Alex Sarama breaks down the Principles of Play behind the expansion Portland Fire, what the constraints-led approach looked like inside the Cleveland Cavaliers, and why it can't be copy-pasted between teams.
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In this episode, George is joined by Alex Sarama, Founder of Transforming Basketball, to share his insights from his coaching journey with the Portland Fire. Alex shares insights to the Principles of Play he is using with the Fire. Alex also talks about what he learned in Cleveland with the Cavaliers and how he is combining it all together in his role as the head coach of the Fire. He discusses why coaches must fully commit to modern learning principles, how psychological safety accelerates growth, and practical ways to create environments where players thrive both on and off the court.
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This is the Transforming Basketball Podcast. This is the podcast helping coaches and practitioners change the way we think about basketball performance. Our goal is to provide the ultimate resource for making sense of applying contemporary skill acquisition ideas within basketball. Within this podcast, we unpack how an ecological dynamics framework impacts our perspective of the game.
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Welcome to the Transforming Basketball Podcast. On today's episode, we have no other than Alex Sarama, who needs no introduction. Alex, welcome to the show, man. Welcome back.
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Why I Wrote This Series This series aims to integrate the idea of Human Development into the fabric of organizations by design. Most organizations invest heavily in scouting, analytics, marketing, and technology.
Path dependency is one of the biggest reasons basketball coaches continue using outdated drills, traditional practice structures, and methods that fail to transfer to game day.
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Thank you, George. Great to be back. We've meant to do this for a while, but been a little bit busy getting things off underway in Portland. So great to be back on. You're doing a great job with the podcast. I love listening to every episode.
Appreciate it. And the one question I have to start with is, you know, a little context. WNBA Coach of the Month for the first month of May in the WNBA, you know, some unreal games from the Portland Fire, clutch performances, a clear team identity.
So talk to us about the start of this journey and the culture you're building.
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, you know, firstly, obviously, like really grateful. I think these awards, it's always to your players, number one, and then your whole staff. And I think, you know, that was one of the things that attracted me to this incredible job.
Just, A, the city of Portland and like the passion, like our fans. It's, I don't know if, you know, I know you've been able to watch the games, George, but it is unreal. Like, I think it has to be the best fans in the league and it's not even close just in terms of how they get behind the team, how they support us, and just the genuine interest in the team in the Portland area.
It's incredible. But no, we built such an incredible staff with people who I've been talking with for many years about all the ideas that we live and breathe at Transforming Basketball. So I think it's, you know, obviously award, it's, it's staff of the month.
That's what I say in terms of, you know, everyone's doing just such a great job bringing these ideas to life. So I think the culture piece, just to answer the question, it is really important. And we've spoken a lot just about the type of values we want to commit to as the team.
And the players actually chose the words connected and resilient. And I think we've really shown that in terms of the relentless effort every single game. Like multiple coaches, multiple people have commented to me from whether it's people in the media or, you know, coaches at the highest level, just in terms of how hard we are playing.
And it's, I think the principles of play and those like values that we put an emphasis on are a big part of that. And yeah, I think when I got this job, I did want to establish a very clear identity. I think We want anyone to be able to watch a Portland Fire game and see what the intentions are offensively and defensively, where it's not random from game to game, but you can see a very clear purpose with every offensive possession, every defensive possession.
And obviously I watched a lot of the league when I got the job and I was just thinking, what principles do we feel could be a competitive advantage in 2026 in the context of the league? A lot of that is, especially for a new team, an expansion team.
I think when you have less established players, which is natural in expansion, you have to do some things differently. And I think you have to focus on things like how you win the possession game, how you turn teams over. I think things like shot quality are even more important.
So really just been emphasizing what I consider like the most basic principles of modern basketball in 2026. And Players have done a great job embracing and picking all of this up.
No, absolutely. And we'll get into a little bit of specifics in terms of offensive and defensive principles. But first, I just want to ask you about set plays. And I recently got on with Liam, obviously worked with us at London Lions, been on the podcast before, talking about set plays and the intentionality behind them.
And, you know, a quote here that I have from you, it's actually, it's not about the sets, but how coaches use the sets. So just, you know, I think a lot of the coaches are really excited with the Ivans series you're running, you know, coaches I spoke to in our membership community.
