Nate Babcock on Practice Design, Possession Battles, and Exit Screens for Shooters {Grand Rapids}

Inside the Episode

You’ll want to have a pen and notepad ready when listening to this week’s newest podcast with the G-League’s Grand Rapids Gold Coach, Nate Babcock, as he gave a terrific interview filled a ton of interesting things to think about. A few standouts included:

  • Aligning Practice Design with Data: Coach Babcock spent a few years with the Atlanta Hawks, and he discusses the system the used in making sure they were practicing the most important things on a weekly basis. We walk through this system and what Coach Lloyd Pierce wanted from the daily/weekly reports. 
  • Special Situations: We discussed ways coaches can think about practicing special situations and why Coach Babcock feels it’s so important to do so. 
  • Winning the Possession Battle: Some fun ideas on winning the possession battle at the end of quarters and halves. We dive into the strategy of “Hitting” or randomly doubling a ballhandler to potentially force a quick shot and retain the last possession of a quarter. 
  • “Start, Sub, or Sit?!”: During this always fun segment we explore offensive “triggers”, enticing great players to cut, and much more!