ROUND TABLE 17 – WHAT IS A UNIQUE TERM OR PHRASE THAT YOU USE TO DESCRIBE SOMETHING EITHER IN YOUR CULTURE OR IN YOUR X’S & O’S THAT OTHER COACHES MIGHT WANT TO “BORROW”? – EPISODE 304

Round Table 17

Welcome to the seventeenth edition of the Coach’s Corner Round Table on the Hoop Heads Podcast. Each episode of the Coach’s Corner Round Table will feature our All-Star lineup of guests answering a single basketball question.  A new Coach’s Corner Round Table will drop around the 15th of each month.

May’s Round Table question is:  What is a unique term or phrase that you use to describe either something in your culture or in your x’s & o’s that other coaches might want to “borrow”?

Our Coaching Lineup this month:

  • Pat Baldwin – University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
  • Erik Buehler – Chatfield (CO) High School
  • Chris DeLisio – Olmsted Falls (OH) High School
  • Bobby Jordan – Wagner College (NY)
  • Alicia Komaki – Sierra Canyon (CA) High School
  • Kyle Koncz – Lake Forest (IL) Academy
  • Nick LoGalbo – Lane Tech (IL) High School
  • Chris Martin – Loras College (IA)
  • Pascal Meurs – Belgium Professional Coach
  • Jim Psaras – Psaras Skills Academy – Newport, RI
  • Mihai Raducanu – Ganon Baker Basketball
  • Don Showalter – USA Basketball
  • John Shulman – University of Alabama Huntsville
  • Joe Stasyszyn – Unleashed Potential – Carlisle, PA
  • Lee Swanson – Bunker Hill (NC) High School
  • Matt Vespa – Lakeland Community College (OH)
  • Todd Wolfson – St. Francis (CA) High School

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THANKS, COACHES

If you enjoyed this episode with our all-star lineup of coaches, let them know by clicking on the links below and sending them a quick shout out on Twitter:

Click here to thank Pat Baldwin on Twitter!

Click here to thank Erik Buehler on Twitter!

Click here to thank Chris Delisio on Twitter!

Click here to thank Bobby Jordan on Twitter!

Click here to thank Alicia Komaki on Twitter!

Click here to thank Kyle Koncz on Twitter!

Click here to thank Nick LoGalbo on Twitter!

Click here to thank Chris Martin on Twitter!

Click here to thank Pascal Meurs on Twitter!

Click here to thank Jim Psaras on Twitter!

Click here to thank Mihai Raducanu on Twitter!

Click here to thank Don Showalter on Twitter!

Click here to thank John Shulman on Twitter!

Click here to thank Joe Stasyszyn on Twitter!

Click here to thank Lee Swanson on Twitter!

Click here to thank Matt Vespa on Twitter!

Click here to thank Todd Wolfson on Twitter!

Click here to let Mike & Jason know about your number one takeaway from this episode!

And if you want us to answer your questions on one of our upcoming weekly NBA episodes, drop us a line at mike@hoopheadspod.com.

TRANSCRIPT FOR ROUND TABLE 17 – WHAT IS A UNIQUE TERM OR PHRASE THAT YOU USE TO DESCRIBE SOMETHING EITHER IN YOUR CULTURE OR IN YOUR X’S & O’S THAT OTHER COACHES MIGHT WANT TO “BORROW”? – EPISODE 304

Round Table 17 Raw

[00:00:00] Mike Klinzing: [00:00:00] Pat Baldwin, Head Coach at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.

Pat Baldwin [00:00:07] Hi, this is Pat Baldwin, the Head Men’s Basketball Coach at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.  And one of the things that we like to do with our guys is a segment called share the sugar. We chart a lot of things during games and after games. We’d like to talk to our guys about the categories that they start in.

Or lead in. So right before film, we’ll go through all of the things that, that we charted, name all the leaders, and with all of those leaders we get, we get to throw them little miniature Snickers or kit cats or Twix to them. And we call that segment, share the sugar. Maybe you can use this with your team, but we feel like this is something that encourage our, encourages our guys to be great.

