Developing High-IQ Players: Film, Skill Work, Emotional Intelligence, and Coaching Wisdom w/ Danny Metser

You kind of want to just introduce yourself to, to people, let them know who you are, kind of what you do and you know, kind of what you're about.

Yeah, bro, for sure. So I'm Danny, Danny Metzer, owner of DM Hoops and I am a player development coach based in Newton, Massachusetts. I started really coaching people formally like almost five years ago. It was actually during COVID So Covid was like a big blessing in disguise for me because that's when I started posting content on social media and I even. That's when I had, you know, my first client that ever actually paid me. Jeff Gray. He's, he's now actually going to be a, an assistant coach for Auburn men's basketball next year, which is crazy. He was already a graduate assistant and this year he worked for Texas Texas Legends and he played at the, when I was working with him, he was playing for a few years overseas and that really jump started my career and my passion for helping players get better.

I know you watch a lot of basketball and in a lot of your content you have examples of the things that you talk about. What's kind of your process for watching film? Do you have one? Is something that you stockpile? Like what does that look like for you?

Yes, dude. Okay. So recently I basically went back and watched every, every one of the 1 seeds ranked matchups throughout the whole year, including the, including the tournament. Now obviously highlights. I wasn't watching full games but. And then I, I have Dropbox subscription so I have like mad space on there. And so I've just screen recorded like different tactics that I observe the teams using and I can organize these screen recordings by what tactics I observe. I focus on certain tactics over others. For example, one that I'm super big on is cutting on denials. When for example somebody kills their, somebody drives and kills their dribble like a few feet inside the three point line, then they're looking for passing options. The tendency of the defense, every single defender tendency is to jump out to their guy so that the pass can't be made. But effectively what that's doing, they're kind of shooting themselves in the foot if the offense responds correctly because you're creating a momentum advantage the same way that players have momentum advantages when they, when they attack closeouts, the same thing. But offensive players don't react quickly enough to it and then they resort to retreating. They keep moving further and further and further away from the basket. You observe this, it's. It happens all the time in high school and youth basketball.

All the time, it drives me nuts.

So I've screen recorded many clips of these players actually reacting to very nicely to those denials and maybe getting into a little bit of an arm battle and going by the same way you would do if you were wide receiver. Being a defensive back, that's kind of like the approach I've taken. I've like just tried to compile clips, organize them into like patterns or tactics that I'm seeing so that I can more easily like kind of deliver that content in a digestible manner.

I was watching a lot of just, just getting on synergy and looking at teams that scored the most off the ball, like off ball cutting in in March Madness. And Drake was like at the top of the points per game off of that right there. So I was watching them and it's like what you're saying, just having the, the ability to like take advantage of your defender being in help. Because so many defenders get so caught up on ball watching, which, I mean, I get it, like you're trying to stop the ball, but sometimes like they just. There is a huge lack of discipline. Especially I mean the high school level. It's like there's almost no, no discipline. And even at that level, like you don't, you don't you see a lot of bad defense? So I'm watching Drake where the ball get into the mid post and just a 45 cut from the weak side against Texas Tech and wide open bucket and we're talking about in the tournament here. So for me, it's like trying to help players understand different triggers that you can see that are going to tell you, like, now I gotta cut. If my defender turns and looks at the ball and whether guys dribbling or picks the ball up or is in like the pot, like just cut and so much like so many times you're gonna be wide open just because there's a lack of divas and they're playing patterns. They're not used to guys being willing to do that consistently. So that's, that's something that I've picked up a ton on.

How do you think that like players can strike that balance? They're not like running into too many situations where they have that analysis paralysis or they're, they're like, you know, wrestling with minutiae. That doesn't actually matter that much.

