Culture of the Game: Recent Episodes
Pera Podcasts
Sports are about much more than statistics, Xs and Os, & wins and losses. The Culture of the Game podcast provides and in depth dive into topics that go beyond the playing surface.
In this episode of the Culture of the Game Podcast Series, Matt and Edward sit down with three former Men's Basketball All-Americans to gather secrets about their preparation and mindset.
Show Notes:
00:14 - Ingredients for success
4:35 - Influences on your game
8:15 - Approach to the game
10:50 - Advice to younger self
15:08 - Playing through mistakes
16:36 - Being in the zone
24:00 - Players creating the culture
25:10 - Doing the mental/emotional work
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Follow us on social media Twitter: @court_sessions, @matt_streich, @edward5789oak Instagram: @matt.streich
See below for each All-American's accolades:
Micah Elan, Pomona-Pitzer Colleges/Worcester Wolves (British Basketball League)
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Program All-Time Leader in points scored (1,700) , assists, and 3s made
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2nd Team All-American
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Conference Player of the Year
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16 3s in a 2-game stretch
Marcos Echevarria, Nichols College
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Program and Conference All-Time Leader in points (2,500) and 3s made
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2nd team All-American
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Holds NCAA record for consecutive games with a 3pt make (105)
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3rd in NCAA history in total 3s made
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Holds school record with 11 3s made in a game
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16th All-Time in NCAA D3 points scored
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2 time Conference Player Of the Year
DeAnte Bruton, Nichols College
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2,000 point club
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4th team All-American
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Scored 38, 40, 38 in 3 straight games in the conference playoffs
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1st Team All Northeast Region
The Culture of the Game is proud to partner with CourtSessions Basketball. With this new partnership for Season 2, the Culture of the Game will expand from podcast audio into youtube and video formats as well.
This brief episode features new Culture of the Game Co-Hose, Edward LeBlanc, and touches on CourtSessions' pillars, values, and goal for changing the way basketball is taught and learned.
Coach Donnie Marsh currently serves as the Associate Head Coach for Men's Basketball at Florida Gulf Coast University. He has amassed over 40 years of college coaching experience at the Division I and III levels.
College Coaching Experience:
Franklin & Marshall (Assistant Coach) -- Elizabethtown (Head Coach) -- TCNJ (HC) --Florida State (AC) -- Virginia Tech (AC) -- FIU (HC) -- Indiana (AC) -- UAB (AC) -- Texas Southern (AC) -- South Florida (AC) -- Alabama A&M (HC)
Coach Marsh was an inaugural participant in school integration following Brown vs Board of Education in the late 60s. He is also founder of the HBCU Coaches Retreat powered by Athletes in Action.
Show Notes:
3:15 - Maintaining the family nucleus in a nomadic profession
7:30 - Raising a son in the game
10:20 - Lessons from starting as a college baseball coach
17:40 - Defining roles early, expanding roles
22:50 - Take aways from a decade coaching in Division III
26:20 - Social Justice conversations with student-athletes
31:30 - Participating in school integration, 1967
37:20 - The role of sports in continuing the conversation of equality
41:30 - Helping lead necessary conversations
47:00 - Growth from COVID 19 situation
49:15 - Evolving as an Assistant Coach
55:30 - Transitioning from Head Coach to Assistant Coach
58:00 - 3 most important qualities of a Coach
1:06:04 - HBCU Retreat via Athletes in Action
"If we educate ourselves, and aren't afraid to ask the tough questions, we have a really good chance of getting this movement in a really good place."
Social Media:
Twitter: @Marsh9Donnie
Coach Alex Lloyd is currently a member of the Memphis Grizzlies organization as an Assistant Coach on the staff for their G-League affiliate, the Memphis Hustle.
Show Notes
2:20 - Current state of the Hustle player development
8:40 - Developing players in partnership with the Grizzlies
12:10 - Conversations about roles with G-League players
17:30 - How the G-League helps you find a role
20:35 - Choosing which skills to develop
"In the game, in the future, or too late"
25:30 - Developing skills for the future
29:45: Balancing 1 on 0 training with live game settings
33:00 - Philosophical shifts in development
36:30 - Midrange jumpers
42:30 - Role acceptance is tied to value of winning
46:30 - Commonalities of star players
52:00 - Mental development
57:00 - 3 important qualities of a coach
Quotes:
45:30 - "Guys will search for the voice that will fill the vacuum of their own ambition or uncertainties within the game"
49:56 - "Part of developing a player is developing one that is comfortable communicating -- standing up and communicating an idea."
Coach Alex Lloyd is currently a member of the Memphis Grizzlies organization as an Assistant Coach on the staff for their GLeague Affiliate, the Memphis Hustle.
Coach Lloyd, a Pomona College 2006 alumnus, is a former SCIAC Men's Basketball Player of the Year for Pomona-Pitzer Men's Basketball.