And try to lead in certain categories like assist, rebounds, stills, or anything else like [00:01:00] that.

Mike Klinzing: EriK Buehler, Chatfield Senior High School. Littleton, Colorado.

Erik Buehler: [00:01:08] Hey, what’s going on Hoop Heads Nation. This is Erik Buehler. From Chatfield Senior High School. And this week we were asked to share a phrase that might be unique to our program or a team.

 the coaches could maybe borrow first of all, I’d like to say what I’m about to share. I definitely borrowed, from another coach. I wish I knew from who, I just heard it somewhere and I loved it. And we’ve been using it this season, this past season, and it really stuck in if something our team bought into.

So we’re going to be using it in the future.  a term we use every game and practice all the time is Turkey. And those of you that love bowling or into bowling, you know that a Turkey is three strikes in a row. We use the term a Turkey when we get three stops on defense in a row. And [00:02:00] it’s funny how it kind of took off our, our, our bench.

Now tracks it on their own. We don’t need to tell them to do it and they celebrate it and they kind of go crazy almost as if we’ve got a charge or something. And the kind of the theory behind it, three stops in a row is we can definitely stop a run if we get three stops in a row, but we can also get, hopefully score.

On the other hand, while we’re getting those three stops in a row and we try to get more than seven turkeys in a game. We figure if we do that, we have a lot better chance of winning that game. The other thing that I think is pretty unique that one of our assistants came up with this year is we call our bench the bench mob.

And  the guys love that and they love being part of the benchmark and it’s a name that gives them ownership and something that they can be proud of, even though they might not be getting into the game. They’re on the sideline, they’re engaged, they’re celebrating their teammates. So,  thanks for having me again [00:03:00] guys, and be safe out there.

Mike Klinzing: [00:03:04] Chris DeLisio, Olmsted Falls High School. Olmsted Falls, Ohio.

Chris DeLisio: [00:03:10] Hey Hoop Heads,  Chris DeLisio, Olmsted Falls. Appreciate you guys having me on so many things.  when you talk about words or phrases, I think, I think as a coach you got to coach in, in words or phrases. So.  you know, we certainly have a lot that pertain to culture,  and Xs and no’s and things like that.

But,  maybe about four years ago, we started using this phrase with our players, and. Really seemed to resonate with our guys. And that phrase was, prepare for the games you want to play in. You know, I think that, you know, that’s one that if you use that phrase, that’s one for a kid to go back to and think about, you know, how hard they have to work.

 and then also to visualize themselves playing in championship games. You know, whether it’s a conference [00:04:00] championships or,  district championships or regional championships or whatever level. You know, your team aspires to get to. Preparing for those games I think is key. And,  you know, a kid can’t take a day off when they’re thinking about those championship games and,  or thinking about the best team in your league, playing against them or the best team that’s going to be in your district.

 and you want to prepare for those games, you know, and, and, you know, when they picture themselves in those moments, I think that that’s when you,  that’s when you get a kid to really up his performance. And,  you know, we’ve had. We’ve had kids,  you know, talk about that phrase and, and,  really kinda take it to heart with their preparation.

And,  you know, we even had a kid who,  As a senior and we had a great team as a senior and  or his senior year, and he found himself in that district championship,  using that [00:05:00] skill that he knew he was deficient at before that he knew it’d be useful for a championship type game. So,  was really awesome to see him, you know, perform at that level.

Thanks guys.

Mike Klinzing: [00:05:13] Bobby Jordan, Wagner College, Staten Island, New York.

Bobby Jordan [00:05:20] One phrase that I’ve used with my teams in the past is the acronym stands for energy, attitude, and toughness. It was my belief that our entire team brought energy, attitude, and brought toughness every day in practice, in each and every game, and each and every session. Every time we stepped on the court.

Mike Klinzing: [00:05:47] Alicia Komaki, Sierra Canyon High School, Chatsworth, California.

