“THE TRIPLE DOUBLE” #4 WITH ROB BROST, BOLINGBROOK (IL) HIGH SCHOOL BOYS’ BASKETBALL HEAD COACH – EPISODE 848
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The 4th episode of “The Triple Double” with Rob Brost, Bolingbrook (IL) High School Boys’ Basketball Head Coach. Rob, Mike, & Jason hit on three basketball topics in each episode of “The Triple Double”.
- Setting the tone for open gym
- Advice on communicating with players and parents
- When do you know who’s going to play for you in a coming season?/Establishing & evaluating your depth chart
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What We Discuss with Rob Brost
- Setting the tone for open gym
- Advice on communicating with players and parents
- When do you know who’s going to play for you in a coming season?/Establishing & evaluating your depth chart
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THANKS, ROB BROST
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TRANSCRIPT FOR “THE TRIPLE DOUBLE” #4 WITH ROB BROST, BOLINGBROOK (IL) HIGH SCHOOL BOYS’ BASKETBALL HEAD COACH – EPISODE 847
Mike Klinzing: [00:00:00] Hello and welcome to the Hoop Heads Podcast. It’s Mike Klinzing here with my co-host Jason Sunkle tonight and we are jumping on for triple double number four with Rob Brost, the head boys basketball coach at Bolingbrook High School in Bolingroobk, Illinois. Rob, number four already, can you believe it?
Rob Brost: More importantly, this is number three for me, right? Jason, you’re in, yeah. I mean, I feel like we have been like pulling Jason along a little bit since he missed that first one. So it does seem crazy when we first started talking about doing a regular segment here. Now we’re, we’re four episodes in. So it’s been great.
I’m ready for another one tonight. We’ve done the same amount of podcasts as Aaron Rodgers
Jason Sunkle: Rodgers played plays this season, guys.
Rob Brost: played plays this season, guys. Also true. I like that. I like the football segue. I like how you interjected that.
Mike Klinzing: That’s So we have, we have three topics tonight that are very [00:01:00] near and dear to my heart. And we’re going to talk a little bit with Rob about each one of these.
And we’re going to start with being that we are here in the fall season, as most teams are preparing for their season this coming winter by having open gyms. And we wanted to talk with Rob about the importance of setting the tone in. Open gym, meaning that you could set up open gym where it ends up looking like the local rec court where anything goes and guys are goofing around and not playing the way that you would want them to play, or you as the head coach can set the tone and make sure that.
Again, although in many places you are not allowed to coach, you certainly can set the tone for what your open gym looks like. So give us an idea of how you approach open gym and making sure that the pickup games that your guys are playing [00:02:00] in are beneficial in building good habits as opposed to building
Rob Brost: poor habits?
Yep. No question. I think it’s important and you know, a key aspect of what we’re doing right now for sure. And it’s been refreshing the last several weeks. We’ve had several coaches through our gym and Several of them have commented the pace at which you guys play and how you share the ball. We don’t see this in open gyms that we go to.
And these are, you know, high profile programs that go to a lot of these. And, you know, in Illinois, we can’t instruct at all. We can only just let them play, kind of, so to speak. But I, I do put Some onus on our players beforehand and meet with them about how I would like things to go and so that they understand what the expectations are.
And so certainly in our program, sharing the ball and playing at a [00:03:00] fast pace are two pillars of, of what we do, especially offensively. And so, if those things aren’t happening, it’s disappointing. Obviously, you know, there’s, there’s no correction or anything like that. But if those things aren’t happening, it’s, it’s disappointing.
Number one. And then number two, you know, most recently, no college coach wants to come in and see isolation basketball and then try to recruit guys that are doing. Or playing just isolation basketball. So, you know, I, I think it’s a good way for our guys to be taught what colleges want to see. And then number two it’s good for them to have to figure out on their own without constant correction, which sometimes during the season they get
Right, right. And so I think it’s a time of growth for them as well. And so, and it’s a, it’s a chance for me to observe. How they are, you know, kind of on their [00:04:00] own, so to speak. And so the leaders kind of jump out, the, the guys that are going to go hard all the time, jump out. The selfishness really jumps out because it’s not necessarily corrected right away unless a player does it.
And so, you know, it’s. It’s great on many levels for me to observe. And we, we play in a fall league as well. And we talked about this, I think, in one of the last episodes, and I just do the same thing there. I just observe. And in fact, I didn’t even go to fall league last year at all, but now my son’s playing, so I go just because he’s participating and I just observe.
And so, which will lead into some of the points that I’m going to get to in questions or topics two and three, but it’s a great time for me to observe not only to see what we have skill wise and basketball wise, but also to recognize personalities, how guys fit together who kind of steps up, who kind of [00:05:00] takes a back seat who’s being a good teammate, all of those things which are really critical for me.
