The problems with Memphis Basketball

[hedgehog]

I posted these comments here because in an ealier thread another poster and I agreed that Memphis style basketball is predominated by the "run n gun" mentality, and by high school programs who do not get kids into D-1 programs. My agreeing with that sentiment does not mean that the I believe Memphis kids are not D-1 caliber. Let me clarify this for you in the following:

 

1. There are each year many Memphis ball players who are pursued by D-1

schools from all over the country; at least until they see transcripts and/or ACT

scores.

 

2. There are many D-1 caliber athletes who do possess the skills and game

knowledge, even though they may not get the EXPOSURE that some of the

Middle/East TN. ball players get. It doesn't matter how or why they get the

exposure, but a case could be made that a greater effort to get the exposure

has been there. It goes to high school coaches having an interest in their kids

playing summer ball. In Memphis, while it is not unheard of, it can be more of a

source of conflict than it needs to be. I know of at least 3 coaches who

demanded that players on their team not play summer ball because they felt

it kept the kids from focusing on the high school coach's agenda.

 

3. Very few college programs, D-1 or otherwise are going to take a high school kid

and say "you know all about the game you need to, so I don't have to teach you

anything". They prefer kids who are "coachable", meaning they don't have to

teach them all the fundamentals, and they are willing to listen, work hard, and

learn. Everything else being equal they would prefer a great athlete to one who

is not a good athlete.

 

4. While all coaches want to win, some coaches make certain along the way to

try and develop the talent of the kids they "teach". That seems to be a main

ingredient missing in Memphis. They develop the kids' talent to the extent that

it helps them win ball games. Very little emphasis has been placed on study

skills, time management, and organizational skills, and other items that help a

kid prepare to succeed at the next level.

 

5. Parents have been too willing to let their kid spend hours in the gym without

demanding they put in equal time studying, learning and developing these

life skills. Parents and high school coaches need to be held more accountable.

How? I don't have the answer to that, but I know if I had a kid playing high

school ball in this day and age, I would let the coach and the kid know that if

the grades and other things don't meet certain standards, my kid is not going to

be on ANY basketball court. So many people I believe think that a D-1

scholarship is earned simply by how many points a kid can put up, or some

other stat. They fail to realize the two MOST IMPORTANT are the GPA and ACT.

 

6. Some great ball players are from East/Middle TN, but they too are recruited to

fill a specific need of the programs that sign them. Some programs need

shooters more than they need ball handlers; some need inside presence more

than they need perimeter players; some need great athletes whom they will

hope to turn into great defensive players. To make a blanket statement that a

higher number of good players from a certain part of the state sign D-1

scholarships does not address whether the same caliber of "player" exists in

Memphis: They do.

 

7. Finally while you can find players with different skill levels anywhere, to say

that players in Memphis or any specific area lack even the skills to "handle the

ball with both hands", and "can't think the game" is ridiculous. I AGREE, their

is a lack of emphasis on team ball. But that is something that affects the

teams' lack of success more than it reflects kids ability. Show me a well

coached, disciplined team against a team of simply great athletes, and I will

take the well coached team every time. But that does not mean the great

athletes are not good ball players. They simply won't have the focus to beat a

team that is disciplined and executes like they have been taught.

 

Sorry for the length of this post, but I needed to set the record straight.

Edited February 12, 2006 by hedgehog

[UCSportsFan]

Good post, a good "team" will beat a bunch of great athletes 9/10 times when it counts.

[doc_6]

Excellent post, with great points. Particularly about the lack of emphasis on grades and ACT scores. I've seen a large number of athletes (basketball & other sports) fail to go to college at all because of a lack of focus on education. Even though the problem is evident in other cities, Memphis was called a "Recruiters Nightmare" in an article written in the Commercial Appeal around 2001 (go to http://www.corpun.com/uss00101.htm). Generally speaking, the Memphis community (especially parents) need to place a firmer emphasis on education, and it does not need to begin after the kid scores 30 in a game.

 

Before anyone gets upset, I'm speaking this from a standpoint of a former D1 athlete, a parent, and a former teacher & resident of Memphis.

[drawiron]

Good post, a good "team" will beat a bunch of great athletes 9/10 times when it counts.

yes was a good post and true.

example upperman-it is almost boring to watch them they do the same routine over and over.around the perimeter over and over til they get their shot.practice makes perfect and they are very well coached in what they do.

[bg3]

Good post, a good "team" will beat a bunch of great athletes 9/10 times when it counts.

Hedgehog you really out did yourself with this post, great work and continue to watch/keep up with all areas of Tn., you're doing a great job, but I still say East/Middle Tn. does a better job with their young ladies.

[hedgehog]

Hedgehog you really out did yourself with this post, great work and continue to watch/keep up with all areas of Tn., you're doing a great job, but I still say East/Middle Tn. does a better job with their young ladies.

 

 

No disagreement from me on that.