Alicia Komaki: [00:05:53] Hi, this is Alicia Komaki, head coach at Sierra Canyon High School.  something that may be unique is our fast break [00:06:00] system that we have termed the system fly since we want to ultimately fly down the court. The positions have been named after birds, and that’s based on the birds talents or reputation.

So the Raven will lead the break as it’s known to be one of the smartest birds and must make good decisions. The Falcons are named after the Peregrine Falcon, which is the fastest mammal on earth when it’s in its dive motion. So we emphasize the Falcons, get their butts down the court and get to the corners.

And the Eagles are known to be big and powerful. And these are for our big one, runs one runs to the nest, which is the rim. And the other one trails, which will be Eagle high,  and they use their Eagle eye to see the action. So they’re just kind of clever names that we use and our fast break system, something that might be some unique terminology.

Mike Klinzing: [00:06:45] Kyle Koncz, Lake Forest Academy in Chicago, Illinois.

Kyle Koncz: [00:06:52] There’s two phrases here at Lake Forest Academy that we use a lot in our program with our guys to drive home important things that we believe in. The first phrase is winning is an all the time thing.

It’s really refers to the idea that who they are on the court and who we are as a team on the court is really just a reflection of who we are and who they are off the court. We talk a lot about what our habits are and why having great habits is important and this is what this phrase kind of encompasses.

If you treat those around you and our community with great respect, that I’m pretty confident that you’re going to be a really great teammate for us. If you’re someone who puts maximum effort into their schoolwork and gets the best grades that you’re capable of getting, then I know when it comes to practice or workouts, we’re going to get a hundred percent effort from you.I always tell our guys, I can tell who we are, who we are going to be as a team and who they are as a player. Just by watching them in our community and talking to their teachers about what their approach is like in class. The phrase, winning isn’t all the time thing for us really [00:08:00] drives home the importance of having good habits.

Another phrase that we use a lot is do less better, and this is really about their approach to their games individually. We want them focusing on mastering one or two skills before moving on to the next one, instead of having 10 okay? Post moves just to have a really good move and a countermove. Make sure you’re a really great, fundamentally sound shooter before you work on a step back jumper.

Instead of having 10 dribble moves in a half court, are you able to grab a rebound and Joel the ball to court with your right and left hand and transition without it going off your foot with everything that is out there in terms of workouts and videos for our guys to see? I think it’s really hard for them to keep it simple when they’re building their games. If we can get our guys to buy into mastering one or two skills before they move on to the next one, then we feel that they’re going to be building their games in the right way and building their games in a way that’s going to help them be successful [00:09:00] moving forward and maintain that success.

Mike Klinzing: [00:09:05] Nick LoGalbo, Lane Tech High School Chicago, Illinois.This is

Nick LoGalbo: [00:09:11] This is Nick LoGalbo with Lane Tech High School in Chicago.  today’s round table question is about a phrase or a thought that we share either X’s and O’s or culture wise with our program,  in, in our shared some already on the podcast. With next play being a big one. But another thing that we talk about, kind of a phrase or a mantra that we believe in is a toughness is doing what is right.

So we talk about that quite a bit.  I think we live in a society where,  the word toughness gets thrown around and can be misconstrued. You know, according to Jay Billis and his book, you know, toughnessyou know, walking hard or any of that, you know, toughness is the ability to withstand pressure without breaking, you know, something that is heartbreaks, but somebody [00:10:00] that is tough can withstand pressure and then, and ebb and flow.

So we’ve just talked about the idea that it’s a long season. We’ve gotta be tough,  in order to compete at a high level and toughness is doing what is right and making the next right place. So,  hope this helps. Thank you for all that you guys are doing and everyone stay safe and healthy in this time.

Mike Klinzing: [00:10:24] Chris Martin, Head Coach of the Loras College. Duhawks.

