Latest / A Quick Timeout / Create a Basketball Program Founded on Player Development

Transcript

Create a Basketball Program Founded on Player Development · A Quick Timeout

0:05
SPEAKER_00: This week,
0:05
I'm excited to introduce to you one of the up-and-coming young
0:08
coaches in men's
0:09
SPEAKER_00: college basketball,
0:11
SPEAKER_00: assistant coach for the Furman Paladins,
0:12
SPEAKER_00: Coach Rhett Lister.
0:13
SPEAKER_00: Thanks for coming on the show, man.
0:15
SPEAKER_01: Coach, what's going on?
0:16
SPEAKER_01: Thanks for having me.
0:16
SPEAKER_01: I really appreciate it.
0:18
SPEAKER_00: I've known Rhett for quite a while now.
0:20
His dad is a D2 coach close by,
0:22
and I've connected with him and then Rhett over the years here.
0:25
SPEAKER_00: It's been probably almost a decade now.
0:27
SPEAKER_00: I remember when Rhett first went to Furman as a player,
0:29
SPEAKER_00: coached against him a few times,
0:31
SPEAKER_00: and then now is a Paladin staff member.
0:33
SPEAKER_00: It's cool to see him kind of grow up in his role there.
0:36
SPEAKER_00: And I'm usually not a big tell-us-your-story guy here on the show,
0:40
SPEAKER_00: but because we have a lot of younger coaches who listen to this,
0:43
SPEAKER_00: and I think they would benefit from hearing this part,
0:46
SPEAKER_00: Rhett,
0:47
Once you graduated,
0:48
what were the first steps that you took to get into coaching?
0:52
SPEAKER_00: And then now here in these first few years,
0:55
SPEAKER_00: what all have you done and learned to kind of set you on your path?
0:59
SPEAKER_01: Yeah,
0:59
SPEAKER_01: I think that's a great question just for,
1:02
SPEAKER_01: you know,
1:02
SPEAKER_01: even for myself to retell it,
1:05
SPEAKER_01: to see how,
1:06
SPEAKER_01: you know,
1:06
SPEAKER_01: lucky I've been and how blessed I've been in this situation.
1:11
SPEAKER_01: Coming up in my coaching career, I'm
1:13
SPEAKER_01: 24 years old, finished up with actually these guys right here.
1:17
SPEAKER_01: This was on purpose.
1:19
But Mike Bothwell,
1:20
Jalen Lawson,
1:21
you know,
1:22
graduated with those guys after we beat Virginia.
1:24
SPEAKER_01: And,
1:25
SPEAKER_01: you know,
1:25
SPEAKER_01: through my whole senior year,
1:28
SPEAKER_01: knew I wanted to get into coaching,
1:30
SPEAKER_01: was finishing up my education degree.
1:32
SPEAKER_01: My mentor,
1:33
SPEAKER_01: Jeremy Groh,
1:34
SPEAKER_01: who is now at College of Charleston,
1:36
SPEAKER_01: was helping me out,
1:37
SPEAKER_01: getting me connected to coaches all over the country.
1:41
Basically,
1:41
every coach I reached out to,
1:43
they'd write back,
1:44
they'd text back,
1:45
whatever it was.
1:46
SPEAKER_01: The place I ended up,
1:48
SPEAKER_01: Kent State University in Kent,
1:50
SPEAKER_01: Ohio,
1:50
SPEAKER_01: 10 hours away from Easley,
1:52
SPEAKER_01: South Carolina,
1:53
SPEAKER_01: where I grew up.
1:54
SPEAKER_01: did not have any contact with them until,
1:56
SPEAKER_01: um,
1:57
SPEAKER_01: I got the first call from them,
1:58
SPEAKER_01: went through the interview process,
2:00
SPEAKER_01: you know,
2:01
SPEAKER_01: spoke with a couple of their assistant coaches,
2:03
SPEAKER_01: ended up talking to coach Rob Senderoff who,
2:05
SPEAKER_01: you know,
2:06
SPEAKER_01: offered the GA position to me up there.
2:08
SPEAKER_01: So I moved my, uh,
2:10
SPEAKER_01: my life up there to chase this dream of coaching college basketball.
2:15
SPEAKER_01: So I was up there for 10 months.
2:17
SPEAKER_01: I learned a lot.
2:19
SPEAKER_01: I was a GA for basketball operations.
2:22
SPEAKER_01: And at Kent State, I was the ops guy.
2:24
SPEAKER_01: That was all we had.
2:25
So luckily I had Jim Christian,
2:28
John Fleming,
2:28
Randall Holt,
2:30
Jules Sullinger.
2:31
SPEAKER_01: Those guys were
2:32
SPEAKER_01: Um, they'd all actually done my position before, um, at Kent state.
2:36
SPEAKER_01: So funny enough,
2:37
SPEAKER_01: they were,
2:38
SPEAKER_01: they were able to,
2:39
SPEAKER_01: um,
2:39
SPEAKER_01: you know,
2:39
SPEAKER_01: tell me some stories,
2:40
SPEAKER_01: what to do,
2:41
SPEAKER_01: what not to do.
2:42
SPEAKER_01: And, uh, that was how I got my start.
2:44
SPEAKER_01: So I was there for one year, I guess it was last May, May of 2024.
