Idaho Basketball Coaching Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

We are fortunate to have Bill Himmelberg on this episode.

Himmelberg is the head coach of the women’s basketball team at the University of Providence in Great Falls, Montana. The Argos made their way to this year’s NAIA National Championship game, but fell to No. 1 Dordt University by 4 points.

Himmelberg is entering his 15 season as Providence’s head coach. He also has experience coaching at the high school level.

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1:45 - Was playing for an NAIA title expected at the beginning of the season

2:40 - Determining when your team might be a championship-level team

4:15 - Discussing championship possiblities with your team

7:45 - Where owning restaurant franchises and college basketball meet

12:50 - Developing an offensive identity through early offense and   player freedom

18:15 - Building confidence in younger players in a conceptual system

22:35 - Flowing from 5-out to 4-out seamlessly

31:05 - Packaging actions and naming them for easy communication

35:15 - Introducing concepts throughout the season

37:35 - The benefits for two-way teaching

40:00 - Using a 5-out to attack a zone defense

42:15 - Percentage of time practicing against a zone defense

44:05 - Area of study as a coach for the upcoming season

We are fortunate to have Ryan Josephson on this episode. 

Josephson is the head boys coach at Camas High School near Vancouver, Washington.

Since starting as an assistant coach for the boys, the Papermakers have enjoyed unprecedented success in their school’s basketball history, including a sixth place finish in the 2023 4A State Tournament. 

Over the last 4 years, Camas has averaged more than 70 points per game.

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SHOW NOTES

2:05 - Path toward a conceptual offense and using CLA concepts

4:55 - Main principles of the Camas offense

11:00 - Identifying primary triggers for a conceptual offense

19:15 - Using Ghost Screens as a secondary action

23:10 - Other secondary actions to keep flow

27:25 - SSGs that lead to secondary actions

31:40 - Conceptual offense with multiple talented players

33:50 - Identifying good shots in a conceptual offense

37:25 - CLA’s impact on player shot selection

39:00 - Forecasting for the future with a conceptual offense

47:30 - Working with your coaching staff in implementation

51:05 - Growth areas as a coach

We are fortunate to have Andy Harrington on this episode. Coach Harrington is the head boys coach at Owyhee High School in Meridian. The Storm just concluded a dominate season and are now celebrating their second 5A state title in the last three years.

This marks Coach Harrington’s third state title as a coach. And, of course, we have to mention that he is an OG when it comes to the podcast, having appeared on Episode 7 of the podcast.

• 2:15 - This year’s state title run
• 4:00 - The importance of offense
• 5:40 - Vision of the Owyhee administration
• 8:15 - Influential people & resources
• 10:25 - Getting ahead of player issues
• 12:20 - Determining roles & playing time
• 14:25 - Giving assistant coaches subbing duties
• 16:15 - Other assistant coach responsibilities
• 21:10 - Fundamental work in practice
• 22:20 - Building offensive responsibilities
• 24:00 - Favorite offensive actions
• 24:50 - Defensive priorities for players
• 28:25 - Teaching rebounding
• 29:20 - Cutting back on film
• 32:40 - Liam Campbell attributes
• 35:20 - Prepping for next season
• 37:05 - Storm troopers
• 38:45 - Organizing a big tournament
• 41:10 - Motivations as a coach
• 43:00 - Growth areas since 2020
• 44:10 - The importance of having a vision

The first episode of the Idaho Basketball Coaching Podcast includes a roundtable with Duane Ward and Kent Leiss. Ward has coached high school boys and girls in Idaho since the 1960s, while Leiss coached boys at Coeur d'Alene and Sandpoint high schools. 

The discussion includes a number of topics, including ...

• how to filter through all the coaching information that is available,
• determining what to run and when to make a change,
• working with club programs,
• teaching kids the game in practice,
• the role of team goals vs. individual goals.

If you are basketball coach in Idaho and would like to talk hoops, email the show at idahobasketballcoachingpodcast@gmail.com. You can also follow us on Twitter @coachingidaho.

We are fortunate to have Tyrel Derrick on this episode. Derrick is the head girls coach at Lakeland High School in Rathdrum. 

In his second year, Derrick guided the Hawks to the 4A state tournament where they lost to Pocatello in the third place game. Prior to coaching girls, Derrick was an assistant for the Lakeland boys team.

Derrick was a very talented guard at Lakeland in high school who surpassed 1,000 points in his career and went on to play at Wheaton College.

We are fortunate to have Jon Yu on this episode. 

Yu is passionate about teaching the game through a Constraints-Led Approach. Much of this episode focuses on Yu's use of the CLA, especially when it comes to shooting.

Yu is from British Columbia, Canada who is coaching this year in Vietnam for the Saigon Heat and as a player development coach for The Performance Lab. Prior to moving to Vietnam, Yu was held the same role for College Prep Italy under friend of the pod, Alex Sarama.Yu also has coached high school and AAU basketball in Canada.