[ParisRiverRat]

There is so much talent in Memphis that it is unreal. The problem is: who wants to live there, and is it worth the 4 or 5 years of work that it would take to develop a program into a gold ball? I wouldn't move my family downtown Memphis for it, even if I knew it was possible. I would rather move to Baghdad!

[hedgehog]

There is so much talent in Memphis that it is unreal. The problem is: who wants to live there, and is it worth the 4 or 5 years of work that it would take to develop a program into a gold ball? I wouldn't move my family downtown Memphis for it, even if I knew it was possible. I would rather move to Baghdad!

 

 

WesCharge,

While the tone of your post is obvious, I'm not certain we understand it's intent; or more importantly if it is even relevant to the points made in the posts. If you are talking about the quality of living in Memphis, that was not a point of discussion. And while many may feel the way that you do about Memphis in general, your feelings about the city of Memphis are irrelevant to the discussion of the problems with Memphis Basketball: unless you are saying that good coaches (like yourself ) would also refuse to move to Memphis to establish a better "coaching mentality" in the area.

[philtenn]

There is so much talent in Memphis that it is unreal. The problem is: who wants to live there, and is it worth the 4 or 5 years of work that it would take to develop a program into a gold ball? I wouldn't move my family downtown Memphis for it, even if I knew it was possible. I would rather move to Baghdad!

 

WesCharge, while you are certainly not alone in your opinion, (I hear it occasionally from friends and acquaintances who live in Germantown and Collierville - suburbs of Memphis - "Oh, we never go inside the loop."), let's not go overboard. I've lived in Memphis for nearly 20 years and there are a lot of things wrong with it, but "Baghdad"? In my nearly 20 years, I have never felt my family and I were at risk and we live in Memphis and my kids have always gone to city schools. We've been in gyms all over the Shelby County area for AAU and school ball and have many times played in the "inner city" high school gyms. Again, no problems. In fact, the most at risk I ever felt was in a gym in a quaint little middle TN town. Do you need to be careful in some Memphis areas? Of course. Just use common sense. No need for body armor or a security escort - at least our teams have never used them. (I can't verify it, but I was told by a tournament official that a year or two ago a middle tennessee basketball team came to Memphis to play ball and had 2 security officers accompany them on the trip. Imagine that... and we live here all the time and we've never had guards. In fact, from what I can tell, most of us Memphians don't have body guards. Are we missing something?).

 

Now, anybody has a right to do whatever it takes for them to feel safe and secure - and that's especially true when you are responsible for the welfare of children. But I don't believe the problem is how dangerous Memphis actually is. If you're afraid of Memphis, then you're afraid of any major city in this country and many of those major cities have great basketball programs.

 

I believe the problem has more to do with the number of girls basketball factions in the city and their lack of coordination. No one is sharing information. Recently, our AAU organization discovered, I believe a 13 year old, whose parents had never heard of AAU. This is a very talented young lady. How did she go this long and not know about AAU? I know when my daughter started 5 years ago as a 9 year old, we had no idea AAU existed. The only reason she got involved with AAU was our persistence in finding something more challenging. My daughter's church league coach (great lady, but apparently didn't know) was of no help. Rec league coaches didn't help and even after initial contacts with an AAU coach, it wasn't that helpful.

 

Just giving you the opinion of someone who you might see as "on the front lines" - think of me as one of those "embedded" war correspondents .

 

(Just ribbing you a little. No offense meant).

Edited February 14, 2006 by philtenn

[ParisRiverRat]

We obviously feel differently about the city. Do you agree that there is a ton of talent in Memphis? Why aren't there more trophies than what there are?

 

The girls could have as much success as the guys in Memphis with some work. (and certainly not be me, as I can't coach a lick, and don't want to) My point is: why would a coach move to Memphis? I would not want to live there because of the violence, school problems, and some other serious issues. Now I know that only about 1% of the people cause these problems, however, I cannot get past that. Just my opinion....sorry that we are different.

[hoopsinstead]

Excellent post, with great points. Particularly about the lack of emphasis on grades and ACT scores. I've seen a large number of athletes (basketball & other sports) fail to go to college at all because of a lack of focus on education. Even though the problem is evident in other cities, Memphis was called a "Recruiters Nightmare" in an article written in the Commercial Appeal around 2001 (go to http://www.corpun.com/uss00101.htm). Generally speaking, the Memphis community (especially parents) need to place a firmer emphasis on education, and it does not need to begin after the kid scores 30 in a game.

 

Before anyone gets upset, I'm speaking this from a standpoint of a former D1 athlete, a parent, and a former teacher & resident of Memphis.

 

Doc6, i would love to read the article you refer to but cannot find it under the link you list. Please research and give us all a correct link so we can read the article. Thanks!

[doc6]

Doc6, i would love to read the article you refer to but cannot find it under the link you list. Please research and give us all a correct link so we can read the article. Thanks!

 

Sorry, If you click on the the link I provided. Then, click on the link that takes you to www.corpun.com/index.htm. Scroll down to "The Archive", Scroll down to United States, Click on US/ Schools- January 2001.

 

This should work.