2:49
SPEAKER_01: Coach Richie called me,
2:50
SPEAKER_01: I was out on the golf course and he said,
2:53
SPEAKER_01: Hey,
2:53
SPEAKER_01: we've had a couple,
2:53
SPEAKER_01: uh,
2:54
SPEAKER_01: shakeups on staff.
2:55
SPEAKER_01: We've had a couple spots open.
2:57
SPEAKER_01: You know, he said, do you want to come home?
2:59
SPEAKER_01: And I said, uh, yes, sir.
3:00
SPEAKER_01: I'll, you know, when do I need to be there?
3:02
SPEAKER_01: That was on a Wednesday, Saturday morning.
3:04
SPEAKER_01: My car was packed and I was driving back to home, which is Furman.
3:08
SPEAKER_01: You know, obviously for me, graduated here and hadn't looked back since.
3:12
SPEAKER_01: So I've completed my first year going into year two.
3:15
SPEAKER_01: You know, obviously that's my coach.
3:18
SPEAKER_01: That's that's who I played for.
3:19
SPEAKER_01: And now that's my boss.
3:20
SPEAKER_01: So just got to give him a lot of credit for that.
3:23
SPEAKER_01: You know, appreciate him for that for sure.
3:25
Something that's changed in the last couple of years because
3:28
the NCAA has allowed
3:29
SPEAKER_00: for additional staff members,
3:31
kind of that ops role and recruiting and have kind of gotten
3:34
melded into one.
3:35
SPEAKER_00: What all specifically do you do there at Furman?
3:38
SPEAKER_01: That's a good question there.
3:39
SPEAKER_01: So obviously,
3:40
SPEAKER_01: you know,
3:41
SPEAKER_01: with that role being molded all into one,
3:43
SPEAKER_01: it's provided the opportunity for me to do a lot of things,
3:47
SPEAKER_01: which is great at my age.
3:48
SPEAKER_01: You know,
3:48
SPEAKER_01: I've gotten to learn,
3:49
SPEAKER_01: you know,
3:50
SPEAKER_01: be quick on my feet and I've gotten to go out on the road,
3:53
SPEAKER_01: you know,
3:53
SPEAKER_01: and have some recruiting experiences.
3:55
SPEAKER_01: I have.
3:57
SPEAKER_01: I've done all the operations from travel to now in this world of NIL,
4:02
SPEAKER_01: trying to raise some money,
4:03
SPEAKER_01: trying to work on our new facility that will be done the end of August,
4:07
SPEAKER_01: working day to day on not only our team schedule,
4:10
SPEAKER_01: but coaches schedule.
4:11
SPEAKER_01: And then at the same time,
4:13
SPEAKER_01: working guys out on the court,
4:14
SPEAKER_01: because that's,
4:15
SPEAKER_01: like you said,
4:15
SPEAKER_01: that's legal now.
4:16
And that's part of something that is expected of me to have a
4:20
group of guys that I
4:21
SPEAKER_01: can connect with on the court and show them
4:24
SPEAKER_01: you know,
4:25
our way of player development and get them better at the same
4:28
time as handling all
4:29
SPEAKER_01: the other responsibilities.
4:31
One of the things that you do a great job with there at Furman
4:33
is recruiting.
4:34
And I get the question all the time from high school players
4:37
and coaches who are
4:38
SPEAKER_00: trying to help their players.
4:39
SPEAKER_00: What are college coaches looking for?
4:42
So I'll ask you,
4:43
what are you guys looking for in these players and from these
4:47
players?
4:49
SPEAKER_01: We're looking for somebody who's smart,
4:51
SPEAKER_01: somebody who's tough,
4:52
SPEAKER_01: and someone that wants to be at Furman.
4:55
I think that's something that we have to take a lot of pride in
4:58
now more than ever,
4:59
just in the world of the transfer portal and NIL and blooming
5:03
where you're planted
5:04
SPEAKER_01: and staying where you are.
5:05
SPEAKER_01: you know,
5:06
SPEAKER_01: in this landscape,
5:06
staying somewhere four years is not the cool thing or the easy
5:10
thing to do.
5:11
But if we could have someone that tells us through the
5:14
recruiting process that they
5:16
SPEAKER_01: want to be here,
5:17
SPEAKER_01: they want to go through the academic piece of Furman,
5:20
SPEAKER_01: they want to do hard things,
5:21
SPEAKER_01: you know,
5:21
SPEAKER_01: that's something that sticks out to me and sticks out to our staff,
5:25
SPEAKER_01: you know,
5:25
SPEAKER_01: more importantly,
5:26
SPEAKER_01: when we're recruiting high school kids right now.
5:29
SPEAKER_00: Kind of connected to that, but coaches will also ask,
5:32
SPEAKER_00: about getting their players just simply on your radar.
5:35
SPEAKER_00: Any suggestions for that?
5:37
Coach Miller can attest to this,
5:38
but we get a lot of emails throughout the day.
5:40
SPEAKER_01: You know,
5:41
SPEAKER_01: there's email after email,
5:42
SPEAKER_01: hey,
5:43
SPEAKER_01: you know,
5:43
SPEAKER_01: recruit my son,
5:44
SPEAKER_01: recruit my player,
5:45
SPEAKER_01: whatever it is.
