This week we’re joined in this SG Classics episode by International Head Coach Francesco Tabellini for a deep dive into the concepts behind his team’s relentless style of play.

Tabellini opens the conversation by unpacking the idea of “canceling the pauses” in the game — eliminating the dead space between offense and defense, defense and offense, and every small conversion moment in between. From there, he details how Nymburk builds pace through first-three-step urgency, no-catch zones, early outlets, transition cutting, and a constant pressure-on-the-rim mentality.

The conversation also explores offensive spacing and cutting principles, including baseline cuts on middle penetration, OKC cuts on baseline drives, shortening the pass, and why player confidence is central to shot selection. Tabellini explains how tagging up not only creates extra possessions, but also supports shooting freedom, transition defense, and full-court pressure.

Later, the discussion moves into the defensive side of the floor, including the details of teaching tagging up, evaluating effort, structuring practice to build habits, and using hedge-and-plug coverage as a temporary switch designed to disrupt rhythm, force decisions, and keep opponents uncomfortable.

What You’ll Learn

• How Tabellini defines “relentless basketball” and why it starts with removing the pauses between phases of the game
• Why the first three steps in transition are a major teaching point for Nymburk
• How “no-catch zones,” pitch-aheads, and 28-meter cuts create early dynamic advantages
• Why aggressive cutting can solve spacing problems rather than create them
• How tagging up can become both an offensive rebounding system and a transition defense tool
• Why leaving the tag too early can kill the entire purpose of tagging up
• How Nymburk structures practice to reinforce tagging up without overloading players
• Why Tabellini views hedge-and-plug coverage as a temporary switch
• How slips, flips, and re-screens stress aggressive ball screen coverages
• Why activity, effort, and mistake-fixing are central to Tabellini’s coaching philosophy

To join coaches and championship winning staffs from the NBA to High School from over 70 different countries taking advantage of an SG Plus membership, visit HERE!

In this episode, Dr. Andy Galpin joins Slappin’ Glass for a practical, high-level conversation on basketball performance, recovery, strength training, sleep, travel, and pregame preparation.

Galpin breaks down why improving movement is not just about stretching, mobility work, or lifting weights, but about understanding the physical qualities that allow athletes to move with more range, force, control, and efficiency. The conversation moves from the history of strength training in sport to modern tools for evaluating movement, asymmetries, muscle development, and return-to-play readiness.

A major theme of the episode is recovery. Galpin makes a strong case that sleep is still the most powerful performance tool available to coaches and athletes, especially in-season. He discusses the impact of early practices, late-night games, post-practice downregulation, hydration, fueling, protein synthesis, and how coaches can better organize the schedule before fatigue becomes a problem.

During “Start, Sub, or Sit,” the conversation turns to silent stressors inside a basketball program, including travel, walkthroughs, film, scout prep, pregame warmups, physical contact, and how to prepare players to actually feel ready when the ball goes up.

What You’ll Learn

• Why strength training can improve movement, range of motion, and athletic expression when it is designed correctly.
• How coaches should think about recovery beyond soreness, including sleep, hydration, refueling, and rebuilding tissue.
• Why early-morning practices may be costing teams more than they realize.
• How post-practice and postgame downregulation can help athletes transition toward better sleep.
• Why travel is one of the biggest hidden stressors on player performance.
• How to proactively adjust practice loads around dense parts of the schedule.
• What coaches should consider with bus rides, compression gear, movement breaks, and arrival timing.
• How to structure pregame warmups around skill feel, physical readiness, movement prep, and contact.
• Why players need some level of game-like physicality before tip-off, especially bigs and contact-heavy roles.
• How physiology, breathing, CO2 tolerance, and arousal levels connect to focus, decision-making, and emotional regulation.

To join coaches and championship winning staffs from the NBA to High School from over 70 different countries taking advantage of an SG Plus membership, visit HERE!

UT Martin Head Coach Jeremy Shulman joins the Slappin’ Glass podcast for a deep dive into building a defensive system around conviction, trade-offs, and player fit.

Shulman discusses the philosophy behind his unique defensive approach, including why his teams lean toward containment, switch heavily, borrow matchup-zone principles without playing zone, and still find ways to generate turnovers without relying on full-court pressure. He also details how he thinks about solving mismatches after switches, layering post coverage, recruiting for basketball IQ, and turning rotations and closeouts into a strength.

In the “Start, Sub, or Sit” segment, Shulman breaks down attacking hedge coverage, including flipping the screen, RAM screens, and re-screens, before sharing broader thoughts on pick-and-roll offense, the power of the pass, and studying ideas that genuinely fit who you are as a coach.

What you’ll learn

• Why defensive identity has to begin with what a coach truly believes in
• How Shulman blends man-to-man, switching, and matchup-zone principles
• Why switching everything can reduce confusion against slips, ghosts, and misdirection
• How UT Martin thinks about post mismatches, doubles, digs, and defensive layers
• Why putting two on the ball can create steals without becoming a pressure team
• How scouting, film, and player processing shape scramble defense and closeouts
• Why trust is the hardest thing to build quickly in the current roster-building era
• How agents and NIL have changed the way coaches think about buy-in
• The teaching details behind flipping ball screens against hedge coverage
• Why Shulman views pick-and-roll as a way to move the ball, not just create downhill scoring

To join coaches and championship winning staffs from the NBA to High School from over 70 different countries taking advantage of an SG Plus membership, visit HERE!