Episode Details
Back to EpisodesMatt Fletcher on Guard-to-Guard Screening, Developing a Staff, and Personnel-Based Cutting | Concordia St. Paul
Description
Concordia St. Paul head coach Matt Fletcher joins Slappin’ Glass to detail the guard-to-guard screening system his staff built around a roster of multiple point guards and an undersized five. Fletcher explains how “bump, tap, hit” gives screeners three answers—screen-and-roll, ghost, or hit-and-pop—while creating an empty side and forcing the defense into switch-or-stay decisions.
The conversation moves into the teaching behind the system: charting each player’s screening mix, entering the first action within three seconds, and adjusting traditional deep-corner running to improve timing. Fletcher also separates playing fast from shooting fast through zero-second decisions and green, yellow, and red shots. He lays out their cutting progression from memorized responsibilities to personnel-based reads, including why two feet trigger the cut, how the helper’s chest cues movement around Barkley actions, and why late cuts are usually safer than early ones. The discussion also covers second drives, skip passes, and using the dunker spot to organize relocation.
In Start, Sub, or Sit, Fletcher weighs transition defense, defensive rebounding, and defensive aggression when playing with pace, then explains why Concordia St. Paul crashes four or five and adapts pressure and ball-screen coverage to its personnel. He closes with staff alignment, developing young assistants like players, rebuilding a program around local recruiting and continuity, and the investment outside basketball that keeps coaching in perspective.
What You’ll Learn
- How “bump, tap, hit” gives guard-to-guard screeners three different answers from the same entry.
- Why Fletcher charts each player’s screening mix instead of allowing a shooter to ghost every time.
- How Concordia St. Paul adjusted its corner-running rules to enter the first action within three seconds.
- Where zero-second decisions fit within a green, yellow, and red shot-selection system.
- Why cutting responsibilities are memorized before players begin making more personnel-based reads.
- How the driver reaching two feet and the helper showing their chest trigger movement off the ball.
- Why the ballhandler’s scoring tendencies change cutting timing around Barkley actions.
- How a defense sitting on the cut can expose the skip pass and second drive.
- Why crashing four or five can create extra possessions while limiting an opponent’s transition opportunities.
- How Fletcher progressively expands the responsibilities of young assistants as their comfort and experience grow.
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