5:46
those are great and there's good information in there that we
5:49
can see video clips
5:50
SPEAKER_01: and such,
5:51
SPEAKER_01: you know,
5:51
SPEAKER_01: there's,
5:51
SPEAKER_01: there's nothing better than for me,
5:53
SPEAKER_01: you know,
5:54
SPEAKER_01: a text and a phone call are much easier for me to respond to.
5:57
SPEAKER_01: I'll say that first of all,
5:58
SPEAKER_01: but at the same time,
6:00
showing your interest in Furman is more than just sending the
6:03
email that says,
6:03
SPEAKER_01: Hey coach,
6:04
SPEAKER_01: you know,
6:04
SPEAKER_01: that you've sent to,
6:06
SPEAKER_01: to 50 other people.
6:07
You can kind of sniff that out when you're looking through
6:09
emails and stuff like that.
6:10
SPEAKER_01: But I think just to be on the radar, you know,
6:12
SPEAKER_01: You know,
6:13
SPEAKER_01: you have to do something that's,
6:14
SPEAKER_01: you know,
6:15
SPEAKER_01: a cut above everyone else that you're watching,
6:17
SPEAKER_01: right?
6:18
You go to a high school game,
6:19
you go to an AAU event,
6:21
and you're looking for those things.
6:22
SPEAKER_01: What is sticking out in this player that looks like a Furman guy,
6:27
SPEAKER_01: you know,
6:27
SPEAKER_01: and we call it an OKGR kind of guy.
6:29
SPEAKER_01: So we're looking for that with how they carry themselves,
6:33
SPEAKER_01: with how they walk,
6:34
SPEAKER_01: how they talk,
6:35
SPEAKER_01: what their social media looks like.
6:36
SPEAKER_01: That's a big thing now.
6:38
SPEAKER_01: You know, we're sifting through that.
6:39
SPEAKER_01: Is there stuff on there that
6:41
doesn't represent who they think they are or what we would want
6:44
them to represent
6:45
SPEAKER_01: when they're here with us.
6:46
SPEAKER_00: Talking about building a competitive roster,
6:49
you alluded to the other factors that have now influenced
6:53
college basketball,
6:54
SPEAKER_00: and that's really become kind of like a puzzle,
6:56
SPEAKER_00: complex puzzle to put together nowadays.
6:59
How have you all gone about balancing the veteran experience
7:03
that you need to win
7:04
SPEAKER_00: at the college level,
7:05
SPEAKER_00: but then also bringing in and developing younger talent?
7:09
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no, for sure.
7:10
SPEAKER_01: So last fall,
7:12
SPEAKER_01: I guess this time last year,
7:13
SPEAKER_01: we were on the cusp of signing five high school kids,
7:16
SPEAKER_01: which is,
7:17
SPEAKER_01: you know,
7:17
SPEAKER_01: abnormal in this day and age,
7:19
SPEAKER_01: like we talked about.
7:20
SPEAKER_01: But at the same time,
7:21
SPEAKER_01: we returned seven veterans,
7:23
SPEAKER_01: you know,
7:24
SPEAKER_01: our upperclassmen at this point,
7:26
SPEAKER_01: which means we only went and got one transfer in Asa Thomas from Clemson,
7:30
SPEAKER_01: who we recruited out of high school.
7:32
SPEAKER_01: So we had a relationship with him, with his family and even his
7:36
SPEAKER_01: college coaches at Clemson where he was before.
7:39
So he made the skip down 123 and made it down to Furman and
7:45
he's been awesome.
7:46
SPEAKER_01: But that was, that was our only portal addition, right.
7:49
SPEAKER_01: And this new,
7:50
SPEAKER_01: this new landscape,
7:51
SPEAKER_01: like we've talked about,
7:52
SPEAKER_01: but yeah,
7:52
SPEAKER_01: I think that,
7:53
SPEAKER_01: that competition,
7:54
SPEAKER_01: right.
7:55
You know,
7:55
we've,
7:55
we've been dealing with,
7:56
we've got basically seven old guys and five new guys.
8:00
SPEAKER_01: Right.
8:00
SPEAKER_01: And it's like,
8:01
SPEAKER_01: you know,
8:01
SPEAKER_01: sometimes we see a clash,
8:03
but I think that's also built and brought the competitive juice
8:07
and practice,
8:07
SPEAKER_01: right.
8:08
SPEAKER_01: These young guys want to show that they belong and that they're,
8:12
that they can stand up for themselves and go hard and practice
8:14
every day.
8:15
SPEAKER_01: And that's really been good for us.
8:17
And it's shown those old guys,
8:19
the veterans,
8:20
that,
8:20
hey,
8:20
we have to bring it every day too.
8:22
I've had several of the guys on to show film and video
8:26
breakdown of what you guys
8:27
SPEAKER_00: do there at Furman.
8:28
And it can be sometimes some rather complex concepts for
8:33
players to grasp.
8:33
SPEAKER_00: I think even some of the younger players coming in
8:36
SPEAKER_00: No matter what background they've had,
8:37
SPEAKER_00: the amount of things that college teams run,
8:40
SPEAKER_00: and I know that you guys run,
8:42
SPEAKER_00: just being able to hold all of those things.
8:44
SPEAKER_00: But how do you train them early in the development phases here?
8:48
for you guys in the summer for the rest of us early fall to
8:52
really like accelerate
8:53
SPEAKER_00: their understanding and learning.