He has also spent time coaching overseas for the Belize National team and in China, as well as stops with the San Antonio Spurs organization and Texas A&M University.
Show Notes:
2:30 - Role of coaches in climate of social and racial inequality
7:00 - The role of sports
14:50 - Coach Lloyd’s international coaching experiences
15:00 - Belize
21:00 - China
24:40 - Choosing Pomona College
29:00 - Advice for high schoolers when choosing a college to attend
32:45 - How the Claremont Colleges prepares you for life after college
38:20 - How Pomona Pitzer basketball prepares him for life as a coach
43:40 - Returning to Pomona with the hustle
45:30 - The Back Abbey
45:45 - Heroes, The Press
46:30 - Commitment to individual improvement at the Division 3 level
Quotes:
“Value the people where ever you go”
German Srulovich is an American basketball coach that has spent time working in the NBA, EuroCup, and Division 1. In this conversation, we talk extensively about his time in Israel, as well as some non-traditional FIBA Concepts on both sides of the ball that are likely to make their way to the American game in the near future.
Coach Finnie is the Head Women's Basketball Coach at Houston Baptist University. When she assumed the position in 2013, she made history as the first international ever to become a head coach in NCAA Division 1 College Basketball.
2:50 - Navigating Covid-19 with international students
5:30 - How school location/fit effects international recruiting
10:50 - Assimilation process from Day 1
14:50 - Making everybody feel valued
18:00 - Speaking "the same language"
23:30 - The prospecting process
25:00 - Recommendations for coaches who want to start recruiting internationally
27:30 - Making dreams come true
32:20 - Pros and Cons of recruiting international student athletes
34:00 - On court and skill level translation to the college game
39:00 - Societal context of the club model internationally
45:45 - Coaching the Scottish National Team
53:30 - Using visualization
52:15 - 3 necessary qualities of a coach
54:30 - WBCA International Chapter
Tim Pederson is the Senior Director for College Partnerships at Opendorse. Opendorse is a Digital Marketing Company based in Lincoln, Nebraska that is currently partnered with over 10,000 students, major institutions, and professional sports entities all over the USA.
In this educational conversation, we talk about the examples of ways student athletes at all levels will profit using social media, what schools are doing to prepare for NIL, and how they can support their student athletes through the process.
Show Notes:
3:27 - The beginning of Opendorse
6:36 - Tim's role, relationship with schools and athletes
8:10 - Social media platforms used/benefits of Linkedin
10:40 - Defining Name, Image, and Likeness
13:08 - Examples of ways students will make $$
15:44 - Educating, preparing schools and SAs
18:30 - Opendorse Ready Program
23:52 - How often should athletes be posting?
26:00 - Potential advantage for female athletes
27:10 - How to capitalize if you aren't the D1 "star quarterback"
32:10 - What are universities doing to get ready?
35:42 - The recruiting battle of the next decade
39:22 - Building a foundation/adjusting standards now
44:44 - Deciding factor for recruits?
46:30 - Tools/systems schools should have in place
47:58 - Compliance involvement
52:30 - Agent's involvment
57:37 - Coaches and Admin getting up to speed
Links and Resources:
opendorse.com
@opendorse (Instagram and Twitter)
@Timdpederson (Twitter)
Coach Scott Faucher is the Head Coach of Men's Basketball at Assumption University in Massachusetts. In 2019, he was named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches 30 Under 30 List, while also leading the Nichols College Bison to their first ever Elite 8 Appearance.
Empowering players to have a voice and ownership of their development/success has never been more vital to create buy in than in the culture of 2020. Scott is one of the best I have been around at organically creating that environment. This conversation is a deep dive into his philosophy and approach in that arena.
Show Notes:
3:20 - Player development during quarantine
9:00 - Player creativity in the gym
10:30 - Refining coaching philosophy
14:10 - Balancing live play w/ skill work in practice
17:40 - Competitive development and decision making
19:00 - Perspective from growing up in basketball family
22:30 - Fostering relationships as a young head coach
24:20 - Using trust to fuel honest conversation
26:30 - Player ownership of the program
30:30 - Addressing a player who is having a tough time
32:50 - Challenges in developing relationships
34:00 - Creating the environment organically
37:30 - Peer to peer assessments
42:00 - Growth from friction
43:10 - Scott's 3 most important qualities of a coach
45:15 - Practicing patience
47:00 - Teaching younger age groups
48:25 - Book/Podcast Recommendations (Basketball Immersion, Culture Code, Leading with the Heart, Inner Game of Coaching)
Quotes:
17:57 - "You're trying to establish a winning mindset with it where you are keeping score with every that you are doing, so you want everything to matter."
22:47 - "At the end of the day, no matter what you do, it has to be about your players. As a young head coach, that's magnified. If you make it about yourself, the players wont buy into that. You have to develop that trust with them."
