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Baseball is back, and the first pitch is on Netflix.
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The New York Yankees, led by seven-time all-star Aaron Judge, head to the San Francisco Bay
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to take on Raphael Devar's San Francisco Giants.
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This season kicks off with one exclusive opening night game.
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Watch MLB Opening Night, the New York Yankees versus the San Francisco Giants live on Netflix.
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Wednesday, March 25th at 8 PM Eastern 5 PM Pacific.
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5 AM, I'm up with a crisp Celsius energy drink, running 12 miles today.
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Grab a green juice, quick change, and head to work, meetings, workshops.
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One more Celsius, no slowing down, working late, but obviously still meeting the girls
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for a little dancing.
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Celsius, live, fit, go.
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Grab a cold, refreshing Celsius at your local retailer or locate now at Celsius.com.
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They say you should learn something new every day.
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Like how you should only drink Yeager Meister at zero degrees Fahrenheit.
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Like those frozen cavemen they find, which makes you wonder, what would a caveman think
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Well, if you served it warm, he'd probably throw it in your face, say,
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and storm off, and nobody wants that.
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So drink it cold, or not at all.
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Drink responsibly, Yeager Meister, La Cure, 35% alcohol by volume, imported by Master Yeager
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Meister, US, White Plains, New York.
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On the 5th quarter studios in Madison, Wisconsin, you're listening to Coach Unplugged.
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And now, your host, Steve Collins.
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Hey, everybody, welcome, welcome, welcome to Coach Unplugged.
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I'm so happy you decided to join us.
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Coach, before we get into it, go to teachoops.com.
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That's where I put the stuff that actually helps practice plans, culture tools, game prep,
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no fluff, teachoops.com.
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All right, it's March.
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And March is different.
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March is when you find out if your team has habits, or if your team has hopes.
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Because hope is not a strategy.
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And March doesn't care what you ran in December.
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March cares what you can execute when you're tired, when the crowd is loud, when the whistle
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feels weird, when the other team is grabbing and bumping.
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When your kids look at you like, coach, what do we do now?
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So today, I'm giving you a March readiness checklist, not a cute list, a real one.
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Stuff you can install and reinforce this week.
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Because here's the truth.
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Most teams don't lose in March because they forgot to play.
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They lose because the game speeds up and they don't have answers.
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They turn it over twice in a row.
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They give up an offensive rebound.
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They foul a three point shooter.
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They take a bad shot early.
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Then they argue with the ref.
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Then they stop talking on defense.
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And now you're down eight.
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And it feels like 20.
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So let's talk about what wins in March.
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Number one, simplify the menu.
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March is not the time to become a chef.
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March is the time to become a master of your best two meals.
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You do not need 12 sets.
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You need two that you can run against anything.
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And you need counters that are easy.
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If your players have to remember a paragraph, your toast.
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Make your calls shorter.
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Make your rules tighter.
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Make your teaching cleaner and spend your time on execution.
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Because in March, the team that thinks less plays faster, plays freer, plays tougher.
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Number two, you need a pressure plan.
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And I don't mean be strong with the ball.
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Because every March game has that stretch.
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They pick you up full.
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They trap the first pass.
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They deny the wings.
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Your point guard starts dribbling like the ball is a grenade.
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And your wings start hiding.
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So you need answers.
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A simple trigger and simple rules.
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Two hands on catches.
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Pivot before you dribble.
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Attack the middle with purpose.
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And you need a ball security group.
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Who are the five guys you trust when it gets chaotic?
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That group has to know it's their job.
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And you have to rehearse it.
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Pressure is not solved by motivation.
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Pressure is solved by reps.
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Number three, win the first four minutes.
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And win the last four minutes.
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Most coaches obsess over the middle.
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The middle is messy.
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The start and the finish are a clean.
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The start tells you if you're ready.
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The finish tells you if you're grown.
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So script your first few possessions.
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And late game, stop hoping.
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If you're up three with 22 seconds left, what are you doing?
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If you're down to with 12 seconds, what are you doing?
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If you need a stop and you have a follow to give,
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do your kids know that?
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Or do they look at you like it's a pop quiz?
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March is not the time for pop quizzes.
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March is the time for open book tests
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because you've studied it together.
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Number four, special situations are free points.
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Free if you prepare.
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Baseline out of bounds.
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Side line out of bounds.
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Jump ball situations.
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Free throw rebounding.
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Two for one moments.
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Most teams waste special situations.
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They just run something.
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They don't run something with a purpose.
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So here's a quick upgrade.
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One that gets a layup.
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One that gets a shooter a clean look.
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One to get it in safely.
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One to attack immediately.
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And have one end of game action you believe in.
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Something you can run against switching.
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Something you can run against no switching.
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And one bail out option.
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Because in March, the first look won't always be there.
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But the second look can be great if you're spacing is right.
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And your kids trust the plan.
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Number five, your identity has to travel.
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Because March is a road trip.
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The crowd is different.
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The refs are different.
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The energy is different.
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So your identity can't be when we're feeling good.
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It has to be this is who we are.
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Taking care of the ball travels.
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Communication travels.
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If your identity is we make threes, that's fine.
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But what happens when you go to for 16?
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The best March teams have a plan B that looks like toughness.
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They can get a stop.
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They can get a rebound.
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They can manufacture at basket.
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And that's not negative.
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The prime time stage is set for the TGL presented
9:24
Los Angeles Golf Club versus Tiger's Jupiter links.
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Keep up, it's playoffs.
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Tune in Monday, March 23rd, 9 p.m. Eastern on ESPN 2
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and Tuesday, March 24th, 7 p.m. Eastern on ESPN
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and on the ESPN app.
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