And, you know, like, that's a great series. I'm a big fan as well. I just want to talk to us about the intention of being able to break the play at any moment and how you work with the players with that.
Yeah. So I think the thing on set plays is an interesting one because there's a misconception that it's about sets are like not good and it's not good to play with sets and it's The opposite. It's sets really do fit well within, you know, we talk a lot about conceptual offense and it's, it's just the framework of when you use the set, like after free throw, dead ball moments where it's a little bit slower.
Like obviously, yes, we want to try and play with as much pace as possible, but sets will always be an important part of the game because you have to break down a half-court defense. And I think it's, it can be much easier to do that where if the set is run the right way versus always just getting to like a singular trigger or action without being able to kind of shatter the ice and get the defense moving a little bit.
And that's really the whole idea of a set where we want to take a small advantage from the start of the set and turn that into a bigger advantage later on. I think the Iverson stuff, it's, you know, yes, a lot of it has been influenced by Thomas Isolo.
But when I was watching Paris, or like 3 years ago, I think it was, it was I didn't really understand just the intent behind it. And I've kind of added some of my own wrinkles onto the Iverson series. The reason I really like it is because it gives you such good floor balance in terms of— I find when we are running our Iversons, we never end up in a shape or a spacing that we haven't practiced.
So it really— if we don't score first side, if we don't create an advantage second side, we're just in a really good place to get back to one of our known shapes, we call it. And that's the idea of You know, our known shapes would typically be things in green when we play with a lot of pace, but we, we're still neutral and we just get straight to a shape because obviously it would take too long to get to the, to the Iverson in that scenario.
But we have these 6 main shapes that we're trying to get to. And that's the best thing with the Iverson. You know, you consistently, you end in basically one of any 3 shapes. And then, and it's also just the decisions out of it.
I think by being so purposeful reading What the COVID is, and you know, just look at all the opportunities there are to score out of it. Like you know that first side with the runner, like but if they gap early, great opportunity just pop back shoot a three.
If they chase, opportunity to get downhill. If if you put a target defender on the runner, there's even more interesting things you can do. And then really, it's just a case of training the COVID solutions. So it's this idea of you know whatever the COVID is, we know how we're playing it against it.
Both within Iverson options and within our shapes when we're either in green or we're retriggering. So it's kind of just now, we actually played Dallas last night, and that was the first game I felt we really had a clear idea of how we wanted to play against the down.
And it was really good just to see kind of those behaviors from practice start to transfer, especially because we played the most games right now. We haven't practiced much. So it's going to be encouraging. We've got a great practice stretch coming up. I felt we've done some really good things against switching earlier on in the year, so I feel like we're close.
And tonight is a great opportunity to see how we do against the drop with Minnie. So it's— this is such an important part of the offense where it's just, it's becoming instinctive, where everyone knows what we are doing against each cover and we'd have no surprises.
Like, we don't want optionality with this. It's more like very specific, reducing the options. It's almost like constrained to afford, which we talk about in Skill Act. So we're constraining to afford against these covers. So then everyone's on the same page and we're not doing something that might surprise another teammate.
That's a good saying I actually got from Zico, Zico Coronel, who's been on the podcast. He says, you know, you don't want to do something where you surprise another teammate. And I think that's kind of the whole idea of the offense where we're playing, obviously, yes, conceptually within our green, But then when we do run the Iverson, it's with a purpose, it's creative, and we know exactly what we're looking for.
Yeah. And I know, you know, watching just your postgame recently, I know you guys have been really intentional about picking up the pace in yesterday's game versus Dallas and obviously going forward as well. 'Cause, you know, you mentioned you had one of the lowest pace metrics in the W after the, you know, the 10 or so games you had.
So of course, you know, the green is a big part of it, but I'm just curious what other Things have you done to adapt your principles of play for this team? I know, you know, I remember last year at the camp, you know, we worked a lot on weak side cutting actions, cut and slide, slot cut, different small-sided games we could do to help teach that.
So I'm just curious how you've adapted it because now there's some screening. You're really being intentional, as I can see in the games, where, you know, they're slot cutting, but maybe they're screening or screening their own so that the other person, when they lift, can get the open look.
So can you just talk to us about how you've adapted the principles of play and specifically those screening?