As a coach, as I, you know, put the plan in place starting on November 6th or 7th, I can’t remember what the exact date is of our first practice, but, you know, it’s good for me just to observe rather than always be in control and always try to be instructing. So I think it’s healthy for our kids and it’s also healthy for me.
So to go
Mike Klinzing: along with that, how actively are you watching open gym? Cause we’ve all been in open gyms where you have. Sort of, you could have both scenarios, right? You can have a situation where. There’s no coaching and a coach is still sitting on the sideline engaged and watching what’s going on on one of the courts, two of the courts, depending on how many teams you may have playing in that type of thing.
Or we’ve also been in gyms where you have coaches who are. Seemingly not paying very much attention to [00:06:00] what’s going on on the floor. And maybe they’re just chatting with each other or they’re talking to other people or whatever. And I feel like when you’re not engaged in actively observing what’s going on, then you’re missing some of those things that you were talking about.
So just talk a little bit about your philosophy, not only with you, but with your staff as well. I
Rob Brost: think it’s for me, it’s different depending on if there are college coaches there and then how many. So for example, we just got done with an open gym tonight and there were 12. college coaches in the gym. So, you know, when that happens, my role is a little bit different than when there aren’t any.
So, two or three weeks from now when colleges start their, their practices, the attendance in our open gym will go way down, way down to probably zero or maybe one or two in the gym. And so, like tonight, I was actively engaged with those coaches talking about our players. And Not describing what they’re watching, but [00:07:00] describing the players and what their strengths are what maybe they need to work on, and then the coaches obviously are, you know, Asking me questions about our guys.
How’s their attitude? How’s their grades? How can, does he do this every night or is this a good night, bad night? You know, those types of discussion. And since I’ve been doing it so long and we’ve had so many players play at that level we have a level of trust built up with, with the coaches that are here.
So that’s been, you know, very beneficial to our players. And so You know, that was tonight. Now, two weeks from now when there’s probably going to be no coaches in our open gym or maybe one I will be more observant to the little things that our guys are doing rather than trying to You know, talk to the college coaches that are there.
So I think regardless of the attendance of coaches or not, my role is a little bit different, but[00:08:00] I’m still engaged and actively not involved in the open gym per se, but the observation is, is constant and Like we tell our players, we are evaluating you all of the time, not just on the court, but off the court when you go get a drink.
Are you, you know, swearing under your breath and doing those types of things rather than being a good teammate? And so all of those things as I observe, and so, you know, obviously you’d love to see him play exactly right, but it’s an open gym, right? And so, you know, the play isn’t always going to be stellar.
And a lot of times it’s going to be less than stellar. And so, you know, I’ve come to terms with that piece of it. Especially as I’ve gotten older and more experienced and, and I just observe and guys come to me all the time. What can I do? What can I, what can I improve on coach? Where am I [00:09:00] at in the depth char?
Where, what do you think? If we had a game today, what I, where would I be? And guys are constantly wondering those things. And so they constantly come to me. So all I have to give them right now is what I see in open gym. And so you know, my response is usually wrapped around what I’ve observed in the open gym.
So it works all the way around because it gives them freedom to show who they really are. But then when they come and ask me it gives me freedom to tell them how they really are. It’s so it’s, it’s beneficial on a lot of levels, to be honest.
Mike Klinzing: How do you approach, you talked about before we jumped on, that tonight you had, what, six courts going for players, and so how do you, as the varsity coach, or with your staff, how do you make sure that the younger guys in the program, that somebody’s eyes are on [00:10:00] them, because I think, again, that’s a case where you don’t want, if you put your freshman all down on court number six, and nobody from the staff ever strolls down there, the odds of those games are being ones that are going to be beneficial to those younger kids who are obviously the future of your program.
Just how do you approach the younger kids, making sure that they know that eyes are on them
Rob Brost: as well? Well, first off, I have the level coaches at the particular court. So like tonight, our freshmen kind of took up two courts to be honest with you, because that’s our, our highest numbers are, are at those levels.
And so, you know, our freshmen coaches are at those courts doing. Kind of what I’m doing on the varsity court. Now tonight I did not get to any other courts because we had so many college coaches there. So I just was on, on the main court with, with our top guys, quote unquote. And, and so, you know, I think it’s important, you know, as it moves [00:11:00] forward that I at least at the very least make an appearance on.
Some of the courts that aren’t quote unquote, the main courts. And so but I think it’s more important that the level coach that they have is paying attention and observing some of the similar things that I’m looking for. And so that’s how we kind of go about it. Because. I know a lot of the freshmen, obviously, but I’m not going to be coaching them on a day in, day out basis.
