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This Week’s Hoop Heads Podcast Episodes
LINDA MARTINDALE – FOUNDER OF MARTINDALE COACHING – EPISODE 1288
Linda Martindale is the Founder of Martindale Coaching where she works with athletes on their mental fitness. Linda has been a head varsity basketball coach for both girls and boys, most recently as the boys’ varsity basketball head coach at Lincoln-Sudbury High School in Massachusetts. She is also the host of the Game Changers podcast and a non-profit board member.
NBA EASTERN CONFRENCE “GRADE MY SUMMER” – EPISODE 1289
On this episode Mike & Jason grade each Eastern Conference team’s off-season moves and breakdown their current depth chart as the summer winds down.
DANNY SERVICK – FOUNDER OF PRO ONE BASKETBALL – EPISODE 1290
Danny Servick founded Pro One Sports in 2003 and built the company into one of the top global agencies in the business. Danny served as an NBA and FIBA agent, provided scouting services for top teams all over Europe, and helped players and coaches all over the world. In addition to making an impact on the professional level, Danny has become a thought leader and influential voice in youth basketball as well. He has built Pro One Basketball Club, a nationally recognized Under Armour program, into one of the premier travel programs in the southeast.
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This Week’s Coaching Articles
Great coaching is not about having all the answers, but about creating an environment where assistants, specialists, parents, and athletes can contribute their knowledge. Coaches provide value by understanding their players, designing effective learning experiences, asking the right questions, and knowing when to offer feedback…or when to let athletes solve problems themselves. Ultimately, the best coaches set aside their egos and help players become confident, independent decision-makers who need less direction over time.
Effective shooting workouts should recreate the specific shots, decisions, pressure, fatigue, and defensive situations players will face in games instead of relying solely on stationary, unopposed repetitions. Deliberate practice requires players to train at game speed, study film, measure their performance, identify weaknesses, and approach each drill with a clear purpose. The players who improve the most are not necessarily taking the most shots, they are consistently practicing the right shots with game-like intention.
The steep decline in teenage girls’ basketball participation may reflect more than burnout or competing interests. It may also reveal the absence of a strong partnership among coaches, parents, and players. Coaches and parents must establish clear roles, communicate openly, and reinforce a consistent message that gives athletes the confidence, support, and freedom to take ownership of their development. Ultimately, successful programs should focus not only on producing better players, but also on creating an environment where young women feel supported and want to keep playing.
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This Week’s NBA Articles
ESPN grades the major moves of the 2026 NBA offseason by weighing each player’s talent, age, contract value, roster fit, and impact on a team’s championship outlook. Some of the strongest moves include Minnesota’s low-cost addition of Jonathan Kuminga and Philadelphia signing LeBron James, while riskier contracts involving aging, injured, or limited players earned lower marks. Offseason success depends not simply on acquiring recognizable names, but on balancing talent, fit, financial flexibility, and long-term risk.
The 2026–27 NBA schedule features immediate challenges for several contenders, including a difficult opening stretch for LeBron James and the 76ers and demanding starts and finishes for the Mavericks. Other highlights include emotional homecomings for stars such as Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jaylen Brown, the Spurs’ extended rodeo trip, and two overseas games featuring Victor Wembanyama. With every team playing on the final day, late-season matchups between potential playoff rivals could determine postseason berths and seeding.
This article identifies Amen and Ausar Thompson, Kel’el Ware, Naz Reid, Scoot Henderson, and Matas Buzelis as potential breakout players for the 2026–27 NBA season. Each enters the year with an expanded opportunity or more favorable role, but must address a specific weakness, such as perimeter shooting, consistency, defense, finishing, or playing through contact, to reach his potential. Their development could significantly influence not only their individual careers, but also the direction of their teams.
This Week’s College Basketball Articles
Although the NCAA Tournament’s expansion from 68 to 76 teams creates more opportunities to qualify, 44% of surveyed Division I coaches believe it will reduce job security, compared with 37% expecting no change and 19% anticipating greater security. Coaches worry that administrators and boosters will quickly raise expectations, making a tournament appearance the minimum requirement and judging coaches more heavily on how far their teams advance. With revenue sharing and NIL increasing financial investment in rosters, well-funded programs that miss an expanded field will have fewer excuses and their coaches will likely face shorter timelines to succeed.
Sports Illustrated’s 100-point college basketball preview highlights a transformative offseason shaped by major coaching changes, roster retention, transfer-portal additions, international recruits, and talented freshmen. Florida, Illinois, Texas, Louisville, Duke, UConn, and Houston are among the programs positioned for strong seasons, while several returning players and breakout candidates could emerge as national stars. The article predicts a Big East revival, limited benefits for mid-majors from tournament expansion, David Mirkovic winning National Player of the Year, and UConn capturing the 2027 national championship.
Watch some of the best moments, finishes, and players from 1980s March Madness, including Michael Jordan's game-winner in the 1982 championship, and Hall of Famers Patrick Ewing and Akeem Olajuwon.
This Week’s YouTube Coaching Videos
This video breaks down how to evaluate talent beyond the box score covering the traits, habits and physical/mental markers coaches should be watching for when assessing players at different stages of development. A useful session for coaches, selectors and program directors looking to build a more consistent, repeatable evaluation process.
This video breaks down the math behind shot selection and why conventional wisdom doesn't always tell the full story. It focuses on Houston and Purdue, two programs that theoretically take "bad" shots, yet have consistently ranked among the nation's top 10 teams. This video explains why.
Mike Jagacki watched all 366 threes from the NBA Finals to find out whether getting your hand up a fraction of a second earlier actually matters.
After isolating 154 catch-and-shoot threes where the defender was close enough to realistically impact the shot, one tiny detail stood out: when the defender got their hand up. Sometimes the difference was less than half a second, but the shooting results were dramatic. And it will change the way you think about what a great closeout is trying to accomplish.
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