8:56
SPEAKER_00: And in particular,
8:57
SPEAKER_00: if you think of anything practical in regards to even,
9:00
I think even you guys do a great job with terminology and
9:03
helping them kind of
9:04
SPEAKER_00: understand the concepts as well.
9:06
SPEAKER_00: Those kinds of things just to help them grasp the offense in particular.
9:10
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, for sure.
9:11
SPEAKER_01: No, I think that goes back to the type of guys we recruit.
9:14
SPEAKER_01: You know,
9:14
SPEAKER_01: we want to recruit competent,
9:16
SPEAKER_01: smart,
9:17
SPEAKER_01: you know,
9:17
SPEAKER_01: just guys that are going to be able to pick up our stuff.
9:20
SPEAKER_01: And,
9:21
SPEAKER_01: you know,
9:21
we do accelerate it through the summer because we're here for
9:23
eight weeks,
9:25
SPEAKER_01: which obviously at the Division I level,
9:26
SPEAKER_01: we're able to do that.
9:27
SPEAKER_01: And that's where we...
9:29
spend time in the film room and you know ironically enough I
9:32
didn't bring any film
9:34
to show because I was lucky enough to be in this system and
9:38
program for four years
9:39
as a player and you know now going into year two as a coach
9:42
some of this stuff goes
9:44
in my brain all day every day when I'm trying to go to sleep
9:46
I'm thinking about our
9:47
terminology right and it's just that goes to your point about
9:51
how we've been able
9:52
to to use that terminology accelerate our you know our offense
9:56
right and even just
9:57
SPEAKER_01: you know
9:58
SPEAKER_01: try to make it to where it can't be replicated.
10:00
And I think that starts in the summer because the terminology
10:03
is important.
10:04
SPEAKER_01: Our guys bring a notebook to film every day, probably watch
10:07
close to 45 minutes to an hour worth of film,
10:10
or at least talk through what we're doing.
10:12
SPEAKER_01: We draw up on the board what's going on.
10:14
SPEAKER_01: We talk through why we're doing this,
10:16
SPEAKER_01: because if you know why you're doing it,
10:17
SPEAKER_01: how to do it becomes a whole lot easier.
10:19
So I think that's really good for especially all the new guys
10:22
that we have.
10:22
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes when we're in study hall,
10:24
SPEAKER_01: we might talk a little bit basketball during study hall as well.
10:27
So it's a good way to study your concepts and what we're going
10:31
through each day on
10:32
SPEAKER_01: the practice floor.
10:34
SPEAKER_00: A Quick Time Out Podcast is presented by Dr. Dish Basketball.
10:38
SPEAKER_00: Dr. Dish machines are the most advanced shooting machines on the market.
10:41
SPEAKER_00: If you haven't already,
10:42
SPEAKER_00: join top programs like the Miami Heat,
10:45
SPEAKER_00: the Philadelphia 76ers,
10:47
SPEAKER_00: the Duke Blue Devils,
10:48
SPEAKER_00: and countless others in an upgrade to Dr.
10:50
SPEAKER_00: Dish Basketball.
10:51
And now,
10:52
save an extra $300 on select models when you mention Quick Time
10:56
Out Podcast.
10:57
SPEAKER_00: To find out more, visit drdishbasketball.com.
11:00
SPEAKER_00: If you're already using tools like FastDraw,
11:02
SPEAKER_00: FastScout,
11:03
SPEAKER_00: and FastRecruit,
11:04
SPEAKER_00: you know how essential they are to your workflows.
11:06
And now that they're fully part of the Huddle ecosystem,
11:08
they're more powerful than ever.
11:10
From film and play diagrams to scouting reports and custom
11:13
recruiting boards,
11:14
SPEAKER_00: everything flows together.
11:16
SPEAKER_00: One system built for high-performance programs.
11:19
SPEAKER_00: Learn more at huddle.com slash a quick timeout.
11:23
SPEAKER_00: Talking about the film, you mentioned it.
11:25
SPEAKER_00: 45 minutes to a lot of people may sound like a really long time.
11:28
SPEAKER_00: And you guys record a ton of stuff.
11:30
SPEAKER_00: I've seen you even,
11:31
SPEAKER_00: you personally even,
11:32
SPEAKER_00: depending on what time of the year it is,
11:34
SPEAKER_00: over there manning the video recorder.
11:37
SPEAKER_00: What do you do with all of that as a staff?
11:39
SPEAKER_00: And then you also mentioned showing it to the players.
11:41
But kind of all of that,
11:43
how do you really use that to maximize that part of it?
11:46
SPEAKER_01: Yeah,
11:46
SPEAKER_01: so something that these,
11:48
SPEAKER_01: especially these young guys,
11:49
SPEAKER_01: which is something I hadn't really seen before,
11:51
SPEAKER_01: they're trying to eat this film.
11:53
SPEAKER_01: I mean, as soon as practice ends, I hit the button to stop the recording.
11:57
SPEAKER_01: Coach, can I get the film?
11:58
SPEAKER_01: Coach, can I get the film?
11:59
SPEAKER_01: And I think that just, that breeds the type of,
12:02
SPEAKER_01: a player that we want,
12:03
SPEAKER_01: like we've already talked about a couple of times,
12:05
SPEAKER_01: but it's just like,
12:06
SPEAKER_01: you know,
12:06
SPEAKER_01: they want to learn and go into our coaches.
