Slappin' Glass Podcast

Exploring basketball's best ideas, strategies, and coaches from around the world.

Slappin' Glass Podcast is a sports podcast hosted by Slappin' Glass, with 301 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

Slappin' Glass hosts Slappin' Glass Podcast, a sports show with 301 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

• 

  Episode #284

  Jim Les on Building Urgency, Princeton Reads, and Multiple Offensive Modes | UC Davis

  Oct 2, 20261h 1mS1

  UC Davis Head Coach Jim Les joins the Slappin’ Glass Podcast to discuss the daily habits behind elite performance, building trust before asking for hard truth, and creating a team environment where productive conflict can be handled quickly. Coach Les explains why urgency starts with what a staff is willing to tolerate, how written player goals can sharpen accountability, and why “the game knows” has become a central teaching idea in his program. On the tactical side, he breaks down UC Davis’s use of Princeton and chin action, the value of a dynamic catch before the pick and roll, teaching split cuts through clear order of operations, and using multiple offensive modes during a game. The conversation closes with ball-screen coverage complexity, deciding whether to fix or cover a team weakness, and the coaching investment that has kept him learning for more than two decades. Episodes Chapters 02:51 The traits of elite players and teams 03:22 Urgency habits and editing your life 08:40 How Coach Les changed as a communicator 11:17 Protecting the head coach’s voice 13:40 The game knows 15:47 Building a pre-practice habit system 18:17 Teaching passing off the dribble 19:36 Productive conflict inside a team 22:27 Staff communication and alignment 25:06 Investing in relationships with players 28:51 "Start Sub or Sit" Princeton into pick and roll 30:15 Dynamic catches and sprinting into the screen 32:03 Why Princeton punishes good defensive principles 34:55 Teaching split cuts and the feeder is the leader 36:36 Attacking the closeout before the ball screen 38:12 Using multiple offensive modes 40:02 "Start Sub or Sit" changes in coaching philosophy 41:41 Scaling ball-screen coverage complexity 45:19 Fixing a weakness or covering it 47:05 Coach Les’s best career investment 49:07 Slappin’ Glass recap To join coaches and championship winning staffs from the NBA to High School from over 70 different countries taking advantage of an SG Plus membership, visit HERE!

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #282

  Justin Downer on Offensive Decision Trees, The Power of Three, and Creating Productive Adversity | Point Loma

  Sep 18, 20261h 13mS1

  Point Loma Head Coach Justin Downer joins the Slappin’ Glass Podcast to discuss building offensive decision trees around advantage creation, organizing offense into four connected phases, and using the “power of three” to simplify reads. Downer explains how Point Loma identifies its three best offensive leverage points, recruits primary ball handlers rather than traditional point guards, and teaches ball-screen decisions through three levels: the primary defender, the coverage, and the help behind it. In Start, Sub, or Sit, the conversation shifts to creating productive adversity, building clear feedback loops, highlighting roles, tagging up, and switching with physicality. What You’ll Learn How Point Loma organizes offense into four phases without making the players feel restricted by the structure. Why every offensive decision begins with identifying the advantage it is meant to create. How the “power of three” shapes decision trees, offensive actions, and player reads. Why Point Loma evaluates primary ball handlers through processing and decision-making rather than traditional point-guard traits. How to teach ball-screen reads through the primary defender, the coverage, and the help behind it. Why Downer corrects aggressively during teaching segments but avoids providing answers during competition. How role highlighting allows bench players to retain their strengths when their minutes change. Why tagging up, forcing left, and physical switching help Point Loma dictate the possession before the offense can create an advantage. To join coaches and championship winning staffs from the NBA to High School from over 70 different countries taking advantage of an SG Plus membership, visit HERE!

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Slappin' Glass Podcast

  Jeff Van Gundy On Defending Great Players, Scoring Via Cutting, and Giving Impactful Feedback | SG Classics

  Sep 11, 20261h 15m

  In this high-level, candid, and engaging return to the show, Los Angeles Clippers assistant coach Jeff Van Gundy joins Slappin' Glass for his third appearance. Van Gundy dives deep into what it takes to defend the NBA's best players—emphasizing the fundamentals of transition defense, rebounding, and avoiding reckless fouling. The conversation explores stunt vs. full help principles, creating physical defenses through communication, and the challenge of preparing against high-powered offenses. A special edition of “Start, Sub, or Sit” covers skill development, offensive rebounding priorities, and what Van Gundy learned moving from broadcasting back to the NBA bench. Authentic, honest, and packed with coaching wisdom, this episode is a must-listen for coaches at all levels looking to sharpen their defensive philosophies and leadership approach. Topics Include: Defending elite players with discipline and fundamentals Communication as a driver of physicality The evolving role of offensive rebounding in the NBA and other levels How to give appropriate and impactful feedback to players Van Gundy’s “sniper rule” for transition defense “Start, Sub, or Sit” on skill development and late-game coaching lessons To join coaches and championship winning staffs from the NBA to High School from over 70 different countries taking advantage of an SG Plus membership, visit HERE!