Absolutely. So I think the cut slide stuff I took initially, obviously from Coach Kenny Atkinson, I thought that really helped us our first year in Cleveland, especially just seeing all the drop that there is in the NBA. But I wanted, you know me, I'm always kind of tinkering and I wanted to see if there was a way we could advance it and take it to another level.
So, you know, that's kind of what I've been thinking about these last few months. And what's interesting is like, frequency of drops sending to the pick is far less in the W than the NBA side, where it's in the NBA, it's very, um, you kind of always know what the covers will be.
It's very similar. Where what I found interesting tactically in the W is there's been a lot more variance with the covers. So we've seen conservative down, we've seen aggressive down, almost like a down to a blitz, we've seen down up to touch with a really heavy nail.
Sometimes there's no nail. So that's like 3 variances right there. We've seen a couple teams switching everything, then we've seen drop up to touch, we've seen drop a little deeper with a heavy nail, without a heavy nail. So, and we've seen show. So I, I've definitely enjoyed that, and I think it's actually made it harder, especially because we practiced the least and we've got a new team.
We're not there necessarily with our cover solutions compared to where we're going to be by year 2, year 3, when this is completely ingrained. Then it's just going to be, you know, like We want it like a multiple choice test. Every answer the defense has is wrong, but we're not there yet.
So I think the cut slide stuff to me is, you know, I think Obradović has been doing that years, but it's for me, it is most interesting as a cover solution only against the drop. And I think sometimes just my reflections on, you know, the second season with Cleveland, there's like, I think sometimes we struggled where we would almost do it as an automatic and we wouldn't actually read what the COVID was.
So they might do They might be switching or they might be doing a late switch or something else. And we were, you know, we would still cut slides. So for me, it's, I only see it as a relevant tool against the drop cover.
And then just with the screening, I thought that was like the next level to it in terms of if we really want to, with an expansion team to compete, you have to be obsessive with optimizing every single player. And we got to basically put them in the best positions to succeed.
So, you know, that's why you have to be very intentional with who is handling, who is setting, and who is spacing and where they're spaced. Like, Who's lifted? Who's in the corner? And you know, I call them the the pin slide. That's kind of the next evolution to the cut slide, and that was just you know how can we get some of our best shooters involved more and get more touches knowing that I am very pick and roll heavy as a coach because I really believe in using the pick and roll to create advantages.
But then obviously it's we have to be doing the right things off the ball to then involve our shooters. So that was kind of how I landed on the pin slide stuff, and then just looking at. shapes that would allow us to get to those.
And just having the challenge at the beginning was kind of getting the difference between cut side and pin slide, but I think we're doing a really good job of it now. And then just knowing, I think, like little subtleties of if there's a heavy nail or if there isn't a heavy nail.
I also think that changes kind of your pin slide, just cut slide principles a little bit too.
That's fascinating. I know, um, you like, you're You definitely like to tinker. And it's almost like, you know, we talk about the evolution of the game. I think you do a great job of not being married to any one idea because as the game evolves, so do the concepts.
And I remember we used to talk a lot about the ghost cut, whereas now we're getting even more specific, which is, you know, the cut slide and now, you know, some of the screening principles that you've added in with Portland.
I actually think probably the most interesting scenario for a cut slide is the baseline drive. And traditionally, you know, like Every single NBA team, you know, it's all 45 cut, the slot cut on the baseline drive. And, you know, yes, it can absolutely work, but I, I actually really see the value in more of the baseline corner cut slide on those baseline drives.
I think especially when it's done early, you know, that's what you have to teach. It's got to be done early. But just, you know, the— I really looked at the angles of which like help defense and rotations. And I think, you know, pretty much every team in the W, you know, it's like the NBA where a lot of teams spend time on shell drills and You know, the trap the box rotation, backside sink, you know, and I think a really well-timed corner cut, the angle allows you to kind of get behind that help as they're
coming across. And then it also means you end up with a corner 3 as opposed to above the break 3. So that's like a difference of like 1.3 versus 1.1 points per shot, which is a difference. So, and you get more gold medals, you get more rim finishes doing that.
So yeah, I think there's The cut slide on baseline drives on rejects. I think that's also something really interesting.
