Farewell My Summer Love

Farewell My Summer Love....Sorry I have to say goodbye one more time as this song always reminds me that it's time to go back to school.... I hope your summer love was training and developing your game! We will soon find out won't we?


Startling Confessions

By KEVIN CLARK

When the season begins, many will learn something else: They don’t know how to play basketball.

One system that prepares young American players for the pros, the Amateur Athletic Union, is, by most accounts, broken. Without a rigid minor-league system like baseball’s or the extra seasoning football players get in college, America’s basketball gems increasingly get their training from teams affiliated with the Amateur Athletic Union, a vast national youth-basketball circuit that has groomed many of the sport’s top stars.

For some time, coaches have grumbled that the AAU’s emphasis on building stars and playing games over practicing produces a lot of talented prospects who have great physical skills but limited knowledge of the fundamentals. Now some players are speaking out.

By the middle of the last NBA season, as concerns build about his dwindling playing time and rough transition to the NBA, last year’s No. 2 overall pick, Michael Beasley of the Miami Heat, finally conceded a fundamental flaw: No one, at any level in his basketball career, had asked him to play defense. And especially not in AAU. “If you’re playing defense in AAU, you don’t need to be playing,” he says. “I’ve honestly never seen anyone play defense in AAU.”

An AAU official declined to comment for this article.

The chorus of critics ranges from AAU player Alex Oriakhi, a McDonald’s All-American center who plans to play for the University of Connecticut, who says shooting guards he’s seen in AAU are in for a “rude awakening” to USA Basketball officials and NBA coaches.

Founded in 1888, the AAU’s first goal was to represent American sports internationally. AAU teams blossomed in many sports, and the organization became a driving force in preparing Olympic athletes. In 1978, the Amateur Sports Act established a governing body for American Olympic sports, usurping the AAU’s role as an Olympic launching pad. Its most notable sport today is basketball, where it counts Magic Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal and LeBron James among its alumni.

In recent years the circuit has gone from a high school diversion—a way to supplement school teams—to a highly organized and often well-funded operation. The non-profit AAU moved its headquarters in 1996 from Indianapolis to Orlando, where it hosts national championships at a palatial Disney World complex.

Shoe companies have sponsored AAU teams as a way to develop early relationships with future superstars. Agents and college coaches have flocked to AAU games, where they can get to know players outside the watchful high-school system. The opportunity to travel across the country and play in front of these kingmakers—often on teams with other top prospects—is something high schools can’t deliver.

The result is a mixture of unrestrained offense and Harlem Globetrotter defense: Even with 32-minute games, far shorter than the NBA’s 48 or NCAA’s 40, top AAU teams often score more than 70 points and sometimes more than 80.

“It’s a bad system for developing players,” says Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy. “They aren’t learning to handle the ball, they aren’t learning to make plays against pressure. The emphasis with our high-school players is to get exposure and play as many games as you can and show everybody how great you are. If I can win the 11-and-12 year old league and tell all my friends about it, that is a whole lot more important than if my kids actually get any better or learn anything about the game.”

In Europe, Mr. Van Gundy says, “those guys are doing five or six practices for every game. They are spending a lot of time in the gym working on individual skills. It’s reversed here.”

New Orleans Hornets forward Peja Stojakovic, who is Serbian, remembers spending four hours a day dribbling through chairs and working on defense and other fundamentals in practices. Mr. Beasley, on the other hand, says he can’t remember any specific defensive drills his AAU teams ran. “If you put structure into AAU,” he says, “no one would play.”

No prospect in this year’s draft knows this better than point guard Brandon Jennings. Last year, Mr. Jennings was one of America’s best high-school point guards and the quintessential product of AAU. Rather than doing a one-year minimum stint in college before entering the NBA draft, he played a season in Italy where, he says, things were different.

His time in Europe began with a rare stretch for an AAU product: He went weeks without touching a basketball. His team spent the preseason running across Roman parks and soccer fields.

In September, they retreated to an Italian mountain hideaway for two weeks and ran there, too. They practiced fundamentals and rarely scrimmaged. Coming from the AAU, this was new for Mr. Jennings, who averaged 5.5 points per game in limited minutes during the in Italy.