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #281

  Matt Fletcher on Guard-to-Guard Screening, Developing a Staff, and Personnel-Based Cutting | Concordia St. Paul

  Sep 4, 20261h 9mS1

  Concordia St. Paul head coach Matt Fletcher joins Slappin’ Glass to detail the guard-to-guard screening system his staff built around a roster of multiple point guards and an undersized five. Fletcher explains how “bump, tap, hit” gives screeners three answers—screen-and-roll, ghost, or hit-and-pop—while creating an empty side and forcing the defense into switch-or-stay decisions. The conversation moves into the teaching behind the system: charting each player’s screening mix, entering the first action within three seconds, and adjusting traditional deep-corner running to improve timing. Fletcher also separates playing fast from shooting fast through zero-second decisions and green, yellow, and red shots. He lays out their cutting progression from memorized responsibilities to personnel-based reads, including why two feet trigger the cut, how the helper’s chest cues movement around Barkley actions, and why late cuts are usually safer than early ones. The discussion also covers second drives, skip passes, and using the dunker spot to organize relocation. In Start, Sub, or Sit, Fletcher weighs transition defense, defensive rebounding, and defensive aggression when playing with pace, then explains why Concordia St. Paul crashes four or five and adapts pressure and ball-screen coverage to its personnel. He closes with staff alignment, developing young assistants like players, rebuilding a program around local recruiting and continuity, and the investment outside basketball that keeps coaching in perspective. What You’ll Learn How “bump, tap, hit” gives guard-to-guard screeners three different answers from the same entry. Why Fletcher charts each player’s screening mix instead of allowing a shooter to ghost every time. How Concordia St. Paul adjusted its corner-running rules to enter the first action within three seconds. Where zero-second decisions fit within a green, yellow, and red shot-selection system. Why cutting responsibilities are memorized before players begin making more personnel-based reads. How the driver reaching two feet and the helper showing their chest trigger movement off the ball. Why the ballhandler’s scoring tendencies change cutting timing around Barkley actions. How a defense sitting on the cut can expose the skip pass and second drive. Why crashing four or five can create extra possessions while limiting an opponent’s transition opportunities. How Fletcher progressively expands the responsibilities of young assistants as their comfort and experience grow. To join coaches and championship winning staffs from the NBA to High School from over 70 different countries taking advantage of an SG Plus membership, visit HERE!

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #280

  Vitor Galvani on Hedge & Plug Protection Plans, Guard-to-Guard Separation & Letting Shot Selection Set the Pace | Mexico City Capitanes

  Aug 28, 20261h 5mS1

  The 2026 G-League Coach of the Year, Vitor Galvani, joins us to detail how he built and adjusted Hedge & Plug in Brazil and the G League. He explains why the coverage made sense in what he calls a “scoring guards league,” how the pickup point changes the plug technique, the triggers for releasing the hedge, and why re-screens and late flips can put the coverage under real stress. The conversation moves behind the ball to Galvani’s “Protection Plan”: the MIG and Fence, jumping pickups to discourage direct corner skips, choosing when not to X-out, “See Numbers Go,” peel switching, and building Black, White, and Gray changeups around the same defensive identity. On offense, Galvani gets into KYP on guard-to-guard screens, creating separation before the action, Hot Stove versus Cold Stove screens, and using second-side pass-and-chase actions to attack switching. In Start, Sub, or Sit, Galvani challenges the usual pace conversation by starting shot selection, connecting offensive involvement to defensive effort, and explaining why his team moved the ball side to side with purpose. He closes with the relationship between shot quality, Tagging Up, and offensive rebounding, along with the daily investment that shaped his coaching education. What You'll Learn How the ballhandler’s pickup point changes the on-ball defender’s responsibilities within Hedge & Plug. The two triggers Galvani used to release the big from the hedge. Why re-screens and late flips are difficult Hedge & Plug counters, and when switching becomes the emergency solution. How the MIG and Fence form the “Protection Plan,” including having the Fence jump the pickup rather than automatically X-out. How “See Numbers Go” and peel switching turn aggressive gap positioning into opportunities for steals. Why Galvani trained some peel switches as reads rather than relying on a defensive call. How Black, White, and Gray allowed his team to change the ball-screen picture without abandoning its defensive base. Why KYP comes before pace and technique when teaching guard-to-guard screening. How separation, randomness, and “action on top of action” keep guard-to-guard screens from being steered or jammed. How shot selection can influence offensive pace, defensive effort, Tagging Up, and offensive rebounding. To join coaches and championship winning staffs from the NBA to High School from over 70 different countries taking advantage of an SG Plus membership, visit HERE!

  ListenShow Notes

Recent guests on Slappin' Glass Podcast. Study who booked and why before you pitch.

Based on semantic analysis of episode topics and host coverage, this show is a strong guest fit for executives in:

Industry fit is computed by PitchCentric using vector embeddings of the show's episode catalog.