A Pen And A Napkin

The famed author Jon Gordon is famous for his stories of everyday people who are lost and need direction, someone who has encountered a situation where they are not really sure what the next step is. In "The Carpenter", Gordon puts together a story where many of us as coaches have been; stressed, burnt out and frustrated, losing our passion that once burned so brightly. Here are some lessons from this very simple book that can hopefully help you get better and become the craftsman you want to be!

I can't believe we're at 50! Tim Cannon, the Boys HC at Millard North (NE), jumps on the podcast to discuss his four decades of coaching in the Omaha metro, building a juggernaut at Millard North, coaching a top 20 player in the nation, pressure defense, attacking pressure and much more. So much good information from one of the best in the business!

No matter how talented your team may be, if you don't have a great point guard (or we may want to start referring to this position as "decision maker"), your team is probably not going to reach their goals. Here are some tips and ideas on how to develop great decision makers and methods that you can use, both on and off the court, to put your decision makers in the best positions possible.

Our most important job as basketball coaches is to use basketball to help shape our players for the rest of their lives. "Rules For A Knight" by Ethan Hawke gives a "code of ethics" that can help us, as coaches, start conversations and help teach our players how to be better teammates and people, while also strengthening the core principles of any program.

York (NE) GBB HC Matt Kern comes on the pod to chat about a lot of free flowing topics, including being influenced by Marty Gilson, coaching with his childhood best friend, the importance of being a great teacher, prepping for a game and sharing athletes in a smaller school. Towards the end, Kern becomes the interviewer as we chat about my new position. Great podcast!!

In our latest version of Headlines!, Casey Hall and I get together to predict the eight first round playoff series, including key players and injuries as the NBA kicks off the bubble with first round series this week.

Having great ball handlers and decision makers are important to the success of your team. As you develop your ball handlers, what is your philosophy and what are the things that you want to emphasize to your ball handlers? Here are some ideas to help narrow that down for you and your players.

On this episode of the pod, Broken Bow (NE) and Nebraska Pride GBB HC Kelly Cooksley comes onto the pod to discuss a variety of topics, including being a "Keyboard Warrior" in the time of Covid-19, struggles in district title games, breaking down how to run a dribble drive offense, rebuilding programs and a preview of a great event for girls hoops in Nebraska this upcoming season!

Your youth program is the lifeline to most high school basketball programs, but there are a myriad of pitfalls that come along with organizing your system. Here are some things to consider as you look at your youth system and the important things that you should communicate to your coaches, players and parents as they commit to your program!

Steve Merfeld, the Associate Head Coach at Creighton, comes on the podcast to discuss his career, including his time with Jim Larranaga, growing as a coach, the importance of having great chemistry within your coaching staff, coaching an undersized team, and much more!

"Rebounding wins Rings" is a popular saying, but what is your rebounding philosophy on the offensive glass, and how are you going to progressively teach rebounding to reach a crescendo and create chaos in practice? Here are some things to think about when it comes to building your program's philosophy as to how best clean the glass.

Creighton Assistant Women's Basketball Coach Carli (Tritz) Berger jumps on the podcast to discuss a variety of topics, including how being a great player has affected her coaching career, women in coaching, recruiting multi-sport athletes, teaching Creighton's highly effective motion offense and building a great culture at Creighton! Great podcast with one of the best young female coaches in the game!!!

Ryan Reeder, the Boys HC at Waverly High School and co-director of the Lincoln Supreme Court AAU program, jumps on the pod to discuss executing a wedding in the time of Covid-19, organizing his staff, teaching an effective 2-3 match-up zone, using timeouts and scouting opponents, along with thoughts and concepts on developing players.

In the second half of our look at Hugh Blane's "The Seven Principles of Transformational Leadership", we look at the highlights of the last four priniciples, the key components to them, and how you can implement them into your program. Also included are tips on how to not only look at your program, but looking at yourself and how to put yourself in a transformational mindset!

One of the reasons the vast majority of high school coaches get into the profession to help young people grow and flourish in whatever it is they do, using sports as a way to teach life lessons. But how do you build a process of doing that with everyone one of your players? "The 7 Principles of Transformational Leadership" is a great read to help you not only be a better coach, but to be the leader that you want to be for your young people.

Basketball has changed rapidly in the last decade, and analytics have much to do with that. "Basketball Analytics: Spatial Tracking" was one of the first books to look at NBA data to make analytics understandable to the laymen basketball fan. Here are some findings by A Pen And A Napkin that can correllate to the high school game and help your program achieve more wins by breaking down the game even further.

Coaches and players are going to get sick and miss practices and competitions, but what are some things that we can do to protect our programs from the growing trend of players missing time because of club sports? Here are some ideas for coaches to hold your players and parents accountable and to protect your program.

