Episode 198: Stan Johnson, DOC - Defense, Offense and Culture

Guest: Stan Johnson, Loyola Marymount Head Coach

Loyola Marymount head coach Stan Johnson joins the Basketball Podcast to share his insights on defense, offense, and culture or what he calls DOC.

Born in Liberia, Johnson played his college basketball at Southern Utah and Bemidji (Minnesota) State before embarking on a coaching career that would take him to such schools as Cal State Northridge, Utah, Drake, Arizona State, and Marquette.

The 2020-21 season saw meteoric growths across the board for LMU men’s basketball. The Lions finished in the top three of the West Coast Conference standings for the first time since 2005-06. In his first season as head coach, Stan Johnson guided his team through the COVID-19 pandemic and posted a winning record in the WCC for the first time since 2011-12.

LMU has posted a top-100 ranking in the NCAA’s NET, college basketball’s comprehensive metric that takes into account record, quality opponents faced, and game location, among others. LMU’s 95 ranking is the highest NET (or RPI at that time) since the Elite Eight season of 1990.

Johnson coached five seasons at Marquette University and was promoted to associate head coach in June of 2017 after helping guide the Golden Eagles to an NCAA tournament trip in 2016-17. Marquette also made a run to the NIT quarterfinals in 2017-18 and returned to the NCAAs in 2018-19.

Johnson arrived in Milwaukee after working the previous two seasons at Arizona State and was on the opposing bench in a pair of matchups against the Golden Eagles. The Sun Devils, who went 16-1 at home, participated in the NCAA tournament in 2013-14 in his first campaign with the program and earned a spot in the National Invitation Tournament in 2014-15.

Johnson also spent two seasons (2011-13) at Drake University after a three-year stint at the University of Utah, which advanced to the NCAA tournament in 2009. Johnson came to Utah after a one-year stint as an assistant coach at Cal State Northridge in 2007-08. The Matadors finished 20-10 overall and earned a share of their first Big West Conference regular-season championship with Johnson on the staff.

Breakdown

1:00 - Team Huddles

5:00 - Year Two

8:00 - Slow Down on Offense

12:00 - Concept of Structured Unstructured

17:00 - Positive Reinforcement Idea

20:00 - Organization

24:00 - Tone Change

28:00 - Defense Offense Culture

32:00 - Guarding More Against

35:00 - Defensive Drills

38:30 - Specific Play Calls