Episode Details

https://teachhoops.com/

The pregame routine, the warmup that actually warms them up, and the locker room words that matter in game one.

It is forty five minutes before tip. The music is too loud, two players are on their phones, and the point guard is retaping an ankle that does not need it. Coach Steve Collins spent his early years running game night on a vibe instead of a plan, then trying to fix everything with a speech four minutes before tip. His teams came out flat in the opener three straight years.

In this deep dive, Steve walks through the hour that decides more games than coaches admit. How to build a pregame plan backwards from tip, why most warmups look organized but leave players cold, and what to say, and leave out, in the locker room before game one. It is practical, minute by minute, and ready for opening night.

Part 1: The Plan and the Warmup

• Why Steve's teams came out flat three openers in a row, and why he finally blamed the hour instead of the kids
• Writing the pregame backwards from tip, with every player and every staff member knowing where to be at each mark
• Nerves love empty time: giving players a job so worry has nowhere to go
• Why eight of ten high school warmups look the same, and why that leaves you down eight
• Building the warmup from the game backwards: movement, ball handling on the move, passing against a defender, shots from your offense, and something live
• Rehearsing the exact warmup in practice so the first run is never in front of a crowd

Part 2: The Locker Room

• Three things, under three minutes: one on offense, one on defense, one on effort
• If it was not taught on Tuesday, it does not get said on Friday
• Reading the temperature of the room, and why the same talk fails a wired team and a tight one
• The scorer's table story that loosened up a frozen young team before an opener
• Why the last words should be about belief in the players, not one more reminder to box out
• Looking like a coach who expected to be here, and the five minute postgame review that builds a routine

Chapters

• 00:00 Coach Unplugged intro
• 00:16 Opening hook: the hour before tip
• 01:13 Preroll: TeachHoops.com pregame plans and game day checklists
• 01:38 Coaching on a vibe and flat openers
• 02:24 Takeaway 1: A plan, not a waiting room
• 03:49 Takeaway 2: A warmup that warms them up
• 06:10 Takeaway 3: Three things, under three minutes
• 07:13 Midroll: TeachHoops.com pregame talk frameworks and community
• 07:40 Takeaway 4: Match the room
• 09:14 Takeaway 5: The last words are about them
• 10:48 The challenge
• 11:02 Postroll: TeachHoops.com

This week's challenge: Write your pregame hour on one sheet of paper, minute by minute, and run it in practice before your first game.

Format: Deep Dive, two parts.

Resources: Pregame warmup plans, game day checklists, locker room talk frameworks, practice plans, courses, and on court clinics at https://teachhoops.com/

Recorded at the Fifth Quarter Studios in Madison, Wisconsin.

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