12:08
SPEAKER_01: I think,
12:09
SPEAKER_01: you know,
12:10
SPEAKER_01: when practice ends,
12:11
SPEAKER_01: we each have duties,
12:12
SPEAKER_01: you know,
12:13
SPEAKER_01: we go through and watch the bucket that you're looking after,
12:15
SPEAKER_01: right?
12:15
SPEAKER_01: Whether it's rebounding,
12:17
SPEAKER_01: whether it's shooting,
12:18
SPEAKER_01: whether it's,
12:19
SPEAKER_01: you know,
12:19
SPEAKER_01: different reads coming off ball screens and,
12:22
SPEAKER_01: Hey,
12:22
SPEAKER_01: I'm watching the point guards.
12:23
SPEAKER_01: Are they making the right reads?
12:24
SPEAKER_01: Are they making the right pass in this specific instance?
12:28
SPEAKER_01: And we stat practice at the end of every day.
12:30
SPEAKER_01: So,
12:32
You know,
12:32
you go from an hour of film,
12:33
then you go to an hour of practice.
12:35
And then after that,
12:36
you're coming back to stat each individual person in each
12:39
possession.
12:40
SPEAKER_01: Right.
12:40
SPEAKER_01: And that that can take some time.
12:42
SPEAKER_01: But then we have this data from eight weeks of summer.
12:45
SPEAKER_01: We've got data of winning and losing shot percentages,
12:49
SPEAKER_01: rebounds,
12:50
SPEAKER_01: assist to turnover ratio,
12:51
SPEAKER_01: so on and so forth.
12:52
SPEAKER_01: And, you know, being able to watch that back and
12:55
SPEAKER_01: and say, hey, look, this guy's a cut above everybody else in this area.
12:58
SPEAKER_01: Can we encourage other guys to pick it up, right?
13:01
SPEAKER_01: Rebounding,
13:02
SPEAKER_01: hey,
13:02
SPEAKER_01: we've got three big men here,
13:04
SPEAKER_01: and this guy's here,
13:05
SPEAKER_01: this guy's here,
13:06
SPEAKER_01: and this guy's here.
13:06
SPEAKER_01: What can you do to get to their level?
13:08
SPEAKER_01: Can you go chase down balls every day?
13:10
Can you make it a point before you step on the practice court
13:13
that I'm going to go
13:14
SPEAKER_01: rebound today?
13:15
You may be able to speak to this just from being the player to
13:17
the coach.
13:18
SPEAKER_00: I'll speak to it just from being the coach.
13:20
SPEAKER_00: My conversations have changed because I have so much information now.
13:24
SPEAKER_00: It's become very data-driven and less emotional.
13:28
SPEAKER_00: My opinion versus the player's opinion or what they think about things.
13:31
SPEAKER_00: The players, now I can give them something.
13:34
SPEAKER_00: They have something tangible.
13:35
SPEAKER_00: They can see.
13:36
SPEAKER_00: A number that they can see, I've got to go do this instead.
13:39
SPEAKER_00: Do you guys talk with them one-on-one with stuff?
13:42
SPEAKER_00: How do you go about doing that?
13:43
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
13:44
change the conversation yeah we have we have player groups that
13:47
each coach is set
13:48
up with let's call it three or four guys and you know when they
13:52
meet with them
13:52
one-on-one throughout the week they've got clips for them they
13:54
can show them those
13:55
clips but then they can also show them the stats and hey this
13:58
is where you this is
13:59
SPEAKER_01: where you sit
14:00
SPEAKER_01: among the team.
14:01
SPEAKER_01: And we'll show that in the team film as well.
14:03
SPEAKER_01: We're not afraid or scared to put it up in front of everybody and say,
14:07
SPEAKER_01: hey,
14:07
SPEAKER_01: look,
14:07
SPEAKER_01: this is where you are.
14:08
SPEAKER_01: But I think, like you said, it does change the conversation.
14:11
SPEAKER_01: And you get to say, hey, look, this is where you are.
14:13
SPEAKER_01: You're shooting 28% from three, right?
14:16
SPEAKER_01: I mean, there's nothing that that number can say.
14:18
SPEAKER_01: I think it's, we talk about objective data versus subjective data, right?
14:22
SPEAKER_01: And it's,
14:23
SPEAKER_01: like you said,
14:24
SPEAKER_01: you get to bring them into your office and then,
14:26
SPEAKER_01: hey,
14:26
SPEAKER_01: look,
14:26
SPEAKER_01: this is what it is.
14:27
SPEAKER_01: The data shows it.
14:28
SPEAKER_01: And
14:28
SPEAKER_01: We're analytically driven,
14:30
SPEAKER_01: but,
14:30
SPEAKER_01: you know,
14:30
obviously there's times where you have to use the eye test
14:33
still in basketball
14:34
SPEAKER_01: because that's always how it's going to be.
14:36
But there's there's analytics that stick out to us that we're
14:39
looking for,
14:41
SPEAKER_01: you know,
14:41
SPEAKER_01: whether it's and then there's deflections,
14:43
SPEAKER_01: right,
14:43
that that can't be statted by synergy or huddle or whatever it
14:47
is after practice.
