Advertise on podcast: A Pen And A Napkin

Coming back home to Winterset (IA), Josh Henry has turned around his hometown program into a consistent winner who is pushing for state tournament berths! In this week's podcast, we discuss his background, building a program through character and off-court activities, creating an identity with the 2-3 defense and the 'Read and React' offense! This was a lot of fun chatting with one of Iowa's young, bright coaches! Get your copy of Hoops 365: A One Year Guide to Becoming a Basketball CEO here! Hoops 365 Get your copy of The Last of the Cowboys: The Story of Snow Valley Basketball School here! The Last of the Cowboys Get your copy of King Of Their Court: Three Teams, One City and the Greatest Season in Nebraska High School Basketball History here! Kings Of Their Court Want to get more from A Pen And A Napkin? Go to apenandanapkin.com for videos, handouts, links and more! Want to learn more about coaching basketball and becoming a complete basketball coach? Subscribe to The Opening Tip newsletter on Substack! https://apenandanapkin.substack.com/?utm_source=global-search

"Go out and win the game" was a phrase that we would often use in the middle of tight, contested games on our bench . . . but how do you get to that point to where you are getting ready to go out and win the game? You first have to figure out how you're not going to lose that game! In today's podcast, we take a look at the philosophy of coaching and preparation to put your team in the best position possible, and how to advance your team from bad to average, average to good and good to great. In addition, we've got a great quote from Sundance Wicks, and we learn from and about the great career of the always classy Muffet McGraw!

We would all benefit from bringing in someone we trust to watch us do our job and give us constructive criticism on how we're doing. Today, we talk about the steps that you can and should take to bring in a coach outside of your orbit to watch your team practice or play and how to get the most out of it. In addition, we've got a great quote from Josh Shipp, and we discuss and learn from one of our great modern coaches, Steve Kerr!

Screening is one of the fundamentals of the game that is a great equalizer of talent, and a team filled with great screeners can create offensive advantages that they didn't know that they had. In today's podcast, we go over four fundamentals on screening and we follow up with eight thoughts on screening and it's importance. We've also got a short video for screening fundamentals that will be on "The Opening Tip" newsletter! In addition, we've got a great quote from Wes Unseld, and we discuss and study one of the greatest coaches in the history of the game, especially at the high school level, the great Bob Hurley Sr.!

Bringing your team together off the floor is a great way to accelerate their growth on the floor, and it's difficult to have a great season between the lines if you don't create great relationships. In today's podcast, we go through the importance of team building exercises, including seven great examples that we've used over the years. In addition, we talk about being a transformational coach versus a transactional coach, and we discuss the great career and what to learn from the great Pat Summitt, including a personal story . . .

One of the most useful tools that a coaching staff should be using to help shape their team before their first competition is their exhibition games and scrimmages. In today's pod, we discuss strategies for how to coach these situations, what you should be looking for and how to spin those opportunities into positives for your team, regardless of the outcome. In addition, we've got a great quote from John Havlicek, and we study the great career and perhaps the greatest coaching achievement of the great Geno Auriemma.

Taking care of details for the important people of your program (players, parents and administration) should be a priority; communication is essential in building trust and executing your season plan and vision for the program! In today's podcast, we discuss why and how you should be communicating your program's details and vision with it's most important people. In addition, we've got a great idea for communication from Coach Showalter, and we discuss the great Lute Olson.

Andrew Wingreen, the head men's basketball coach at the New College of Florida, comes on the podcast this week to discuss his book "Win One Won" a book that combines the elements of a Jon Gordon fable and leadership values that can be applied on a practical level. We go through the process of writing the book, how he come up with the concept and some of the great lessons that he includes in the book. Look to pick up the book here!

All coaches, regardless of how talented their team is, is going to be in a situation where they are going to have to come back from some sort of deficit this season. In today's podcast, we discuss questions that you should ask yourself before going into every game about how you will respond to being in a comeback situation. We also discuss strategies, inspired by Pat Riley, to put yourself in the best situation possible to comeback. We also learn about one of the best college basketball coaches of the 1980s and 1990s, the guy whose coaching style they called "SpoonBall", Charlie Spoonhour.

Rules are easy, standards are hard. Rules can be established in a day, while standards take time to make part of your program. But if you want to be successful for the long term, standards are much more important than rules. We talk about standards and rules in today's podcast, along with the few rules that you should implement. In addition, Epictetus tells us how to live our standards and we discuss what you should be doing to demonstrate those standards. We wrap up learning about how to be successful from one of our great modern coaches, Rick Barnes!

You have to make shots if you're going to win; it's just a fact. But in order to make shots, you have to have the right fundamentals and the right environment for your players to excel at the most important skill in our game. In this podcast, we discuss strategies for shooting fundamentals, how to implement shooting warmups into your practice and the importance of confident shooters. In addition, we have a great discussion on the importance of routines, and we learn from the great career of the great (and tremendously dressed) Jay Wright.

One of the most important tactical decisions that you will ever make for the good of your program is to make sure you align your various levels to the best of your ability. In today's podcast, we discuss why it's so important, areas that are easy to align and what to do if someone doesn't buy into that alignment. In addition, we've got a great quote about the importance of alignment, and we discuss one of the best coaches in the world whom most people either love or hate, the great Dan Hurley.

One of the best ways to bring a team together and have them gel, both on and off the floor, is by having great road trips. In today's podcast, we talk about what you can and should be doing on road trips, including job responsibilities, bus decorum and arrival times. We also talk about the importance of taking overnight trips and building out detailed itineraries. We discuss a great quote from Phil Jackson, and we learn about one of the great women's basketball program builders in the game, Gary Blair.

Team meetings, to some degree, are a necessity for your program and for it to function at a high level. In today's podcast, we discuss the importance of developing this skill as a coach, and we introduce six rules that should follow when conducting your team meetings. In addition, we have a great quote from Kurt Vonnegut about trying to sound too smart, and we look at the career of one of basketball's great early coaches that few people know about, Clarence "Big House" Gaines.

The dean of coaches in Sioux City, Darron Koolstra has built one of the best girls basketball programs in the state of Iowa at Bishop Heelan in downtown Sioux City, and today he's our guest for episode #347! Today, Kool and I discuss his journey in the game, influential people like Kirk Walker and the help that he's had from Jeff Donaldson as an assistant coach, being at an institution that really values success, practice and how to make the daily grind fun and his 1-3-1 pressure defensive scheme. Alot of fun to catch up with an old friend on the pod!