And so, I think it’s important for our level coaches to really get familiar with those kids and, you know, start the evaluation process, so to speak, before we even start practice. All right.
Mike Klinzing: Anything else that you feel is important for setting the tone? If I’m, if I’m a high school coach and I’m listening, I want to make sure I’m getting the most out of Open Gym.
Anything that we didn’t touch on that you think is important to make sure that you’re getting the most out of your
Rob Brost: Open Gym? You know, [00:12:00] obviously I think it’s important that the head coach be there and be present. And by present, I mean, you know, engaged in the Open Gym. And, you know, I tell, Our staff all the time there’s one person that can’t have a bad day you know, at practice or when he’s in the gym, and that’s me, and that’s the head coach, and so you know, I think it’s really important that the head coach A is there, and then B.
You know, is attentive and observant to what’s happening. And so I think if you’re doing that, then kids will come to you for feedback because they know that you’re actually paying attention and that’s kind of what happens at our place. You know, I don’t talk to them obviously that night, but you know, during the school day tomorrow, I guarantee I’ll have three or four kids.
Hey coach, what did you think about Open Gym? What do we need to do better? What do I need to do better? Where do you see me? You know, stuff like that. And that opens up dialogue [00:13:00] between us and I always say to our guys, you know, if you know where I’m coming from, you can play better. And if I know where you’re coming from, I can coach you better.
And so just that little bit of dialogue, or I can. You know, see a kid in the hall and be, you know, Hey Johnny, I noticed you’re going really hard at Open Gym. I really appreciate it. And that, that kind of opens up dialogue on, Oh yeah, thanks coach. You know, I think we went hard, but I, I, I noticed this, so, you know, that opens the doors for, you know, communication, which, you know, I know is one of the, what’s the other topics or things we’re going to talk about here a little bit later, but it all kind of rolls together, if that makes sense.
You
Mike Klinzing: don’t just say, Hey, you’re doing great, buddy.
Rob Brost: I mean, I might say that. Keep up the good work. Keep
Mike Klinzing: up the good, keep up the good work. You’re doing
Rob Brost: great. Well, I might, I might say that that night you know, as we’re leaving the gym or something like that, but you know, we try to give as much feedback without overloading.[00:14:00]
And some of the things, you know, they have to work through on their own, obviously and. You know, they’re 15, 16 and 17 year olds. So they, they have one foot kind of in adulthood, but the rest of their whole body and soul is, you know, in teenage mode. So you know, they want to be treated like adults, but they’re not fully there yet.
So, you know, it’s always a you know, a fine line for how much feedback you give and, and, and what you say, but I take all of that very seriously and you know, I’m. I think I’m pretty cognizant of where our players are coming from.
Mike Klinzing: All right. Let’s talk about communicating with your players and how you go about doing that.
I guess I’ll start with the simplest form of communication when you’re trying to get out something that is a team event. So right now here in the fall, when you’re going to have an open gym, how do you make sure that. Everybody on the team [00:15:00] knows that you’re going to have open gym. Just how do you communicate those program wide things that you want everybody to know about?
What does that part of the communication look like? And then we can break it down into more of some of the individual
Rob Brost: communication. Yeah. So, you know, in general, you know, you tell some of the guys and then they spread it to the rest of the group. Because I don’t have Way of communicating with like tonight at Open Gym, I didn’t count how many we had, but I mean, we probably had upwards of 85 or 90 kids there.
And so, you know, there’s, at this point, I don’t want to set up a communication system with all of them because I’m not sure how many of them will make the team or not, et cetera. So we. You know, use announcements and we put signs up in the school as far as when Open Gym is going to be. That’s the first thing.
And then our kids kind of understand that if they’re not playing a [00:16:00] fall sport that They should be there because we’re evaluating. They don’t have to be there. It’s not required. But for us to get eyes on you, you know, it’s better for you to be there. And so it’s just human nature for them to want to be there, I think.
And they understand that they should be there now. Like tonight, we had a couple of varsity kids that weren’t there. Obviously there’s no penalty or anything like that. But sometimes, you know, when you’re gone, then all you need to do is see somebody else and that’s their opportunity that they get. And so, you know, I think our guys do a really good job of communicating with each other as far as where they’re supposed to be, when they’re supposed to be there and those types of things. And then, you know, our culture is at a point now where if, if they’re not doing what they’re supposed to, hopefully, you know, somebody else would.
another player would let them know. And then if they miss an open gym, a player would say, [00:17:00] Hey, Johnny, where were you last night? We had open gym, you know, something like that. So I don’t take attendance. We don’t do that at all. Just whoever shows up shows up. But I think there’s a standard level of expectation that when we’re getting together to play, that We’re going to be there.
We’re going to be in tune and we’re going to, it’s going to be beneficial for you to be there. And so I, I think that’s the first thing. And then specifically how we deal individually with players. I mean, we can get to that part too.