Chris Martin: [00:10:31] Hey, Hoop Heads Nation. This is Coach Martin from Loras College. I just wanted to answer one of the questions we got today for the round table. It talks about what’s a unique term or phrase to describe something in our culture and so that our staff and our players talk about or say all the time, nothing changes.

Nothing changes. We talked about that. We say that all the time. It could be, it’s really applicable to everything in our program.  what you’re [00:11:00] eating in the CAF to,  academics and obviously on the court. We’ve talked about it with our players. If you’re not the shooter, you want to be. Well, it’s not just going to change.

You know, you got to change some habits. You get you, you’ve had to get here. Same thing within the weight room. If you’ve been lifting for two years, you’re not getting strong a lot stronger. You’re not getting bigger. Well, something’s gotta change. You gotta lift more, you gotta eat more, you gotta do something.

And we talked about as a staff, we’re not handling the ball screen well. We’re giving up to me points per possession ball or, or this position. While we can’t just hope it’s going to change, we need to change something. And not to say that. We’re not true to who we are. It’s set in our principles. However,  we’re not just going to keep doing something because we think it’s going to work.

Every team and every group is different. And so we talked about all the times as a program and a staff, nothing changes if nothing changes. So I hope that helps.  look forward to getting some feedback from you guys.

Mike Klinzing: [00:11:51] Pascal Meurs, Belgian professional basketball coach.

Pascal Meurs: [00:12:05] The quotes I used a lot last season is go hard or go home and actually it stands for everything I do in my basketball program. It starts with signing up for a program, being part of a roster. It’s either you’re all in, either you’re all out, but there’s nothing in between. Go hard or go home. It also stands for our practices.

I really strive for having high-intensity practices where everybody is all in. And in that sense, I do per share a good heart in pens, practice of one hour, 15 over a practice of two hours and a half with a mediocre intensity. And you can extend it to everything in basketball. Even like for example, an individual [00:13:00] shooting session.

It’s go hard or go home. If you’re just in the gym to shoot some hoops and to throw the ball away, then you’re wasting your time. It’s either you do it full hearted with full focus and you do everything to have the perfect shooting forum and you strive to have a clear basket without touching the rim eater.

Stay home and don’t waste your time even attending a visit video session. Don’t be there like a zombie who’s just physically present, be there full focused, and that’s everything I stand for in basketball. Either go hard or go home.

Mike Klinzing: [00:13:48] Jim Psara from the Psaras Skills Academy in Newport, Rhode Island.

Jim Psaras: [00:13:56] Hi! This is Jim Psaras from the Psaras Skills Academy. [00:14:00] And former head coach at Rogers High School in Newport, Rhode Island. This month’s round table question, what is a unique term or phrase that you use to describe either something in your culture or in your X’s and O’s that other coaches might want to borrow?

I would say our baseline out of bounds plays on offense. I would use different formations from my feet and my posture to signal it. Different place. For instance, if I wanted a stack, I would put my feet together. If I wanted a box formation, I’d have my feet apart. If I wanted a one four low setup, I would have my, I’d be in a squat position.

If I wanted a one four high, I’d be down on one knee and resting my hands on my other knee. From each of those formations, I would be able to have four play Coles, but all four plays were run. In olive, each and every formation. So out of the [00:15:00] stack, one was a certain play and we’re able to run one out of each of the formations.

If it was a stack box, one for low or one for high, two would be a different play. Three would be another play, and then we’d have a fourth. It allowed us to be able to read different situations, react to the defense, and be able to adapt and adjust any out of balance play. Looking for a score or most important looking to get the ball and bounce.

I would say the last thing that we did that was great for our culture was our players would train that on shooting files on offense. All four kids would huddle with me. They’d recognize that my hand would be over my head in a fist formation. That meant come and huddled with the coach and I would receive a five second time out with those kids to talk about the next possession.

We repeat that on the defensive end, but we obviously would only allow it to have three players come over and huddle because the other two were in defensive positioning on the [00:16:00] free-throw. Again, using five seconds to talk about the next possession or relay a message. These things were highly success for us and helped our culture.

