Rick Pitino on 8 Practice Segments, Pressure Defense, and Embracing Failure {Iona}

Slappin’ Glass sits down this week with Hall of Fame Head Coach of Iona, Rick Pitino. The trio dive into a variety of interesting topics including the evolution of the PNR, player development, his 8 segment of practice, effort level statistics, and discuss mentoring assistants, turnover margins, and the benefits of pressure during the always fun “Start, Sub, or Sit?!”

Inside the Episode

It was a really fun week on the podcast (understatement) as we got to sit down with one of the legends of the game, Iona Head Coach, Rick Pitino! Coach Pitino is considered by many to be one of the best college coaches of all time, having also made stops in the NBA, Euroleague, and with the Greece National Team, so we were excited to dive into his learnings and coaching thoughts from all levels. Here’s a sneak peek about the episode…

  • The PNR in the College Game: Coach Pitino is credited with being one of, if not the first, coaches to introduce the PNR to the college game back in the 80’s with Billy Donovan and the Providence Friars. We dive into some of Coach Pitino’s thoughts on the PNR today from both the defensive and offensive perspective. 
  • Coach Pitino’s “8 Segments of Practice”: Within our conversation about player development, conditioning, and outlining practice, Coach Pitino discussed his “8 Segments of Practice”, and what goes into each segment. An interesting conversation of practice flow and and organization. 
  • “Start, Sub, or Sit?!”: During the always fun and interesting segment we explore the areas of Pressure Defense, Turnover Margins, Offensive Rebounding, and Mentoring Assistant Coaches. 
  • Embracing Failure: To close our conversation, Coach Pitino gives some powerful thoughts on learning and embracing failure as a coach.