I think that's where you have to do, like, you have to go and do things because at the end of the day, you could spend probably a million hours just watching this guy say this, this guy Say that. And this guy's saying, no, that's wrong. And they're saying, no, that's wrong. Or this is better. No, that's better. You can. You can literally just sit there all day and watch people go back and forth about what's right, what's wrong, what's better, what's the best, all that sort of stuff. So I think maybe the first thing is, like, being able to accept that there is no one right answer. So many different people have gotten to the same point doing different things, and you don't know exactly what is going to work best until. For you, until you do it, because people are going to respond differently to different things. So I think it's like, for me, I'm always thinking about how do I. Like, how can I simplify it the most? Because if I can't, like, I can't give anybody a direct roadmap. I can't give anybody the. If you do this, this, and this, then I guarantee you will 1 million percent reach this goal you have. Exactly. But I can say, okay, if you do these certain things, you raise your likelihood of at least figuring out what's going to work for you. You know what I mean? So to make it even more concrete, I guess, for. For a player, like, I might say, okay, you want to get better. Let's say you're a perimeter player. You want to get better on the perimeter. What are the things that you need? Okay, you need to be a better shooter. What type of shots do you need to be able to make? Like, what are the most important ones for you to be able to make? And then the question is, do you watch enough basketball that you see what the shots are that we're shooting? Or are you getting all your information from TikTok and from, you know, watching the overtime elite highlights? Like, is that where you're getting your understanding of what basketball is? I got to be able to make catch and shoot threes. Like, if I got to make one shot, it's that. And you can break it down in terms of what types of catch and shoes. But even if it becomes that, well, now, how can I prepare myself in a way that I can go and execute that in a chaotic, random, variable environment like a game, is being able to figure out how to train that in a way that's going to mimic what you're going to do, what you're going to be asked to do? And I think that's where there's a disconnect, is that so much of it is training in a peaceful world and expecting to be successful in a, in a wicked road, in a chaotic world. So I would say for. If I was going to boil it down for a perimeter player, it's okay. If I know that that's the case, then I've got to make sure that the drills that I do that are focused on making those shots are, have some sort of pressure. So maybe there's some sort of goal that I have. I have to make three in a row at this spot or I have to go four for five or something that's challenging to. Again, get to the point, back to our first conversation with, you know, making sure that there's actually a reason for you to acquire a skill because you're missing it in the first place and you know, you being able to build yourself that way. And then I would say if I'm in a game and I have to make a shot on the perimeter, and then the next time I got to make a shot in the corner and the next time I got to make a pull up at the elbow, like, how can I train that as often as possible? Being able to go from doing this to being successful, doing something different and mixing up where I get my shots from what the type of passes and making it challenging in that way. And I think there's a lot of ways you can take that. But I think if you started that way, you kind of figure out a little bit like, okay, what, what, what works the best for me. And then it becomes about kind of taking ownership of your own improvement. But you never get to that point if all you do is consume and you never actually go out there and, and do it yourself. It's being able to go out and do it and say, okay, now I actually have feedback that I can use and it's not coming from another source that's trying to tell me what's perfect, what's not perfect. And that's where you go from like, like the idea of like tactics and strategies, right, where everybody's. You get on tick tock and you see, okay, do these, these three hacks for ball handling or you know, try this shooting hack and cool. But if you stay stuck at that level of tactics and you don't actually go out and develop the wisdom that comes from doing it and figuring out when is this work, does this work for me? You're never going to be good. So get getting yourself to the point of developing that wisdom kind of like what you're saying a lot of people now, like that will give you a distinct competitive Advantage. Because people can't focus on something and just do it over and over and over again, you know?

Yeah.

And then they miss that.

The doing is not the thing that's getting you better. The reflection is what's getting you better. The consolidations what's getting you better. It's crazy how many people, like, don't understand that, you know, it.

Like, I think people understand that a little bit more in the context of.

Strength and conditioning, but we're not quite.

There with, like, skill learning.

You gave your brain and your nervous system a stimulus. Neural pathways are being. Being stimulated or modified or changed.

Right.

Improvement only happens once you've given the brain and the nervous system time and energy to actually, like, consolidate the experience that it just went through. To decide, okay, was this experience useful or was it not useful for the task that I'm doing?

