The Basketball Podcast: EP221 with Mike Weinar on Attacking the Advantage

Mike Weinar Coach Quotes:

“We want to have a hierarchy of shots shot profile, you’re going to shoot the highest percentage . . right around the rim . . So, we want that shot at the rim, that layup at the rim. And we consider that our gold medal . . if you can’t get the gold, you’re striving for the gold constantly . . but if you can’t get the gold, we’ll take the silver which is a catch-and-shoot three.”

“The bronze is the mid range shot, the non-rim the non-paint shot, whether it be floater or pull up. And certainly those shots are more efficient for certain players. It’s a shot that we might have to take and we’d rather have the bronze than no metal at all and turning the ball over . . we want to be on the medal stand no matter what, even if it is a bronze.”

“But I go into it every day, ‘How can I serve my head coach? How can I serve my players? How can I serve the Pacers and the community at large to make this a better situation?’”

“We’re in this to put our players in the best position to succeed so that as a unified group we can come together and get to that next level, whatever the level that may be.”

“There are a lot of conversations about what is the right information that we need? And what is the information that our group can provide? . . And how does that get communicated?”

“You have an overall but your philosophy may not fit the roster you’re given as a coach . . I do think that you have to build around what the concepts of your top echelon players are and that may not be just on offense [but also] how does that factor in the defense?”

“What’s the advantage? . . Where do we gain the advantage either in tonight’s game or moving forward these next chain of games five, or are we looking at the macro perspective? What’s our advantage as an overall roster? And I think you got to keep an eye on those things.”

“If you have guys that are . . great crashing the offensive glass, you may want to crash more . . we’re not in this to just go to a certain score, we’re in this to net gain. So if my net gain is plus 12, on the offensive glass, and the transition defense, as a result of crashing gives up six, why wouldn’t we crash every single time? Just a quick glimpse at a stat sheet, doesn’t give the complete picture. If you give up 12 fastbreak points, but you get 22 second chance points, that’s a win. It’s a plus 10.”

“As you go further into the playoffs, each player who is on the floor must be able to contribute on both ends.”

“The core of the game is making reads and reading what is the advantage . . Can I attack that outside hip? Can I attack that front foot? . . understanding those intricacies is the next level read. It’s no longer just reading simple drop coverage by a big . . the elite guys are looking at the tertiary guys in the corners . . they’re looking at, ‘Is this guy here tagging? Is this guy nail helping over here?’ They’re looking at the next level of read. It takes a lot of experience and a lot of skill and a lot of development to get to that point.”

Mike Weinar Breakdown:

1:00 – Mountain Dew
3:00 – From One Organization to the Other
5:00 – Most Efficient Offense
9:00 – Part of Modern Game
12:00 – Relative to your Roles
16:30 – 17:08 – JUST PLAY AD
17:00 – Different People on Staff
19:00 – Philosophical Decisions
25:00 – Hunt The Advantage
31:00 – Elite Scout Skill
36:00 – Sports Science
38:51 – 39:33 – DR. DISH AD
42:00 – Educating Analytics
45:30 – Over Switching
49:00 – Role Change
51:30 – Scout
54:00 – Disagreement and Discussion

Mike Weinar Links from the Podcast:

Rick Carlisle
Lloyd Pierce
Ronald Nored
Jenny Boucek
Calbert Cheaney
Jason Terry