Idaho Basketball Coaching Podcast

We are fortunate to have Kirby Schepp on this podcast. Schepp is the head men’s basketball coach at the University of Manitoba. Schepp has coached at all levels in his more than 3 decade of coaching, including stints with national teams of Canada and Egypt. Most people know Schepp from his online coaching clinics, including the presentation “Don’t Teach Them Plays, Teach Them “How to Play,” which has more than 1 million views on YouTube. Schepp covers a lot for coaches to consider throughout this episode. The main focus of the discussion is Zone Offense Concepts. -- Check out the Idaho Basketball Coaching Podcast newsletter on substack: https://coachingidaho.substack.com/ -- SHOW NOTES 1:30 - Coaching at a national team level 3:40 - Coach Schepp’s basketball journey 5:30 - Putting in the time as a coach 10:40 - Breaking down concepts for players 13:30 - Growing as a coach 14:50 - Building player’s knowledge of zone offense 21:15 - Offense that zones don’t like 23:15 - Concepts that will distort a zone 27:25 - Game planning & adjusting to a zone 31:50 - Teaching shot selection in zone offense 36:35 - A system vs. player strengths 41:10 - Blobs vs. a zone defense 45:05 - Finding inspiration for zone offense 48:20 - Olympic basketball breakdown 51:10 - Growth areas as a coach 53:15 - Keys to re-evaluating your system

We are fortunate to have 2 guests for this episode.  The first guest is James Anderson, who has appeared on two episodes of the podcast. Anderson is the head boys coach at Lake City High School in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Our second guest is new to the podcast. Adam DeGroot is the head coach at Joliet Catholic in Joliet, Illinois. Both coaches run conceptual offense, and in many ways, run conceptual defense. The episode is a mid-summer check-in to discuss what we've learned. -- Check out our newsletter on substack: https://coachingidaho.substack.com/ -- 3:15 - Developing a long-term plan for program building 5:00 - Reasons for leaning toward conceptual play 7:20 - The role of the “Connector” position 10:30 - Developing the “Connector” in practice 13:20 - Second-year development of offense 15:40 - Distribution of triggers and shots 18:40 - Stacking triggers together 21:55 - Introducing Conceptual Offense to younger players 27:45 - Summer surprises - good & bad 31:45 - Describing a conceputal defense 36:50 - How players have picked up the conceptual defense  39:35 - Getting your coaching staff up to speed

We are fortunate to have Brian McCormick on this episode. McCormick name is probably familiar to you. He has coached players at all levels all over the world for several decades, and his impact on the game is remarkable.   McCormick, who has a PhD in Exercise and Sports Science from the University of Utah, released his 27th book for basketball coaches in March. NADA is his first book to focus on defense. -- Check out our newsletter on substack: https://coachingidaho.substack.com/ -- SHOW NOTES 1:55 - The evolution of NADA 5:45 - 3 differentiators between NADA & traditional systems 20:40 - No Advantage vs. Defensive Advantage 30:10 - Antiquated Defensive Principles 41:40 - When incorrect decisions are the preferred decisions 45:20 - Using NADA in your program 51:10 - 1v1's Role in Improving Defense 56:50 - Offseason focuses

We are fortunate to have Chris Cheng on this episode to talk about 5-Out Trigger Offense.  Cheng is the head men’s coach at the University of Windsor in Ontario. He also happens to be the head coach of Canada’s U17 National team which will be competing at the World Championships later this summer. -- Check out our newsletter on substack: https://coachingidaho.substack.com/ -- SHOW NOTES 2:10 - Pathway to a 5-Out Offense 4:30 - Evolution in Offense 5:50 - Offensive DNA 7:55 - Drill to teach pace 8:30 - Drill to game transfer 11:15 - Relocation for proper spacing 13:25 - Second Attacks: NBA 15:50 - Coverage solutions for triggers 18:55 - Off-ball players responsibilities 20:25 - Who decides triggers? 22:25 - Pre-Trigger actions 24:20 - Where players struggle 27:55 - Preparing Canada’s U17 team 29:25 - Establishing roles on a national team 30:25 - The growth of basketball in Canada 32:15 - Talent level in Canada’s college game 34:10 - Coaching growth area 

We are fortunate to have Jason Hardy back on the podcast. The pride of Valley High School joined us last April to discuss how to use data to game plan and program build. Hardy was the manager for the Idaho men’s program while going to school in Moscow. Most recently, he was a grad assistant for the Toledo women’s team. Hardy is also a player development coach for CoachSessions. -- Topic Breakdown 1:40 - Defining Early Offense 2:35 - Early offense and offensive efficiency 5:15 - Keys to playing fast 6:25 - Principles of early offense 9:55 - Shot selection in early offense 13:30 - Playing out of advantage 15:35 - Benefits of teaching advantage 16:40 - Numbers behind early offense 19:55 - Early offense drills  23:30 - Teaching decision making 24:25 - Tulsa’s transition offense -- Subscribe to the newsletter: https://coachingidaho.substack.com/

