Slappin' Glass Podcast

What were the ideas from 2025 that coaches couldn’t stop thinking about—the ones that kept showing up in practice plans, film sessions, and staff rooms?
In this Slappin’ Glass Mailbag Episode, Dan Krikorian, Patrick Carney, and Eric Fawcett revisit the most compelling concepts covered by Slappin' Glass in 2025 as well as questions sent in by coaches around the world, unpacking how modern teams are creating advantages on both sides of the ball—and why the best programs are increasingly focused on flow, disruption, and continuity rather than isolated actions.
The conversation begins with a deep dive into “jumping on the pickup” in pick-and-roll defense—a subtle but powerful technique for shrinking passing windows, generating deflections, and creating turnovers without abandoning base coverage. From there, the discussion expands into broader defensive trends around smart aggression, including selective hitting, late-clock doubles, ATO disruption, and how elite teams steal possessions without gambling.
Offensively, the group explores the growing influence of Total Basketball—a philosophy rooted in eliminating pauses between offense and defense, tagging up on the glass, arriving “already playing” in the half court, and flowing seamlessly from one advantage to the next. Coaches will hear how leading programs are emphasizing shape over spacing, simplifying actions to increase pace, and using familiar structures to unlock better decision-making under pressure.
Beyond tactics, this episode also weaves in insights from some of Slappin’ Glass’ most impactful off-court and analytics conversations of the year, including:
Guiding teams into flow states
Measuring and developing decision-making
Understanding kill shots, runs, and game-swing moments
Using analytics that actually help during games—not just on Twitter
This mailbag isn’t about trends for trend’s sake. It’s about how elite coaches are thinking, teaching, and designing environments that allow players to play faster, freer, and more connected—and what those ideas suggest about where the game is heading next.
🎥 This episode is also available on YouTube, with embedded video clips that bring the concepts to life.
To join coaches and championship winning staffs from the NBA to High School from over 60 different countries taking advantage of an SG Plus membership, visit HERE!

In this episode of Slappin’ Glass, we’re joined by John Andrzejek, Head Coach at Campbell and former defensive coordinator for Florida’s national championship team, for a deep dive into the real trade-offs that shape elite defensive systems.
Coach Andrzejek walks us through how his defensive philosophy has evolved across stops at St. Mary’s, Columbia, Washington State, Florida, and now Campbell—highlighting the tension every staff must navigate between precision and pragmatism, technique and energy, and staying out of trouble versus thriving inside the scramble.
We explore the decision-making behind scrambling vs. anti-scrambling defenses, how and why he blends principles from St. Mary’s, Houston, and Iowa State, and what it truly takes to guard the modern, spacing-driven game. The conversation gets deep into the weeds on no-middle principles, switching high and low, tagging schemes in middle pick-and-roll, and organizing rotations when things inevitably break down.
Offensively, Coach Andrzejek shares how he teaches cutting around the pick-and-roll through a mix of rules and reads, why simplicity drives better decision-making, and how repetition of core situations builds true situational awareness. We also tackle post-doubling philosophies, personnel adjustments, practice design, and the balance between scouting detail and playing fast.
As always, we close with a Start, Sub, or Sit that dives into cutting around the pick-and-roll and post-doubling strategies, plus Coach Andrzejek’s thoughts on the best investment he’s made in his coaching career.
This is a clinic-level conversation on defensive problem-solving, offensive clarity, and building systems that hold up against elite talent.
What You’ll Learn
The strategic trade-offs between scrambling vs. anti-scrambling defensive systems
How elite programs blend no-middle principles with modern spacing realities
Why playing really hard often matters more than perfect technique
How to organize rotations and tags when the ball gets to the middle
Switching high and low to keep the ball out of the paint
Teaching cutting around the pick-and-roll using rules that unlock reads
Why offensive simplicity leads to better decision-making
Different philosophies for doubling the post and protecting the rim
How practice design, film, and repetition build defensive awareness
The long-term value of film study and coaching mentorship
To join coaches and championship winning staffs from the NBA to High School from over 60 different countries taking advantage of an SG Plus membership, visit HERE!

Slappin' Glass sits down this week with the Head Coach of Texas MBB, Sean Miller! In this highly insightful conversation from when Coach Miller was at Xavier, the trio dive into Coach Miller's thoughts on all things about handling pressure, including playing through the "gray areas" of it, and discuss transition defensive concepts and teaching guards to hedge ballscreens during the always fun "Start, Sub, or Sit?!"
To join coaches and championship winning staffs from the NBA to High School from over 60 different countries taking advantage of an SG Plus membership, visit HERE!

