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A Quick Timeout Podcast Library

Looking for more information on 5-Out offense? Small-sided games? Program Development? Zone defense? Now, quickly find a topic to investigate more in the A Quick Timeout Podcast index! Simply click on your keyboard “CTL” + “F” then type in a search word OR scroll to search by topic. Then, click on the title to begin listening to the episode.

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FREE NBA Summer League Playbook

Summer League is here! To celebrate summer hoops, here’s a FREE Xs&Os playbook. Included in this PDF playbook are:

  • 18 Halfcourt offense sets
  • 6 Horns sets
  • 5 Out-of-bounds sets

To receive this PDF playbook, simply enter your email below.

Triggers for Concept-Based Offenses

When I first starting hearing coaches talk about conceptual offense, I remember thinking, “Yeah, but how do you get the players to know what to do next?” The answer lies in teaching players to understand and execute “triggers” within the offense.

Here’s how to do just that…

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“Monster Traps” from Houston’s Kelvin Sampson

Years ago, Kelvin Sampson decided that in order for his team to take the next step, they needed to create an identity. The result was the establishment of the “Core Four” – pick and roll defense, post trapping, transition defense, and offensive spacing.

Here’s a look at one of the “Core Four” – post defense.

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A Quick Timeout+ Newsletter Library

Interested in diving deeper into basketball coaching topics? Or, just looking for some nuggets to implement into your program? For as a much as a trip to Dunkin Donuts for coffee and a donut, you can have in-depth basketball coaching resources delivered each week straight to your email inbox ($5.49/month or $49.99/year).

Here’s a look at all the AQTO+ content…

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Off-Season VertiMax Workout: Lateral Quickness

The offseason is here, which means it’s time to roll that VertiMax back out of the storage closet and get to work!

Men’s elite basketball camp led by Coach Burton Uwarow. Photo by Kayla Pierce 2017.

If you haven’t already, I’d encourage you to download the VertiMax training app. On it, you’ll find both free and paid content. In the free content is a virtual clinic describing and demonstrating how I use the VertiMax to improve physical skills and basketball skills in the off-season months. As part of the paid content, you’ll find basketball-specific drills I use with our athletes, sample workouts, and also full video workouts of me working with athletes.

In the meantime, here’s a workout to get you started improving the lateral quickness of your players…

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Off-Season VertiMax Workout: Vertical Jump

The offseason is here, which means it’s time to roll that VertiMax back out of the storage closet and get to work!

Already, some have contacted me this spring about ideas for VertiMax workouts to improve players’ vertical jump. If you haven’t already, I’d encourage you to download the VertiMax training app. On it, you’ll find both free and paid content. In the free content is a virtual clinic describing and demonstrating how I use the VertiMax to improve physical skills and basketball skills in the off-season months. As part of the paid content, you’ll find basketball-specific drills I use with our athletes, sample workouts, and also full video workouts of me working with athletes.

In the meantime, here’s a workout to get you started improving the vertical jump of your players…

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Two 5-Out Actions for Your Playbook

If you’ve followed me for a while, you know I love using sets with consecutive actions. Not only are they hard to guard, but you almost always end up with more than one scoring opportunity. For those of you who are 5-Out coaches, here are a couple 5-Out options designed with those consecutive actions…

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Offensive Concepts: Avoiding Double Drives

Have you ever studied to see what back-to-back drives does to the flow and effectiveness of your offense? If you haven’t, check this out…

Attacking gaps with the dribble is foundational in most conceptual offenses. However, like anything else, you can have too much of a good thing. Radius Athletics’ Randy Sherman and A Quick Timeout Podcast’s Tony Miller break down the impact of double drives within your offense.

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Offensive Concepts: Headlights and Taillights

In your offense, what are the other 3 (or 4) perimeter players doing on a drive to the basket? Standing still? Cutting? Circle movement?

A simple way to improve your conceptual offense is to coordinate the movements of players as the ball is moved via dribble or pass. Two of those simple movements are included in the concepts of headlights and taillights.

