16U Wings and Flight

[sam_jones]

Can someone tell me the score between the Wings and Flight? How did the Wings pull out the win over the flight?

[coolview]

Can someone tell me the score between the Wings and Flight? How did the Wings pull out the win over the flight?

 

The Wings ended up winning by about 11 I believe.

[goforit]

The Wings ended up winning by about 11 I believe.

 

 

Are the Wings really that good this year? I thought the Flight was always supposed to be the best of the best.

[wbballjunkie]

Flight has two 16under team. Tennessee Flight Navy is the team that was beat by the Wings. Flight Navy will still be playing in Cookeville at the state tournament. From what I read on the flight website Flight Silver is not playing in AAU events. It looks from the schedule they have listed they are only playing in Nike events. From reading the website it looks as if Flight Silver took third place at Boo Williams tournament. The information that I have gathered is coming from www.tennesseeflight.com

[ptguard12]

Flight Silver is the better of the two Nike teams in my opinion. They are only playing Nike and Exposure Tournaments this summer. The Flight Navy is the team that will be participating in AAU. They are also a very talented team, but are not quite as deep as the Flight Silver.

[goforit]

Flight Silver is the better of the two Nike teams in my opinion. They are only playing Nike and Exposure Tournaments this summer. The Flight Navy is the team that will be participating in AAU. They are also a very talented team, but are not quite as deep as the Flight Silver.

 

Who are some of the other talented 16u teams that play AAU in Tennessee and where are they from?

[commander]

In tradition rich Tennessee AAU, it seems different that maybe the best 16u team in the state is not playing AAU.

[wbballjunkie]

In tradition rich Tennessee AAU, it seems different that maybe the best 16u team in the state is not playing AAU.

 

 

Commador I agree with you totally. It seems a little odd and I got the nerve last weekend in Ashland City at the 15 under substate to ask why there team is not playing in AAU. His main reason was that he felt that it is his job to give his players the opportunity to play againist the best players in the country and to get the most exposure neccessary for his players and that AAU was not even close to being the best option for this in the 16 under age. They said if they did it over again they would have played in substate and state but having kids drive in from 5 hours away made it not worth the hassle. He told me last weekend at the tournament he took his team to in Hampton, VA that there was 297 D1 college coaches that signed in and how they basically doubled AAU 16 under Nationals last year. He said this is not set in stone to do every year and doesn't know if he will continue to not play his 16 under team in AAU but this year he did what he felt was best for his players in terms of playing the best competition and getting the most exposure. On there website it has a link to www.hoopgurlz.com and if you haven't seen the coverage this website did on the event in Hampton then you may want to check it out.

 

In my opinion I wished they would have played both Flight teams in AAU but it seems what they are doing is best for the kids then I am ok with it. I also found it very intresting that Flight moved there 14 under team up to 15 under. It seems that all of there players were not in town for the substate last weekend and from what I was told between the two 16 under teams there are more than 7 kids that will play 16 under again next year.

Edited April 26, 2006 by wbballjunkie

[Set A Virp]

Commador I agree with you totally. It seems a little odd and I got the nerve last weekend in Ashland City at the 15 under substate to ask why there team is not playing in AAU. His main reason was that he felt that it is his job to give his players the opportunity to play againist the best players in the country and to get the most exposure neccessary for his players and that AAU was not even close to being the best option for this in the 16 under age. They said if they did it over again they would have played in substate and state but having kids drive in from 5 hours away made it not worth the hassle. He told me last weekend at the tournament he took his team to in Hampton, VA that there was 297 D1 college coaches that signed in and how they basically doubled AAU 16 under Nationals last year. He said this is not set in stone to do every year and doesn't know if he will continue to not play his 16 under team in AAU but this year he did what he felt was best for his players in terms of playing the best competition and getting the most exposure. On there website it has a link to www.hoopgurlz.com and if you haven't seen the coverage this website did on the event in Hampton then you may want to check it out.

 

In my opinion I wished they would have played both Flight teams in AAU but it seems what they are doing is best for the kids then I am ok with it. I also found it very intresting that Flight moved there 14 under team up to 15 under. It seems that all of there players were not in town for the substate last weekend and from what I was told between the two 16 under teams there are more than 7 kids that will play 16 under again next year.

 

He should go National and forget the Tennessee kids. If this team wins a championship this year, I hope the coach does not take credit for it. With players driving 4 or 5 hours, there is no way they can practice very often or have any team comraderie. They will win just because of the talent level that they already have and there is no development by any coaches. The coaches seem to be more of a promoter than a coach. When you have to give directions from MapQuest just to find the practice facility(from different areas of the Southeast), then you have to ask (IS IT WORTH IT). I'm sure the girls would say yes just because they are in the middle of it now. Two years from now, they would say no because most of these girls will probably get a scholarship whether they were playing for Flight/Sportshop or Team Tulip out of Dyersburg.

 

I'll take AAU anytime. If you are THAT elite of a player, then the good coaches already know you. Exposure teams are more for the money the sponsor generates for the coach and the glory the coach receives from the success of the team.

