AAU Good or Bad?

[cobrafan90]

The AAU-ization of Hoops Isn't Helping the Game

By Biff Fischer

 

The great majority of serious basketball players play ball all year round; for American high schoolers, who want to play in college, even small college, that means AAU ball from April through July, and maybe even some in the fall.

 

But playing in games is not always as useful as individual time in the gym or weight room, working on your game. Read Steve Alford's book, Playing for Knight, where he discusses his workout regimen, a regimen that turned a kid with limited athletic skills into the leader of a national championship team.

 

European players are making a bigger impact on the NBA for one reason: they are more fundamentally sound than the average American player. Why is this? Because they actually work on fundamentals.

 

I was lucky enough to be an assistant high school coach for nine years, so I have coached my share of AAU and summer league games. The problem that spring and summer ball present is this: too many games, and nowhere near enough practice, because there is no practice.

 

AAU tournaments are money-driven events where the games are shoehorned so close together that halftimes are two minutes long and timeouts are 40 seconds, if you're lucky. There is no time to teach, correct, instruct. How can anyone learn and get better?

 

Players play, they don't work on improving weaknesses, because they're in a competitive environment where their skills are being judged by college coaches, and its a tournament, so you need to win to advance.

 

Individual time spent in a gym or the weight room isn't as glamorous, but the payoffs can be greater, because if a player strengthens his weaknesses, he becomes a much, much stronger player. Practices generally improve a player more than playing in games does.

 

Kids love AAU though, because they love to play games. Organizers love it, because they make a lot of cash. College coaches tolerate it, because they can see a lot of kids under one roof, at a time when they're not coaching their own teams. But it can be heck for the high school coach.

 

Elite AAU teams travel and stay in hotels, which any kid would love. They give out free gear, because they are bankrolled by sneaker companies vying for the almighty dollar. But kids get their free stuff in the summer, then go back to their high schools and wonder why that coach coaches them so hard, but doesn't give them anything.

 

In short, players get spoiled by AAU ball.

 

A lot of the best coaching done at any level of basketball is done by the high school mentor, but the AAU-izing of the game is making his job more and more difficult. The trappings of the game are becoming more important than the game itself, and that is sad.

 

Biff Fischer is with armadillosports.com. He can be reached at ffib13@aol.com

 

What are your thoughts on this article??

[TheEgoHasLanded]

AAU keeps kids playing basketball 12 months out of the year. He is absolutely correct that kids do not learn much...the coaches usually aren't very good anyway ( I think high school coaches are not eligible to coach kids in AAU). But the kids keep playing together, make friends, stay in shape, get recruited, have fun, travel around the country, play the best competetion available, and see where they stack up nationally.

 

If it helps one kid get a scholarship, then I don't think it is half bad.

[clipper]

Two great posts. There are too many poor coaches out there. There are however, a few good ones. Thank goodness. The best thing about summer ball is it teaches kids to compete and keeps them in shape. Calling summer basketball is somewhat incorrect now. Most of the tournaments arn't even affilated with AAU anymore.

[btexpress]

cobrafan90,

 

I am a AAU coach and I agree with your post. However the real challenge is to follow the pattern of the European basketball schools in America. Remember they play year around with great coaching and focus on fundamentals. AAU-YBOA - whatever needs better coaching and less involvement from shoe companies and recruiters hyping kids and telling them how good they are. In my opinion this ruins young players for several reasons, first and foremost they usually are not that good and need lots of work on fundamentals. However because shoe companies and others are telling kids they are that good and AAU teams are always trying to recruit kids from other AAU-YBOA teams. Kids start to believe they are going to be NBA lottery picks and really don't need to work on fundamentals. I know this may sound funny to some of you but I have talked to several parents who assure me that their 12 or 13 year old son who is usually fairly athletic will play professional sports. Then they ruin any small chance he might have to play in college by not getting him into a program that could prepare him to compete at the next level. The end result of this will be more and more Europeans in the NBA draft.

Edited June 24, 2003 by btexpress

[ELA]

As a football coach, I try to stay off the AAU boards! I have some serious reservations about AAU in some communities and the management of the organization at the national level. Having said that, I admit to being biased in some respects. I think the article was very good and it will interesting to see how it is received by other basketball coaches.

 

As high school coaches, we can all go 'over board" in our duties and responsibilities. We all want to win and we will try to find an edge wherever we can. The thing we must try to find is "balance" in our programs. Children and young men need to play a variety of sports and not necessarily specialize in just one until possibly their junior or senior year (if at all). AAU tends to promote itself above all other sports and all coaches must remember out job is to develop well rounded young men who are prepared for the pressure and social aspects of life. No one child should be forced to play just one sport, unless it is what they want to do!