Mike Klinzing: Let’s jump into that. Let’s now take it to during the season and you’re communicating with players on the practice floor after practice in the school, what, what does it look like when you have something that you want to communicate to.
An individual player, whether that could be something that is on the floor, maybe it’s something you have to communicate with them off the floor. Just how do you think [00:18:00] about and approach communication on an individual per player
Rob Brost: basis? Here’s, let me just tell you what my ultimate goal is, and I tell this to our guys all the time.
My ultimate goal is that all of our players, whether they play or they don’t play a lot, or they sit on the bench, they’re a starter, whatever they are. That they are comfortable. Coming to me at any time about any thing. And that’s my ultimate goal. Now, does it always happen with every single player? Of course not, but it happens with a lot of our players.
And so that’s my ultimate goal because everybody has something going on in their life and everybody has something going on, you know, at their house or whatever. Everybody’s got something. And so, you know, I want them to be able to be comfortable coming to me if they need me. Unrelated to basketball or related to basketball.
[00:19:00] So that’s my ultimate goal. So let me just start with that as kind of my baseline and how we get to that is that I meet with the guys individually on a regular basis and by regular. I mean, I’m talking to them almost constantly. So the first 10 minutes of practice when we’re doing our active stretch and all of those things, that is a time where I tell my assistants, for example, don’t talk to me during those 10 minutes.
I am only talking to players during that time. And so I, as they’re stretching, I go to every single player, every single day. Hey, Jimmy, saw you in chemistry. How’s everything going? Or hey, Jimmy, know you had a bio test. How did that go? Or hey, I saw you with Sally in the hall. You got something going with Sally, you know?
And sometimes it’s a little joking. Sometimes [00:20:00] it’s a… Sometimes I have to pull them aside and talk about something that’s totally different. But I think if they’re used to talking to you, then they’ll share more with you. And so the only time I tell my assistants they can’t talk to me are during those 10 minutes.
And so during those 10 minutes, I physically make contact with every player. Whether that’s a fist bump, a high five, a hug, whatever. And I just chat with them just a little bit. And it could be something as simple as… Hey, let’s have a good practice today. Or, Hey, yesterday, you didn’t really go as hard as you normally do.
Let’s try to pick that up today. Could be something simple like that. Or it could be, Hey, I saw you’re driving your mom’s car. What happened? You know, just something simple. So I think the communication. Needs to be constant if they want it to be, if that makes sense. I don’t want to overload them with deep stuff that they have to come to me every day about every single thing.
I don’t [00:21:00] want it to be that I want them to be comfortable coming to me. So I think the communication piece is constant. But it’s evolving with each kid, depending on how much time I’ve spent with them, depending on how well I know them, depending on what type of kid they are. Some kids open up to you, some kids don’t.
So a lot of that I go by feel with each kid and what needs to be done with each individual kid, if that makes sense.
Mike Klinzing: Yeah. Do you feel like most of your communication is? Of that informal variety where you’re touching a kid during stretching or you’re talking to them after practice, as opposed to, Hey, we have every 10 days, we’re going to have a meeting and sit down with you in the office and talk through
Rob Brost: things.
Okay. And what I don’t want to have is after every game or every time a kid doesn’t play, like as well as maybe they’re capable of that, we have a meeting. I don’t want that. I want it to be ongoing so that there’s some growth [00:22:00] there. Now, I’m not opposed to those meetings. And if a kid wants to meet with me, it’s not like I’m going to tell them no.
But you know, what we do is what we do regardless of how we play. And I know some coaches are like, what do you mean you do the same? Well, like if we win by one or we lose by one, the things we need to get better at are the same. And so You know, we go about our business the way we go about our business.
And so I want our guys to kind of have that similar attitude. Like, you know, whether we win or lost, what we need to work on next is the same, and that goes with the communication with all of them as well. And one of the things I just said this at the, I spoke at the Illinois basketball coach association statewide clinic on Monday, and somebody asked me about relationships.
And I, I said this, and I say this to our guys. If not daily, it’s close. And that is this, if your [00:23:00] relationship with me. is dependent on if you play, how much you play, or how you play, then you’re in the wrong place. Because my goal is to have a relationship with you unrelated to basketball. And I think that helps the communication piece because when they know and understand that, and most importantly that they feel that, then they’ll be more open to tell you stuff.
And so… I, I think all of that plays a huge part in the communication piece. Being able
Mike Klinzing: to do that informally, like it sounds like you make it sound
Rob Brost: easy and anybody who’s tried, especially anybody who’s trying to do this, 15, 16, 17 year olds, they tend to do one word answers. And I’ll give you a perfect example.