I think to, To. To. To jump to that right there. Going back to, like, what we were talking about earlier, where it's. How do you get players to buy into the idea that, like, small wins matter and the process matters and the outcome being positive or negative isn't always what you can focus on? I think that, like, that's it right there. Giving them the understanding that, like, okay, if we're getting better, if we're. If we're acquiring skills, that's not going to appear. Like, you're not going to start a workout that's going to put you in that position to fail and to face challenge. You're not going to get. You're not getting better. By, okay, I started at minute zero, and by minute 50, I'm going to be better. Like, I think that's a lot of times what we, what we think it's going to be what we think the definition or the, The. The mindset of getting better is when in reality, it's like, I'll tell my. I'll tell my guys. I'm like, hey, listen, you should sometimes feel bad leaving the gym. Like, you should feel like men, like, because that, that idea of, like, your brain being plastic and changing itself is like, the most difficult process that your brain is going to go through in terms of, like, the energy that it takes. So your brain is going to tell you, man, this is hard, and you're going to feel it because you're probably going to feel terrible and you're gonna feel drained. You're gonna feel, like, maybe a little discouraged. And that's, like, there's times where, like, that's what I want. Like, I want that to happen because it means that you're putting yourself in the right position here. So I think sometimes with players, detaching yourself from how you feel about a workout, positive or negative, based on your outcomes or your success or the amount of shots you made or the lack of turnovers you might have had is like the very like the wrong way to approach it. Because if you just go by I gotta leave the gym feeling good about myself every single time, you're probably not going to put yourself in the position to get better enough. And that's another thing that I, I try and communicate to my players as much as I can where it's like I'll, I'll read the room and be like, hey, they look pretty, pretty discouraged right now or pretty tired or pretty drained. And I'm like, this is good run towards this. Like what you're feeling right now sucks, but it's the best possible thing for you right now. And being able to do that over and over and over again is what's going to lead to what you actually want, which is to succeed in a game. That's what you want. And this is what it takes to do that.

Observe. I want everybody that's listening to this to, to like really. And I, I know this is like, it's a bit more of an abstract question, so it's. But, but bear with me here. Reflect on how often you are like being controlled by external entities versus you having the, the control and, and, and, and altering the outcome from the inside out. I want you to like really reflect on like the percentages of, of those two things. Because you mentioned like how players like they're gonna feel like a lot of times when we for example, provide environments that force them to, or not force them, but like, kind of like it's just the nature of the environments we design where they're gonna mess up a lot. And that's kind of the point. But if you are not emotionally intelligent.

In the way that I describe where.

You have the ability to control outcomes and, and, and, and reconcile emotions that are, that are coming in from the experiences that, that you, that you experience from, from the inside out, you are, you, you're gonna stay in that puppet state where you, you do something that in theory would be really good for your long term progression. But because you're such a puppet and because you spend so much of your day being a puppet, you don't even realize that, that the emotion that's coming in of you feeling like is controlling your ability to make progress from the experience that you just went through.

It goes so deep into like that emotional intelligence and then that like, you know, the self awareness pillar of that being able to do those sorts of things. The idea of this, like using the cla or creating that environment that works is like the most important thing. But I think goes back to the same message for players. It's like there has to be a certain level of wisdom that you get through that and being willing to do something and say like, this might not work and, and not going in with like a rigid idea of what it has to be, what it has to look like, because then it becomes like a performative thing, you know what I mean? Where it's like, okay, I saw that this guy just posted this small side of game, so now I gotta do this. Exactly. Because this guy did it that way when in, in reality, like, you got to look at the player, players in front of you also going towards what we were saying, like, how much can you push them, like emotionally, you know what I mean? Like, it might not even be as much about like what are they going to take away from this physically. If I know that like this particular player can't handle a certain thing, like how do you, how are you able to kind of like bend it around them so that, you know, okay, the goal here is to, to, to help everybody get as, as good as they possibly can through this. And can you change that experience for each one of them? That that's what you get through wisdom. And then being able to say, all right, I'll. I feel like this happens with me probably, well, at least probably every other like workout or practice where I'll start something and I'll just like, I'll have a script in terms of what I want to do and I just bail on it because I see something or I adjust something and then next thing you know, we dive way deeper into a certain thing. Like I'll go into like a, like a workout with like one thing. Okay, we'll start with that. And then I basically at this point just kind of let it ride from there. And then we'll, we'll adjust the game or we'll transition something else. For example, could be some sort of ball handling thing where we're working on like one thing we'll use like you have the defense has to foul to start like on the perimeter offense just kind of handling it. Defense has got to go foul them, like hand check, whatever. And then it's live off of that right there. And so you start off and you just kind of see what do I Have and then, okay, where are the struggles? And then how do you just build from there? So if it, if it becomes that like now we're not recognizing when we need to stop and change direction or you know, we just, we get going one way, we have to go that way, or when we get to the room we can't finish through contacts or whatever. And then how do you take that and then build something else through that right there? I think that's really been the method that I've taken pretty much always now. I used to be so structured with how I did things and when I came into a practice or a workout and now I'll have something and I just know like the best thing for me to be able to do is kind of be present right now and not be like, okay, five minutes for this, gotta go to this, gotta get through this. And like I had my brother, he was like gonna film some stuff that a workout I had last Sunday. And I was like, yeah, we're gonna, we're gonna get into this and this and this. Like so just go and film it for me. And then we start off and we didn't do any of it. And I told him after, I'm like, listen, I plan on doing that. And I just bail it on it because we did something and it like flipped a switch and I'm like, okay, well now we gotta press into that right there. Being okay with like being flexible. Much like we ask a player to be okay with not looking good or struggling, like be okay with the fact that it's not going to be perfect and it shouldn't be perfect because the game isn't. So, so that's kind of how I've progressed or transitioned into like how I even approach development in general. Now.