That's fascinating. Yeah. Like even the location of where the drive is happening. Just to pivot here a little bit on the defensive side, I think one of the coolest things about watching Portland is on the defensive side of the ball. And you know, it's funny, Alex, because, you know, you've always talked so much about offense that I'm, you know, I don't want to say I'm surprised, but it's almost like, whoa, like this team is great defensively.
So you've spoken in interviews talking about taking calculated risks. You know, I had the pleasure of speaking with Vincent Collet recently, and he was talking about that, how you want to be deceptive on defense as well and having those calculated risks. So I've been seeing a lot of trail traps from yourselves.
And then as soon as that happens, you know, you're almost going into like a press where you're taking away the safety pass. Can you talk about that firstly, the trail trap specifically, and then other defensive principles?
Yeah, absolutely, George. So firstly, like Coach Collet was like an incredible mentor in Cleveland. So We got so many like dinners together on the road and I'd just be there with my notebook, just like asking questions every dinner. So he impacted me a lot defensively these last 2 years.
And I ended up watching a bunch of his Team France games, just seeing what, you know, the ideas he was giving me. I obviously then would go and watch and it was just an elite defensive coach. Like just the details are like so good.
And I think it's those details which really matter in terms of offenses are getting so good. In the modern day, I feel like you have to be bold in taking and acknowledging that you're not going to be able to contain everything, and there's always going to be something you're going to give up.
So I think it starts with that in terms of how you build your defense. And then secondly, you know, obviously being an expansion team, I knew like in terms of how we could compete with the rest of the league, well, we've got to create kind of possessions and affordances that the opponents aren't used to practicing and they haven't encountered.
And We want it to be uncomfortable for them. So what does that mean? Well, we know that analytically, the later you start your offense, the less efficient it becomes. So, you know, I was like, how can we find ways for teams to be starting their offense like much later in the clock?
And then how can we also at the same time play with pressure to slow them down and then actually try and get some turnovers? I just feel like the value of the turnover is so great in terms of winning the possession game. Like the possession game is, you know, starting to become a big trend, you know, in these last years in the NBA.
So doing whatever we can to try and come up with turnovers and force teams into, you know, playing uncomfortably and things they haven't practiced. So, you know, obviously I've been a fan of tagging up. I did introduce that at the Cavs in year 1, and because Kenny had done that with Team France with Vincent, you know, I'd coached it obviously in Europe.
So I think there's some money in it. And Again, I wanted to take it a step further, so I kind of— we created this hybrid system, which is kind of a mixture between all-out crashing and tagging, but being, you know, intentional with where we are going to and, you know, allowing players to not always stay at the high side as long as the position of where we're on the floor is more important than where your matchup is.
But then that's paired really well with, with the full court stuff and the arrives. And, you know, it is a tough habit because I think players are so used to Going backwards immediately and being on the back foot instead of being on the front foot.
So it does take some training time to instill those habits, and well, you know, we're still not perfect, but it's the basics are getting much better every game. And then I've always like I use this trail trap idea just you know years ago when I was coaching in Italy in terms of if if the ball is far ahead of you and your check is behind, that's an opportunity to just go hit and be aggressive, and then.
I was watching some Paris earlier this year with Coach Tabellini, and I really liked how they kind of merged a run and jump with the tagging up. And kind of, I adapted that a little bit because I think you sometimes, if you go on the first pass off an inbound, I think it's a little bit too easy to beat.
So just kind of tweaked, played around with some of those ideas, and we call them sneaks. It's like a sneak attack, and you want to go when the defense is not expecting it, when they're completely blind to you. So yeah, we're getting some good mileage out of that.
And I think it's something we can keep refining, getting better as the season goes on.
No, absolutely, man. Defensively, I think the team is awesome to watch. There's just so many good things that happen defensively, you know, just fighting over screens. Players are so aggressive, bullying over, making it really uncomfortable for the opposing team. And I think to your point, what you've always said to us, you know, even before when we were working together.
Was, you know, like over time, if you have these purposeful reps, you're just going to get better and it's just inevitable. So, you know, you can really see that on the court. And, you know, I know as soon as you'll get more practice time under your belt, it's going to keep getting better and better.
I do want to ask about Cleveland. So, you know, you had 2 successful seasons in Cleveland, including 64 wins in your first season. A lot of media outlets have credited you for bringing CLA to the NBA. I just want to ask you, how was the experience of players and coaches embracing a new approach?