It was, he says, the most intense two weeks of his basketball life. If he’d never gone to Europe, he says, “I wouldn’t know the pick-and-roll game. I wouldn’t know how to guard, wouldn’t know how to fight through screens. I’m stronger now.”

Mr. Jennings, who will almost certainly be a first-round pick Thursday, says the experience will give him an edge over other players in the draft.

In a bid to make sure players are more seasoned before they go pro, the NBA, in 2006, began requiring players to be 19 and a year out of high school to enter the draft. While college’s best players often leave after one or two years, four years of college can sometimes help a career: take fundamentally sound North Carolina forward Tyler Hansbrough, who could be a first-round pick Thursday, despite widespread knocks on his athleticism. The league has also built a minor league system, the NBA Development League, though it is only used for high draft picks in extreme cases.

In 2008, the NBA and NCAA also announced a youth initiative, called iHoops, to improve the American structure.

While the U.S. national basketball team redeemed itself with a gold medal in Beijing after a string of embarrassments in international play, Jerry Colangelo, the national director of USA Basketball who is in charge of the Olympic team, says the system is still deeply flawed. He suggests giving high school coaches more access to their players, especially in the summer.

The AAU system has its defenders. New Orleans Hornets guard Chris Paul says that thanks to the AAU, he learned to play the style of the Utah Jazz’s offense when he was 11-years old and credits AAU for starting his development into one of the top point guards in the NBA. He now runs his own AAU team, the CP3 All-Stars in North Carolina.

“Some coaches teach fundamentals, some coaches run and show athleticism. It’s not necessarily a problem because it’s up to you to watch and concentrate,” he says.

Anthony Lewis, an AAU coach from Baltimore who helped develop Rudy Gay of the Memphis Grizzlies, who was the No. 8 draft pick in 2006, says AAU helped teach the skinny 13-year-old not to settle for easy shots.

“We taught him to work away from the bucket,” Mr. Lewis says. “Working on mid-range at a young age, putting the ball on the floor, making him aggressive.”

5 Minutes 100 Lay-Ups

The goal of this drill is to make 100 lay-ups in less than 5 minutes. Perform Right-Handed and Left Handed. Start with two lines and balls in each lines on opposite corners of the court. Pass to the elbow (coach, manager, or player) sprint wide and fast to the opposite basket where you receive a bounce pass for a lay-up. You must use the appropriate hand, left hand left side and right hand right side. No dribbles attack the rim, catch and finish. Check it out:

No Weight Room, No Problem

Every year coaches, parents and players babble on and on about how a player needs to get stronger, faster and more athletic. Despite the obvious when the season is over the weight room rarely is occupied, no one is out on the field doing agility drills and the list of excuses is endless.  In some cases I understand that your school or team's weight room is a closet with some dust and 1970 Phys Ed equipment. In other cases you have state of the art equipment but somehow the good life also breeds complacent attitudes and behaviors. Fear not, I'm here to help. Here are a few simple things you can do that require very little space, equipment or excuses. 

No More Excuses!

Dad's Sports Lessons

As we celebrate Father's Day there is no denying the close bond that exists between Father's and their sons when it comes to sports. It's a great way to learn, share and gain life lessons that extend well beyond the field or court. On this Father's Day I would like to share a few memorable lessons I learned from my Dad that helped me in sports and in life. 

Lesson #1 The Science Project:

Pop Warner Football was a great experience for me, I can remember it like it was yesterday. The first day when they line you up to see how fast you are, the first time you learn to put on your uniform on in less than 30 minutes, boiling your mouth piece so it fits just right. All these moments were special rites of passage. Once the games came, I was a natural running and easily surpassing 100 yards game after game. Football was so much fun, for me it was just like playing in the back yard with my brothers and friends. Somewhere along the lines I started enjoying my new found celebrity status a little too much. I decided I was destined for greatness at a very early age and decided to wait until the last minute to complete a science project for the school science fair. Needless to say I flunked my science project, a phone call went home and I was in big trouble. No more football practice, no more football games and no more adulation from my peers. Upon discovering my crime and punishment, my caring Pop Warner Coach decided to ring the door bell and plea with my father to change his mind about punishing me. "We have a big game coming up", "This town has never had an undefeated team", "We need him to play so that we can win and go to Florida". To which my father responds..."if you can guarantee that he will be a first round NFL Draft Pick, then he can play. If you can't you need to get back in your car and go where you came from." To add insult to injury I was allowed to attend the next game....in street clothes. As I walked in I could hear the other team whispering and pointing as if they were saying he's not playing, this game will be easy. As I sat in the bleachers on the home side, the stares weren't nearly as polite. I could sense the anger from other parents who thought it was selfish to penalize the team by not playing. They wouldn't get to experience an undefeated team, and the chances of competing in Florida were out the window. I barely remember the game because my eyes were filled with tears so I couldn't see a thing. Lesson learned, school and responsibility comes first.

Lesson #2 Tuesdays and Thursdays:

Depending on what town you live in your garbage probably gets picked up twice a week. In my second lesson from Dad I learned that these are days you never want to forget. It's funny how success can sometimes make us forget the important responsibilities and commitments we agree to, but it's always good to have someone close to you remind you where you come from in order to maintain your humility. If you know me at all, you know basketball has done many wonderful things for me and afforded me many opportunities that I otherwise might not have gotten. Picture me as a teenager playing basketball at a very high level. Unlike today, there were no glorified AAU Teams or travel teams so I had to earn my reputation through the newspaper and word of mouth by beating the older players and grown men. Word spread around town quickly that I was that guy, and the point was reinforced every time someone approached my dad and said "oh you're Daryl Smith's Dad" your son is a one helluva ball-player! What they failed to realize was that my Dad played professional football and was actually drafted pro in football, baseball and basketball from a Division III School! He wasn't impressed by some 14 year old kid, his son or anyone else's. Boy I could only imagine how it feels to have someone approach you as a parent only recognizable through your child's accomplishments. Fast forward to July I'm home from Five-Star Basketball Camp competing against the best competition in America and holding my own. Big Time College Coaches know my name and are asking about me, I'm scoring 30 points a game in summer league you couldn't tell me anything. Well actually you could, and my Dad did. One day I came home after one of those great 30 point games feeling on top of the world and forgot that it was Thursday and the trash needed to go out that morning. As I walked into my room there were no college letters and packages only the trash that I had forgotten to take out earlier that morning.

Lesson # 3 Wake-Up Early and Prepare:

What time do you wake up every morning and what's the first thing you do? For many, it's wake up get coffee, turn on the television and eat the least nutritious thing you can possibly find. In my house dad woke up very early, ran a few miles, lifted weights and then managed to get the rest of us up in time for work or school. Needless to say that leaves a pretty indelible image in your young mind. I can remember one summer watching my older brother join my dad as he prepared to become a Division 1 defensive back. They would wake up hit the track, do all kinds of drills and then lift weights. I wanted no parts of that, after all I was cool and besides I already was the talk of the town. Why should I get up early and do extra things to make myself better? One day I reluctantly joined in on one of the early shifts, except me being the defiant independent one decided I was going to bring my basketball and do my own thing. I began to participate, but not really I was going through the motions. Eventually my brother's hard work paid off and he became a starting safety at an Ivy League School. My dad was still in great shape and every now and then he and my brother would get on the court and try to ruff me up and expose the weaker parts of my game in front of others. "He can't shoot from the corner, he doesn't like to go left" they would say. Now what would normally be my own personal highlight reel game was being undermined by my own blood! There was only one way to get even, I got up early worked on my left hand and my shot from the corner became deadly. These lessons would come in handy when I got to college and didn't play a lot my freshman year. I quickly remembered those early morning sessions and extra preparation. I can still remember to this day being up early running without an IPOD, but rather a very heavy Portable Cassette Player. There is something very peaceful about being up before your competition and knowing that you are preparing to beat them while they are home sleeping. Once I was finished running I would go to the park and start shooting from the corner and dribbling with my left hand going back to turn my weaknesses into strengths. My hard work paid off and I became a 3 year starter and captain of the team. I was always the best conditioned player on the team and I will always attribute that to Dad teaching me to wake up early and prepare. More important than that, those who really know me know that I still wake up early  to workout, collect my thoughts and do some of my best thinking and preparation while others are turning on the TV and reaching for the least nutritious thing they can find.

Happy Father's Day to all the Dad's out there, especially mine for teaching me that responsibility comes before sports, you should always remain humble despite your success, and you have to wake up early and prepare if you want to succeed in life!