[wbballjunkie]

The team practices once a week like all All Star teams practice. It is very obvious that your a very mis informed when it comes to high level of basketball. The better players are playing on the shoe company circuit now rather than the AAU circuit. When the Flight Silver team practices on the weekend they go for 2 hours on / one hour off / 2 more hours on again. I have been to these workouts they do on the weekends and it is very intense. The kids get all the work they need to get them better and the coaches in their program don't deliver milk for a living, work in a factor for a living, work as the paper boy, or run a rec center but the coaches coach basketball for a living rather it be at the high school level or small college leve (naia, D2). So it is obvious that you know nothing about the Flight program so if you would like to know how much their players get better then show up at one of their practices like I did and you will see. It is very obvious that in the state of Tennessee that the Flight is the best thing going at the older age. Like it or not it is the truth and they are going no where with the talent being there all the way through. I have even heard Matt, Melvin, Phil and Jim state that whenever people stop hiding behind screenames and want to play the Flight Silver team they will be more than happy to play anyone anytime just let any of them know. If you would like to watch them practice then showtime7 please post whenever you decide to practice this team again so set a virp can come and see if you are making your players better.

[elitebball]

He should go National and forget the Tennessee kids. If this team wins a championship this year, I hope the coach does not take credit for it. With players driving 4 or 5 hours, there is no way they can practice very often or have any team comraderie. They will win just because of the talent level that they already have and there is no development by any coaches. The coaches seem to be more of a promoter than a coach. When you have to give directions from MapQuest just to find the practice facility(from different areas of the Southeast), then you have to ask (IS IT WORTH IT). I'm sure the girls would say yes just because they are in the middle of it now. Two years from now, they would say no because most of these girls will probably get a scholarship whether they were playing for Flight/Sportshop or Team Tulip out of Dyersburg.

 

I'll take AAU anytime. If you are THAT elite of a player, then the good coaches already know you. Exposure teams are more for the money the sponsor generates for the coach and the glory the coach receives from the success of the team.

With that rationale we shouldn't ever praise Coach K, Roy Williams, Pat Summit, Geno, or any other major program who attracts top talent. Getting the confidence of the players and their families to play with your program and being able to manage the talent is something not everyone can do. Players of this talent don't need as much development, and many enjoy playing with others of a high talent level, as opposed to being the only great player. This level of exposure team is not for everyone, and certainly some kids would prefer to stay with their local AAU team. Is it worth it is a question to be answered by the girls and their parents. There is no catch-all right answer. The NIKE programs nationwide have a different agenda than traditional AAU teams, and it's not fair to wave such a wide wand of criticism.

[showtime7]

Nice post elitbball and wbballjunkie. Travel ball is not for all players but only for the best players. It has been a major change in summer basketball. My older teams last summer went to the 16 under AAU Nationals and played 9 games. We won 8 of the games by 40 plus points. The top 8 players didn't get to play much more than a quarter of the game due to worrying about injury from another player on another team getting mad due to loosing by so much and trying to take out one of our players. The ninth game we played another Nike Team, Boo Williams Summer League. We lost this game by 5 points. Boo Williams beat us twice last summer. We then go to Nike Nationals at the end of the summer in Augusta. We played 7 games winning 6 of them by 8 or less points and loosing in the quarter final by 1 point to the Orlando Comets. In all games at this event you had games that were not blow out but games that go down to the last possession. College coaches want to see the players in these types of games where they players are being challenged and not in games where a player team is up by 35 points playing againist lesser competition. Nike Nationals and other Nike events are a big difference in competition and in the end it makes our kids alot better and lets our player have the chance to show college coaches how they stack up againist the best players in the nation.

 

Nike Nationals consist of the top 24 teams in the nation. Out of this 24 teams Tennessee Flight, Philly Belles, Georgia Metros, Orlando Comets, and Boo Williams attended AAU Nationals. Out of this group of teams this coming 2006 summer the Orlando Comets will be attending AAU Nationals while Tennessee Flight, Philly Belles, Georgia Metros, and Boo Williams will strictly play the Nike circuit only while the Orlando Comets will play in AAU Nationals due to the tournament being in Orlando. Elitebball is right on the money on how shoe company work on there own agendas. It kind of a job due to Nike and Adidas have people that over see all of there teams and what these directors say is what the teams are to do.

 

The question I get all the time is just exactly who is the Nike Elite Travel Teams Programs? I will answer that question:

Orlando Comets, NY Liberty Belles, West Coast Elite, GA / Lina 76'ers, New England Crusaders, Texas Express, Indiana "The Family", Georgia Metros, Cal Swish, Philadelphia Belles, Spokane Stars, Alabama Roadrunners, Boo Williams Summer League, Illinois Hustle, West Virginia Tornadoes, Michigan Crossover, Tennessee Flight, New York Gauchos, OGDL (LA), Fairfax Stars, Fencor, and All - Ohio Black.