We are fortunate to have Liam Jefferson on this episode.  Jefferson is a head coach with the London Lions boys academy. Prior to that he spent 12 years as an assistant and head coach at Loughborough University. Jefferson also was an assistant coach on Great Britain’s U20 staff last summer. EPISODE BREAKDOWN 1:40 - The state of basketball in Great Britain 3:40 - Reasons for taking the London Lions job 5:55 - The purpose of the youth academy 7:50 - Roster rules for BBL teams 9:30 - Takeaways from using the CLA in development 12:50 - How the coaches are working together 14:50 - Areas that have been harder to implement 18:35 - A typical week for players 21:05 - Comparisons with England’s soccer academies 22:00 - Practice planning and implementation 26:10 - Individual development plans 29:50 - Connection between academy & the top team 32:05 - Categorizing player’s roles 35:05 - Using the CLA to teach players (PnR) 39:50 - Purposeful feedback in practice 42:15 - The bridge between practice & games 44:40 - Using film to guide development 48:35 - Personal development as a coach

We are fortunate to have Drew Dunlop on this episode.  Dunlop is a co-founder of The Pro Lane, a development facility in Wisconsin that works with players at all levels.  Dunlop has coached around the world and is recognized for his modern approach using a Constraints-Led Approach for Skill Acquisition.  At The Pro Lane, he helps designs training environments that allows players to explore solutions that transfer to the game. https://twitter.com/CoachDrewD https://twitter.com/TheProLane EPISODE BREAKDOWN 1:30 - Path from player to development coach 3:35 - Confidence as a coach to try something different 5:40 - Identifying that this coaching method works 6:50 - The process of making a learning environment 9:00 - The importance of whiteboards during training 10:35 - Using questions to guide learning 12:30 - How technology factors into development 15:00 - Emphasizing modern game skills 16:50 - Teaching players adaptability in finishing 18:45 - When in doubt, add a defender 19:55 - Teaching off-ball screening 21:25 - Methods for teaching players 22:35 - Teaching players about off-ball cutting 24:00 - The role of defense in the training 25:40 - Incorporating rebounding in development 27:25 - Including common triggers and actions 28:50 - Teaching spacing in development sessions 29:25 - The amount of off-court time as development coach 30:20 - From idea to implementation 31:40 - Teams, players to watch 32:40 - Growing as a coach & business 35:05 - Creating a focus for a development session

We are fortunate to have Nathan Williams on this episode. Williams is the head coach at Bonners Ferry High School. He helped guide the Badgers to their first state title in boys basketball last month.  Prior to that, Williams has coached at a variety of levels, including seven years as the head coach in Stanfield, Ore. Williams was also a standout basketball player in high school and was member of the Whitworth team that played for an NAIA championship in 1996. 1:35 - First State Title for Boys Basketball 2:40 - Characteristics of the 2023-24 team 7:20 - The role of older siblings & toughness 9:10 - Approach after finishing second the previous year 11:30 - Preparing a team for what they might see at state 15:30 - Coaching influences growing up 18:25 - Changes as a head coach from previous stops 21:20 - Teaching aspects of the game 23:40 - Culture building at Bonners Ferry 29:10 - Lessons from playing higher level teams 30:25 - Developing lateral quickness 32:00 - Preferred offensive attack 33:55 - Creating confusion for the defense 35:30 - Advantage situations in the post 37:00 - Preferred defensive approach 40:25 - Lessons learned from coach sons 42:15 - Having a son who is a college prospect 44:50 - Looking ahead to next season

We are fortunate to have Andy Harrington on this episode. Coach Harrington is the head boys coach at Owyhee High School in Meridian. The Storm just concluded a dominate season and are now celebrating their second 5A state title in the last three years. This marks Coach Harrington’s third state title as a coach. And, of course, we have to mention that he is an OG when it comes to the podcast, having appeared on Episode 7 of the podcast. 2:15 - This year’s state title run 4:00 - The importance of offense 5:40 - Vision of the Owyhee administration 8:15 - Influential people & resources 10:25 - Getting ahead of player issues 12:20 - Determining roles & playing time 14:25 - Giving assistant coaches subbing duties 16:15 - Other assistant coach responsibilities 21:10 - Fundamental work in practice 22:20 - Building offensive responsibilities 24:00 - Favorite offensive actions 24:50 - Defensive priorities for players 28:25 - Teaching rebounding 29:20 - Cutting back on film 32:40 - Liam Campbell attributes 35:20 - Prepping for next season 37:05 - Storm troopers 38:45 - Organizing a big tournament 41:10 - Motivations as a coach 43:00 - Growth areas since 2020 44:10 - The importance of having a vision

We are fortunate to have Tyrel Derrick on this episode. Derrick is the head girls coach at Lakeland High School in Rathdrum.  In his second year, Derrick guided the Hawks to the 4A state tournament where they lost to Pocatello in the third place game. Prior to coaching girls, Derrick was an assistant for the Lakeland boys team. Derrick was a very talented guard at Lakeland in high school who surpassed 1,000 points in his career and went on to play at Wheaton College.