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Youth Basketball European vs USA

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After a loss to the Memphis Grizzlies, Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard Kobe Bryant strongly criticized the USA basketball system of training, and especially the influence of AAU on American basketball.

 


Not only Kobe Bryant, but also other specialists who know the game of basketball take a strong position in this subject, agreeing that European basketball players are more skillful. Many times in the past, former NBA stars Charles Barkley and Robert Horry have  complemented European players for their skill, versatility, and intelligence. NBA coach Stan Van Gundy has also addressed the problems with youth basketball in the United States at a coaching clinic and, like others, he agrees that European athletes are taught to play basketball, so they have a better understanding of the game and better fundamentals than American athletes.

 

Why does all the blame go to AAU basketball?

 


Can we agree with Kobe’s opinion below?

 

“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.”

 

How can we fix that problem to meet in the middle? Is AAU basketball really causing so much drama in the development of American athletes?

 


I am a European professional basketball player who had a chance to experience both the American philosophy, playing at the college level, and that of the Europeans, growing up here, and later continuing my professional basketball career.
Can I agree with Kobe who said on Friday night, “I just think European players are just way more skillful. They are just taught the game the right way at an early age.  They’re more skillful. It’s something we really have to fix. We really have to address that. We have to teach our kids to play the right way.”?

 


I think the problem goes beyond AAU basketball. In my opinion it starts with coaches’ preparation to fully understand what it means to become coach. I think that becoming a coach in Europe is much harder than in USA.  Of course, this does not give you a guarantee that European coaches are always better prepared for this job. But in Europe the process of becoming a coach starts with your background, later followed by many coaches clinics, seminars, and ending with at least three different tests on kids, youth, and professional levels of coaching. Compare that to USA where the only requirement to become a coach in high school (for example in the state of Illinois)  is to pass  the ASEP test online and get few recommendations, which means that anybody can become a coach without much effort. I do not necessarily think that the problem is on the coaches’ side, but rather on the system that high school programs are forced to apply.

 

Not long ago a lot of schools in USA had to cut physical education programs, because of  budget constraints. For the same reason, high school’s athletic programs do not necessarily attract the best coaches. Because of budget cuts high school principals are forced to hire teachers whose extra responsibility is to coach a sports team, sometimes even more than one. Therefore, we cannot expect high school coaches to have an adequate knowledge of basketball and fundamentals unless we allow the teachers to teach, and find a bigger budget to attract more knowledgeable full-time coaches at the high school level.

 

The other problem with AAU and/or club basketball that I see, and Kobe seems to notice too, is that AAU puts a lot of pressure on young athletes to play in  exposure tournaments. This means that after the regular season, basketball athletes never have time for active recovery, which in the future could cause major injuries. Additionally, they do not want to sacrifice AAU tournaments to work on their fundamentals during the summer because of the pressure of being recruited potential of receiving a scholarship. Getting an athletic scholarship is also extremely beneficial for parents financially; therefore the pressure to attend these tournaments is very high.

 


 If instead of spending time on AAU tournaments, athletes would spend quality time on active recovery after their season, and later in the summer invest their time in proper individual work outs, maybe the risk of future injuries would be lower. Also, schools who offer scholarships could benefit, because they would not have to waste up to an entire season to help adjust and prepare freshmen for college level basketball.

 


Since I am European player, I can proudly agree with Kobe that European players have better fundamentals, but on the other hand, we spend less time on strength and conditioning aspects, therefore we lose the battle against stronger, and more athletic American athletes. By the time young European basketball players reach the point to play professionally, they hit the reality of not being physically ready to compete with more experienced athletes, which very often results in injury as well.

 


So how can we meet in the middle to create a perfect environment for the development of skillful and physically ready athletes?

 

First of all, we need to give athletes enough freedom to decide how dedicated they are to sacrifice their summer for active recovery and preparation for next season without feeling pressure. Next we need to surround them with knowledgeable high school coaches who are able to teach athletes fundamentals, and get them ready for college level basketball. In order to do that, we have to change regulations allowing hiring coaches who do not have responsibility to teach subjects, but rather can just focus on being a coach.

 


To follow that, athletic departments must offer a bigger budget to have a chance to attract better coaches willing to teach fundamentals on the high school level, or at least the ability  to offer current coaches seminars and clinics to improve. In order to do that, we must stay open minded and being willing to accept the fact that game of basketball does not stay constant. Rather, it changes, and although the general rules of this game stay the same, the methods of training twenty years ago might not apply to the current dynamics of the game. Therefore, as coaches we have to continue learning not only from other coaches, but also from our athletes. This way we can meet athletes’ needs and expectations, allowing them fully enjoy the game of basketball as long as is possible in the best health.

 

Last but not least, we must have a better selection of coaches, keeping in mind that this  is an investment in the development of athletes who will continue to create a successful American sports culture. (D.M-Z.)

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