Yeah, so look, I think, George, firstly, it starts with Coach Kenny Atkinson. Like, none of that would have been possible without him. I learned so much from Kenny, and like, it's actually inspirational seeing a head coach at that level who's all in with this, with CLA.
Like, Kenny's read all the research, like, he's read papers by Keith Davids, and you know, that's what it requires at this level of basketball. You have to have buy-in and support from the head coach, and I think that was what allowed us to really implement all these things because it's You know, when it comes from the top, it's much easier than if you are an assistant trying to kind of influence upwards.
Because, you know, I've got a lot of friends now in the NBA on other teams, and I think there's so many really bright minds out there. But if you really want to go all in with this and see the dividends, like, there's no doubt that it needs to be like organizationally, like, apparent and organizationally wide across everything.
So, you know, just getting the chance to obviously work for Kenny was, I learned so much in terms of The player development aspect in terms of like every single second counts and like being obsessive with getting every single player on the roster better from 1 through 15.
And that's even like why now I go out for pregame warmups with the Fire because it's that mindset where I want our young players to see that it matters and it's every rep needs to be purposeful and you gotta try hard every single rep.
Like, Even pregame warmup, we're going like as an expansion team, how we're going to get ahead is player development. So a lot of that came from Kenny and, and just seeing how much he values that. And then just, you know, the other things in terms of how he embraces analytics, how he really believes in working with a performance team and elevating them.
You know, I think couldn't have been a better head coach to work for. And yeah, I just loved working with him and the whole staff we had in Cleveland. Like, I just really appreciated it.
Now it was, you know, a great time. It was obviously great. And now moving to Portland and getting you to watch your principles, what you're doing there. But I do want to ask more about Cleveland, you know, in terms of what did you learn from your time that is helping you now?
Yeah, great question. I think I was never thinking when I was with Cleveland, like, oh, like I'm going to be an ex-coach by so-and-so, like I'd be a head coach by so-and-so. It's, I was more focused every single day on like doing the best job I had with what I was doing, like scouts, PD, like ATOs.
Like, I was just completely focused on those. So I wasn't really paying attention as much to the things, like the great things that how Kenny would just like speak to the team and, you know, the, the head coaching things that matter, like how you speak to the group after a tough loss.
So it was more reflecting all that after. And then when I did get the head coaching job, obviously early, I was this like past season, the last 6 months, you know, the last 6 months where I was still with Cleveland. I was definitely paying attention to, you know, just how Kenny kind of speaks to the locker room or runs a film session.
And when you, you know, when you want to hold your star players accountable, like, I think Kenny does it in a really good way. So that was awesome, just being able to have that and have the benefit of knowing I had that time to kind of get ready and prepare for it.
And then really, it's, you know me, like, a lot of my philosophy comes down to structure and like organizational management frameworks for Having processes, having standard operating procedures. So, you know, we don't want to leave anything up to chance. We want to have a process for everything.
So just being as systematic as we can, like even something like a scout. This is how I want the scout done. This is a checklist. Like, this is how we're going to do our scouts. This is what the documents will look like, et cetera.
PD. This is how, you know, I want everything we're doing from pre-practice shooting to a pregame warmup time. has to be planned. I never want a coach going out there just improvising. Like, that's not a good use of our time. Every second counts.
So it's just, you know, I think being very intentional with the structure and the organization, that's, it's kind of how I see it. I think like the best head coaches, you got to be like a CEO. And it's not just X's and O's.
It's not just managing the locker room. It's so much that goes into it at the same time.
I guess what I want to ask On that point is like, how do you work with new coaches that maybe don't have as much CLA experience that you'd like them to have? And more specifically, you know, what kind of material are you and resources are you pointing them towards to help them get up to speed and really ensure that, you know, you as a head coach get exactly what you want out of, you know, the warmup, pre-practice, everything?
You know, I've been able to get pretty friendly with the folks at the Dodgers the last 2 years. They're, you know, they're, and the Yankees too, they're 2 teams kind of leading the way with CLA in baseball. And Chase Aldridge, he's the head of R&D, kind of learning and development for the Dodgers.