I have come from a world where.

I have a history of working with like relatively high level high school players.

I'm, I'm much more at ease with seeing them mess up and not immediately.

Stepping in to give them feedback.

With, with the seventh graders, I, I initially tried to like put a few small side of games together with, with that same mindset of like, I'm just.

Gonna like let them screw up a lot.

But it was actually not in, in my view it was not that productive.

Because they don't have stable solutions. Like they're very out of sorts, they don't have good habits.

So you have to be a little.

More aggressive with your feedback.

And you could say, oh, shouldn't you not be as aggressive with your feedback.

Because like they're kids and they're just.

Trying to have fun and like, like just developing a better relationship with them comes up and if you, if you constantly jut in, they're gonna find it annoying. And I don't really see it that way. Their ability to, to, to interpret what.

They did is where we were talking.

About how even high, even fairly developed high school players even have issues with being focused and observant of what's going on and what they just experienced. Imagine how difficult it is for seventh.

Graders to do it.

They, their capacity to do that, like, not to like, like diminish them. But in fairness, like, it really isn't that great. So like, you, you can't assume that, oh, I'm developing a good small side of game here. So surely, like, with time, like, if I just let this thing ride out, they're going to like, eventually just get it. I just found that that wasn't very efficient and I had to jot in more often and be more aggressive with my coaching so that we address the habits head on.

What would you say the balance is for you between when you give feedback, it being like a statement like, hey, look at this. Hey, do this. Hey, try this. Hey, you missed this. Compared to a question or questioning, I.

Still tend to ask questions.

Okay, so I, yeah, I said that.

Yeah.

To clarify, like, I said that I've like, been more aggressive with my coaching.

And my, my, my communication and my.

Queuing with seventh graders.

But when I jot in, I do.

Still tend to ask questions.

Hey, guys, like, stop, stop, stop, stop. Everybody comes together because, like, you'd be.

Able to hear me more clearly if.

You guys all come together. I don't want you guys all spreading out. But that's besides the point. What did, what did X player just do right there? And like, it's not. I, I had the conversation. It's very important, like, to have a conversation with them in the beginning where, like, if I'm calling somebody out, it's.

Not because, like, I'm mad at them.

It's because, like, I'm trying to deliver.

The message in a way that people can interpret as effectively as possible.

So the most concrete way for me to do that a lot of times is just to call a person out and they hopefully understand, like, not to take things personally, not to be mad, not to like, antagonize me. Right. And I, I like to think that.

I, I'm starting to really develop that relationship with everybody.

Maybe 90 of the feedback I give is in the form of a question. Now just because I Feel like back to the ownership point. It's way. It's way more. It's way easier to take ownership of that feedback and be able to actually apply it. When you. When you have to go through the process of asking yourself the question, and then now you know the questions to ask too, where it becomes, like, empowering them a little bit more. So that. That. That for me, is, like, huge. Even with, like, the. The high school team, like, the AAU teams that I coach, it's all just, like, questions. What do we miss there? What could he have done right there? It's a balance because I think, like, with you, with my freshman, I'm probably way more involved vocally than I am with my juniors. What. Just take me through, like, a typical practice. Like, what would that look like for you?

I practice in a gym with another coach, so we share gym. We have to. I have my team, he has his team. They go through, like, traditional dynamic stretching. I don't have a problem with it. They do that for a few minutes.

It's not like you could say, oh.

Like, you know, we don't need traditional dynamic stretching anymore. Like, they can do something. They can do something that takes muscles through full range of motion, gets their body temperature up, gets them more engaged than just traditional dynamic stretching. But I don't have an issue.

Yeah.

And also, like, right after they do that for two, three minutes, and then also, like, right after that, I like to. That's when I like to throw some kind of, like, full group game in.

