Waren County

[trickey]

"

Are you a paid appologist or do you maybe have a "little cupcake " on the team?

Now that is definitely a legitimate concern!

[eagle79]

OK, I usually try to stay out of these discussions. I have friends throughout the program and I truly hope no one takes my comments personally. These are just some observations, rantings, etc.

 

First of all, everyone needs to quit pointing fingers. The first place EVERYONE should look for improvement is themselves. This applies to players, coaches, parents, fans, EVERYONE. This situation is not one with one cause, but many.

 

Players, you shouldn't need fans yelling, coaches babying, you should motivate yourself. This is a matter of having pride in yourself, your school, everything you represent. Quit blaming everyone else and simply go onto the court and PLAY BALL. HARD!!

 

Coaches, teams are a reflection of you. When that reflection is "humiliating, embarassing" etc. you have to look at where it's coming from.

 

Fans, the players listen to what you have to say. When you go home and run down the coach to them, they lose respect. When you go to school and tell them they stink, they believe it after a while.

 

There is enough blame to go around. No one can point fingers. He who is without sin, let him cast the first stone. There won't be many flying.

 

p.s. About AAU, if you don't think it can help make better players and get them to the next level, you've never participated outside of middle TN and seen the college coaches packing gyms to watch players. It does work.

[14pioneers]

OK, I usually try to stay out of these discussions. I have friends throughout the program and I truly hope no one takes my comments personally. These are just some observations, rantings, etc.

 

First of all, everyone needs to quit pointing fingers. The first place EVERYONE should look for improvement is themselves. This applies to players, coaches, parents, fans, EVERYONE. This situation is not one with one cause, but many.

 

Players, you shouldn't need fans yelling, coaches babying, you should motivate yourself. This is a matter of having pride in yourself, your school, everything you represent. Quit blaming everyone else and simply go onto the court and PLAY BALL. HARD!!

 

Coaches, teams are a reflection of you. When that reflection is "humiliating, embarassing" etc. you have to look at where it's coming from.

 

Fans, the players listen to what you have to say. When you go home and run down the coach to them, they lose respect. When you go to school and tell them they stink, they believe it after a while.

 

There is enough blame to go around. No one can point fingers. He who is without sin, let him cast the first stone. There won't be many flying.

 

p.s. About AAU, if you don't think it can help make better players and get them to the next level, you've never participated outside of middle TN and seen the college coaches packing gyms to watch players. It does work.

Thanks Eagle 79, I could't have said it better myself.

[mjuhb]

anybody know who won the tullahoma/warren co freshman game

[14pioneers]

anybody know who won the tullahoma/warren co freshman game

Sorry haven't heard, but good luck lady pioneers on tommorrow's night game against Blackman. You really had some good looks at the basket against Sparta. hopefully tommorrow night they will fall for you. Just remember everyone is pulling for you as long as we see effort, hustle, and defense. Ladies you will be surprised how greatly that is appreciated by your fans. We can win tommorrow!!, but you've gotta believe you can. Blackman hasn't won all year, so there has to be doubts in their mind. Go gettum Ladies!!!!

[4mercoach]

p.s. About AAU, if you don't think it can help make better players and get them to the next level, you've never participated outside of middle TN and seen the college coaches packing gyms to watch players. It does work.

 

The college coaches are there to recruit the all-star players that have been assembled for these teams because it saves them a lot of time in finding talent and evaluating it. AAU is a showcase of talent not a player development system. Playing against other all-stars can help those players raise their level of play. However, if you think AAU will help a down-trodden program, whose players most likely will not be candidates for these teams, resurrect itself you are wrong, unless you intend to go recruit some of the AAU all-stars to your school.

[eagle79]

We have and have had quite a few players who are good enough to play for these all-star teams. Other players could compete at a lower level. Most programs have an A and B team. The bottom line is the more you play the better you get. EVERY TIME. No matter what level. Our players have been discouraged for playing for any team other than the school team. You can only get so much improvement out of playing Cascade and these other single A teams at these local playdays and tourneys. So what if it's a showcase for talent. That's what these programs need. If we could produce a few more Leeann Pelhams and these kids could see the former players having success at the next level, maybe they would have something to fight for when their school team is down by 50 instead of giving up.