I hope you use these and have a great day. Thank you.

Mike Klinzing: [00:16:12] Mihai Raducanu from Gannon Baker Basketball.

Mihai Raducanu: [00:16:23] Don’t be a bag of milk. It’s a Canadian thing. Milk is sold in bags over here. You know, the milk bag needs a plastic holder to be used in. So when we use that on the court with kids, it’s basically means. Don’t be soft, don’t be flimsy. Control your body. Control your movement. Control the way you run. Walk and compete.

Don’t be a bag of milk.

Mike Klinzing: [00:16:46] Don Showalter, USA basketball.

Don Showalter: [00:16:52] Hi Don Showalter here from USA basketball and a phrase I use a lot and I coached elite teams with junior [00:17:00] national team and high school teams is. Playing a players, you figured out many times they just want,  ask a question or, or they’ll have, which is okay, but sometimes I want them to figure it out. So for instance, they ask a question like,  I’m getting over a screen and they ever having trouble with it.

 I would just say, well, you figured out, get over to the screen. Show me how you would get over the screen. And so I think that term figured out. Has a lot to do with giving a player some,  so initiative,  and making his team his decision on how to figure things out. Thanks.

Mike Klinzing: [00:17:43] John Shulman, University of Alabama, Huntsville and the 720 sports group.

John Shulman: [00:17:50] Yes. This is John Shulman at UAH. And the question is, what is a unique term or phrase that you use to describe either something in your culture [00:18:00] or your X and O’s that other coaches may want to borrow?  first of all, borrow, steal.  everything I have really, I’ve stolen.  I will say this before we get started, if you, if you see a set that you like or an under OB or something that someone else is doing,  and you want to steal it from them, it’s okay to steal from others.

 everybody steals from everybody in the game of basketball, but at least name the set after them, give them some credit for it. Don’t take all credit for it. But that’s another point.  you know, I, I guess the most unique term that we have or phrase that we have and as I started it a few years ago is just the word uncommon.

And I think,  I really got it from Tony Dungy, his book, and, and. When I went to McCallie a private school in Chattanooga, Tennessee.  we really started using word [00:19:00] uncommon and our kids picked up on it and everything we did was uncommon. How we played was uncommon. Have we prepared? Was uncommon. It was just a word that that kind of fit me.

 and kind of my life. And, you know, I, we just kinda really used uncommon for anything, you know, if, if everybody else wanted to just play half court, man, we wanted to press and,  if people didn’t want to use the clock at the end of a quarter, right? We, we wanted to take the last shot. We want to be uncommon.

We wanted to huddle uncommon. We wanted to prepare uncommon. We wanted to run uncommon. We wanted our D under. Under OB to be uncommon. Everything we use, we wanted to use the word uncommon and really taking that here to UAH and, and use the word every tee shirt or whatever shirt. We’ve got long sleeve UAA church.

The back of it is word uncommon and it’s the same thing. And I just think, I don’t want to be [00:20:00] corny and cheesy, but you know, just to have a word like that to hopefully,  express kind of who your team is.  X and O wise. You know, really, I mean, we’ve got a very complex offense that we run and, and every little action has got a phrase, or in term two to kind of help you deal with it of a flare screen would be a Fred.

  playing opposite would be Ohio, anything like that. But the, the word that, I guess the phrase that I’ve used for many, many years is, is the word fire in every, every time we double in a post where yelling fire and just kind of signifies it is time to get hot and trap and, and, and make it a little.

Little little toasty or steam here for, for our opponents.  but fire would be a word that, that for a, for a double team, for a trap for us in the post.  but you could [00:21:00] use it,  anywhere, whether it be off the past or off the bounce, but, but we use it in the post and you know. Once that ball goes into post and they hear the word fire, we’re, we’re going, we’re going crazy.

