Closing age pristine Michigan professor Dusty Would possibly spent a pace with the Miami Warmth personnel, after flew to Pittsburgh to industry concepts with Utah Jazz professor Will Hardy and Charlotte Hornets associate Josh Longstaff. Would possibly will learn any reserve or learn about any basketball crew’s movie if he thinks it will equip him with an concept or a play games or a management tactic.
And a part of his proceeding schooling is a podcast from two coaches maximum basketball enthusiasts have by no means heard of.
Hour using to lunch latter February, Would possibly listened to Olympia Milano professor Ettore Messina split ailing the spacing ideas in his offense. The former age, the resonance of Tokyo Hachioji Bee Trains head professor Tyler Gatlin had come via Would possibly’s audio system. The upcoming age he would listen from former NBA head professor Stan Van Gundy.
The globe-spanning classes got here from the Slappin’ Glass Podcast, which has was a word-of-mouth collision for coaches at each and every stage of the game, 4 years and 201 episodes in.
“I listen to every episode,” Would possibly mentioned. “My staff listens to just about every episode. I think a majority of college coaches probably listen to it regularly.”
Jeff Van Gundy stumbled upon one of the most hosts’ video breakdowns — they actually have a weekly e-newsletter and YouTube channel — and was once so inspired he known as them as much as say how stunning it was once. Since after, he has inspired a few of his highest pals within the industry to move on their display, which is how two difficult to understand basketball coaches who performed in combination at Section III Chapman College finally end up on a choice with Corridor of Popularity soccer professor Invoice Parcells.
“Everybody’s wary of going on a podcast where they veer off into things that they aren’t able to discuss,” Van Gundy mentioned. “They know they’re going to be straight basketball. There’s no ‘gotcha’ questions. It’s not overly dramatic clickbait, like ‘who’s the best player?’ … They’re truly trying to help coaches coach better.”
The display’s visitor listing options one of the vital most dear basketball coaches within the nation — Brad Stevens, Geno Auriemma, Rick Pitino, Tom Thibodeau, Mike D’Antoni, the Van Gundy brothers, John Beilein, to call a couple of — and simply as many weighty names within the global sport. What began as a self-improvement undertaking for the hosts has turn out to be a shop-talk paradise for coaches and hoops diehards at each and every stage.
“You can put one of those on in an hour and you’re generally a better coach by the end of it,” mentioned Saint Louis professor Josh Schertz.
Dan Krikorian’s preliminary plan was once to be a musician when he graduated from Chapman in 2007. Between excursions, he made too much cash giving capturing classes, training a adolescence crew, and ultimately training the juvenile varsity crew at his highschool alma mater. “Once I stepped foot in the gym to coach, I was like, ‘OK, this is what I want to do,’” he mentioned. In 2013, Krikorian returned to Chapman as an associate professor. This summer season, he was once increased to move professor.
Pat Carney performed professionally for 12 seasons in a few of Germany’s govern basketball leagues. In 2018 he retired and stayed in Germany to pursue a training profession. The 2 younger coaches and previous teammates stayed hooked up through telephone, learning alternative groups world wide and speaking ball. Over beers one evening in Berlin later Krikorian’s band had performed a display, Krikorian prompt they flip the ones jam classes right into a podcast and interview the coaches whose techniques piqued their passion.
The speculation was once most commonly forgotten till a time next, when Krikorian and Carney have been discussing the movement offense of Section III Yeshiva College, which had simply long gone 29-1 operating a modern day reproduction of Bob Knight’s device at Indiana. Krikorian and Carney sought after to select the mind of professor Elliot Steinmetz, so that they arrange a Zoom. Proper ahead of the assembly, Krikorian prompt he document it. He already had the entire pitch and modifying apparatus; if it went smartly, he may just flip the interview into their first episode.
The pandemic had made it extra common for coaches the world over to fasten over video name. The podcast’s first episode, revealed on Aug. 17, 2020, was once now not as velvety as what the Slappin’ Glass guys assemble these days, however they loved it such a lot they made up our minds to build it a weekly regimen.
The target audience was once tiny in the beginning — “our moms,” Krikorian jokes — however they were given some bumps on every occasion a well-known visitor joined the display, like Jeff Van Gundy in February of 2021. The hosts assemble a listing of coaches they’d like to interview, took ideas from training pals, and after began capturing their shot. To their awe, they hardly heard incorrect.
“They ask really good questions,” mentioned Alabama associate Ryan Pannone, the display’s 3rd visitor pace professor of the G-League Erie Bayhawks. “And as a result, because their product is good and they’ve had good coaches speak on it, more coaches are willing to come on because they listen to it.”