OSA Director Connor O'Neill, Millard West HC Marc Kruger and Papillion-LaVista HC Josh Siske hang out in my hotel room for an hour and we discuss four big topics; defensive transition, offensive transition, scrimmage concepts and free throw drills and games that you can run in your practices and make them more effective. Alot of great ideas bounced off of one another over this hour!

During the grind of the season, we sometimes forget that EVERY practice should contain certain elements of growth by both the players and the coaching stafff. Here is a simple way where you can look at yourself and your program every day to make sure that your practices and how you execute them stay consistent and aligned with the vision of what you want.

In our latest edition of Headlines!, Casey Hall and I break down the biggest headlines in hoops, including the return of high school basketball, the effect of Covid-19 both in the present and what could happen in the future, the return of the NBA, games we're looking forward to in the bubble and our NBA title favorites!

Long time HS HC Bruce Chubick of Omaha South High School comes on the podcast to discuss a variety of topics, including his unique journey, health scares, an important discussion on the civil unrest in our nation right now and how he has rebuilt numerous programs.

2020 has been a crazy year, and many historians have compared it to the seminal year of 1968. A little known basketball story of this time period is the narrative of the 1968 Omaha Central High School boys basketball team, who saw its dreams of a state championship interrupted by the ugliness of racism and chaos of the presidential race of 1968. A powerful, true story of how race is everpresent in our mission of coaching basketball.

2020 has been a crazy year, and many historians have compared it to the seminal year of 1968. A little known basketball story of this time period is the narrative of the 1968 Omaha Central High School boys basketball team, who saw its dreams of a state championship interrupted by the ugliness of racism and chaos of the presidential race of 1968. A powerful, true story of how race is everpresent in our mission of coaching basketball.

Papillion-LaVista Activities Director Jason Ryan comes on the pod to discuss something we haven't talked about on this pod; how to get a job! He includes what he's looking for in a candidate, what he's looking for in a resume, the importance of networking, the future of high school sports this coming school year, and much more! A lot of good information for coaches looking for a new job!

We all talk about changing or evolving our culture, but what are the concrete steps and potential pitfalls that go into the process of creating or refining your culture? "Change the Culture, Change the Game" gives you the step by step process of changing or refining your culture to put it in the place you want it to be!

As we come back to action, it's a great time to reset your team and your philosophy. Building your defense step by step is important, but what are the steps that need to be implemented? Here are some ideas and things you can take with your own defensive philosophy, along with thinking about how to streamline communication with your team to "know your no's".

Coaches are coaches, no matter what sport they coach. Former NFL GM and 3x Super Bowl Champion Michael Lombardi takes us into the minds of three of the greatest NFL coaches (Al Davis, Bill Walsh and Bill Belichick) to understand what makes them great, how they built their organizations, how they organize practices and everything else under the sun to help coaches hone their craft and make themselves the absoulte best they can be.

With our society slowly but surely moving back to a state of normalcy, organized basketball is springing back into action. Most everyone is anxious to get started again, but what are some things that we need to think about as we get our players back into the gymnasium with a basketball in their hands? Here are some thoughts and ideas to consider.

The Director of the Girls Basketball Program at the Omaha Sports Academy, Connor O'Neill, comes on the pod to discuss the process of reopening summer basketball, steps that have been taken by AAU programs to ensure safety and when real basketball will begin again. We also discuss player development, good team drills and the importance of not pigeon-holing players.

One of the most respected coaches and speakers in the nation today, Super Bowl champion HC Tony Dungy has helped tens of thousands of people find direction while also holding people accountable for their actions. In his book "The One Year Uncommon Life Daily Challenge", Dungy gives a thought to all 365 days of the year, using Bibilical teachings, life experiences and common sense to help the reader navigate through the hectic pace of life and to slow down so that they can focus on themselves before they try to help others.

We all want to have a great staff, but what should we look for and how should we structure it? In this podcast, we discuss the qualities that we should look for in assistant coaches, how we communicate with our staff, what assistant coaches should be looking to do for their head coach, things assistant coaches should be doing to become head coaches and more!

Dan Hughes, the 2x WNBA Coach of the Year and the head coach of the 2018 WNBA champion Seattle Storm, comes on the pod to discuss challenges of the Covid-19 crisis on the sport, building a great culture, important analytics, working with Gregg Poppovich, international basketball and developing an entire roster.

It is important to be organized going into a competition. We've all scouted and prepped our teams, but have we prepped ourselves for any situation? Having a game sheet with the important information for as many scenarios as you can imagine can be the difference in commanding a huddle and getting your team ready to win as opposed to be confused and ill-prepared. Here are some tips to prep your own game sheet.

