Kobe rips AAU Basketball

[JAF]

Although basketball related - it's not HS, College, Pro specific - so I figure the General Forum is the best place to put this - although I'm not against moving it to the basketball specific forum.

Just in case anyone misses this on the ESPN site...

http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/story/_/id/12114523/kobe-bryant-says-european-players-more-skilled-americans-blames-aau

Couple of relevant quotes:

"AAU basketball, Horrible, terrible AAU basketball. It's stupid. It doesn't teach our kids how to play the game at all so you wind up having players that are big and they bring it up and they do all this fancy crap and they don't know how to post. They don't know the fundamentals of the game. It's stupid."

and

"Teach players the game at an early age and stop treating them like cash cows for everyone to profit off of," he said. "That's how you do that. You have to teach them the game. Give them instruction."

But Bryant, who holds an annual summer basketball camp, also was quick to point out that any solution involving changing the current culture of AAU basketball won't happen overnight.

"That's a deep well because then you start cutting into people's pockets," Bryant said. "People get really upset when you start cutting into their pockets because all they do is try to profit off these poor kids. There's no quick answer."

[Newman]

I never thought I would agree with Kobe. He summed it up well in two words, "fancy crap"

[tiger46]

Kobe rips AAU but, the problem is much deeper. Here is a long article for anyone who wishes to get to the heart of why we are where we are at.
http://thecrossovermovement.wordpress.com/the-manifesto/usa-basketball-development

[basketballtime]

My son never would've made it into college ball and then later on his team if it wasn't for AAU ball. It gave him the chance to play against and compete against the highest level possible and improve his skill set at the highest level possible. You I'll never find that at your local high school gym. Competing iand practicing with some of New England's best athletes and basketball players allowed him to achieve these goals. It brings confidence to their game as well. Are all AAU teams great? Of course not but if you do your homework and put in the time and effort is no question that will help you. To be the best you have to compete against the past and practiced with the best that's a no-brainer.

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