Their interest and analysis turns out to loosen lips. Beilein, who has all the time been upheld with what he shared publicly about his two-guard offense, defined the educating issues to the Slappin’ Glass guys with out suspicion, after praised the questions they’d requested him.
“I haven’t talked basketball to anybody like this in a bit,” Belien mentioned related the tip of the interview.
Maximum coaches method podcast interviews anticipating to be dragged into tale date, however the Slappin’ Glass visitors briefly to find themselves delving into the intricacies in their modes.
“That’s the ideal for us,” Carney says. “It’s not an interview. Let’s talk some hoops.”
The display’s ethos: The entirety {that a} professor does is attention-grabbing.
“The best thing about basketball, and what keeps us having conversations fresh and new every week, is that there’s so many ways to win,” Carney mentioned. “There’s so many ways to teach, so we’re never assuming there’s one right way. Otherwise we would have probably had that conversation, and we would have just wrapped up shop.”
Krikorian and Carney move into each and every interview with a couple of concepts of what they need to speak about from background studying and movie learn about, however their talent to pay attention and ask insightful follow-up questions carries the dialog and infrequently leads them ailing a rabbit hollow.
“That’s our favorite part of the podcast is when it goes someplace we didn’t even expect,” Krikorian mentioned.
They frequently get coaches into uncharted space throughout their ordinary department known as “Start, Sub, Sit,” a basketball-centric variation on a familiar forced-choice sport. When Stevens joined the display, they requested him which of 3 Ted Lasso quotes he would get started, sub and sit down. (Stevens’ Get started: “You know what the happiest animal on earth is? It’s a goldfish. You know why? It’s got a 10-second memory. Be a goldfish” — since you will have to by no means fear about what somebody says about you or fear about lacking a shot. “I love that,” Stevens mentioned, “Let it go. Have shot amnesia.”)
The entirety all the time comes again to the sport, by no means happening a tangent that wouldn’t be acceptable to training.
“We know the coach has 45 minutes to get on the treadmill, or they’re commuting for 40 minutes to work,” Krikorian says. “We don’t want to waste one second of their time with something that’s not valuable.”
Relationships with coaches like Van Gundy have helped Krikorian and Carney land a few of their maximum leading visitors, however what brings them probably the most satisfaction is that the display’s downloads and listens now not rely as closely on title reputation. And so they’ve been ready to offer some proficient however lesser-known coaches a platform to percentage their wisdom and concepts.
“If you think about it, like the best players, they progress. They find a level. That’s not always true in coaches,” Van Gundy mentioned. “Some do. And some, either by choice or by just lack of opportunity, don’t. But I think too many fans think the best coaches rise just like the players do. Not true.”
Krikorian and Carney have created a pleasant aspect hustle. Their podcast has a couple of sponsors, and so they moderate 30,000 to 40,000 downloads according to generation. Their e-newsletter has over 7,000 subscribers, with near to one,000 of the ones paying for his or her top rate content material.
Hour their content material is consumable for any person who loves the sport — now not simply coaches — it’s a distinct segment target audience. However the purpose was once by no means to turn out to be well-known; it was once to turn out to be higher coaches.
“With coaching, you have to be proficient,” Carney says. “You have to know yourself. You have to work hard. But a lot of it is relationships, too, and this has allowed us to build genuine relationships and continue conversations past the podcast that have directly impacted our careers.”
Right through the interview for this tale, Carney was once in Poland with the German under-20 nationwide crew. The pinnacle professor of that crew, Martin Schiller, was once a visitor in 2022 and saved involved with Carney, ultimately attaining out to invite Carney to fix his personnel this summer season.
Krikorian says he’d be mendacity if he didn’t take into consideration one pace training at a better stage than D-III, however he’s residing a nice-looking excellent pace now as the pinnacle professor of his alma mater, within the yard of the place he grew up, construction a sustainable industry that was once born from a whim throughout the pandemic.
“The people that I’m able to call for advice now,” Krikorian says. “It’s a dream of ours, honestly.”
ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla, a fan and two-time visitor, says what the Slappin’ Glass guys have accomplished reminds him of an past way back when coaches like Hubie Brown and Dean Smith went in another country to show the sport.
“What’s happened over two generations or three generations is the world is now teaching the game of basketball back to us,” Fraschilla says. “Slappin’ Glass has provided an incredible menu of international basketball ideas. They are the conduit for great basketball coaching information.”