[PHargis]

We have and have had quite a few players who are good enough to play for these all-star teams. Other players could compete at a lower level. Most programs have an A and B team. The bottom line is the more you play the better you get. EVERY TIME. No matter what level. Our players have been discouraged for playing for any team other than the school team. You can only get so much improvement out of playing Cascade and these other single A teams at these local playdays and tourneys. So what if it's a showcase for talent. That's what these programs need. If we could produce a few more Leeann Pelhams and these kids could see the former players having success at the next level, maybe they would have something to fight for when their school team is down by 50 instead of giving up.

Let me give you some observed information with skills training.

First year age 9 - 1oo% improvement

Second year 10- 75% imporovement

Third year age 11- 50% improvement

4th year age 12- 25 % improvement

This depends on a plan and drills plus game experience. first year passing, layups, the basics plus beginning to understand some intensity, the hardest thing to teach a player and may take two years or so to understand.

[4mercoach]

We have and have had quite a few players who are good enough to play for these all-star teams. Other players could compete at a lower level. Most programs have an A and B team. The bottom line is the more you play the better you get. EVERY TIME. No matter what level. Our players have been discouraged for playing for any team other than the school team. You can only get so much improvement out of playing Cascade and these other single A teams at these local playdays and tourneys. So what if it's a showcase for talent. That's what these programs need. If we could produce a few more Leeann Pelhams and these kids could see the former players having success at the next level, maybe they would have something to fight for when their school team is down by 50 instead of giving up.

You don't necessarily get better just because you are playing more. I've seen kids that play alot, but don't improve because they don't work on weaknesses in their game or develop other aspects of their game. Doug Keil improved the boys program at WC by developing the talent available with individual workouts and team development in the off-season. I don't think he depended on AAU to develop his players and I don't think the WC girls should either unless you just have an incompetent or lazy coaching staff and if that is the case you are on a sinking ship anyway. Nothing against the showcasing of talent AAU provides, but it is not the backbone of a consistent high school basketball program. Consistent programs have good feeder systems and solid coaching staffs that can coach up the talent available. I don't think Grandstaff, Odom, and Burt depend on AAU to develop the skills of their players, but use it as a tool to supplement their programs.

[eagle79]

I'm not talking about players 7-12 on the team. I'm talking about the players that matter, numbers 1-5 or 6. They will ALL get better if they play more and against better competition. This is just common sense. Come on!! There is no way you can LOGICALLY say a player won't get better playing more.

 

You mention Keil. Yes, he developed his players 3-15 with Warren County's AAU and offseason program. However, the players who carried his team, Randall and Reese, played with the Murfreesboro Nets and this helped them. It also helped the players like Cody Hillis and Kyle Thompson learn to be the man without Randall and Reese on the court. I guarantee if Reese would have played AAU the summer before his senior year, he would be playing somewhere right now.

[hardball23]

I have to agree with the eagle. The only way to get better is playing against the best.

I think all the good programs have kids that play AAU.

[4mercoach]

I'm not talking about players 7-12 on the team. I'm talking about the players that matter, numbers 1-5 or 6. They will ALL get better if they play more and against better competition. This is just common sense. Come on!! There is no way you can LOGICALLY say a player won't get better playing more.

 

You mention Keil. Yes, he developed his players 3-15 with Warren County's AAU and offseason program. However, the players who carried his team, Randall and Reese, played with the Murfreesboro Nets and this helped them. It also helped the players like Cody Hillis and Kyle Thompson learn to be the man without Randall and Reese on the court. I guarantee if Reese would have played AAU the summer before his senior year, he would be playing somewhere right now.

When you are getting beat regularly by 30-50 points players 1-6 must not be very good and therefore they won't be playing on the best AAU squads. I also thought all the players on a team mattered. If players 7-12 are terrible it makes it difficult to push players 1-6 in practice and when you get into games you quite often ar going to need players to substitute in for players that are in foul trouble, injured, or sick.

Randall and Reese were invited to play in Murfreesboro because they could already play well and I am sure that it did help them, but it didn't make them as players. AAU can be a supplement to your program as it develops, but it is not the core that makes a program. Mt. Juliet doesn't place a lot of emphasis on AAU and they have as consistent a program as anyone in the state. They may have girls that play AAU, but it isn't pushed by Coach Fryer as far as I know. The key to their program is their feeder system.

One other story that relate to this is former Vanderbilt star Matt Freije. Before his senior season his coach encouraged him not to play AAU ball that summer because he felt he could develop his skills more by getting in the gym and doing individual workouts than by playing the AAU all-star circuit. Freije seems to have done pretty well inspite of missing out on AAU.

Edited January 10, 2007 by 4mercoach