[muffin]

That is what is happening, kids are wanting to play more than one sport,but HS coaches and aau coaches want them year round in one sport, denying them the chance to take part in other sports.This is something I totally disagree with, you have to let a kid be a kid and not try to run their life for them.

[cobrafan90]

I am neutral in this. I have simply posted an article and thought it would be good discussion.

 

I agree with points on both sides. AAU is good in keeping a bball mentality for some. It keeps them in shape.

 

AAU has turned into a cashcow liked the article mentioned. There are some Summer bball tourneys which aren't even AAU or YBOA. AAU/Summer ball usually strays away from what a kid is taught during the yr by his/her HS coach.

 

I also agree w/ the post on kids parents making them out to be stars through AAU and that might not be the case.

 

One example a very good football player(5'9") is giving up football to concentrate on bball. His mom says(he agrees) that this is his best chance to go to the next level. How many 5'9" pro bball players do you know? How many pro football players do you know who stand 5'9"?? More than in bball I can assure you. My point is..........AAU makes bball the more glorious sport because it is played year round(with Nike and Adidas sponsored teams and camps) You get perks as bball shoes , gear, and equipment. How many football travel teams are there.........not many.........

[grizzly55]

responding to that article,one reason that the european players are coming over and playing well is because they can play pro ball in europe as early as they are able. not just because they are more fundamentally sound, the american players that play aau aren't getting whooped up on by these european players because the game in america is still more athletic than their european game and that is why the nba still has a majority of kids from the U.S.

[btexpress]

grizzly

 

You should really look at the trends. 10 years ago there were almost no European players in the NBA now it is like 30 percent. Every year for the last five years the number of Europeans selected in the first round has almost doubled. I have traveled to Europe and observed first hand some of their basketball clubs, which are quasi professional and yes it is definitely the fundamentals.

 

Most of our AAU programs identify athletes at young ages and teach full court presses with traps not pull up jump shots, ball handling, passing or man defense. So at the Pro level where all players are big and good athletes the ones with the most skills get selected.

 

Saying that the majority of great players still come from the USA. But why do you think we are seeing such a influx of European players when 10 years ago there were almost none?

Edited June 24, 2003 by btexpress

[AIRNIKE]

Good AAU coaches teach the game and make young players better and that what the AAU game is all about to me.There are a lot of parents that see this as a stepping stone to the NBA and college and this is far from the normal.The big problem is that there are coaches and parents that see this as a ego game and try to make themseleves more important than the kids.Kids should play all sports and a good coach will make time for all of these things doing the summer without causing problem for the high school football and basketball coach.This how it should be , however in most cases it is not done like this.

 

The first part of AAU season in March is a good example of whats wrong in this game: Parents shopping kids and coaches trying to get kids at all cost.Most of the good kis will stay with one coach and the one's that will not make it anyway will change teams several times in an attempt to find the one coach that tell them what they want to hear.(how good thier son is or how great he will be). To misled someone at this piont in life is a crime in its self, but the victim has a fault that adds to the crime himself.

 

Its gets worse when you have a kid who is 6'1" or shorter and his parents list him at 6'4" or taller or a 4.9 turns into a 4.3 sprinter.Some believe that bad pub. and good pub are all the same. They also think that if my son's name is out there everybody knows him and how good he is.The truth is that it comes down to stats and how good others see the player and not his coach or parents.Colleges sign kids for four years and want kids that will make it four years. A good AAU coach is trying to teach and not be seen as a high school equal.

 

The sad part about this deal is that kids get hurt by parents and by coaches and the damage is not seen for years. To chase a dream and to live for something that you have been programed to chase and have the all that end one day must hurt and destroy a child. As a coach you have no control over a parent in this area because someone will alway tell that parent what he or she wants to hear and that is the problem in all sports.

[btexpress]

Guys,

 

I find it interesting how football guys always bring up football on a AAU basketball message board. Who cares if the kid plays football or not? The AAU basketball coach should not be involved in that decision anyway. That decision should be made first by the child with the parents approval. What if a child decides he really doesn't care that much for football and would like to concentrate on one sport? Regardless of whether that sport is basketball or tennis is this wrong? Most football coaches tell players who aren't primarily football players that they need to play multiple sports. Meaning Play Football. I really don’t care about football one-way or the other. If a kid wants to play great however if he wants to focus on one sport do you guys thank this is a bad decision for a 13-14-15 year old to make?

If you do I would like to hear why?

Edited July 1, 2003 by btexpress

[ELA]

I coach baseball too... all I'm saying is that no child should be convinced by a non-high school "youth" coach (good or bad) to narrow his focus to just one sport. There will be plenty of time for that when they go to college! High School athletes should be two (and sometimes three) sport players IF THEY WANT TO! AAU has some positive aspects, but it should not determine a child's future. Let the kids enjoy multiple sports and have a well rounded high school athletic experience!