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Using Your Man-to-Man BLOBs vs. Zone Defense

Do you have a separate out-of-bounds playbook for man-to-man defense and zone defenses? Don’t waste the time and frustration teaching your players a whole new set of plays for each defensive scheme! Coach Ido Singer explains how to take your existing OOBs plays and tweak things to score against zone defenses.

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Teaching Defense via 3-on-3 SSGs

More and more coaches are making 3-on-3 a staple of their basketball practices, and for good reason. Increased reps, more space to experiment, fewer factors to pay attention to for coaches (which can lead to improved feedback), and ability to focus on specific parts of your offensive and defensive systems are just a few of the reasons to incorporate these small-sided games (SSGs) into your regular routines.

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Spain Actions for Your Playbook

During this past season, it seemed like every college and NBA team had their variation on Spain action. Some teams kept it simple with a middle ball screen followed by the typical back screen. Others flow into Spain out of transition. Here are a couple ideas for your team from the Dallas Mavericks and Kentucky Wildcats.

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Ball Screen Defense: Analyzing Effective Methods

Experimenting with a new ball screen defense in addition to your primary strategy could have huge benefits for your team.

What is your team’s primary method for defending a ball screen? I asked that question via Twitter poll.

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3 Shooting Drills for Dribble Drive Offense

With the off-season here, small group workouts become even more important to the development of your players’ individual skills. Instead of exclusively practicing stand-still shooting or random off-the-dribble shooting, why not use the summer months to improve both your team shooting and your offensive system as a whole?

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Two 5-Out Ball Screen Adjustments

5-Out Offense is all the rage these days. With today’s players’ skills and an overall emphasis on spacing, ball movement and player movement, 5-Out Offense provides opportunities for every player on the court to contribute on the offensive end.

Here are two adjustments to make as defenses evolve to take away actions within your normal 5-Out Offense.

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4 Split Cut Actions off Post Feeds

What happens with the four other players on offense when the ball is passed into the post? Do you avoid throwing the ball into the post altogether? Post feeds are a great way to invert your offense and run actions on the perimeter to open up players for scoring opportunities.

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Improve Your Team with Postseason Player Evaluations

Player Evaluation Form

So, what’s the plan for your team this offseason? Surely it’s more than, “get better,” right?

Ultimately, the improvement of your team lies in the off-season improvement of your individual players. But the plan has to be more specific than just “get better.” Players need to know what skills are needed for them, and your team, to have success this coming season. That all starts with a well thought-out player evaluation plan.

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ATO Specials: Burn Cuts

Old timers, like myself, would tell you, “You don’t need a play call to back door somebody. When your defender turns his head or overplays the passing lane, back cut.” Even in today’s game, that’s a read every player should be taught to make. However, with many teams today moving away from denial, in-the-passing-lane defensive systems and to gap systems, it can be harder to get “back door” opportunities in the natural flow of your offense… which is why you’re seeing teams use set plays to create burn cuts (i.e., “back doors”).

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Final Four Preview: Duke Blue Devils

For years, Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski has used a variety of sets to maximize the skill sets of his stars. This year has been no different. And while much of the 2021-22 season saw the Blue Devils primarily playing out of basic concepts (i.e., ball screens, drive and kicks, etc.) in the half court, Krzyzewski has leaned on his Horns playbook in the first four games on this year’s NCAA Tournament. Let’s go inside the XsOs.

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Cognitive Biases in Coaching: Action Bias Pitfalls

*Originally posted on the FastModelSports.com Blog by Radius Athletics’ Randy Sherman.

A tendency toward action bias can at times lead basketball coaches and players astray, undermining short and long term progress.

Coaches are hard workers. One does not ascend the coaching ladder of success without long hours and commitment to the job. There is even a term assigned to this phenomenon – grinding.

But is all of this “grinding” necessary? Or does much of it come from a tendency humans have towards action bias? Coaches and players alike can succumb to the pitfalls of a cognitive bias called action bias, but being aware of them may help.

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Cognitive Biases in Coaching: The Impact Of Optimism Bias

*Originally posted on the FastModelSports.com Blog by Radius Athletics’ Randy Sherman.

Optimism Bias can lead to unrealistic expectations, disappointment and emotional turmoil for coaches who do not guard against it.