Whether you want to come from the top or, or weak side or come from the ball or just go post to post fire, it doesn’t really matter. But that’s the word and term we use was fire. And the other term for our culture was probably just really the word uncommon, but you make it whatever up you won’t. And  I’m just wasn’t smart enough so I had to steal and hopefully this helps.

And hopefully you’re surviving. The virus. And I’m realizing what’s important. And I know it’s hard for us coaches to figure out what’s really important because we think our sport of basketball and playing and camps is the most important thing. But we better figure out that there is something that revolves around the world, except,  not, not just not just basketball and not just our camps and not just us.

So hope you’re doing well. Stay safe. Take care. Thanks.

[00:22:00] Mike Klinzing: [00:22:01] Joe Stasyszyn Unleashed Potential, Carlisle, Pennsylvania

Joe Stasyszyn: [00:22:08] Joe Stasyszyn Unleashed Potential. This month’s question is what is a unique term or phrase that I use that other coaches might want to borrow or use in our programs? The one that I speak on a lot when I speak across the country or internationally is an acronym called Reup.

R-E-U-P  The R stands for rapport.  I think in coaching or anything, you have to develop a relationship, whether a player or a team or whoever it is that you’re working, you’re working with. And I think that’s really the most important thing regardless of what you’re doing or what you’re trying to teach is they have to have buy in.

They have to.  believe in and trust in you, I think you have to trust in them. So I think that is the most important thing as a coach that you need to have in [00:23:00] your program is a rapport or relationship or, you know, basically if you don’t, they’re going to tune you out and you’re not going to have, you’re not going to have buy in into your program.

And the better the rapport. The more truth that you can share back and forth and the more honest you can be with people. If you have a great relationship, if you don’t have a great relationship, they’re not going to trust you and you’re not going to a doctor. They’re not going to believe in anything that you say.

So I think that is the first thing. The other one, after the R is the E for explore. After developing that relationship and that trust and that buy in, then you can explore, you know, what it is that player or your team has to do to get better. And as coaches, we’re always trying to make people better as players and as people.

I think that’s the biggest part of coaching, regardless of the wins and losses and all those kinds of things, things that carry on carry,  later on in life for those people will be, you know, how you maybe helped them to grow. It was a person and as a player or a team, so you have to explore [00:24:00] what it is that they, that they need to do to get better.

Then once you figure that out, then it’s a matter of of having a team understand or the player understand what it is that they need to do. To, to make their strengths better, to make their weaknesses better.  all those kinds of things. So they need to understand that, help them to understand that. And the last thing is to have a plan.

 you know, as a teacher for many, many years, you know, at 150 kids. Come into my class every day. So you had to be prepared every single day and then going on to coach in high school after the end of the day, teaching 150 kids, you had to have a practice plan. You had a, had a, had to have a way of, of preparing your team to make them better.

And I think, you know, I think that is one of the most important things to a lot of all the times people go into situations and coaching. Well, they don’t have a plan. We’re working with a player, working with a team, having goals set and having things that you want to accomplish. [00:25:00]  I’ve always, I’ve always felt that you have to be very, very prepared in, in coaching and everything you do, you know, and, and really into the small details.

Okay.  you know, I think you have to really pay attention to details and it doesn’t have to be anything complex. I think the bad, the game of basketball is really simple. We try to make it more complex, but I think you have to be great in the details and have a great overall plan. So that’s, that’s the term that I like to use, and it’s been very good for me, not only in coaching, but in life, in working with student athletes and students.

You know, Rio.  that’s a term that I like to share with coaches and maybe they can incorporate that into their plans or et cetera programs. Thank you very much.

Mike Klinzing: [00:25:45] Lee Swanson, Bunker Hill High School, Claremont, North Carolina

Lee Swanson: [00:25:51] The question was, was a unique term to your,

from the Hoop Heads Podcast this week? And, [00:26:00]  No, we’ve got some things I think are pretty neat.  probably the one I’ll use is the one we talked about with our culture.  one of the things we break it down on, and you’ll hear us say a lot is, are we tough?  that’s not to you. Ugh. That’s T U F and those three letters stand for trust,  uncommon and fights.