25:40 - "I think its about giving the players a voice in your program first where sometimes you don't even need to be the one addressing certain issues...that's the ideal situation."
34:00 - "That ownership piece is not only for the players, but for everybody involved in the program..that could be the manager, assistant coaches, athletic trainers, strength staff...they have to know how important they are and feel like they have a voice in the program as well."
35:00 - "As much as possible, have things come from them. We hardly want to go into any meeting simply talking at the team."
Social Media:
Twitter: @CoachScoFaucher
Coach Scott Waterman is the Head Coach at Academy of Art University in Downtown San Francisco. Scott spent 17 years as an Assistant Coach at the Division 1,2, and 3 levels before assuming his current position in 2019. This conversation is a reflection of his first year as a Head Coach.
3:00 - Morning runs for sanity and energy
6:45 - Proceeding during quarantine
8:30 - Take aways from coaching journey
10:30 - Becoming the ultimate decision maker
13:50 - Prepared vs over prepared
18:00 - Building relationships and recruiting to bring a new culture
23:00 - Using your players as a resource to evaluate a recruit
24:45 - Creating buy in with new faces
32:35 - Scott's 3 most important qualities of a coach
Quotes:
5:40 - "the biggest thing I learned this year is as a head coach you cant have a bad day, you can't take a minute off"
11:20 - "that was the hardest thing, going from the assistant with all the answers to the guy with the ultimate answer"
28:00 - "they spend so much time with a basketball, doing stuff without a basketball, even for five minutes...is huge"
Adam is currently a Professor and Coordinator for Sports Science at the University of Vermont.
This episode is from the archive in 2018, when Adam was working for the New York Rangers of the NHL as a Performance Analyst.
Show Notes:
3:40 - Role of a sports performance analyst
5:45 - Quantifying physiological stress, role of heart rate
10:30 - Projecting stress levels, practice stress
13:00 - Communication with players
15:30 - Coaches' receptiveness to the science
19:00 - Balance point of optimum physiological performance
21:05 - Application to amateur athletics
25:30 - Youth specialization in sports
30:20 - When to start specializing
32:30 - Where the field is headed
Quotes:
29:20 : "One would think that specializing in a single sport would increase your likelihood for becoming a pro in that sport....when it actually increases your susceptibility for injury and the likelihood that you'll drop out or get burned out by the sport, and decreases the likelihood that you'll actually become a professional in that sport"
Social Media:
Instagram: @Adam.Virgile
Ben Chase is an Assistant Coach on the Women's Basketball Staff at Army. In this podcast, Coach Chase discusses how his team departed from a traditional style of basketball practice and embraced small-sided games as their primary focus.
Show Notes:
2:54 - Qualities of student athletes at Army
5:10 - Perspectives from coaching collegiate men's and women's basketball
10:14 - The "why" behind decision making/small sided games (@Noah Laroche)
13:34 - Maximizing participation and development in practice
16:24 - Coaching intent over execution
21:46 - Applying military adaptability to a growth mindset
22:14 - Playing with principles instead of rules
24:00 - Adjusting to small sided games
28:06 - Adding constraints/adjusting scoring values to emphasize shot selection
32:00 - Making practice intentionally sloppy
34:00 - Situations, not drills
36:38 - Getting more "real reps"
Quotes
14:44 - "Fun is probably the most underrated part of the college athletics experience"
27:00 - "We feel good when it looks good..If you're really embracing this mindset and practice framework, every time it starts to look good, you have to make it harder so it looks sloppy again."
33:22 - "We want them operating in the zone of optimum performance"
37:32 - Real rep = a shot that has preparation, execution, and reflection
Books Mentioned:
"Mindset"
"Team of Teams"
Social Media:
Twitter: @ArmyCoachB
This episodes provides an introduction to Squadz Inc., a revolutionary pickup sports app that currently features over 11k users, and is changing the way we play.
Founder and CEO - Nikhil Panu @npanu32
Community Manager - Matt Bergland @mattbergland
Marketing Associate - Micah Elan @shmeekah
3:00 - Inception of the idea
7:30 - Different runs for different levels
8:10 - Feedback and expansion
11:25 - "Make the world your playground"
12:50 - Pickup sports vs organized sports
16:20 - Pickup sports in a social context
18:20 - Squadz games vs adult leagues
19:50 - Squadz' commitment to on-demand access
Instagram:@squadzteam and @squadzsf
Twitter: @squadzteam
Facebook: Squadz
squadz.com
play.squadz.com
Edward is the Founder of CourtSessions Basketball Academy, is a Director at Point Guard College, a national lecturer on Coaching Coaches, and trains basketball players ranging from middle school to the NBA
Edward talks about his experience being a coach for coaches, learning through discovery, and shares stories from his experience working with young athletes and NBA talents
Show Notes:
4:50 - Coaching coaches
10:00 - Managing confidence and ego
10:20 - Keep it moving (Kobe)
13:25 - Balancing positivity and discipline
15:30 - Learning through discovery/coaching through questions
20:45 - Building mental toughness
29:55 - Mentors (MJ story from Tex Winters)
36:00 - Ed's introduction to working with NBA players, a new approach to the game
42:00 - Building relationships with players
44:00 - Setting parameters for teaching
51:30 - Ed's 3 most important qualities of a Coach/Teacher
Quotes:
19:20 - "If you want to be a good coach, you are going to have to be ok feeling like a bad coach often."