I was texting, this is like five or six years ago, I was texting back and forth with a [00:24:00] Hey, I noticed you’re, you’re like two minutes late last time. You got to be, you know, I’m just giving you a friendly reminder, be on time or whatever I’ve said. And then that turned into a hour and a half, just text back and forth about the season and he felt more comfortable texting me than he did talking to me.
So that’s what I did. And so I met him kind of where he was. And now I know people might be like. Well, that’s in for that. That’s not personal at all. I would, well, that’s how he felt comfortable. And I mean, we got into stuff that I was like, Oh my Lord. So, you know, he just felt more comfortable doing that.
And so I had to kind of meet him where he was rather than force him to speak to me face to face. He just felt more comfortable. And then after we did that, then we were much more comfortable with each other. Like the next day at practice, this was in the middle of the season. Next day of practice, he was like, coach, really, thanks for that.
You know, I really appreciate you taking the [00:25:00] time, you know, all of that type of stuff. So it’s different with each kid and you never know where 15, 16 and 17 year olds are coming from. That’s why you got to be open to kind of meet them where they are.
Mike Klinzing: And I think going back to your point of talking to kids while they’re stretching and telling your assistants, Hey, don’t talk to me during this time.
Like that sounds easy to do. Anybody who’s coached on a team knows that. That’s hard to do. Like there are times where I don’t want to say it’s a dead time, but theoretically, while the team’s stretching, if a captain’s leading the stretch, like there’s not a lot of coaching that you’re doing during that time.
So it’s easy and you can go to lots of practices and that’s not to say that it’s a terrible thing to do to be talking to your assistants as you’re kind of getting prepared for practice. But the idea that it’s easy to discipline yourself to do that every single day and have those conversations, [00:26:00] that’s hard.
That’s hard. To do, because sometimes it’s just, it is sometimes easier just to, Hey, we’re going to stand and talk to the staff and yeah, no, we can do this. Or your team shooting free throws. You could be watching the kids shoot free throws and trying to help them. Or you could be standing over on the side, you’d be talking and look, I’ve done both of those things.
And I’ve talked to kids while they’re shooting free throws. And I’ve also been the guy that, okay, everybody shoot 10 free throws. And now me and my assistant coach are just standing over on the side, talking about, you know, whatever.
Rob Brost: Yeah. It’s so, I go so much more now on just feel like I, I just try to. A, meet the kids where they are and then B, try to give the kids what I think they need.
And sometimes it’s not much like, you know, it might just be a fist bump like, Hey, let’s go today. Let’s, let’s, let’s work hard. Okay. And then I moved to the next one. And so, you know, it just, a lot of the stuff I do is just off of feel now because I’ve been [00:27:00] doing it so long and that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s right.
It’s just how I do it. And so You know, it’s been really successful for us. And one of the questions I get like, like from the coaches tonight, I, I can’t believe how hard your kids play in open gym. Well, I think that’s in large part, they know that I don’t care. if they play hard or not. I mean, obviously I’d like them to play hard, but I’m going to love them regardless of how they play.
And so you know, that’s just the, the way that it is here. And that’s the way that it is going to be as long as I’m in charge here. All
Mike Klinzing: right. How about communicating with families?
Rob Brost: Yeah, that’s that, that one. I don’t know if I’m as good at that piece. You know, when I first Got the job here. We had the AD that hired me was old school.
Like at our parent meeting, he would get up and say, You’re not talking to Coach Brost about playing time and you’re not coming in [00:28:00] ever. This is what Coach Brost says, that’s what goes. And so, you know, that’s what I kind of started my career at Bolingbrook, at least with, just because he was kind of an old school guy, like Coach Brost is in charge, just do what he says.
Now, I’ve completely flipped that. Now I don’t meet with parents very often. But if they want to meet and they want to talk, I welcome that. And one of the younger coaches at the Illinois Basketball Coach Association Clinic that I was speaking at on Monday asked, like, hey, how do you handle parents?
And I, now I’m a complete 360 from where we were when I first got at Bowlingbrook because I want to be able to communicate with them, meaning the parents, and if they have an issue or anything they want to talk to me about. I want them to talk to me about it because I’m the person that’s in charge of it.
[00:29:00] And so, you know, I can control, so to speak, the narrative, at least I can give my perspective of what’s going on. And so usually when you talk with parents, they think it might be confrontational, and maybe even I think it’ll be confrontational, but we’re always a lot closer to what we want ultimately than we are far apart.
We want what’s best for their kid. And now, obviously I have to balance that with what’s best for the team, which they don’t have to do, but that’s what I have to do. And so, you know, it gives me a chance to learn more about the player because of talking to the parents. And so, you know, I don’t have, knock on wood, a lot of issues with parents.
