 8th overall year at the school as he previously served as an assistant coach with both the men’s and women’s basketball programs for two seasons. Prior to joining Rowan’s coaching staff, Crispin played profe...

Kyle Pennington just took over as the Boys’ Basketball Head Coach at Little Rock Christian Academy in Arkansas. Kyle spent the past 4 seasons as the Head Coach at Russellville (AR) High School where he posted an overall record of 85-27 including a 50-5 record in the 5-A West Conference. At Russellville he was a 4 time conference coach of the year and his teams won the conference championship all 4...

On this episode Mike and Jason discuss the repeated blowouts thus far in both Conference Finals Series. Mike shares his thoughts on the outsize impact that a team's role players have when they make or miss their threes in a given game. Next, they talk about the injuries in the East, why Bam needs to step up, Jason Tatum's stardom, and which team will advance to the Finals. Then they shift their at...

Jordan Duke is the Boys’ Basketball Head Coach at Lutheran West High School in Cleveland, Ohio. He led the Longhorns to a 17-7 record this past year in his first season. Duke spent the previous six-years (2015-2021) as the Head Coach at Cleveland Central Catholic where his teams had 1 Regional Championship appearance, 3 Regional Semi-Final appearances, 4 District Championships, and 5 District Cham...

Bart Lundy will be entering his first season as the Men’s Basketball Head Coach at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee this fall. Lundy comes to UWM after a very successful nine-year run at Queens University in Charlotte, North Carolina, posting a 30-4 record during the recently-completed 2021-22 campaign. He took his program to the NCAA Tournament for the seventh year in a row this past season,...

On this episode Mike and Jason discuss the blowouts in Sunday's Game 7's as the Celtics and Mavericks win big. They share their thoughts on Luka's ascension to the very top of the list of players that can win your team a title and then ask some questions about the Suns heading into the off-season. Next, they look at Celtics-Bucks and how the series came down to whether or not the role players on e...

Welcome to the 41st edition of the Coach’s Corner Round Table on the Hoop Heads Podcast. Each episode of the Coach’s Corner Round Table will feature our All-Star lineup of guests answering a single basketball question. A new Coach’s Corner Round Table will drop around the 15th of each month. May's Round Table question is: What is the most underrated skill in coaching? Our Coaching Lineup this mont...

Brian Burton is the VP of Rising Coaches Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Alliance, the CEO of Uprise Athletic Group & the All-Access Network, & ESPN College Basketball Analyst along with being a long-time college basketball coach at various levels. Burton has spent time as an assistant coach with IUPUI, UTEP, Fresno State, Lamar, Abilene Christian, & Utah. Prior to that he had five...

On this episode Mike and Jason discuss the blowouts in Tuesday night's Game 5's as the Suns and Heat win handily at home. They share their thoughts on the possibility for a comeback from the Mavs (maybe) or the Sixers (no). Next, they lament the loss of Ja Morant and debate whether the Warriors can get to the NBA Finals. Finally, Mike & Jason discuss the epic Bucks / Celtics series breaking do...

Tim Jackson is the author of the new book, Understanding College Athletics Through The Eyes Of College Athletes. Tim was inducted into the Youngstown State Hall of Fame after starting all 112 games in his four-year career with the YSU men’s basketball program from 1987-1991. He is one of just four players in school history with more than 1,000 points and at least 800 rebounds. At YSU, he averaged...

John Tharp is the Head Men’s Basketball Coach at Hiilsdale College. He has 274 wins as the Chargers' head coach and an overall head coaching record of 478-252. Tharp has led Hillsdale to four appearances in the NCAA Division II Tournament, in 2012, 2018 2021, and 2022. Tharp came to Hillsdale after a very successful 13-year stint as the head coach at Lawrence University, a Division III school in W...

On this episode Mike and Jason discuss the Celtics Game 2 win over the Bucks and why the three point line is playing such a major role in this series through two games. Next, they talk about Ja coming up huge in another 4th quarter to beat the Warriors in Game 2 and whether the Grizzlies win a game at the Chase Center. Finally, they look ahead to Wednesday's Game 2's by piling on James Harden, pra...

Matt McLeod was a head coach in Texas and Oklahoma high schools for 14 years, where he amassed 324 total wins and was recognized three times as the Texas Outstanding Coach of the Year by the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches.​ Matt stepped away from coaching his own team after the 2020-21 season to offer an array of coaching services through Matt McLeod Basketball to help athletes, coaches,...

David McGreal is the head men’s basketball coach at Penn State Altoona. Prior to arriving at Penn State Altoona in July of 2016, McGreal posted a successful 15-year track record as a basketball coach, ascending the ranks from high school head coach to junior college assistant to eventually become a head coach at the NCAA Division III level. Before arriving at Penn State Altoona, McGreal was an ass...

On this episode Mike and Jason discuss Ja Morant's game winner and the up and down nature of the Grizzlies-Timberwolves series. Then, they put a fork in the Nets' season and revisit the idea that everyone lost the Harden-Simmons trade. Next, they talk Trae Young's struggles against Miami and what that means for the future of the Hawks. Finally, they share their thoughts on each of the remaining fi...

Josh Merkel is the Head Men’s Basketball Coach at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Virginia. He just completed his 7th season by winning the Division 3 National Championship in 2022. Merkel was named NABC Division 3 Coach of the Year, the ODAC Coach of the Year for the 5th consecutive season and was named the recipient of the Glenn Robinson Award for the second straight year which is presented a...

Tremaine Dalton is the founder of The Process Basketball providing high level training to European and American Players. His mission also includes philanthropic work throughout the world in Europe, Central America, Australia, and here in the United States. The Process Basketball is focused on making a difference by connecting communities and building relationships across the globe with basketball....

On this episode, Mike and Jason begin by discussing the Eastern Conference matchups so far. They discuss the best game of the weekend between the Celtics and Nets, what has happened to the Raptors and if they can course correct, the surprisingly competitive first game between the Bulls and the Bucks, and then they talk Jimmy Butler & Trae Young in the Hawks/Heat series. They then shift their f...

Nate Sanderson is the head girls’ basketball coach at Mount Vernon High School in Iowa. He is also the Director of Product Development at Breakthrough Basketball and a key member of the Thrive on Challenge team where he co-hosts the Coaching Culture Podcast and is a mentor & team leader. Nate turned around the varsity girls’ basketball program at Linn-Mar High School in Marion, Iowa from 2017-...

Welcome to the 40th edition of the Coach’s Corner Round Table on the Hoop Heads Podcast. Each episode of the Coach’s Corner Round Table will feature our All-Star lineup of guests answering a single basketball question. A new Coach’s Corner Round Table will drop around the 15th of each month. April's Round Table question is: What is the most undertaught skill in the game of basketball? Share one th...

On this episode Mike and Jason discuss the Nets win over the Cavs and look ahead to the Cavs-Hawks match-up on Friday night. Then they shift their attention out West to discuss the wins by the Wolves and Pelicans, before predicting who wins the Clippers-Pelicans game. Finally, Mike & Jason cast their votes for the 2022 All-NBA 1st, 2nd, & 3rd Teams. Visit our Sponsors! Give With Hoops Give...