25:40 - "I'm committed to being more mentally tough, because I know I don't have some of the other separators people have."
27:00 - "If you're so overwhelmed with anxiety and fear, you're actually going to miss the lesson...Life will keep throwing you the same problem until you solve it."
34:00 - "Coaches need to speak truth, players need to accept truth, and change it. Truth is temporary"
39:25 - "If you love something enough...it's going to push you to the brink of quitting it"
44:00 - "Discipline and standards cannot be a moving target"
49:00 - "If you see the elephant in the room, you've got to go attack it"
How to Reach Edward:
@courtsessions
edward@courtsessions.com
edward@pgcbaskebtall.com
@edward5789oak (twitter)
Kevin is the Founder of Kreation Talent Agency and represents professional basketball players all over the world.
In Part 2, Kevin talks specifically about international basketball and what it takes to be successful as both a sports agent and a professional athlete in that realm.
Show Notes:
1:40 - Sustainability and growth
4:38 - Creating relationships with international clubs
5:45 - Knocking on doors in Macedonia
10:00 - Differences in the international game
12:00 - Helping clients adapt to different style of play (Brandon Holloway)
14:40 - Expectations for American imports overseas
19:20 - Advice to clients going overseas (JoJo Cooper)
22:45 - Differences in coaching/leadership style
25:00 - Transitioning from college to being a pro
29: 00 - Advice to younger self: save money, do something you love
31:30 - @TimFerriss @SusanneCraig
33:00 - Misconceptions about sports agents
35:00 - Humility and avoiding comparison
36:20 - 3 necessary qualities of a sports agent
Quotes:
"Comparison is the thief of all joy"
Kevin's Social Media Links:
www.kreationtalent.com
Instagram: kevintarca
kreation talent
Twitter: @KevTarca
@kreationtalent
Kevin is the Founder of Kreation Talent Agency and represents professional basketball players all over the world.
Kevin talks about his travels, creating your own sports agency, and building relationships with clients
4:00 - Food!
6:50 - Prepping clients for a new culture
9:00 - Creating Kreation, differentiation
14:00 - Building a network
20:24 - Learning from doing
22:50 - lessons in client recruiting
25:11 - The recruiting process
27:30 - Developing trust with potential clients
33:11 - Tough conversations and The NBA Talk
Kevin's Social Media Links:
www.kreationtalent.com
Instagram: kevintarca
kreation talent
Twitter: @KevTarca
@kreationtalent
Quotes:
"You Win Or You Learn"
"It's not about who you know, it's about who knows you."
"If I'm the hardest working or smartest in the room, than I'm in the wrong room"
Meg is is the Founder of the Meg Gaudreau Shooting Academy in Austin, Texas. She is also a Director at Point Guard College
Meg talks about Point Guard College, her perspective as a female in the sports industry, her shooting academy, and the role of confidence.
Podcast Notes:
3:00 - Point Guard College
9:05 - A Female Perspective of the industry
14:40 - The Meg Gaudreau Shooting Academy
16:45 - Teaching Confidence
20:30 - Dealing with slumps and failure
22:10 - Being in "the zone"
23:56 - Meg's game winning shot amidst her slump
25:25 - Peer Leadership
27:15 - Fatherly Advice
29:00 - 3 Qualities of a Coach/Leader
Contact Meg:
Twitter:gaudreau_megan
Instagram: meggaudreaushootingacademy
www.mgshootingacademy.com
mgshootingacademy@gmail.com
Dr. DiBernanrdo has a PhD in Sports Psychology from Boston University
He talks about his mindfulness and meditation work with athletes and coaches, as well as the application in the sports world.
Show Notes:
Coaching is teaching -- 5:55
Mindfulness pioneers in athletics -- 8:28
EQ -- 10:00
Rob's mindfulness program -- 10:50
The student athlete's response -- 17:35
Meeting challenge with support -- 19:35
Concentration practice, applying mindfulness -- 21:29
Flow/Being "in the zone" -- 22:50
Why more teams aren't yet using mindfulness -- 26:23
How it applies to coaches -- 30:05
Implementing it into your culture -- 32:58
Role acceptance and role clarity -- 35:43
Peer leadership and team unity -- 40:12
How to get started -- 44:08