Steve Selk, the GBB HC of perhaps the premier program historically in the state of Nebraska, South Sioux City, is our guest for today's pod. In this pod, we discuss stepping into such an established program, adjustments of a first year HC, offensive and defensive philosophy, scouting, crossover from baseball and a discussion on communicating with parents.

"Mental is to physical as 4 is to 1," legendary coach Bobby Knight once said. So how do we get our athletes to become mentally tougher? Here are some tips that may help out at least some of your athletes grow mentally and to help you, as their coach, understand why some players behave the way that they do.

I team up with good friend Casey Hall to discuss "The Last Dance". We discuss points and ideas that coaches can take away from "The Last Dance" to help themselves this next season, including team chemistry, multi-sport athletes, building a culture, work ethic and more. Then, we tackle the two debates; the best dynasties of the Jordan era, and whether or not MJ is the goat over LeBron. Great stuff!

Former Creighton Bluejay and the new Norris (NE) HBB coach, Jimmy Motz, comes on the pod to discuss a variety of topics, from winning a state title at a very young age to influences in his coaching path, along with the evolution of a coach, starting at a new program and what to emphasize and how recruiting rankings and modern technology has made things more difficult on high school coaching.

In part II, we discuss how to use practice to make your teams more aggressive, communication with your players and your parents, infusing your team with passion and excitement, and the things that you should focus on, including making everything competitive. Practice is truly an artform, and the more you practice at practice, the better you'll be!

The Head Girls Basketball Coach from Oakland-Craig (NE), Joe Anderson, comes on the pod to discuss building a consistent winner in a small community, balancing being a head coach in two different sports, how coaching football has helped his basketball coaching and vice versa, breaking down film and maintaining excellence dealing with catastrophic injuries to great players. Great information on this pod!

Practices need to be efficient and they need to be highly organized, but you also need to make sure that your players are having fun and having a great experience; we want to leave them excited to come back the next day. Here are some ideas to help build your practice culture to fit all of these concepts.

We all visualize ourselves being in the room, sitting across from folks discussing what your program will be like, but what needs to be done before you get there? In this episode, we discuss tips to prepare for interviews, what you should have ready and what you should expect during the process.

Bonus Pod! NBA Champion and accomplished author Kevin Eastman comes on the pod to discuss his unique communication style, the qualities of a great assistant coach, what makes Doc Rivers a great coach, discussion of his book "Why The Best Are The Best", how build team chemistry and much more! Enjoy one of the best in the business!

In honor of "The Last Dance", we dive into Phil Jackson's first coaching book, "Sacred Hoops", where he mixes stories from his playing days, his growth as a coach and how he worked to develop a championship dynasty. Mindfulness, vision and relating to players are all part of Jackson's plan of attack, and we sprinkle in a couple of examples from "The Last Dance" into a 20+ year old book. Enjoy!

Our latest episode features Jon McKowen, the highly successful boys basketball coach at Cedar Rapids Kennedy. We discuss helping his dad win a state title, coaching a future NBA player, switching man to man defense, adjusting off-season expectations because of Covid-19, practice organization and building a youth program. Really good information from one of the best in Iowa!

We all practice special situations, but have you thought about how you can shape your verbage to help your special situations (and your program at large) more efficient? Here are some ideas to create a verbage and also to pre-educate your team on how you want to execute special situations even before they happen.

In the last of our trilogy on "The Cubs Way", we dive into the leadership style of Joe Maddon; how to build trust, on playing hard, getting your players to play with energy, meetings policy, how to build camraderie amongst your players and coaching staff and much more! A lot of good information that is transferable to all sports and leadership positions!

Long time Millard West (NE) GBB HC Marc Kruger jumps on the pod to discuss his coaching journey, how he prepared himself to be a head coach, game organization with both players and assistant coaches, developing motion offense, and a great group of drills. We also discuss our ultimate Cubs starting lineup in the cable TV era (it's what Cubs fans do together). Terrific information!

How do you get your kids motivated to come in and work on their game in the off-season? How do you track what they are doing? What incentives can you give players that are going to be productive for your program? How do you build trust and a sense of ownership with your players going into your offseason? Here are some tips to help you get the most out of your "improvement season" program!

University of Arkansas WBB HC Mike Neighbors jumps on the pod to talk about his lessons learned in his journey to becoming a Division I Head Coach, multiple job transitions, getting your players to play at their peak level, the growth of his newsletter, book recommendations and why Leo McGary was the best assistant coach in the history of television. Great NEW stuff from one of the great ambassadors of the game!

In our latest episode, Omaha Roncalli boys coach JJ Stoffel comes on A Pen And A Napkin to talk about moving over from an assistant to the head job, two state title game runs and the experiences it taught him, playing for a state title in front of an empty arena, practice set up, defensive principles, building a culture at a smaller school and the influence of Rick Majerus on his career.