I. I just to. To. To like, emphasize that I. I feel the same way, where it's like, I don't care. Do it for two, three minutes. Like, whether you get a lot out of it, maybe. And I don't know how you would even quantify it, but maybe there's some sort of, like, mental benefit to it anyway. You know what I mean? Where it's like, okay, I get. Maybe this is what. It's like a routine for me. So by doing this, it gets me mentally in that. In the mindset of, okay, this is where I'm at now. And maybe that as much as maybe you can say, okay, the physical benefits aren't there or whatever. Like, I think that might. That might matter maybe as much. Maybe more. I don't know.

Yeah, like, save. Save the variation and the novelty for the meat and potatoes. Right? Like, you don't need to change up everything every single practice. That actually just gets super draining for you, too. You have to, like, use cla for coaching as well. So.

Yeah.

So they. They do that and then like, right after that, they. We've tended to just hop actually straight into a transition, a live transition drill. I've moved. I. I had a conversation with the coach that I. That I practiced with very early on. I was like, look, three on two, two on one, I guess is fine, like, if they're doing it for a few minutes. But I'm sure we can agree, like, uh, there are more representative ways that we can. We can design these environments where they're getting better in transition. And he was like, yeah, I'm all for it. So, like, we've messed around with a couple different things. And again, like, about what I was saying about, like, you don't need to change things all the. You don't need to constantly change things. I keep some things constant where, like, they get a refresh. It's kind of like a retention test.

I want to sprinkle those into each.

Of my practices based on what we did the previous practice, where they are trying to think, okay, like, can I get into these new habits smoothly this practice? And that's based on what we did the previous practice. And then we'll start adding variations or entirely different drills based on how they're presenting when they do the initial small side of game or games. Spacing was the biggest thing that I needed to address. And again, like, it. It comes back to having empathy, not just in an emotional sense, but in like a technical, like, basketball sense. Being in their shoes, predicting how they're going to interpret what you're saying, not evaluating through your coaching bias how good. The thing that you're saying is it's all about how they interpret. So initially, like, I was thinking, okay, good rule of thumb to use, don't get within for now, like, don't. I'm not saying you guys can't set screens for each other later on, but what we're trying to do is every.

Person in here on offense, you're maintaining at least 10ft of space between you.

And your next teammate.

I used that initially, and then I was like, ah, it actually isn't having the impact that I want.

They were still kind of like, not aware and like, kind of like converging with one another, not creating the spacing that I wanted. And then actually I came across a transforming basketball video where. Where Alex was talking about this concept of the lava not being in the lava.

Oh, dude, I. I've been using that a lot.

Fire, bro. Things immediately. Yeah, it's crazy. The impact was crazy. It was immediate. Just like that like they stopped like hanging out in that mid range area because I made it concrete for them.

Well, with, with. So with my high school team, we, we just use that as like the idea of building like continuity within the offense where it's like sometimes our point guard had a really bad habit early where he would come off a ball screen or something, he'd get into the mid range, into the paint or whatever and he'd make a pass and he just kind of hang out for like two, three seconds.

Yes.

And, and that would be where it's like the idea of continuous action, where it's like, okay, first action we don't score or get a shot off of, how do we get to the next one? And if you take 2, 3 seconds to stand there in the lava and watch, you kill the spacing. Now you killed a driving lane for a guy and you're not available for a kick out. Like you're not doing anything. And so using that term of like the saying out of the lava helps us to be able to say, okay, we go ball screen, don't get a kick out. Ball moves again. Now there's a pin down happening and guys are where they're supposed to be and not just aimlessly floating around because the first action didn't work, you know?

Yeah, there's something like very powerful about creating analogies or creating cues that reference things that have like nothing to do with basketball. I don't know.

Like I see, for example, I see.

Mike Dunn doing this all the time. Like recently he's actually posted some fire content about shooting creating like really good cues. Like just very creative, mentioning words that have nothing to do with basketball. Oh, imagine there's a, an S on your chat, like you're like Superman. S on your chest. Show the S on your chest. Yeah, when you're like, when you're, when you're trying to sequence correctly or like imagine there's a magnet on the ball. Imagine there's a like a magnet on the ball in the ceiling and you're like, you're. That's how you want to think about moving the ball when you're trying to get proper sequencing. So just these is something about like creating these cues that don't have to do with basketball directly and then kind of like tying it back in that are like very powerful, especially for kids.