I mean, maybe they do, or maybe they’re talking about me in the stands, which I’m sure they are. But you know, I. We haven’t had a lot of parental issues. To be honest with you, and I think it’s in large part because I’m open to talking to them, but then I’m [00:30:00] honest with them when I do talk to them. And I think now I’ve gotten more comfortable calling out things that might be exaggerated or not true about their son.
And so You know, it just makes it easier for everybody because if I know that I’m getting honesty from them and they know that they’re getting honesty from me, then we can both move forward and we don’t have to agree on everything, but we can both move forward. And so I think that’s a big part of it.
In our parents meeting that we have at the beginning of the season, always the very first thing I say is, listen, we’re going to play bad. And we’re going to get beat by some teams that we shouldn’t get beat and I’m going to coach bad some nights. It’s going to happen. So get over that piece of it right now.
Your son is going to not play as much as he wants and as much as you want, even if he’s the number, the best player, not going to play as much as they want. [00:31:00] So, you know, I, I lead off the parents meeting with that. And so I don’t know if that’s good or bad. Some coaches are like, I can’t believe you do that.
But I mean, we’re going to play bad sometimes and we’re going to lose to some teams that we shouldn’t lose to. And it might happen more than once, probably twice or three times. So I just put that out there right at the get go. So everybody knows kind of this is going to happen. And so you can be upset at your son.
You can be upset at me, but guess what? Me and your son, we’re going to love each other regardless, or at least that’s the goal. It’s
Mike Klinzing: kind of what I always like to talk about when it comes to communication is just being proactive in what you do, where you’re communicating, you’re building that relationship both with your players and with the parents so that hopefully nothing’s going to go south at any point.
But if it does, because you’ve already built that relationship and [00:32:00] built up some trust and built up some goodwill, It makes that difficult conversation that you may end up having to have that much easier because just like a teacher, you don’t want the first time that you talk to a parent to be when, Hey, your kid is acting like a fool in class.
If you’ve never talked to the parent before, that’s not necessarily, it’s not a fun conversation anyway. But if that’s the first time you talk to them, it’s not very fun. On the other hand, if you’ve already established some type of working relationship, that conversation becomes easier. And so I, to me, it’s always.
Be proactive. The more you can communicate, the better. It’s almost impossible, I think, as a coach to over communicate. I just think that the more you can keep people in the know about what’s going on, the less people fill in the gaps with stuff that probably isn’t true, but they’re just looking to tell themselves a story.
And that’s when they’re going to put their own details into that story. And it may not be the one that you want them telling.
Rob Brost: Let’s put it that way. And I think some parents don’t want to talk [00:33:00] to me because Their narrative then would be not their narrative anymore. And so sometimes parents have built in excuses, just like players, like, well, coach bros, doesn’t like my son, this, that, the third.
And so, you know, when they, when they come and talk to me, they find out that that’s not true, that I’m being as fair as I can, et cetera, et cetera. So you know, sometimes they don’t want to talk to me because it, you know, it doesn’t fit their narrative and then their excuse is gone. Right. With why their kid isn’t playing or anything like that.
So, you know, I think every year is a little bit different. Some of our, you know, when I get involved with parent issues, a lot of times it’s at the lower levels because there’s more kids and, you know, it’s the 1st or 2nd time that You know, kids are being told that either they’re not good enough or they’re not playing, whereas when they were in eighth grade or when they were on the freshman team, they played a lot and now they’re on the [00:34:00] sophomore team and they’re not playing a lot, those types of things.
When I sit in on or help a staff member of mine, You know, with a parent issue. And so, you know, those, those things are, are important as well. And I tell our staff, just communicate as best you can, make decisions as best you can, and whatever you need from me, I’m, I’m always here.
Mike Klinzing: I mean, that’s a great point that a lot of times when you’re talking about, especially at a school.
As big as Bowlingbrook, right? I mean, how many kids try out for your freshman team? The
Rob Brost: freshman is, is rough, but the sophomore level is even rougher because at the freshman level, we have an A and a B team, so like 25 of them make it. And then at the sophomore level, only 15 of them make it. And, but we’ve probably grabbed two or three of the freshmen and move them up as well.
So of those 25 kids that made the freshman team, only about. You know, [00:35:00] seven or eight of them are probably going to make it of those 25 onto our sophomore team. So you know, that’s the year that’s really, really difficult because freshman year, we’re probably grabbing three or four of the freshmen that are on the sophomore team.
So, that still leaves 25 more spots while those freshmen that were on the sophomore team the year before, you know, they’re going to be on the sophomore team again or on the varsity and those take up spots from Those 25 freshmen that were on the freshman team. So it’s, it’s really difficult, especially for us that when, when they become sophomores.