And he says like, you hire for the traits and then you teach later. And I think that's so true in terms of hiring people who are bright, who are hardworking, and who have the complete growth mindset. And, you know, it's, it's like that mentality of I don't know everything now, and I acknowledge that, but I I want to know as much as I can because that's always been my mantra, right?
So then it's the case of like hiring people who fit that mindset, who are going to be great to be around throughout the highs and the lows of a long season versus going out and just hiring my friends who are going to tell me what I want to hear, who aren't going to challenge me.
I don't really think that's going to help this organization be in the best place possible. So. You know, when I built the team, I, I spoke with a lot of people and, you know, some people ended up in very influential roles here, very influential roles who I'd never spoken with until I got the job, but just kind of went through a very rigorous search process with some very intentional like tasks and job interview processes.
And we just landed on a great staff. And then it's education, George. So it's, you know, having, we had like a FIU where we were having Zooms and You know, actually, a lot of the coaches got the transforming courses and the membership to kind of study and go through kind of all the learning things step by step for how we view things here and the terminology we use, all of that.
And then it's just you kind of accompany that just with constant education. And I think things like, you know, using coach meetings to just educate a staff and share ideas instead of always being busy and, you know, doing your scout and your typical things, just Sometimes taking a step back and just thinking, all right, how can we keep getting a whole staff better throughout the season?
So it's not just an offseason priority.
No, absolutely. I think one of the biggest things I remember from my coach development was literally having the coach development plan. This was back at, you know, Lions time, and it was literally what I was good at. Those were really great for me because not only did it allow me to know some of the things I needed to work on to get better, And where I can improve, but also some of the things that I'm already good at that maybe I'm not looking at it myself.
So, you know, I just think for coaches, like you said, the same way they work on player development plans, they can work on coaching development plans as well. And as well as the resources that you mentioned as well. Last question here, Alex, and I do want to ask our transformative tip.
So maybe 2 more questions here. Just with the CLA recently, I know there's been a lot of talk from coaches and skills trainers on social media about what it is, what it isn't. And I think people are getting it wrong. Just from you, one of the leading voices in this space, can you tell us what people are getting wrong about the CLA, what it is?
I think there's tons of misconceptions flying around, and I think that's only normal when something that has been completely like in the minority starts becoming more of a mainstream theme. So I think the first thing is this kind of misnotion that the CLA is like an offensive or a defensive system.
Which it completely isn't. It's a framework to obviously bring your principles of play to life. And you have to have very clear principles of play for what you want offensively, defensively, because if you don't have that, one could argue that it's impossible to even make use of a CLA anyway.
I think another one is just the idea that it's already been done. And this is like one which I would very like refuse very strongly because it's what we have seen in the past is small-sided games. There's no doubt about that, but small-sided games and the CLA are not one and the same.
And, you know, coaches kind of think that the CLA is just using small-sided games, but it's not. It's far deeper than that. Because if you're using a CLA, you're not talking about technique and details. And I think that's the thing coaches will say, like, yes, but then you have to do— teach the details and do it 1-on-0 and teach a technique.
And that's completely what it's not about. So it's what we've seen is coaches for decades, George, have done small-sided games, But it's being preceded by like 1-on-0, 2-on-0, 3-on-0. And this idea of we're gonna teach it first and now we will put it into a game context for you to apply what you have learned.
That is not CLA, right? It's the idea is the constraints are these informative boundaries which shape learning through the interaction of these constraints. So we're gonna learn in context immediately from the start instead of learning out of context. And then essentially having to relearn a skill and know the right time for when supposedly to do it.
That's not how human movement works. So yeah, I think it's obviously I love the work at transforming the whole, you know, the team's doing a great job challenging these misconceptions. And I also think you, you have to stand for something, George, and there's no such thing as doing a little bit of CLA and doing drills another.
You're either all in. Or you're not at all, because it's the lens for understanding the world, human movement, and performance in any sport. So it's a lens to understand how these athletes are moving, how these athletes are actually developing their skills. So you can't kind of just put your glasses down and put another set on with a different lens, because if you buy into CLA, you appreciate the fact that movement is self-organizing.
So that means there is no such thing as a stored technique or practicing a technique to bring out, Because, well, we self-organize in the game based on, you know, the situation we're in and the problems that we're confronted by. Then, you know, you're also talking about things like perception-action coupling affordances.
