Happy Wednesday - Make sure you’re taking game shots.

The Practice Blueprint: Why January and February Demand Your Best Structure

I've been in too many gyms where practices feel like they're happening to players instead of for them. You know the deal, 2.5 hours of meandering through drills, scrimmaging without purpose, and everyone (including the coaching staff) just kind of waiting for it to end.

Here's the truth: your practices don't need to be marathons. They need to be sprints with precision.

As we hit the heart of the season, I'm reminded of something that's always made me jealous about football coaches. Their weekly rhythm is a golden goose: Monday through Thursday you're in practice mode, Friday is game day, and weekends are for watching college and NFL games while prepping for the next week. Clean. Predictable. Effective.

Basketball doesn't give us that luxury. Not with Tuesday-Friday games, weekend tournaments, and schedules that change based on conference play. But that doesn't mean we can't create our own structure.

The two best seasons I've ever had as a coach came when I stopped being reactive and started treating each week like a systematic build-up. Here's the framework that helped us be well prepared:

Monday - Mental Day: Light court work focused on skill development and shooting drills. Competitive small-sided games to keep the energy up, but the heavy lifting happens in film review and team meetings. We'd spend serious time recapping weekend games and establishing exactly what we needed to improve that week. Everyone left Monday on the same page about our goals.

Tuesday - “Competition Tuesday”: This became our players' favorite day. Maximum intensity, maximum competition. We'd design every drill to be as challenging and competitive as possible. Players would literally ask me on Monday, "Coach, what do you have planned for Competition Tuesday?" The anticipation alone raised our practice standards.

Another secret I learned from some of the best coaches: Make some of the drills IMPOSSIBLE for your top group. Give the JV +4 when they score, but only give the Varsity +1 when they score. Give your starters a -20 point hole and only 5 minutes to make it up. See who pouts, see who quits, see who responds. Create adversity and then use it as a teaching moment.

Wednesday - Game Plan Wednesday: Total focus on breaking down our upcoming opponents and our game plan. This is when we dive deep into plays, defensive schemes, and specific improvements. No wasted motion - everything connects directly to Friday or Saturday's game plan.

Thursday - Situations Thursday: End-of-quarter scenarios, game-winning plays, ATO situations, late-game management. We challenge players' basketball IQ and force them to think through every scenario they might face. Mental preparation becomes just as important as physical preparation.

Friday / Saturday - W.T.F.G. “win the freakin’ game”.

The magic isn't in the specific activities, it's in the predictability. When players and assistant coaches know what type of practice they're walking into, they can mentally prepare. They can gear up for Competition Tuesday or come ready to think critically on Situations Thursday.

But here's the real benefit for you as a head coach: structure gives you the flexibility to adapt. Maybe your team is struggling with shot selection - you can adjust Monday's skill work accordingly. Maybe they're not executing late-game situations well - now Thursday becomes even more crucial. The framework stays consistent, but the content can shift based on what your team needs.

Questions for your coaching community:

The goal isn't to copy someone else's system, it's to find a structure that fits your team's personality while ensuring every practice minute serves a purpose.

Coachisms: The Sayings That Stick

Every coach has them…those go-to phrases, one-liners, or philosophies that capture exactly what you're trying to get across to your team. My dad used to say things like “You’re running around like chickens with your heads cut off!” or any time I had an excuse or said “if” he would respond with “Well if a buzzard had a bugle up its ass, there would be music in the sky”. Sometimes the sayings are profound. Sometimes they're funny. Most of the time, they're both.

I've been thinking about the power of these "coachisms" lately, especially as I get older and realize how many I actually remember.

My favorites over the years:

"There are no bad students, only bad teachers." I stole this from martial arts, but it applies to sports. When a player isn't getting something, my first instinct should be to look in the mirror, not point fingers. How can we teach this concept better?

"We're on to Cincinnati." Borrowed straight from Bill Belichick, obviously, but it works beautifully for basketball too. Lost a tough one? Great - what's next on the schedule? Won by 30? Awesome - what's next on the schedule? It keeps us from riding emotional waves that don't help anyone.

Some of my other favorites:

I know every coach reading this has their own collection of sayings that have become part of their vernacular or their program's DNA. Some probably make perfect sense to your team but would sound completely insane to anyone else. Others might be pure wisdom that every coach could use.

I want to hear from you. What are your favorites?

Send me your best coachisms. The funny ones that break up tension. The deep ones that your players still quote years later. The completely off-the-wall ones that somehow work perfectly for your group. The borrowed ones from other sports, other coaches, or completely different walks of life.

Maybe it's something your high school coach used to say. Maybe it's something you came up with in a moment of desperation. Maybe it's something your players started saying that you adopted as your own.

Email me directly at [email protected] with the subject line "Coachisms"

I'm planning to feature my favorites in an upcoming newsletter - with credit to the coaches who shared them, of course. Consider it a chance to help build other coaches' vocabularies while celebrating the weird, wonderful language we've all developed in this profession.

The Scouting Report is your weekly dose of resources that can help your coaching. Plays of the Week, videos, drills, etc. What’s the old joke? The best coaches are just the best thieves?

Shared Resources

Zone Offense with Motion courtesy of Coach Hackenberg:

We’ve all gotten that one message from a parent that makes you pause, blink twice, and say… “Did they really just send that?”

If you’ve got a funny, confusing, or just plain wild message sitting in your inbox, send it in to [email protected]. We’ll feature the best ones anonymously - names and personal info will be removed.

Let’s remind each other we’re not alone in this coaching journey.

That’s a wrap on Episode 25 of Game Shots. Thank you for subscribing. Truly.

My mission has always been, and will always be, to support coaches around the world who love the game and want to keep getting better.