14:48
SPEAKER_01: There's different things that can't be seen,
14:50
SPEAKER_01: like diving on loose balls,
14:52
SPEAKER_01: taking charges,
14:52
SPEAKER_01: so on and so forth.
14:54
So I think those are those are things that eventually stick out
14:57
over time across
14:58
you know,
14:59
23,
15:00
25,
15:04
30 practices that,
15:02
you know,
15:02
it just shows the difference in where you stand.
15:04
SPEAKER_00: I don't want to get you in trouble with Coach Ritchie,
15:07
SPEAKER_00: but without giving anything away,
15:09
SPEAKER_00: you all have some changes with defense coming this year.
15:12
How have you balanced the teaching of the offense like we just
15:16
talked about?
15:17
SPEAKER_00: They have a lot to learn in eight weeks,
15:19
SPEAKER_00: but then you also have some differences in defense that you're doing.
15:24
SPEAKER_00: What does that do in regards to the shape of practice?
15:27
SPEAKER_00: and even maybe the teaching that's involved.
15:29
SPEAKER_01: Yeah,
15:30
SPEAKER_01: no,
15:30
SPEAKER_01: I will say,
15:31
SPEAKER_01: you know,
15:31
SPEAKER_01: obviously this is out on the web,
15:33
SPEAKER_01: but Coach Joe Pierre has joined our staff from Liberty.
15:37
He was there for seven years and ran the defense there with
15:40
Coach Richie McKay.
15:41
SPEAKER_01: So he is now our defensive coordinator.
15:45
SPEAKER_01: And in turn, we've seen a lot of new things, right?
15:47
And he's been at a place where they've been highly rated in
15:50
defense over the last
15:51
SPEAKER_01: seven years when he's had it at the helm there.
15:54
SPEAKER_01: And he's done a great job with our guys.
15:56
SPEAKER_01: He's teaching new terminology, right, which goes into –
15:59
These guys having to learn because now you've got veterans who
16:03
they thought they
16:03
SPEAKER_01: knew what we were going to say when we switch a ball screen,
16:06
SPEAKER_01: when we hedge a ball screen,
16:08
SPEAKER_01: when we put two on the ball and then recover.
16:10
SPEAKER_01: You know, he's got different ways to go about it.
16:13
And it's new for those guys,
16:14
whereas the freshmen are all on level playing field with that.
16:16
SPEAKER_01: So,
16:17
SPEAKER_01: yeah,
16:17
SPEAKER_01: I think,
16:17
SPEAKER_01: you know,
16:18
the defense is really we just we want to hold our opponent to
16:21
70 points or below
16:23
SPEAKER_01: because we're trying to score 80 or above.
16:24
SPEAKER_01: Right.
16:25
If we could have a perfect game,
16:26
we'd love to win 80 to 70 and get on the bus and go home.
16:29
SPEAKER_01: So I think,
16:30
SPEAKER_01: you know,
16:30
taking three point line away in a league where there's more
16:34
three pointer shot than
16:35
SPEAKER_01: in any league.
16:36
I think that's something that,
16:37
you know,
16:37
we can we can say that right in the middle of summer.
16:40
You know,
16:40
that's not that's not giving anything away to to an opponent or
16:44
anybody.
16:44
SPEAKER_01: That's that's what everybody wants to do.
16:46
SPEAKER_01: So there's definitely things that we've done.
16:48
SPEAKER_01: If teams watch film on us last year, we.
16:50
We had a curve ball right in the 1-3-1 that we would throw out
16:53
every once in a
16:54
SPEAKER_01: while when we needed a shakeup.
16:55
And we ran it in the championship game against Wofford and
16:59
obviously came up a
16:59
SPEAKER_01: little bit short,
17:00
but that was something that stalled them out for a little while
17:02
offensively and
17:03
SPEAKER_01: just finding,
17:04
SPEAKER_01: you know,
17:04
SPEAKER_01: new ways to be creative and basically,
17:07
SPEAKER_01: you know,
17:08
SPEAKER_01: get the ball from the other team.
17:09
SPEAKER_00: Did you start teaching the 1-3-1 in the summer?
17:12
SPEAKER_00: Was that something that was introduced later on?
17:14
SPEAKER_01: We've had the 1-3-1 back when I was playing.
17:17
SPEAKER_01: And when we had guys like Jalen Slauson, Noah Gurley,
17:20
SPEAKER_01: Clay Mounts, Garrett Heen even, who was there for all of them.
17:24
SPEAKER_01: But yeah, we did not teach it in the summer.
17:26
SPEAKER_01: And then I would say maybe December,
17:30
SPEAKER_01: maybe January,
17:31
SPEAKER_01: we said,
17:32
SPEAKER_01: hey,
17:32
SPEAKER_01: look,
17:32
SPEAKER_01: let's throw the curveball now,
17:35
SPEAKER_01: right?
17:35
SPEAKER_01: And we went out there.
17:36
SPEAKER_01: couple days in practice.
17:38
SPEAKER_01: And this just goes to show,
17:40
SPEAKER_01: you know,
17:40
Coach Ritchie's mind and how his brain works and also how good
17:44
he is at putting the
17:45
SPEAKER_01: message across of,
17:46
SPEAKER_01: hey,
17:46
SPEAKER_01: look,
17:47
SPEAKER_01: we're going to need this at some point.
17:48
SPEAKER_01: I don't know when it's going to be in our back pocket,
17:50
SPEAKER_01: but we have to practice it and we have to sharpen the saw here and
17:54
SPEAKER_01: And know that when this comes up,
17:56
like it's going to be helpful for our team just with our length
17:59
and with someone
17:59
SPEAKER_01: like PJ Smith in the bottom of the one three one in the warrior spot,
18:03
SPEAKER_01: if you will.
18:04
SPEAKER_01: I mean,
18:04
SPEAKER_01: he's down there and he was a warrior,
18:06
SPEAKER_01: you know,
18:06
SPEAKER_01: and so we had guys that that made that work for us.
18:09
SPEAKER_01: And, you know, it's funny to your point, you know, I know you've seen us.
18:13
SPEAKER_01: in the summer and played against us and coached it and,
18:16
SPEAKER_01: you know,
18:16
SPEAKER_01: done it all,
18:17
SPEAKER_01: but just to,
18:18
to have not done that in the summer and then just kind of pull
18:20
it out of our back
18:22
SPEAKER_01: pocket,
18:22
SPEAKER_01: I'll say,
18:23
SPEAKER_01: um,
18:23
SPEAKER_01: to keep it PG,
18:24
SPEAKER_01: you know,
18:24
SPEAKER_01: we,
18:25
SPEAKER_01: we pulled it out and it worked for us.
18:26
This can be a surprise to everyone surprised to your staff that
18:29
it actually works.
18:30
SPEAKER_00: The surprise to the other, other coaching staff as well.
18:33
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
18:34
SPEAKER_00: A question that I do get from coaches,
18:36
SPEAKER_00: structuring of practices,
18:38
SPEAKER_00: they want to hear about,
18:40
SPEAKER_00: do you have an offensive segment and then defensive segment?
18:44
SPEAKER_00: Do you intersperse things?
18:46
Is one thing emphasized during one part while another part is
18:50
for another?
18:51
How do you all do that so that you can maximize your time but
18:55
yet fit in everything in?
18:57
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think that goes back to my educator days.
19:00
SPEAKER_01: We go part, part, whole.
19:02
SPEAKER_01: So we start every day with finishing, every single day.
19:06
SPEAKER_01: Anybody who knows us,
19:07
SPEAKER_01: anyone who's seen us practice,
19:08
any of our competitors even know that finishing is what we hang
19:13
our hat on.
19:13
Finishing school is a segment that we start every practice with
19:16
where we go through
19:17
SPEAKER_01: the different finishes.
19:18
SPEAKER_01: And we probably spend 10 to 15 minutes a day on that.
19:21
SPEAKER_01: And there's ball handling component to that.
19:24
SPEAKER_01: There's a finishing component to that.
19:26
And there's a getting juiced up for practice component to that
19:30
that leads you into
19:31
SPEAKER_01: first part,
19:32
SPEAKER_01: which is normally defense.
19:33
We'll have a defensive segment,
19:35
whether it's,
19:35
you know,
19:36
three on three on three.
19:38
SPEAKER_01: And that's what Coach Pierre has brought to us,
19:41
SPEAKER_01: you know,
19:41
SPEAKER_01: some good stuff,
19:42
SPEAKER_01: some good drills to get us going defensively.
19:46
SPEAKER_01: And then after that,
19:46
SPEAKER_01: we will walk through some stuff,
19:49
SPEAKER_01: maybe a little bit of 5-0 offensively,
19:51
and then the hole will play the rest of the day to finish up
19:54
practice and try to
19:56
SPEAKER_01: put it all together.
19:58
Earlier,
19:58
you said the competitiveness exists between the older guys and
20:01
the younger guys.
20:03
But if there's not a natural stimulator for competition,
20:06
what do you do to encourage that?
20:09
SPEAKER_01: Obviously, we try to keep teams right positionally, right?
20:13
You have to play based on position,
20:16
and that's how you separate the teams.
20:17
SPEAKER_01: But because we stat winning and losing, there's a –
20:21
SPEAKER_01: You know,
20:21
SPEAKER_01: you know,
20:22
if you if you're on the quote unquote winning team or the
20:24
losing team at the end of
20:26
SPEAKER_01: the day and where your percentages are,
20:28
SPEAKER_01: because these guys,
20:29
SPEAKER_01: you know,
20:29
SPEAKER_01: they just eat,
20:30
SPEAKER_01: sleep and breathe it.
20:30
SPEAKER_01: They want to know, am I winning?
20:32
SPEAKER_01: What's my winning percentage?
20:33
SPEAKER_01: Where am I at?
20:34
SPEAKER_01: Where do I stack up against everybody else?
20:36
So sometimes we we pick teams based off of these stats that we
20:40
have data on.
20:41
SPEAKER_01: So we'll pick the first five winners.
20:43
SPEAKER_01: Right.
20:44
And then the next five,
20:45
you know,
20:45
I'm not going to call them losers,
20:46
but the next five winners.
20:48
SPEAKER_01: So we'll go one through five and then six through ten.
20:51
SPEAKER_01: And you would think, right, that that team with the top five winners.
20:55
SPEAKER_01: would win every time.
20:56
SPEAKER_01: And most of the time that that reigns true.
20:59
And then there'll be days where we go based off three point
21:02
percentage and we see,
21:03
SPEAKER_01: hey,
21:04
SPEAKER_01: the top five three point shooters,
21:06
SPEAKER_01: what does this do in a game of five on five?