This week on Slappin’ Glass, we’re joined by data scientist and creator of the rapidly growing college basketball analytics platform EvanMiya.com, Evan Miyakawa. Evan’s work has become a trusted resource for coaches at every level—particularly those looking to cut through the noise of early-season statistics and understand which metrics actually matter.
In this conversation, Evan shares how coaches can separate interesting numbers from useful ones, why certain teams have unique statistical fingerprints that predict success, and how lineup data can be leveraged far more effectively than most programs currently use it. We also unpack defensive priority stats (threes, rim, free throws), halftime box score interpretation, and the origins of Evan’s “kill shot” metric—his way of measuring and predicting momentum swings across a season.
Whether you’re analytics-comfortable or analytically curious, Evan offers a clear, practical roadmap for applying data without drowning in it.
 What You’ll Learn
1. How to Separate Useful Analytics from Interesting Noise
Evan explains why the highest-value decisions come from combining your coaching intuition with clean, adjusted data—not relying fully on either side. He details how to weigh early-season sample sizes, refine priors, and avoid overreacting to statistical outliers.
 
2. Identifying the 2–3 Metrics That Predict Your Team’s Success
Teams often win and lose in repeatable ways. Evan breaks down how programs can identify their own “keys to victory,” giving coaches clarity on what to prioritize in practice, scouting, and game planning.
 
3. Making Better Lineup Decisions (and Avoiding the Small-Sample Trap)
Learn why 30 possessions can reveal a spark worth exploring, why 100+ possessions create real confidence, and how lineup data—properly adjusted for opponent strength—helps avoid misleading results.
 
4. How to Read a Halftime Box Score with Meaningful Purpose
Evan shows which stat pairings matter most and how to judge whether a discrepancy is signaling a real problem or simply reflecting tempo and game context.
 
5. Prioritizing Defensive Outcomes: Threes, Rim, Free Throws
A clear breakdown of how these three areas interact, and why understanding your opponent’s tendencies can simplify what your defense should take away.
 
6. The “Kill Shot”: Understanding and Predicting Momentum Runs
Evan’s 10–0 run metric reveals why preventing opponent runs is more predictive of elite performance than generating them—and why the duration of a run often tells the real story.

7. Coaching the Moments Around Runs
From smart timeout usage to identifying schematic breakdowns, you’ll learn how to stop a slide early or create momentum without burning resources unnecessarily.
To join coaches and championship winning staffs from the NBA to High School from over 60 different countries taking advantage of an SG Plus membership, visit HERE!

Episode Summary
In this episode, Slappin’ Glass sits down with Youngstown State Associate Head Coach Dwaine Osborne, one of the most consistently efficient offensive coaches in college basketball. Osborne — an eight-time Coach of the Year with a track record of leading the nation in effective field-goal percentage and offensive efficiency — opens the doors to his philosophy on building highly disciplined, analytically driven teams.
Across a wide-ranging conversation, Coach Osborne unpacks how he teaches elite shot selection, builds paint efficiency, and uses clarity-based concepts to help players make decisive first-touch decisions. He details why “life is math,” how he leverages PPP values to communicate shot quality, and why playing off two feet may be the most under-taught skill in modern offense.
The episode digs deeply into layup packages, Villanova footwork, decision-making progressions, and the balance between analytics and empowering confident, aggressive scorers. Coach Osborne also breaks down how he thinks about ATOs, why fewer plays lead to better execution, and how his program blends tagging-up rules, offensive rebounding, and transition defense into one integrated system.
Throughout, he brings humility, candor, and clear teaching language — making this an episode loaded with transferable concepts for coaches at every level.
What You’ll Learn
How to Teach and Enforce Shot Selection
Practical ways Osborne uses analytics (PPP numbers, film pauses, peer accountability) to build a team-wide understanding of shot value.
Why Efficient Offense Starts With Player Strengths
How defining each player’s “best value actions” leads to higher-percentage possessions and clearer roles.
Developing First-Touch Decisions (FTDs)
Methods to help players make decisive reads on the catch — not predetermined, but anticipated through clarity and structure.
Building Paint Efficiency
Why all layups are not created equal, how Osborne categorizes finishing packages, and how playing off two feet mirrors traditional post play.
Using Concepts, Not Just Plays
How his teams layer the same concepts (Denver, Flash, Laker, Wyoming, etc.) out of multiple alignments to stay unpredictable and comfortable in late-game moments.
ATO Construction and Why Less Is More
The philosophy behind keeping the ATO menu small, emphasizing execution, and choosing between attacking defensive tendencies or preventing them.
The Tagging-Up System: Four Simple Rules
A clear explanation of the “touch, top, no reckless crash, no advance” framework — and how it improves both offensive rebounding and transition defense.
How to Balance Analytics With Player Confidence
His approach to ensuring players feel empowered, not restricted, while still understanding efficiency and role clarity.
Culture, Trust, and Prioritizing People
Why recruiting for character and building meaningful relationships is foundational to executing an analytical system.
This episode is a masterclass in clarity-driven coaching, teaching with precision, and building efficient offense without sacrificing player confidence or freedom.
To join coaches and championship winning staffs from the NBA to High School from over 60 different countries taking advantage of an SG Plus membership, visit HERE!