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This Week’s Hoop Heads Podcast Episodes
WAYNE MAYS – EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT OF TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT AND REVENUE AT BASKETBALL TRAINING SYSTEMS – EPISODE 1250
Wayne Mays is the Executive Vice President of Training & Development and Revenue at Basketball Training Systems, a full-service platform that provides everything that is needed to own and operate a successful youth basketball business. In his role at BTS Wayne leads the creation and execution of scalable basketball training systems across all academies nationwide. His focus is on standardizing operations, strengthening sales processes, and building structured training platforms that ensure consistency and growth across every location. Wayne is committed to using basketball to develop confidence, discipline, and life skills in young athletes.
SPURS TAKE GAME 5 IN WEMBY’S RETURN, CAVS HOLD SERVE, KNICKS & THUNDER ROLL ON – EPISODE 1251
On this episode Mike and Jason discuss the Spurs convincing win over the Wolves in Game 5 following Wemby's Game 4 ejection. Next they briefly look at the Thunder's beat down of the Lakers. Then they shift their attention East to discuss the Pistons offensive challenges, the Cavs guards up and down postseason, and some potential adjustments for each team heading into Game 5. After that, they discuss the Knicks sweep of the Sixers and the continued health issues for Joel Embiid. They wrap up the pod with some quick reactions to Sunday's lottery results.
ROUND TABLE 89 – IF ONE OF YOUR FORMER PLAYERS BECAME A COACH, WHAT’S SOMETHING YOU HOPE THEY’D STEAL FROM YOU…AND SOMETHING YOU HOPE THEY WOULDN’T? – EPISODE 1252
May’s Round Table question is: If one of your former players became a coach, what’s something you hope they’d steal from you...and something you hope they wouldn’t?
Our Coaching Lineup this month:
Jake Boyd – Luther College
Jerry Buckley – Bishop Kenny (FL) High School
Joe Harris – Lake Chelan (WA) High School
Bob Krizancic – Mentor (OH) High
Raul Placeres – Tennessee Tech University
Chris Richardson – Wheeling University
Don Showalter - USA Basketball
John Shulman – University of Central Arkansas
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This Week’s Coaching Articles
This article provides a detailed blueprint for building a coaching portfolio that demonstrates readiness to lead a program, including sample sections like vision, development plans, training structure, and recruiting strategy. It emphasizes that successful candidates show clear organization, long-term thinking, and leadership philosophy across all aspects of a program, from culture and player development to staff management and community engagement. The portfolio serves as proof that a coach is already operating like a head coach, helping eliminate concerns about lack of experience in the hiring process.
This article explains why the biggest separator in basketball is often what players do when nobody is watching, because true improvement comes when players take ownership of their own development beyond team practice. Coaches can help by teaching players how to train on their own with structure, game-speed intensity, clear goals, progress tracking, and consistent routines. When individual work becomes part of a program’s culture, players build confidence, discipline, and accountability, the foundation for long-term growth and success.
This article argues that players do not develop true skill simply by doing structured drills like professionals; they develop it by playing, experimenting, making mistakes, and learning how to solve problems in unpredictable situations. The article explains that drills may create accuracy, but play creates fluency, the ability to handle the ball, finish, and make decisions under pressure in ways that actually transfer to games. The best development environment blends purposeful practice with playful exploration, helping players build creativity, confidence, adaptability, and real game-ready skill.
This Week’s NBA Articles
This article shares insights from the AWS NBA Draft Combine which gives top prospects a week-long opportunity to be evaluated through measurements, athletic testing, medical reviews, interviews, shooting drills, optional live-action drills, and five-on-five scrimmages. The required shooting portion includes off-the-dribble shots, spot-up shooting, star drills, side-mid-side shooting, and free throws, while the optional competitive drills allow teams to evaluate decision-making, movement, defense, and game-like skill under pressure. Overall, the combine is designed to give NBA teams a more complete picture of each prospect’s physical tools, basketball skill, medical profile, and ability to perform in realistic game situations.
This article argues that the NBA is facing a serious rise in lower-body soft-tissue injuries, especially calf and hamstring issues, with stars like Luka Dončić becoming examples of how the modern game may be putting too much stress on players’ bodies. The author connects the injury spike to changes in how basketball is played, with today’s faster, more spaced-out, one-footed style built around stepbacks, Euro-steps, closeout attacks, and explosive single-leg decelerations. The larger concern is that the league’s demanding schedule, 65-game award rule, and increased physical load may be creating a system where player health is sacrificed, leading to fewer stars available when the games matter most.
This article examines whether LeBron James, approaching free agency in 2026, should continue commanding a high salary or take a major pay cut, possibly even the minimum, to chase one more championship. It explains that while LeBron may no longer be worth a full max contract over an 82-game season, he still provides major playoff value, leverage, and financial impact for any contender willing to build around him. The article argues that if the Lakers or another team want LeBron to take less money, they must show a clear championship plan and prove that his discount will be used to meaningfully improve the roster.
This Week’s College Basketball Articles
This article argues that college sports postseason expansion is being driven largely by the need for more revenue in an era of direct athlete compensation, with power conferences using larger playoff fields to strengthen their financial and competitive advantages. While expanded NCAA Tournament and College Football Playoff formats may create more postseason opportunities, the biggest beneficiaries will likely be the SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, coaches with contract incentives, and high-major programs, while mid-majors, Group of Six teams, bowl games, the NIT, regular-season stakes, and conference championships lose value. The article presents expansion as another step toward a more money-driven college sports model where the richest leagues pull further away and traditional parts of the sport become less meaningful.
This article explains that NIL donor giving in college basketball is rarely about direct financial return and is instead driven by winning, relevance, pride, access, trust, and the fear of falling behind in an increasingly expensive roster market. Donors may dislike the “arms race,” but many feel they have no choice but to participate if they want their program to retain players, compete in the transfer portal, and avoid becoming irrelevant. NIL ROI is less about getting money back and more about believing the program has a clear plan, uses the money wisely, and stays competitive.
This article shares details about Duke’s new multiyear agreement with Amazon to stream three high-profile nonconference men’s basketball games and how it has created debate among ACC athletic directors because it could open the door for schools to monetize valuable out-of-conference inventory outside traditional league media deals. ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said he supports Duke’s approach and emphasized that ESPN and the ACC were involved throughout the process, while Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti objected to Michigan’s inclusion without Big Ten revenue participation. The larger issue is whether this deal becomes a precedent for other schools to seek their own creative media revenue opportunities as athletic departments search for new money in the changing college sports landscape.
This Week’s YouTube Coaching Videos
This video breaks down the tactical chess match between the Spurs and Minnesota Timberwolves during the NBA playoffs. The breakdown focuses on San Antonio's defensive schemes against Anthony Edwards, evaluating how coaching staffs from both teams implement in-game adjustments to exploit or neutralize high-pressure traps and off-ball movement.
This video breaks down the reads, scoring skills, and basketball IQ that made Cooper Flagg one of the most unguardable players in the NBA this season, covering weak side help awareness, floater development, matchup exploitation, and transition scoring. This is not just a highlight video, this is a full NBA film study on what elite scoring actually looks like.
This video breaks down the specific sideline out-of-bounds sets and transition tactics used by the Knicks during their Conference Semi-Final series with the Sixers. Through detailed tactical analysis, the video explores how the Knicks’ roster creates difficult matchup problems and leverages efficient spacing to challenge opponents in both half-court and fast-break scenarios.
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