There are numerous cognitive biases – or mistakes in reasoning – humans are susceptible to. Coaches can and do fall prey to these biases as well. One such bias is the optimism bias and failure to guard against it can lead to unrealistic expectations and disappointment.

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Cognitive Biases in Coaching: Avoiding Outcome Bias

*Originally posted on the FastModelSports.com Blog by Radius Athletics’ Randy Sherman.

Cognitive Bias In Coaching: Thoughts on avoiding the pitfalls of Outcome Bias for basketball coaches, teams and players. 

“But Coach, I made it…”

The above phrase is one that many coaches have heard before. The lessons of shot selection are often lost on players after a favorable outcome follows a subpar decision. This is one example of a common cognitive bias called Outcome Bias.

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Cognitive Biases in Coaching: Defeating Choice-Supportive Bias

*Originally posted on the FastModelSports.com Blog by Radius Athletics’ Randy Sherman.

Coaches: Is Choice-Supportive Bias plaguing your ability to make good decisions and move on from bad ones? Here’s how to spot and defeat it.

As coaches, we have all made decisions that we have come to regret. During preseason planning you may be excited about an offense, defense or lineup you have selected. You spend early season practices preparing your team to carry out the strategies you chose.

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Contesting Shots Matters and Here’s Why

Earlier this season I listened to Eric Mussleman speak to his team on the importance of contesting shots.  He referenced the 2015-16 NBA season to explain why the distance of your closeout on a shot makes all the difference.  He said that defensive FG% was lower as shots were contested closer.  You can hear him talk to his team in the YouTube video at the end of this post.

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Building Your Basketball Playbook: Inverted Offense

Flip the traditional setup – Inverted Offense posts up a guard, running actions above to create huge advantages and tough covers.

While attending the NABC Coaches Convention a few years back, I was intrigued when I saw the session titled, “The Analytical Edge: Underutilized Strategies to Increase Win Percentage,” presented by Frank Dehel of Dribble Handoff.

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Building Your Basketball Playbook: Consecutive Actions

String together consecutive actions to creates advantages by forcing the defense to make back-to-back quick decisions.

During my second year as a college assistant coach, we had a Division I point guard transfer into our small program. His skill in the pick and roll was quickly apparent, not just to our staff, but also to our opponents. In just the first few games, the typical high ball screen became less and less effective as teams would adjust their defense to force our ball handler to give up the basketball.

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The Scramble Defense with Matthew Ridge, Davidson-Davie CC

Matthew Ridge’s 84.17% winning percentage is the highest winning percentage in the country at the NJCAA level. His teams have 5 top-5 finishes at the national tournament in the past 14 years. His team currently sits at #2 in the national polls. In this episode, he breaks down his Half-Court Scramble Defense.

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Partnering with Parents | JP Nerbun, TOC

JP Nerbun is the author of the book, The Sports Parent Solution: Proven Strategies for Transforming Parents from Obstacles to Allies. He shares strategies for partnering with parents and strengthening the relationship between coaches, athletes, and players.

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The Chase Defense with Coach Nick, BBallBreakdown

What if I told you there’s a defensive system that takes away opponents’ 3PAs AND neutralizes their ball screen actions? In this week’s episode, Coach Nick of BBALLBREAKDOWN dives into his brand-new zone defensive system called “Chase Defense.”

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Shooting Drill Ideas with NCAA D1 Coaches

I asked several of my guests to share their philosophy on shooting development as well as their favorite individual, small group, and team shooting drills. Episode features, Illinois State’s Ryan Pedon, Kansas State’s Rodney Perry, VMI’s Dave Davis, LSU’s Gary Redus, Ohio State’s Mike Netti, and App State’s Mark Cascio.

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A Winning Culture with Raul Placeres, Maryville Scots

Raul Placeres, head men’s basketball coach for the Maryville College (D3), provides an inside look at the Scots historically successful program. He shares practical advice for cultivating culture, tying on-court performance to your culture, and more.