Mike Klinzing: That all makes sense. I mean, I think, again, as you go through the program and you work your way up towards eventually the varsity, it’s sort of figures itself out as you go up levels and eventually guys figure out and it sort of settles, which gets to our third topic, which is. When you’re looking at your team, so your season ends last year, it’s the spring, you go into [00:36:00] the summer, you got all the things that you do in the summertime, you got your fall preparation work to get ready for the season.
At what point in that process, so from the end of the previous season to the beginning the first game of the next season. At what point do you feel like you have a pretty solid feel on, Hey, I think these guys are, are my starters, or these are my main eight guys. Just what does that look like in terms of your knowing your team going into it and then communicating that to To those guys.
And at the same time, obviously there could be a kid that moves in that you didn’t know, or somebody that makes a huge jump in the summertime and, and whatever, but just talk about the feel you have for your team kind of going through the off season and into the, into the first game,
Rob Brost: I think the depth chart for lack of a better term, or whoever is constantly evolving.
So meaning [00:37:00] I have some idea, you know, in April of what I think. At that point, but then that changes and evolves in June when we have camp for 25 straight days and we play in all these shootouts and we play all these games and then. You know, when we start open gyms in August and September, it continues to evolve.
And so I have an idea, but it’s constantly being molded. It’s like a loose piece of clay almost. And so, and that continues to evolve all the way until our first game, I would say even through the first two weeks of practice. I think we have 11 or 12 practices before our first game. Depending on how the calendar sets, but and it goes all the way up until the first game.
So at any point, Mike, if you’re playing for me and you come and say, you know, coach, what, where do you see me? I can tell you where I see you at this point. But then what I will [00:38:00] also tell you is that that could change by tomorrow depending on. Somebody does something dumb you know, during class even, or somebody does something dumb on the court, or somebody gets better from, you know, my son is a good example of this, you know, between last April and right now.
Trey, my son Trey is a lot better than he was last April. And just cause he’s worked at it so much. And so he’s not the only example of that. And there’s two or three others examples of that. So he has moved quite a ways on the depth chart, if that makes sense. So I can tell everybody where they’re at at this point, but I cannot tell anybody where they’re going to be at on November, you know, 20th or whenever our first game is, if that makes sense.
Mike Klinzing: No, it does. Is that a conversation that you’re having with guys as you’re going through the offseason? Yeah, I think
Rob Brost: if they, if they want it, it’s a conversation. [00:39:00] So that, you know, so here’s what I normally do. At the end of the season, we have a post season individual meeting. At the end of our summer, we have an individual post season meeting.
And then once you make the team… We have another one if that all makes sense. So, but at any time in between any of those, you want to know where you’re at, you can just come to me and ask me, right? And so, so you have three,
Mike Klinzing: you have three automatic touch points that are, that are set. And then at any other point, a kid wants to come and talk to you and say, Hey, where do you see me right now?
Yes. You can give them that answer with the caveat that that
Rob Brost: could change at any point. I’m not dumb. If you’re, if you get better. Like, Mike, if you get better than Jason, I’m, I’m, I’ll play you ahead of Jason. And so I think I, Mike’s got a little bit more of a reputation than me. I mean, he did play T one college basketball.
I think that might be true, but you might be in better shape. Yeah. Right now you, you
Mike Klinzing: might be, you might be in [00:40:00] better basketball. You should be in better.
Rob Brost: I might be in, I might be in better bad or basketball shape, but Mike still could shoot me out of the gym still. Okay. Well that, that’s fair. That’s fair.
So I’ll just, I’ll just
Mike Klinzing: stay out
Rob Brost: behind the line. , that’s it. Why? Why would you only get two when you can get
Mike Klinzing: three just like everybody else, right? Just like everyone else at this point. I bet you Mike
Rob Brost: would play more defense than some NBA players though. Even, even though I think that is definitely true.
That is definitely true. So I think the communication thing is, is always open. And then the The depth chart thing is constantly evolving, and I think the offseason is where it moves the most, I think, because once we get playing, it’s hard to move a significant amount unless there’s questions. A tremendous amount of injuries or something like that.
And so, you know, you have not that it never changes, but it’s hard [00:41:00] to, to move once we start playing games, it’s hard to move a big jump it’s much easier. In season
Mike Klinzing: everybody’s doing the same thing, right? In season everybody’s, everybody’s in the same practices. Everybody’s doing the same skill development.
It’s all, it’s all equal. Whereas from April to November. There’s a big variance in what players are doing, and that’s what allows you to have that, that separation, that growth, that jump that you’re
Rob Brost: describing. You can see the jump, like, even from the 12 coaches that were there today, and I’m just using my son as an example.