And the trust part, which we think is the foundation of any of our relationships is, you know, we’re going to try to tell each other the truth all the time and accept the truth. And that’s not easy to do.  the uncommon is we’re going to be different. We want to be different than everybody else and how we do things.

And the fight is we want to compete at all times. And,  we don’t want to quit or leave anything out there. We always want to be the biggest competitors, whether that be in practice or,  on game night. And it’s easy to go into gas. We’re not being tough right now. We’re, you know, we’re not trusting somebody with the ball.

I will not make an extra pass or we’re not being different. We’re acting like every other team or. We’re acting like everybody else will in [00:27:00] practice, or we’re not fighting.  so you can really point to those things in your standards, which makes it,  stuff that works pretty well for us or something we’ll continue to, to build on.

 you know, the one thing I would say about your language is it’s very important.  Bob Richie from a farm and said that,  clinical Astro, matter of fact, it would’ve been the J Bill’s camp.  that language creates exclusivity. And I believe that’s true. Anytime you can make something yours,  it creates buy in.

And I think that’s important. So hopefully this is something that you guys cover your own acronym or something that works for your, your team, the things that they can kind of see and feel and, and become part of your coaching.

Mike Klinzing: [00:27:43] Matt Vespa, Lakeland Community College. Matt Vespa: [00:27:48] One of the unique things that we do as far as terms or phrasing goes with our program is we try and disguise a lot of our calls. So let’s say we want to try it the first pass in the half court, instead of having a typical call like a. Double fist [00:28:00] or a fire or something like that where you kind of might be able to see coming from the other bench.

We use the term hustle, so we’ll, we’ll let our guys know, Hey, let’s see a little hustle out there and defense that’s really hustle on this play where our guys know what we’re calling. But a lot of times the other teams is not. One of the questions we typically get asked by a player at the beginning of the season is if you’re telling us we have to hustle, but you don’t want us to trap, and we always let them know that if we need to tell them to hustle, they won’t be on the floor anyways, we’ll, we’ll have that chat on the bench that we don’t ever have to worry about that we’ve had a lot of success with it and hopefully someone other teams can’t do.

Mike Klinzing: [00:28:31] Todd Wolfson, St Francis High School La Canada, California.

Todd Wolfson: [00:28:41] How are you doing? This is Todd Wolfson, head basketball coach at St Francis high school,  right outside Pasadena, California.  and the question which I’m entering today is, what’s the unique term or phrase that we use in our culture.  and the phrase we use is one that maybe some [00:29:00] programs use, but,  we really, really believe, believe in it.

 and that’s team first, and it’s on our wall in our gym. It’s actually engraved our gym floor. And,  it really is our fundamental standpoint that we, that we really hold everything to.  and it’s putting the team before yourself and in the day and age where. You know, everything’s individualized.

Social media is individualized. Highlight films are individualized.  you know, we, we try to find ways to make sure that the team,  always comes first at our high school program.  yeah, we have great individuals.  but in the end, it’s going to be that team and that team.  I was going to win games and lose games and do things together.

And that’s why team first for us is a big thing.  and because everything you do in a, in a program,  the team has to come first, you know, Friday night and there was a party.  but you have a game the next day and you’re deciding to go out as a [00:30:00] player. Well, you’re putting the team first by going out and staying out late and, and,  going to be tired for the next game.

You know, you’re missing a class assignment and now you’re having to have your thresher team run for your missed assignment. You know, are you putting the team first by missing that assignment? So every. Every decision you make as a, as an athlete, and every decision you make as a coach,  are you putting the team first always comes back to that.

And some we’ve used and we’ve been successful with it and want to continue to use it because,  embodies the, the, the team spirit and, and a lot of, a lot of our team and a lot of our coaches can always go back to that when they’re, you know, making any type of decisions. So,  good luck to everybody. Hope everyone’s safe and healthy during this time and,  take care.