21:08
SPEAKER_01: The guys with the top five in deflections, right?
21:11
And we play different games based on the stats and the data
21:14
that we have to see
21:16
SPEAKER_01: what results it creates.
21:18
SPEAKER_00: In regards to drills,
21:19
I think all of us end up having some favorites that we use on a
21:23
regular basis.
21:24
SPEAKER_00: Do you guys have any go-to drills that you use frequently?
21:27
SPEAKER_01: I'm a defense guy.
21:29
SPEAKER_01: I know I work for an offensive-minded coach,
21:31
SPEAKER_01: but,
21:32
SPEAKER_01: you know,
21:32
SPEAKER_01: as we all know,
21:33
defense wins championships and just working with Coach Pierre
21:36
and learning from him
21:37
SPEAKER_01: and,
21:37
SPEAKER_01: you know,
21:38
SPEAKER_01: trying to take stuff from him.
21:40
We've got a one on one drill that actually I may have video of,
21:44
but we called it killer thirds.
21:46
So you split the court up into thirds and you put the we have
21:51
tape running all the
21:52
SPEAKER_01: way down the lane lines.
21:53
SPEAKER_01: And basically you're one on one with your guys starting on the baseline.
21:57
SPEAKER_01: and you've got three seconds to get from baseline to that third.
22:01
And then,
22:02
you know,
22:02
if you are stopped,
22:03
you get a point,
22:05
the defense gets a point.
22:06
SPEAKER_01: But if you cross the line, the offense gets a point.
22:09
SPEAKER_01: And then you're in the next third of the court,
22:11
SPEAKER_01: and then you slide to the next third of the court.
22:13
SPEAKER_01: So it's something we'll have to pull out next time we're at practice.
22:17
SPEAKER_00: I like that.
22:18
SPEAKER_00: Is there any shooting drill?
22:20
SPEAKER_00: Coaches are always asking for shooting drills.
22:23
SPEAKER_00: Anything that you guys have used recently?
22:25
SPEAKER_01: You know, Coach Estep, he does a really good job with that.
22:27
He was at Cedarville for 20 plus years and he had to they shot
22:31
the heck out of the
22:32
SPEAKER_01: ball when he was there.
22:33
SPEAKER_01: So he's brought a lot of that to us.
22:35
SPEAKER_01: The biggest thing I can say on the shooting drills is,
22:38
SPEAKER_01: you know,
22:39
SPEAKER_01: if you're not getting game shots,
22:40
SPEAKER_01: it's a waste of a shooting drill.
22:42
SPEAKER_01: I would say,
22:42
SPEAKER_01: you know,
22:43
SPEAKER_01: even if you play a game to eight or 10,
22:45
SPEAKER_01: whatever it is,
22:45
SPEAKER_01: like even if it takes more time to get the rep in.
22:49
You know a lift three right you're lifting from the corner to
22:52
the to the wing and
22:53
you're shooting at three and you're getting your hips around
22:55
and knocking down the
22:56
shot right and you're competing against the three guys or four
22:59
guys on the other
23:00
side that are doing the same thing so you know the competitive
23:03
shooting is
23:04
trying to beat the other team to the number those are always
23:06
fun and good because
23:07
it breeds competition but i would say you know like i said um
23:11
if they're not game
23:11
shots it's it's fun right and it's great and there's great
23:14
shooting drills but the
23:15
ones that create game shots and get you those reps especially
23:19
in in the summer
23:20
right you know there's never a bad time to get game shots so
23:24
those are always good
23:25
yeah definitely just in some individual workouts one-on-one
23:28
some guys will do
23:30
SPEAKER_01: We have a drill called Celtic drill,
23:31
SPEAKER_01: which is probably pretty worldwide at this point,
23:34
SPEAKER_01: but making two shots in a row at five spots,
23:37
SPEAKER_01: you make two in a row from the corner,
23:38
SPEAKER_01: then you lift up to the wing.
23:40
SPEAKER_01: You know,
23:40
you go to the top of the key and back around and you want to
23:42
see how many spots you
23:43
SPEAKER_01: can get in two minutes.
23:44
SPEAKER_01: So that's a good one.
23:45
SPEAKER_01: That's probably my favorite one.
23:47
I'm actually going to end this now and the drills,
23:50
some of them that you just gave me.
23:52
I'm going to get from you and I'm going to make those available
23:55
at another place.
23:56
So people have to contact me or be paying attention to my
24:00
social to find out where
24:01
SPEAKER_00: they can get,
24:02
SPEAKER_00: get those.
24:02
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
24:03
SPEAKER_01: I can, I've got videos on some of those that I can, I can get to you.
24:06
SPEAKER_01: So that'd be perfect.
24:08
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
24:08
SPEAKER_00: Perfect.
24:09
SPEAKER_00: You're doing a great job.
24:10
And between the core you guys have got coming back and some of
24:14
those new guys and,
24:15
SPEAKER_00: a newly renovated arena.
24:17
SPEAKER_00: I know this is going to be an exciting season,
24:18
so I'm happy for you and appreciate you taking the time to come
24:21
on the show.
24:22
SPEAKER_01: Yes, sir.
24:23
Coach,
24:23
I appreciate you and just thanks for having me on and love
24:27
talking basketball.