Like, oh my goodness, almost every single one of them was like, Trey has gotten so much better. It’s, it’s crazy how much better he got from the last time I saw him at X event in Louisville, like where I saw you compared to where he is now. And so, you know, part of it is his age level and he’s, you know, you can, you can have a lot of growth there and I don’t mean height wise, but I mean, he, he’s just shown a lot of [00:42:00] growth in there.
And that’s when you see a lot of that, that happened is in the, in the off season. There’s
Mike Klinzing: no doubt. I mean, players are made in the offseason. Teams are made in the season. Players are made in the offseason. And if you put the time in, just like anything else, I mean, basketball, the secret to being good at it is…
No secret. It’s just a matter of, do you want to pay the price and do you want to do what it is that’s
Rob Brost: necessary? I tell Trey all the time and our guy, like you get better at what you practice. So if you’re on your phone all the time, then you get better at being on your phone. If you want to get a, become a better shooter, then shoot more, you know, you want to handle the ball better than handle the ball more.
So it’s, there’s no, like you just said, there’s no secret sauce. You just have to do the work and you got to be patient and deliberate about the work. And you just got to keep doing it over and over and day after day. And that’s boring. But we tell our guys all the time and I tell Trey, like, it’s boring to be good.
It’s just boring. [00:43:00] You just have to keep doing the same stuff over and over and over. So, and then you get
Mike Klinzing: to do the fun stuff. Yes. Then you get to do the fun stuff. I mean, it’s, it’s, you do the boring stuff and that leads to, that leads to the ability to, to, to do some fun things with. With people watching you.
And that’s, I think ultimately that really is. Especially when you think about high school basketball, like the opportunity to play in front of your classmates and playing good environments and all that kind of stuff, like there’s, there’s nothing, there’s nothing that can top that as a high school player.
And the more work you put in, the better it is. All right. Anything else, Rob, Jason, I think we covered those three topics pretty 45 minute sort of goal. And so we. TD TD
Rob Brost: number four. Yeah, this is, this is great. It always goes a lot faster than I think it sure does. It really goes quick. So I thank you guys for having me on again.
And Jason, I thank you for staying in shape [00:44:00] for us. And someone’s got to do it. All right. Someone’s got to do it. Yeah, I think that’s true. I got, I got one in college and then obviously my son is just a sophomore. So, you know, I, I hope one. Tray’s gone. I don’t gain like 60 pounds or something like that.
But no, we’ll, we’ll see what happens. You’ll go the other way,
Mike Klinzing: man. You’re going to free up, you’re going to free up all this time. You’re going to be like, you’ll be running Iron Man soon.
Rob Brost: I hope so. Maybe I’ll have to come out by you guys and you know, go on, go on a run with Jason or something. There you go.
There
Mike Klinzing: you go. I can get out, you can get on my, you can get on my elliptical with me. Nice.
Rob Brost: I like it. I
Mike Klinzing: like it. It’s about the extent of my, I remember when I was a kid, Rob, and I would go and… One of the places that I always played, there’s a gym in this health club and right outside the doors, and they weren’t even doors, it was just like an open space.
And I would see all these people on treadmills and bikes and ellipticals. And I remember thinking to myself when I was 17, 18, 19 years old, looking at those people and being like, God, like, why would they [00:45:00] ever want to do that instead of playing basketball? Like, it makes no, like, I couldn’t, I could not.
Even relate to it in any way, shape, or form. Like this is insane. Why would anyone ever do that? I will never do that. And of course,
Rob Brost: here I am. So, I mean, everybody gets old, Mike. It’s just, it’s part of the deal, part of the deal. I know it is,
Mike Klinzing: it is, it is crazy. Although I had a, I had a a former colleague teacher.
She was actually a guidance counselor for a while at our school. She’s been gone probably for. Nine or 10 years. And she was back today visiting about, I haven’t seen her in however long that was, and she gave me a hug and said, you still look like a teenager. So I’m like, okay, that’s, that’s pretty, that’s pretty,
Rob Brost: that’s pretty good.
She said, you look like a
Mike Klinzing: teenager. Yeah. I’ve said a bald teenager, but a teenager nonetheless, I guess.
Rob Brost: So I know all that ball, you’re going to do those. I think it’s great. That’s it. Yeah. That lady, that lady thought you were a teenager. That’s pretty impressive. I’m like pretty impressive. [00:46:00] Those kids at school are keeping you young, Mike.
I think you got 10 more years.
Mike Klinzing: I don’t have 10 more in me, trust me. I don’t have 10 more. I’m not making it, I’m not making it 10. I gotta make it after this three years and 25 days. So I’ll get there. Yeah. I’ll get there. It’s coming. All right.
Rob, Jason, thank you guys for staying up late for triple double number four. We will be back again with Rob next month for number five, but for tonight, thanks to everyone for listening. We really appreciate it and we will catch you on our next episode. Thanks.