Yeah, I love how Alex Sarama talks about it. He's got a ton of them. Like, I mean, dominoes being the one where, you know, you knock over the dominoes. Turtle mouse are great ones. Too. Or like our guys adopted, like, because I would, I did that back in the fall when we were just having workouts. I would, like, anytime I'd see it, I'd see someone like with a mismatch, I'd just be screaming out mouse. And they like, they love it. And now not only is it like a, like a fun thing, but now they also are thinking about that too. It's like, oh, there's a mouse right there. And, and so I, I, I think that's like a really underrated part of coaching too is like being able to weave things in like that. Because that's memorable. Like you remember that, you know, like.

There'S a part of it that's like out of left field and the rarity of it like makes, it makes people want to cling on to it a little bit more. Yeah, because like, oh, I've never like heard of this.

Do you have a specific type of offense that you, you like with them or that you run or, or that you feel strongly about? Like, I mean, four out, five out. Like, is there any sort of like way that you kind of lean?

Yeah, mostly. Mostly five out. There are a couple kids on our team that are, they're not like competent three point shooters at all. Like, they can't shoot threes to save their life. Maybe it's some combination of like not having that much experience or strength where I'm just like, okay, if you don't want to be on the three point line, fine, but like the dunker is probably better than the elbow or something, you know? And then they like, I didn't, I never told them that actually. I, I just said, hey, like, you don't always have to be on the three point line. You can also be in the dunker. If you're in the dunker, you're not in the lava. You're like one step away from a layup basically.

Because like I'm actually genuinely interested because like we're so far out. Like that's how we always go high post to start. Just because we're so ball screen heavy. Like we have a couple guards who could really use ball screens. So we pretty much have ball screens every possession. But there are times where I'm like being able if a guy's off the floor, for example, or just as a, as a change up. Like, I think next year I want to incorporate more, more five out.

I'm actually very curious about how your experience has been with, with pick and roll because I don't know if you've Seen some of my content recently talking about pick and roll, but I'm just generally kind of like against using it at the volume that, that it's currently being used at in high school in like an average high school basketball game. Because I just don't feel like there are a lot of guards and bigs that are like, good at creating advantages out of it because you don't see a lot of drop. You like, rarely ever see drop coverage. And so you're left with attacking a switch or some sort of hedge. And when that happens, like, you. Okay, like, the screener has to know, slip, ghost, maybe a twist. That's really it. But like, I just feel like a lot of players are not reactive enough to that.

Yeah.

And then also to, to like couple that with the fact that like the ball handlers that are like using pick and roll, like, they're usually not like huge, so they're, they have trouble like making skip passes or whatever. And in order to like really maximize that action, you have to be able to make a pass more than just swinging. You get what I'm saying? It seems like you guys have had a lot of success with it, so I'm actually very curious how you've structured it. You actually are consistently getting like sizable advantages from that.

So I will say, because your point is very valid. We, we had a lot of times this year where we were two ball screen heavy and where I'd have to say, like, hey, we have to go pinch post. We have to go like elbow or slot to slot and go pin down because we're, we're ball screwed every possession and we're not getting advantages out of it. And, and usually that would happen when we were like a guy was hurt or something. We're missing a guy who can create. So when though, when that happened, like, then we'd have to be way more like off ball action oriented. We, we started to get a nice balance of it as the year went on, but our point guard this year was just, he's an exceptional passer and he, he's able to make those passes from like slot to opposite corner. And so when you have a guy who can do that, and we had shooters too. It, it gives you like, it's, it's a lot more details to think about. Like, we had a kid who had 109 threes, so he's in a corner and now all of a sudden. Yeah, like, what do you like, you gotta, you gotta worry about that.

So tagging is so hard, it becomes.

Really hard to do. So Teams would switch and we got, we got good at like first of all, we'd have guys switch onto our point guard like bigs and that was like we would go at that or we, we do a good job of balls in the slot. We come off, they switch it don't have an angle for like a, a seal pass to the, to the screener, so kick it to the, the shake there. And we got good at being able to do that too. So. But I think it all stems with having a point guard who can kind of maneuver that well and make the passes. And if we didn't have that, we, we wouldn't have done like we couldn't have done it because it's, it's really hard to be good if you're super ball screen heavy when you don't have the guys who can make passes out of it. So I think, I think that might be the biggest thing is you have a point guard who can put the ball from right slot to left corner. And if you can't stretch the defense like that, like I heard a coach say the other day that like it a lot of times in, in a ball screen, the guy farthest away from the ball is the one that's gonna get the shot if it's a good ball screen offense. Exactly. And so that was part of it. But yeah, like I said, there were times where like we're, if we're missing a guy, like we're missing one of our shooters or whatever where we just aren't gonna get advantages out of ball screen. And that's where we have to be more reliant on like we would go like pinch post and then when we become a five out for, for that action or whatever. So we go with that pass screen away. But that was pretty much how we, how we did it right there. And. But yeah, like I said, that's why I'm kind of interested in being able to go to a five out at times as well.