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Tigers’ Flow Offense with Parfait Bitee, Towson Tigers

Parfait Bitee is an assistant coach for Pat Skerry’s Towson Tigers. Coach Bitee shares insights on the Tigers’ flow offense, including ideas for teaching new players conceptual offense, how to make conceptual offense unique to your program, and the future of conceptual offense.

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49ers H.E.A.R.T with Cara Consuegra, Charlotte 49ers

Cara Consuegra’s 49ers team is built on her five specific core values of Heart, Effort, Accountability, Respect and Toughness. In this episode, Coach Consuegra discusses the 49ers’ HEART culture, their elite defensive system, and how to teach rebounding to players.

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Championship Team Development with Steve Lutz, Texas A&M CC

Coach Steve Lutz led the Islanders to the NCAA Tournament in his first year at Texas A&M Corpus Christi. He talks about building a championship team in less than 8 months, teaching pressure defense, playing conceptual offense, grouping offensive actions, and when to use set plays.

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The Culture System with JP Nerbun, TOC Culture Consulting

JP Nerbun is the founder of TOC Culture Consulting and the author of the book, “The Culture System: A Proven Process for Creating an Extraordinary Team Culture.” In this episode, he shares practical ideas for creating and implementing your team’s culture.

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Baylor, Betrayal, and Beyond with Matt Sayman

Coach Matt Sayman is the author of the book, “The Leftovers: Basketball, Betrayal, Baylor and Beyond.” He shares lessons learned from the ’03-’04 Baylor Basketball season and how those lessons impact him today as a basketball coach.

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The 3 Point Revolution with Mike Prada, The Athletic

The Athletic’s Mike Prada is the author of the book “SPACED OUT: How the NBA’s Three-Point Revolution changed everything you thought you knew about basketball.” He goes next level on how modern basketball became what it is today.

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Career Advice for Coaches with Andrew Wingreen, Stetson Hatters

Andrew Wingreen has served as a coach and schools at various levels, including Bob Jones University (NCCAA), Bethel University (NAIA), Lancaster Bible College (NCAA D3), and Stetson University (NCAA D1). He shares some of the lessons he’s learned in hopes of helping coaches in their own individual journeys.

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Anatomy of a BLOB with Ido Singer, UNC-G Spartans

Coach Ido Singer is an assistant coach for the UNC Greensboro women’s basketball team. He shares his philosophy on baseline out of bounds plays and what you should consider when it comes to selecting BLOBs for your team. Included are some of his favorite Xs and Os.

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Embrace Pace & Space with Matt Driscoll, UNF Ospreys

After spending time as an assistant coach at schools like Baylor, Clemson, and Valparaiso, Coach Matt Driscoll is now the head men’s basketball coach at the University of North Florida. He discusses how they break down conceptual offense, important stats for the offense, and how they generate more 3s and finishes around the basket.

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Deconstructing Defense with Chris Caputo, Miami Hurricanes

Miami Hurricanes’ Chris Caputo is one of the top assistants at the Division I level. In this episode, the Hurricanes’ associate head coach shares suggestions for defending modern offenses, goals for defensive statistics, and what it takes to be a great defensive coach.

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NBA: Inside Look with Tim Capstraw, Brooklyn Nets

Tim Capstraw is a former NCAA D1 head coach and the current radio analyst for the Brooklyn Nets. He discusses Kyrie Irving’s return, the differences in coaching at the NBA level, and what separates stars like Kevin Durant.

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Playing with Pace at Duke with Jack Castleberry, Citadel Bulldogs

Jack Castleberry is the associate head coach for the Citadel Bulldogs. After a health issue sidelined Citadel’s Coach Duggar Baucom, Coach Castleberry found himself in the head seat against Duke in Cameron Indoor Stadium. He talks about the experience, how his team plays with pace, and improving your team over the course of a season.

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Attacking Switching Defenses with Francesco Nanni, Scafati Basket

Scafati Basket’s assistant coach, Francesco Nanni, dives deep into the topic of attacking switching defenses. Defenses frequently use switches to neutralize advantage-creating actions in the modern game. Coach Nanni provides tactics for teaching your players how to attack those switches.

