New Job, New Opportunity

Coaching standards & non-scripted transition actions

Apr 26, 2025

🤔 Thought Starter: Sidney Crosby
🏀 A New Opportunity
📓 Basketball Coaching Pillars
⛹️ The Playbook
🎶 The Playlist

🤔 Thought Starter: Sidney Crosby

Those who have shared a locker room with Sidney Crosby swear by him and talk about a set of common principles:
He treats everyone the same and insists that he’s treated like everyone else.
He makes everyone feel welcome and does so with personal touches.
His competitiveness rubs off on everyone else.
His work ethic and consistency inspire others to be better.
What makes Sidney Crosby the best leader in hockey? We tried to find out
🔗 The Athletic

🏀 New Job, New Opportunity

It surprised a lot of people — including my own family and coaching staff — when they found out I planned to apply for the head coaching job of the boys basketball program at the high school where I teach.

Honestly, I surprised myself. I’m usually most comfortable in familiar territory. Next season would’ve been my eighth year as the girls head coach — a role I’ve loved and grown deeply into.

“Why would you leave a winning program for a losing one?” a community member asked after the school officially announced I’d be taking over the boys program.

I get the question — even if the premise is a bit more nuanced. The boys team finished just a game under .500 last season and made the state tournament the year before, even with a losing record. Meanwhile, in seven years as head coach with the girls, we went to state five times, won 99 games, and brought home the school’s first-ever basketball state title — girls or boys.

A decision like this doesn’t come lightly. I’m old enough to know the grass isn’t always greener.

A decision like this doesn’t come lightly. I’m old enough to know the grass isn’t always greener. But that’s partly what drew me to the job. I’ve become the coach I used to worry about — the one you hope won’t leave for another opportunity … but does.

The boys position offers a fresh start. I’ve worked hard over the past 11 years as a varsity assistant and then head coach in the girls program, and I’m extremely proud of what we built. But sometimes, the very structure you help create can also limit experimentation. There were ideas I’ve picked up through this newsletter, the podcast, and conversations with coaches around the world that didn’t quite fit within an established system.

I can now try some of the ideas. This move has brought that jolt of energy that comes from stepping outside your comfort zone. With it comes a full-court press of questions that spark hours of reflection and planning:

What should our offense look like?
Can we apply pressure defensively?
How do you coach a 6-foot-7 player with college-level potential?
Who will be our team leaders and how will they lead?
What’s our go-to set when we're down two points with 7 seconds left?

And of course, the biggest — and maybe scariest — question: Can I help the boys team experience the same level of success the girls had under my leadership?

Time will tell. But as I wrote a few months ago, coaching takes courage. And courage often means stepping away from what’s safe and familiar.

I’m excited to see what happens next.

📓 Basketball Coaching Pillars

As part of my application packet in my interview, I included some coaching pillars that I share with assistant coaches. This might not be a comprehensive list of do’s and don’ts, but it is a group of standards that I’ve found useful as a guide.

Create excellence in your area of responsibility at that moment

Be a team player & ready to contribute
Always support the program and your colleagues

Develop a workable frameworks for problem solving

Let players learn on their own as much as possible. That often means not answering every question for them. Instead, ask them questions.
Hearing multiple perspectives is encouraged; but in games it is one voice.

It takes a village: let coaches coach, refs ref, and players play

Remember, it’s a game that teaches valuable lessons both when we win and when we lose.
Always show gratitude

Be humble, and act with humility … especially when you don’t want to

Respond with respect, don’t react
Most Respectful Interpretation (MRI): People don’t know what they don’t know.

Demonstrate and nurture positive leadership

Leadership will form in your program: Will it be positive or negative?
Understand who's watching, especially when you think no one is

Learn the lesson. Leave the event.

We all make mistakes — learn everything you can from a mistake and grow as a coach.
Do better next time.

⛹️ The Playbook

With the new job, I’ve been watching a lot of coaching clinics and some games. Here’s a few things that have stood out.

1. Cholet Basket SOB

Simple setup with several options. Video includes 4 options that the French team ran from it in the first half against PAOK in the FIBA Europe Cup semifinal.

2. Non-Scripted Transition Actions

Speaking of that semfinal game, here are some organic screening actions PAOK used in their transition attack you might encourage when working on early offense.

3. Some Notes on Closeouts

Some of my notes on defensive closeouts from a 🔗 Basketball Immersion Masterclass with Matt McLeod.

Simple: What’s the #1 thing you want your team to accomplish with the closeout

Funneling allows you to shape your defense
- No catch & shoot shots
- Takeaway vision … ability to feel comfortable
  - Turn shots into dribbles; turn dribbles into passes

Specific: Create options player’s can use from scouting report

Steph Curry Closeout
Russell Westbrook Closeout

Footwork: Teach stride-stops

Get rid of choppy feet closeouts
Closeout is on hip, not chest

4. Teaching the “TOUGH” in Switching

Coach John Pigatti in this 🔗 Championship Productions video uses the acronym TOUGH as a framework to teach his switching man-to-man defense.

T = Together (Play together as a team)
O = Opportunity (Install drills that show the opportunity in switching)
U = Unique (Need to have unique drills for your team)
G = Great Effort (Players need to understand how hard you have to work for this to work)
H = Helpful (Show them the benefits of switching)