Basketball Coach Unplugged (A Basketball Coaching Podcast)

TeachHoops.com
Thirty days into the season, the hard conversations start. In Part 2 of The First Thirty Days, Coach Collins covers the first parent email, how to settle your rotation, what to cut from everything you installed, and how to take care of the one person on your team nobody is coaching.
In this episode:

The first parent email and why you should never debate playing time over text

Settling your rotation with practice scores, film, and clear roles

The Keep, Drop, and Save for January audit for your playbook

Coach the coach: your staff, your family, and a weekly reset

The Day Thirty Audit: three sentences, one name, one change

For more practice plans, drills, and coaching systems, visit TeachHoops.com
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TeachHoops.com
The season has started and it already feels like too much. Too many things to teach, too many kids who need something from you, and a practice plan that fell apart by the third drill. In Part 1 of The First Thirty Days, Coach Collins walks through what matters most once the season tips off, and why the answer is not doing more.
In this episode:

The one question every coach should be asking right now

Why your first three practices set your standards for the whole year

How to have the role conversation before game one, with every player, including your stars

Why practice looks good and games look bad, and how to close the gap with pressure instead of more plays

How to handle the first loss: the locker room, the film, and the next practice

Your homework: write your three sentences. What must your team be by February?
For more practice plans, drills, and coaching systems, visit TeachHoops.com
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Things that basketball players need at practice. Simplicity wins practice. Everything you need to know to become a better basketball coach today and tomorrow. Let me know if you have any questions. At steve@teachroops.com. #BasketballCoach #Basketball #coaching

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What your players learn from how you treat the referee, and how to ask a question that actually gets answered.
Four minutes left in the opener, down three, and the whistle goes the other way. Coach Steve Collins knows that feeling in your chest, and he knows the moment that comes right after it, when every kid on the bench turns to see what the head coach does next. Early in his career he thought working the officials was part of the job. Then he watched film of his own bench and saw his players copying every arm wave and every frustrated face while the other team ran back for layups.
In this deep dive for opening week, Steve breaks down how to talk to officials in a way that actually helps your team. He covers why your players borrow your emotions, how to ask a question an official can answer, when to speak and who should do the talking, and how to give your players a real plan for officials that holds up when they are angry. It is about respect, it is about modeling, and it is about keeping good officials in our gyms for years to come.
Part 1: The Mindset

The opening scenario: a late charge call in game one and the five seconds that teach your bench more than a week of practice

Steve's confession about working the officials, and the bench film that changed his approach

Why your players borrow your face, and the two claps and a point that tell them "next play"

The difference between a verdict and a question, with three questions an official can actually answer

The official who told Steve his driver was leading with his off arm, and how that fixed a problem

Part 2: The Timing and the Plan

Waiting for the dead ball, free throws, and timeouts before you speak, and asking only one question

Why only the head coach talks to officials and assistants never do

Teaching players a plan instead of a rule: captains greet officials, captains ask questions, everyone else plays the next play

Practicing bad calls in scrimmages so the reaction is trained before November

The fiery senior who took a breath, sprinted back, and took a charge on the next possession

Shaking every official's hand, raising real concerns through your athletic director, and being the reason officials stay in the game

Chapters

00:00 Coach Unplugged intro

00:16 Opening scenario: the late charge call

01:18 Pre roll: TeachHoops.com bench management and game day checklists

01:40 Watching film of my own bench

02:29 Takeaway 1: Your players borrow your face

03:39 Takeaway 2: Ask a question that can be answered

05:51 Takeaway 3: Pick your moment and one voice

06:57 Mid roll: TeachHoops.com game management library and community

07:20 Takeaway 4: Teach your players a plan for officials

09:07 Takeaway 5: Let it go before the handshake line

10:10 The opening week challenge

10:29 Post roll: TeachHoops.com

This week's challenge: Before your first game, decide your one signal for a bad call and teach it to your team at practice.
Format: Deep Dive, two parts.
Resources: Bench management guides, game day checklists, game management resources, practice plans, courses, and on court clinics at https://teachhoops.com/
Recorded at the Fifth Quarter Studios in Madison, Wisconsin.
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Transition defense, the first three steps after a shot goes up, and the easy baskets you are giving away.
Coach Steve Collins once had a team that was excellent in the half court and kept losing close games anyway. So he sat down with a stack of game film and a legal pad and asked one question about every basket his team gave up: was our defense set, or not? The answer was not even close. Far more than a third of the opponent's points came before five defenders were back.
In this deep dive, Steve takes on the part of defense that starts on offense. He explains why your own shot is the starting gun, why every player needs to know exactly who is back before the shot goes up, why the first three steps go to the paint and not to a man, how to stop the ball and talk, and why the frustration tax after a missed shot is costing your team more than you think. It is a practical plan for the opening weeks of the season, built to take away the easy baskets.
Part 1: The Shot Is the Signal

The film study that revealed where the points were really coming from

Why defense starts the moment your own shot leaves a player's hand, not when the other team gets the ball

The three steps that decide transition, and why nobody gets to stand and admire a shot

Finishing every drill that ends in a shot with a sprint back, so the first step becomes a habit

A safety rule simple enough for a tired sophomore: the point guard is always back, the player at the top is the second man back

Why the rule itself matters less than every player being able to say it out loud

Stopping scrimmage to hold one player to his job, and what it taught him

Part 2: The First Three Steps and Beyond

Sprint to the paint, not to your man: basket, ball, man, every time

Why a sprinting defender beats a backpedaling one

The daily paint touch drill, whistled on the release, with everyone in the paint before the ball crosses half court

Stopping the ball and talking: the first man back makes it change direction and yells "Ball!"

Playing outnumbered: protect the rim, fake at the ball, and force one more pass

The frustration tax: the one second of hanging your head that turns into a layup the other way

The scorer who made a deal to be first back after every miss, and how it became a point of pride

Why the coach yelling at the official is not coaching transition defense either

Chapters

00:00 Coach Unplugged intro

00:16 Opening: where the points really come from

01:08 Pre roll: TeachHoops.com transition defense drills

01:26 The film study and the legal pad

02:21 Takeaway 1: The shot is the starting gun

03:48 Takeaway 2: Decide who goes back before the shot

05:54 Takeaway 3: Sprint to the paint, not to your man

07:11 Mid roll: TeachHoops.com transition defense progression

07:36 Takeaway 4: Stop the ball and say it

08:45 Takeaway 5: Do not pay the frustration tax

10:27 This week's challenge

10:37 Post roll: TeachHoops.com

This week's challenge: Chart one scrimmage and count every basket you allow before your defense is set.
Format: Deep Dive, two parts.
Resources: Transition defense drills, teaching progressions, practice plans, courses, and on court clinics at https://teachhoops.com/
Recorded at the Fifth Quarter Studios in Madison, Wisconsin.
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