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Lead Like a Pro with Matthew Raidbard, University of Hartford

Dr. Matthew Raidbard is a former college basketball coach and the author of “Lead Like a Pro: Effective Leadership Styles for Athletic Coaches.” He discusses practical ideas for building the player-coach relationship, the importance of a coach’s personal core values in leadership, and perceived vs. actual leadership for coaches.

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Trends in Modern Basketball with Thomas Bridges

Thomas Bridges is an assistant video coordinator in the NBA. He discusses where the current game of basketball is moving, suggestions for succeeding as a player at the next level, and how analytics and video have created an opportunity for a career in basketball.

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Be the CEO of Your Program with Mike Leviere, BJU Bruins

Mike Leviere is in his 10th year as the women’s basketball coach at Bob Jones University. He shares what it’s like to start a program from nothing, lessons learned from his experience in running a team, and advice for those who want to coach for more than wins.

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What it Takes to “Be a Pro” with CJ Watson, NBA

CJ Watson spent 10 years in the NBA as a member of teams like the Indiana Pacers, Chicago Bulls, and Golden State Warriors. He shares insights on what it means to “be a pro” and what it takes to contribute at the highest level.

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NBA Draft Preview | Kyle Boone, CBS Sports

CBS Sports’ Kyle Boone is back on the podcast to preview the 2021 NBA Draft. He shares what makes Cade Cunningham so special, first round “sleepers,” and why this draft class is so intriguing. In addition, Kyle breaks down potential 2022 and 2023 draft class stars, Chet Holmgren, Victor Wembanyama, and Paulo Banchero.

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Lockdown Defense with Mike Jagacki, Hofstra Pride

Mike Jagacki is an assistant coach for the Hofstra women’s basketball team and the creator of Lockdown Defense. He shares the importance of a defined defensive system, teaching cues for defense, and in-game adjustments to help improve team defense.

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Reviving a Program with Abe Woldeslassie, Macalester College

Abe Woldeslassie is the head men’s basketball coach at Minnesota’s Macalester College (NCAA D3). In 2018, he took over a program that had won just 35 games in 10 seasons. In this episode, he shares how he’s changing the program’s culture and how his past experiences as a player and coach have helped him revitalize the program’s culture there at Macalester.

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Deep Dive into Small-Sided Games with Joerik Michiels, Elite Academy

Joerik Michiels is the co-founder of Elite Academy in Antwerp, Belgium. As a professional skills trainer, Joerik has experience coaching and presenting at camps and clinics around the world. In this episode, he shares how small-sided games have revolutionized his coaching, from the youth levels through the professional ranks.

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Post Player Development with Jackie Carson, Furman Paladins

Jackie Carson is the current coach and a former player for the Furman Paladins. As a player, Carson finished her collegiate career in the Paladins’ top 10 for points (2nd), rebounds (7th) and blocks (2nd). She shares tips for being an effective post player at both the high school and college levels.

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Championship Culture with Chris Spatola, ESPN

Chris Spatola is an ESPN college basketball analyst and former member Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s Duke Blue Devils basketball staff. On this episode of “Coffee with Coaches,” we talk leadership, teamwork, building culture, and more.

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Self-Scouting and Skill Development with Edniesha Curry, Maine Black Bears

Edniesha Curry is entering her third season as an assistant coach for the Main Black Bears men’s basketball team. She is currently the only woman serving as a full-time assistant coach in NCAA Division I men’s basketball. In this episode, she talks about two of her areas of expertise, self-scouting and skill development.

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Lessons from a Legend with Bobby Cremins, Georgia Tech (ret.)

Bobby Cremins is the former head coach at Georgia Tech, College of Charleston, and Appalachian State. He amassed 579 wins (.607 winning percentage) at the NCAA Division I level, including 3 ACC Coach of the Year awards, 4 Southern Coach of the Year awards, and a Naismith Coach of the Year award (1990). His teams appeared in 11 NCAA Tournaments, including 1 Final Four (1990). In addition, he coached on multiple gold medal USA Basketball teams.

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Workout Ideas and Drills with Wesley Brooks, Michigan Wolverines

Wesley Brooks is an assistant coach for the University of Michigan’s women’s basketball team. During his time with the Utah Utes and Michigan Wolverines, Coach Brooks has been instrumental in developing both perimeter and post players into all-conference players. In this episode, he shares some of his best tips for training players in the area of skill development.

