13 November 2026
Ep 2072 Do Your In Season Practices Still Look Like Preseason?
Basketball Coach Unplugged (A Basketball Coaching Podcast)
About
https://teachhoops.com/
Why practice has to get shorter and sharper once games start, how to build a game to practice loop, and what to do with the Monday after a game.
Put yesterday's practice plan next to one from the second week of tryouts. If they look the same, same length, same drills, same order, Coach Steve Collins says we need to talk. Early in his career, Steve ran the same two and a half hour practice in January that he ran in November, every single day, and called it toughness. By late January his team was flat, and an older coach he respected watched a practice and told him, "Your kids are leaving their best basketball in this gym."
In this deep dive, Steve explains how and why in season practice has to look different. He covers cutting time without cutting intensity, giving the Monday after a game a clear script, building a game to practice loop with your staff, protecting a daily player development block, and keeping opponent scouting in small doses so your team can still be itself.
Part 1: Shorter, Sharper, and Monday
The side by side practice plan test that shows whether you have adjusted for the season
The January slump and the one sentence from an older coach that changed Steve's practices
Moving from two and a half hours to ninety or seventy five minutes without getting softer
Counting how long your best player stands still in practice, and why the number was embarrassing
Ending practice with something short and competitive so players leave feeling good
The Monday script: ten minutes of film, two fixes on the floor, then fundamentals
Running the same Monday script after a win or a loss so practice never becomes punishment
Managing legs for heavy minute players and giving live reps to the players who did not play
Part 2: The Loop, Development, and Scouting
Planning from the last game instead of the calendar
The staff habit of writing down what hurt us, what helped us, and what we did not see coming
Why the real problem after a loss is usually smaller than effort
Closing the loop: game, practice, game, check
Keeping a season long notebook of the lists to see which problems keep coming back
Protecting a ten to fifteen minute development block every day
The sophomore who could not finish left handed in November and won a sectional final with her left hand
Rotating the development focus by day so no time is lost explaining
Scouting in small doses: two or three things, ninety percent us, ten percent them
The half speed walkthrough the day before a game
Chapters
00:00 Coach Unplugged intro
00:15 Opening hook: the side by side practice plan test
01:01 Pre roll: TeachHoops.com in season practice plans
01:22 The January slump and the older coach's sentence
02:09 Takeaway 1: Cut the time, not the intensity
03:45 Takeaway 2: A script for Monday
05:41 Takeaway 3: The game to practice loop
07:22 Mid roll: TeachHoops.com drill libraries
07:48 Takeaway 4: Keep developing players
09:13 Takeaway 5: Scout in small doses
10:53 The challenge
11:05 Post roll: TeachHoops.com
This week's challenge: Cut fifteen minutes from your next practice, and make the last game decide what fills the rest of it.
Format: Deep Dive, two parts.
Resources: In season practice plans, drill libraries, planning templates, player development workouts, courses, and on court clinics at https://teachhoops.com/
Recorded at the Fifth Quarter Studios in Madison, Wisconsin.
https://teachhoops.com/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Why practice has to get shorter and sharper once games start, how to build a game to practice loop, and what to do with the Monday after a game.
Put yesterday's practice plan next to one from the second week of tryouts. If they look the same, same length, same drills, same order, Coach Steve Collins says we need to talk. Early in his career, Steve ran the same two and a half hour practice in January that he ran in November, every single day, and called it toughness. By late January his team was flat, and an older coach he respected watched a practice and told him, "Your kids are leaving their best basketball in this gym."
In this deep dive, Steve explains how and why in season practice has to look different. He covers cutting time without cutting intensity, giving the Monday after a game a clear script, building a game to practice loop with your staff, protecting a daily player development block, and keeping opponent scouting in small doses so your team can still be itself.
Part 1: Shorter, Sharper, and Monday
The side by side practice plan test that shows whether you have adjusted for the season
The January slump and the one sentence from an older coach that changed Steve's practices
Moving from two and a half hours to ninety or seventy five minutes without getting softer
Counting how long your best player stands still in practice, and why the number was embarrassing
Ending practice with something short and competitive so players leave feeling good
The Monday script: ten minutes of film, two fixes on the floor, then fundamentals
Running the same Monday script after a win or a loss so practice never becomes punishment
Managing legs for heavy minute players and giving live reps to the players who did not play
Part 2: The Loop, Development, and Scouting
Planning from the last game instead of the calendar
The staff habit of writing down what hurt us, what helped us, and what we did not see coming
Why the real problem after a loss is usually smaller than effort
Closing the loop: game, practice, game, check
Keeping a season long notebook of the lists to see which problems keep coming back
Protecting a ten to fifteen minute development block every day
The sophomore who could not finish left handed in November and won a sectional final with her left hand
Rotating the development focus by day so no time is lost explaining
Scouting in small doses: two or three things, ninety percent us, ten percent them
The half speed walkthrough the day before a game
Chapters
00:00 Coach Unplugged intro
00:15 Opening hook: the side by side practice plan test
01:01 Pre roll: TeachHoops.com in season practice plans
01:22 The January slump and the older coach's sentence
02:09 Takeaway 1: Cut the time, not the intensity
03:45 Takeaway 2: A script for Monday
05:41 Takeaway 3: The game to practice loop
07:22 Mid roll: TeachHoops.com drill libraries
07:48 Takeaway 4: Keep developing players
09:13 Takeaway 5: Scout in small doses
10:53 The challenge
11:05 Post roll: TeachHoops.com
This week's challenge: Cut fifteen minutes from your next practice, and make the last game decide what fills the rest of it.
Format: Deep Dive, two parts.
Resources: In season practice plans, drill libraries, planning templates, player development workouts, courses, and on court clinics at https://teachhoops.com/
Recorded at the Fifth Quarter Studios in Madison, Wisconsin.
https://teachhoops.com/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices