AAU, The Necessary Evil

It’s been a minute since I have posted, I have been travelling with my guys.  It feels so good to be back on the sidelines again.  I miss coaching, running a team, leading young men into battle.  I also miss being around young hoopers.  This is the main reason I coach is so I can develop relationships with these youngsters and teach them about life, and basketball, and college.  The bond created between player and coach is like no other.  So I am glad to be back.

With that being said, I also understand why AAU gets such a bad reputation, it is a horrible brand of basketball for the most part.  It’s very individualistic, poorly played, officiated and for the most part it is not GOOD basketball.  Local, and regional AAU for the most part is ridiculous.  It’s hard to even watch and digest.  In most cases it’s a guy with very little playing/coaching experience putting a team together to make a little bit of money off of parents, and putting out a horrible product.

On the other hand, elite AAU is absolutely necessary and not as bad as it’s being portrayed by some NBA players and pundits.  To be in a gym where you can watch Lebron vs Melo, or watch John Wall, Derek Rose, Brandon Jennings dominate a game.  There is nothing like it.  To see the best players go head to head is a treat in itself.  I have coached against guys that are playing well in the NBA, and I have coached guys that are playing in the NBA.  To see them at a young age battle against others that will one day play at the highest level is crazy.

I agree that most AAU is awful and can be done away with.  I would much rather see these kids working on their skills and playing in a tournament once a month during the spring and summer.  That would be ideal for their development.  I would love to see these local AAU programs practice 3 times per week and get in plenty of skill development as a team, run great offense and input defensive systems that teach the fundies of offense and defense, but this will not be the case.  AAU has become a form of baby sitting and summer activity for kids and parents.  Which is fine, but do not expect great results from that formula.

Elite AAU is pretty much dictated by college evaluation periods, so there isn’t much that can be done about that, and with most programs having kids that are “fly ins”, its tough to teach the fundamentals of offense and defense and it does become an isolation game and may the best player win type of deal, but I don’t think that this the most pressing issue with the game and the deterioration of “skill” like it’s being portrayed.  I see both sides and under stand the benefits of having the best play against the best all in one event.  It’s simply making it easier for the college coaches to get their recruiting done, saving budget money for the Colleges and Universities.  That is bigger than the surface.  It can be tweaked a bit but it will remain as is for now.  It is what it is.

ELITE AAU is the necessary evil.