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Pressure Defense with Richard Westerlund, Great Lakes Christian College

Over the past two seasons, Richard Westerlund’s Great Lakes Christian College team has been in the top two in all of college basketball in steals (826) and forced turnovers (1386). In this episode, Coach Westerlund shares his philosophy for pressure defense, both full court and half court. If you’re looking to improve your team’s defense this season, this episode is a must-listen.

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The Art of Shooting with Fletcher Magee, Monbus Obradoiro

Want to improve your shooting mechanics and mindset this off-season? Fletcher Magee, former Wofford Terrier and current professional basketball player, checks in to talk about shooting mechanics, getting yourself out of a shooting slump, and the fundamentals of great shooting.

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Designing Your Offense with Jaycob Ammerman, UCF Knights

Looking to up your team’s PPG this season? Evaluating your offense’s effectiveness during the summer months? Jaycob Ammerman, video coordinator for the UCF Knights, provides suggestions for how to best design and select offensive actions for your team.

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You Want to Be a College Coach? with Matt Mossman, Oklahoma Sooners

Do you, or someone you know, dream of becoming a college basketball coach? Matt Mossman (Oklahoma Sooners) and Andrew Wingreen (Stetson Hatters) join Tony Miller to discuss their paths to the college ranks and what you should be doing now to prepare for being a valuable member of a college basketball staff.

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John Wooden: The Teacher with Ray Lokar, Gold Standard Coaching

Ray Lokar is the Director of Coaching for Gold Standard Coaching. Coach Lokar is a native of California who grew up a UCLA Bruins basketball fan. His dreams came true when he had the chance to work John Wooden’s basketball camps in the summers at UCLA. Coach Lokar shares some of things learned from the then-retired Bruins coach, including what made Wooden such an effective teacher.

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John Wooden: The Mentor with Cori Close, UCLA Bruins

Cori Close is the current women’s basketball coach for the UCLA Bruins. While an assistant, Close was introduced to Coach Wooden, and over the next 17 years, she developed a close friendship with Wooden. She shares in this episode how the legendary coach impacted her as both a coach and person.

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John Wooden: The Friend with Andy Hill, UCLA Bruins

Andy Hill won three national championships in the early 1970’s as a UCLA Bruins player. Hill later went on to become the president of CBS Productions. He reunited with Coach Wooden after 25 years and became a close friend to Wooden. In this episode, Hill talks about that bond and the lessons learned from his friend.

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John Wooden: The Person with Steve Lavin, UCLA Bruins

Steve Lavin is the former head men’s basketball coach for the UCLA Bruins. Lavin met Coach Wooden while an assistant in the early 1990’s. Once promoted to head coach, he drew on Coach Wooden’s wisdom to help guide the Bruins to 6 20-win seasons, including 4 appearances in the Sweet 16 and 1 in the Elite Eight. He gives an inside look into Coach Wooden, the person.

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John Wooden: The Coach with Swen Nater, UCLA Bruins

Swen Nater was a member of two of Coach John Wooden’s national championship teams (’72, ’73), backing up Bill Walton at the center position. Although he never started a game at UCLA, Nater was drafted in the first round of the NBA. In this episode, he gives an inside look into Wooden, the coach.

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Understanding Your Players with Neal Ring, Athletic DISC Solutions

Do you want to improve your ability to connect with and motivate your players? To help coaches better understand their players, Dr. Neal Ring joins A Quick Timeout podcast to discuss the DISC assessment. Dr. Ring is a certified behavioral consultant and former high school and college basketball coach with over 20 years of experience in athletics. In this episode, he explains the basics of the DISC assessment and how understanding the DISC’s results can be the key to unlocking our players’ full potential.

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Breaking Down Skill Development with Mike Shaughnessy, Skills Trainer

Coach Mike Shaughnessy stops by the podcast to break down skills development training. Coach Shaughnessy has experience as a college player and coach and is a proven skills development trainer. In this episode, we talk about designing workouts, essential skills for training, and preparing players for the next level.

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