So it's, you know, you can't be a little bit here, a little bit there. It's the way I view it is you are either 2 feet, 100% in or not at all. And, and that was the brilliant part of taking this job, the chance to just go completely all in with this in every single area.
Yeah. And I know one thing that I hear on social media is, you know, we've been using constraints forever. And I think the biggest difference, and I'd love for you to speak about this as well, is the intentionality behind it. So it's like, instead of decomposing the drill one-on-zero, well, you're using constraints to guide the player to what you're trying to get them to do.
And that's why I think it's so hard to use the CLA and almost discredits, like, you know, some of the coaches that read the research and really, you know, looked into what this is, is just how intentional you have to be to manipulate the constraints to get the desired behavior of what you're trying to teach, these skills.
That's it, Jordan. You know, it's amazing. I probably get like 5 emails every day now from just coaches across the world asking, and 3 years ago it was like nothing. So it's so exciting to see how this is really becoming more popular now.
But I think the biggest thing is coaches often kind of want a cheat list or like to copy paste something and Unfortunately, that's the tough thing, and that's kind of, you know, we can help and we can help coaches learn CLA, and that's what we're doing at Transforming.
But we're more kind of giving them the tools to then become the experts. You know, it's like you can't just give someone a copy-paste menu and run with this and then they know how to do CLA. That's not how it works. It takes time.
You have to be really intentional with your learning, and it's— every athlete's going to respond differently in different ways. So I think that's often the challenge when something becomes trendy. It's not like, oh, we can just buy a DVD of an offense and put this in.
It's a little bit more complex than that. But obviously what you get when you really go through the process is so rewarding.
Yeah, absolutely. Alex, just want to thank you before I ask you the transformative tip question. But yeah, man, it's great watching you work. I think you're definitely putting CLA On a bigger scale now, especially with your work going all in with the Fire and the 2 last seasons in Cleveland as well.
So, you know, I think for myself and everyone at Transform, but even, you know, all the members and everyone else that supports you, just thank you for what you're doing for it. You know, I think the biggest thing for me, just quickly, is because the main point of this is obviously to grow the game of basketball, number one.
And I think when you look at youth basketball, you really want to give an enjoyable experience and help kids play the game longer so that they can potentially, you know, get opportunities that they might not have otherwise.
I just want to talk to that quickly. Like, I think the culture and the environment, it kind of goes hand in hand with CLA, right? But I think that's actually the thing I'm maybe proudest about with the Fire in terms of the environment, the psychological safety, the just what it feels like to be here as a staff member or a player.
And the culture is everything. And I think a lot of times, unfortunately, at the highest level, culture becomes an afterthought and it's all X's and O's, next game, scouts. And I think it's very difficult to sustain high performance that way. Got to spend some time with my mentor, Mike McKay, when we played the Tempo in Toronto.
And Mike, a lot of Mike's kind of feedback to me was how he was so pleased and proud just seeing kind of the transformational side come to life and the culture we created. And I kind of, I reflected on that. I was like, wow, that means a lot.
You know, I wasn't, obviously that was the main intention when I got this job, but then really speaking to Mike, I was like, wow, yeah, I am, I am genuinely really happy with what we've created here. And I think to your point, George, you know, that transformational side of it is the most important in terms of you never want to be a child's last coach.
I always say that in the basketball. And that's why I think everything we're doing at Transforming, it is so needed. And especially here in the US, you know, since I moved here 4 years ago from Europe, like youth grassroots sports in the US needs the stuff that we are sharing and the transforming approach.
Absolutely. Transformative tip, Alex. If you could leave coaches with one piece of advice that would instantly improve their practice environment, what would it be?
Yeah, I'd give something on the culture piece, just in terms of like, is it an environment where your players really have that psychological safety? And something we use here at the Fire is the ABC comes from like you can agree, build, or challenge.
And that acts as a framework for film, for debriefs. And I just think it's the easiest thing coaches can do to incorporate that language in film, in a practice, to just give the players some autonomy and make the players feel like they have some ownership over the team and what they have to say is important.
I think that is so important as coaches that the players feel that way. Well, absolutely.
Alex, once again, thank you so much. Great talking to you.
My pleasure. Thank you, George.
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