I developed a decision tree with my guys where okay, you pass, you cut.

Unless the guy you're throwing to drives it immediately.

Or there's already somebody that initiated a cut either because they saw back or because they were denied any of the other cutting principles that we have. You're not going in if there's somebody around the paint. I think that makes things pretty concrete. And then the other thing that significantly improved my offense, and we've talked about this at nauseam, but zero, zero second decisions, I mean it solves so many things. I put it as simply as Possible. Like we, we want to put the defense in flux.

We don't want to get. Basketball was created in such way where.

Offense in theory should always have an advantage. If you do do the right things, that's just how the rules are created. That's why, like people score points.

It's a terrible thing to do to.

Move slowly because then you're giving the.

Defense more time to think.

It's really that simple. Yeah, you want to keep them in flux.

Then once you're good that having them be in flux, then we can get into more nuance.

We'll finish up here with something a little different. I basically have five questions for. I actually might give you two of them today. These will be all be pretty quick. First one will be like basketball related. Second one will be not basketball related. So if you could steal any player's skill set, who would it be? You could become that player.

Jokic.

Yeah. Yeah, I think that's the answer right there.

I think it has to be, bar none. I think he's already the best offensive player of all time.

I don't hate. Dude, I don't hate that take at all. I like, I really don't. When you just think about the, the expanse of what he can do and then also being 7ft tall, like, it's insane. All right, what's your all time starting 5?

MJ Braun, Jokic, Steph and Hakeem. Hakeem.

Okay, I like that. I. I honestly think I'd have four of the same five. I think I would go small and I take out Akeem and I would put KD in there.

Okay.

I'll just be. I'll just be all perimeter, I guess. I mean, we still have Jokic in there, but, you know, he's. He's a unicorn. So how about current?

Okay. Jokic, sga.

Yeah. You got their LUCA in there.

I'm trying to like make these guys like gel, you know?

Yeah.

No, I'm not putting Luca in. I know it might sound crazy to some people, but.

Nah.

Jokic, sga. I think I would go. I think I would put Tatum.

I. I was about to. I was about to bring him up.

Yeah, yeah, I would put Tatum. Is it crazy to put LeBron?

No, dude, he's in mine for sure.

And like, I guess maybe Steph. Yeah, yeah, I think that's my five.

So. Steph, Braun, sga, JT and Jokic. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I like that. All right, last part of this. If you weren't a basketball trainer, if this, if this was not what you were doing, what would you be doing? What would you be?

I don't know, like, mechanical engineering has always been kind of like. I'm also trying to think of something that I don't like, currently do as a hobby too. Like, because I love dancing, but I already do that, so, like something that I don't do. Like, I think being a mechanical engineer would be sick.

Yeah.

Like building like cars. Building, like, just like, just like build. Getting. Being good at like building and like inventing stuff, you know?

Yeah. Yeah.

I find that very fascinating.

Yeah.

What about you?

Like, as much as I love the, the like the mental side of it of all this stuff, Like, I think I, I being like a, like a therapist or something, I was getting.

That's my number two.

Yeah. Yeah, I think, I think honestly that's probably where I'd. Where I'd. I'd lean. Because I was even looking at that, I'm like, oh, man, that's a lot of school. I think that would kind of fit along the lines of like, how. I already think so. That. That would probably be mine.

I'd say, yeah, bro, great answer.

Yeah. All right, we'll speed through these last five. Non basketball related here. Beach or mountains? If you're going on vacation, where are you going?

Mountains.

Well, you're a New England guy, so you're, you're used to the beach. I'm down here. I'm down here living in the mountains. I'm living in the Appalachians already, so I gotta go to the beach. Yeah, I feel you. If you had. So if you had to go on a road trip with two famous people, dead or alive, who are you taking with you? Let's say it's like, so you're going from like Boston to, I don't know, like Maine. We're talking like 4ish hours. 4 or 5 hours. Damn.

Okay. Two famous people, dead or alive.

Like, what my mind jumps to is like, who would I want to.

Who would I want to, like, learn a lot from?

Who do I think could, could teach me a lot? But I don't know, I don't necessarily. I could also just be like, I'm so fascinated by this person's personality that I don't give a fuck, like, how intelligent they are or what they can teach me.