Alex Sarama from Transforming Basketball joins the podcast again for a Thanksgiving discussion.

Sarama discusses his roles with the London Lions, Portland Trail Blazers, and Rip City Remix. He also reflects back on lessons learned while leading College Prep in Italy. Finally, he shares information on his new venture, Transforming Basketball.

Did you know that the Idaho Basketball Coaching Podcast has a newsletter? Be sure to subscribe at coachingidaho.substack.com.

We are fortunate to have Phillip O’Callaghan on this episode. 

O'Callaghan is a tennis coach and secondary PE teacher in Cork, Ireland. He has a popular twitter account and Substack newsletter dealing with skill acquisition.

NOTE: There are a couple of minor technical issues involving the audio.

EPISODE TOPICS

• 1:20 - O’Callaghan’s interest in skill acquisition
• 3:25 - How frustration led to a better way to train
• 5:00 - Skill acquisitions impact on other aspects of coaching
• 6:16 - Defining some skill acquisition terminology - Ecological Dynamics, Non-Linear Pedagogy, Constraints-Led Approach
• 8:15 - More terminology - Affordances & Scaling
• 11:30 - Individual development vs. Team development
• 12:30 - How to use CLA when introducing athletes to a sport
• 14:50 - Why should you use a defender to train an athlete a new skill
• 16:45 - The principle of representative learning design
• 18:30 - Using CLA with advanced athletes
• 20:25 - The role of decision-making in practice planning
• 22:15 - The role of the coach in using CLA in development
• 24:05 - Evolving as a coach using a CLA approach
• 25:20 - Thinking of constraints as opportunities
• 27:30 - Giving players freedom to play
• 28:30 - What coaches can expect from players using a CLA approach
• 31:45 - Can there be some wrong ways to use the CLA
• 32:45 - Untraditional ways to success are OK
• 34:00 - Using the Practice Activity Continuum
• 36:20 - The process of planning a practice
• 38:50 - Why players enjoy learning in a CLA environment
• 42:00 - Why you shouldn’t jump head first into CLA

We are fortunate to have Nicole Symons on this episode of the podcast. 

Symons is the head girls coach at Coeur d’Alene High School. She led the Vikings to a 24-2 record and the 5A state title in Idaho this past season. It was the first state title for Coeur d’Alene since 2014.

EPISODE BREAKDOWN

2:20 - Approach to turning a program around

4:25 - Timeline for competing for a state title

6:55 - Selling players on the hard work

10:50 - Bring swagger and confidence into a program

15:00 - How do you make practices harder than games

18:10 - Building a relationship with players so they work hard

20:25 - Helping players become the right type of leaders

24:45 - Keys to coaching your child

28:25 - Having two parents as basketball coaches

30:20 - Deciding to come back after your child has graduated

32:45 - What’s the role of the high school team for high-level recruits

36:00 - Determining team concepts with a D-1 recruit

40:30 - Dealing with expectations after a state title

43:50 - Advice to yourself: Dealing with Parents

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The Idaho Basketball Coaching Podcast has a newsletter. Check it out here: coachingidaho.substack.com

We are fortunate to have Kurt Guelsdorf on this episode of the podcast. 

If you are like me, you’ve probably used one of Coach G’s resources, especially if you run any Dribble Drive action. 

Guelsdorf was a very successful high school coach in Oregon. He is now the associate head coach at Clackamas Community College.

In this episode, we talk some Dribble Drive but also hit on a number of topics of interest for coaches young and old.

Episode Topics

1:30 - The impact of asking why as a coach

3:30 - Experience leads to simplification

4:00 - Willingness to share concepts & ideas with others

7:45 - The role of reading in success

9:15 - Advice to first-year head coaches

11:10 - Thoughts on choosing a system as a head coach

14:50 - Deciding when it might be time to move on from a program

18:40 - Environment vs. Culture and its importance in success

23:55 - Planning for the upcoming season in late summer

27:30 - Filtering what you’ve learned into a workable format for the season

31:30 - What is that intrigues you about the dribble drive?

33:40 - The evolvement of spacing concepts in the dribble drive

36:25 - Defenses that can disrupt a dribble drive offenses

39:00 - Melding different systems with the dribble drive

42:55 - Thoughts on implementing press defenses 

47:42 -  Shot-clock considerations: 2v1s, end of shot clock considerations

51:15 - Incorporating special situations into practice

The Idaho Basketball Coaching Podcast now has a newsletter.

The newsletter has a bunch of great resources including drills and concepts that I use with my program. It also includes write-ups to help you become a better coach.

To subscribe to the newsletter, go to CoachingIdaho.substack.com. There you will find an archive of the past newsletters.