KG's Weekly Newsletter

Happy Friday Coaches!! NIKE EYBL 2026 Season in the books! Had a great time with James Parker and Craig Campbell as we took over the 17u’s for Kelly Sopak when he took the Nevada Women’s Head Coaching job. Players competed and got the opportunity to play in front of hundreds of coaches throughout the spring and summer!

This week’s shout out all the people in Cal Stars from Director Shawn Hipol to coaches at every level. They embraced this year’s challenge with Kelly leaving and did a great job helping kids get better, get recruited, and be better people!

QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

-Robert Schuller

This week’s basketball share includes my favorite action from the summer season, some ideas on being disruptive on the defensive end, and looking ahead to next season!

Let’s Go!!

1. Every summer you see tons of actions that are extremely hard to guard. In our game vs Miami Suns we saw a TON of “Peja” action that gave us fits. PEJA = A back pick by a shooter, with the shooter popping behind a handoff, usually by a big. SHOUT OUT to Unforgiving Hoops for a great breakdown of the action.

2. On the circuit this summer we had one matchup that was particularly interesting from a offensive standpoint. The opponent DOUBLED any entry pass after half court. We countered with CHASE and GIVE and GO to disrupt the rotations, but it still gave us trouble. This disruptive defense was similar to the North Carolina system called the Scramble Defense. Jim Larranaga took it to another level with multiple videos on the THUMBS UP and THUMBS DOWN version of the defense.

   • Thumbs Up: Trap the dribble just across half court and rotate/push up to disrupt passing lanes.

   • Thumbs Down: Trap the first pass across half court.

   I encourage you to take a look at both strategies and see if it might fit your team in 2026-27. Hoops Companion did a X Post on various ways to be disruptive. Check it out HERE.

3. August for most basketball coaches is a down time to enjoy what’s left of summer and look ahead to next season. Each year I’ll edit my coaching philosophy, updating it with how it has evolved over the last year and into the summer. Offense, defense, special teams, practice planning, etc. Each area examined and updated. I encourage coaches to do the same.

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   GOOD LUCK COACHES!!