I just want to like, people watch.

Yeah.

I just want to like, observe, like how they act.

Dude. That's why I was thinking specifically with that question. Going from Boston to Maine, I was like. As soon as I said that, I'm like, oh, I'd have to take like Bill Burr. Like, you take like a. Like a Boston guy like that and just watch him like, oh, you're like on the highway and just see what he. To see what he observes. I think that'd be. I think that'd be so funny. I'd take like, him and then like, maybe him and like Charles Barkley. I think that would be. That would be an elite duo right there.

Maybe. Dude, honestly, maybe Trump.

Okay. Trump.

And.

I feel like you could. You could pick Trump and anybody else and it would be just a hilarious. Yeah, hilarious situation.

Exactly.

Next question. Would you rather have 500, 000 or dinner with Jay Z? No, I'm kidding. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not about to. I'm about to throw that one at you right there. Yeah. What's your. What's your second favorite sport?

Soccer.

Soccer. Yeah.

Yeah, pretty clearly.

Okay. Okay. Top three artists or groups right now.

Top three artists or groups. I mean, like, I'm being. I'm not to be a smart ass or anything, but I'm actually trying to really keep my music listening to a minimum right now.

Okay. Okay.

But when I have been, you know, listening to more music.

I started getting more into, like, I started listening to.

Funk from, like the 80s, 70s. I don't know why.

I just.

That music just makes you feel good, bro.

Yeah.

What else did I. There's like this R B. There's like this very, like.

She makes.

Like, very cinematic and like, ethereal R B music.

Clara Lasan, very underground.

Unlike any R B artist I've ever listened to.

Crazy music.

And then I. Yeet. Yeet is my favorite rapper.

Yeah, yeah. All right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. I respect that.

What about you, dude?

I probably, like. I feel like I'm listening to so much, like, so much, so many different types of music. I'd probably have to go with like, I'll take. I'll take Drake in there just to cover that base. And then I would go like, dude, I might go like Toby Keith. I gotta go. The complete opposite end of the spectrum with country. It could be like Toby Keith or like Luke Combs maybe.

Okay, I was gonna say. Yeah, I was gonna say.

And then I'd probably go with like, dude, you know what I have to say now that we're getting close to the playoffs and Celtics basketball, I'm gonna go like the Dropkick Murphy's because that's all that I'm gonna listen to through the month of May and June until the Celtics either win or get eliminated, and then I'm over it.

So I'll.

I'll ride with them for the next 2ish months. I think that's where I'll go. All right, last one. What's a random skill that you wish you were elite at?

Cooking.

Yeah. Yeah, dude, it's like that. That's in my top three, for sure.

Or chess.

Yeah. Yeah. It'd be sick to be that guy just, like, at the park, just, like, sitting there at the full chessboard just, like, waiting people to come play you. Yeah, like, that would be a sick thing to do, dude. I might say, like, playing the guitar. Like, I think that would be. That'd be. Just be able to pick up a guitar and play, like, whatever. You know what I mean? Like, I would love. I would love that skill.

Yeah.

Like, I bought a guitar, like, a year and a half ago, and I was, like, set on learning it, and then I did it for, like, three days or. Dude, actually, you know what? Either that or golf. I guess that counts as, like, a sport, but, like, is it really. You know what I mean? Like, with. With. With how I would use that? I'm not trying to be in the. On the, like, the PGA Tour or anything. I just want to, like, be able to go golf and, like, be the best of, like, normal people. Like, that would be. That would be sick. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's sick. Well, yeah, dude, I. I appreciate you. You coming on here. We, obviously, we've gone through a lot. You want to let people know where they can find you.

Yeah.

DM Hoops on Instagram at Danny Metzer on Tick Tock. It's under the name DM Hoops.

But freaking Tick Tock took my user, took my brand name.

God Damn it. Anyway, YouTube is my name. Danny Metzer. I want to start posting, like, coaching content on LinkedIn. It's just Daniel Metzer is my LinkedIn.

Yeah.

And what else we got? Yeah, that's oxygen at Danny Metzer.

Love it. Love it. Look, I appreciate you coming on here, and, I mean, I feel like we could probably keep going, but we'll. We'll get you back on here at some point in the. In the future here, so. Hell, yeah. Yeah, absolutely, man. Appreciate you coming on. I'll talk to you later.

Yeah.

All right, Brody.

All right, man.

Catch you.