Is Kevin Garnett's "AAU Killing The NBA" Point Valid?
Earlier this week, Kevin Garnett made the headlines about some interesting comments over AAU basketball. And he said it in only 5 words:
"AAU has killed our league."
Of course he went into further detail: "Our league now is at a point where you have to teach more than anything. AAU has killed our league. Seriously, I hate to even say this, but it’s real. From the perspective that these kids are not being taught anything. They have intentions and they want things, but the way they see it is not how our league works. You earn everything in this league. You’re not entitled to anything."
Boom.
Of course, people who have been in AAU ball have vehemently disagreed with Garnett, whether or not it has been coaches, players, etc. whether they "respectfully disagree" or in Georgia Tech's head coach Josh Pastner's case, "bologna."
I don't think from an idealistic standpoint that the AAU was set out to do that obviously. In my perspective, the AAU is to enhance players skills in order for them to go to the next level from high school to college and to the pros, whether it is the NBA or abroad. That is the goal. It is very well organized, competition is stronger, and with social media out, you can see more of what players have to offer. In it's purest form, the AAU SHOULD be good for college and the pros.
Obviously I said the word "SHOULD." Unfortunately, the AAU is far from perfect so in my eyes, Kevin Garnett is not wrong at all. But it starts with a lot of the coaches, but I don't think somebody like Josh Pastner fits THIS bill. Not to get into a lot of detail about me, but I have coached or helped coach at middle school level for 3 years. And you can tell the players who are on AAU squads whether it is on your own team or other teams. There is a talent level that is separate from the other players who have not played on an AAU level. That said, there is also a bit of an attitude level separate that is a bit alarming with the players. The ones who have that AAU experience, from my observations is that they tune out their school head coaches far more than other players. If you go to these school games I have been to, you see the head coaches from AAU teams in the stands telling their players on the court something totally different from the school coaches. And what you get is a conflict of interest.
This past year I helped my wife's cousin with his team (scouting mostly) in basketball. Early on, there was tons of tension on the team with the starters. Why? The starting 5 of the team plus the first one off the bench being all on AAU teams. All on DIFFERENT AAU teams. You had your center and power forward playing for one AAU squad and they were really playing a two-man game early on in the season while the small forward and shooting guard were on another rival AAU team and were playing their kind of game they were coached on with AAU. And then you had the point guard (who himself was also on a separate AAU squad), who had no clue what to do with them. And there was arguing, griping and bickering early on. The team started off 3-0 playing (in lack of a better word) 3 cream-puff teams and then the schedule picked up with some of the better schools in the area. They fell apart and fast. And I remember hearing that one of the AAU coaches (the one coaches the center and power forward) pretty much install into his power forward's brain of how he is a great shooter and whatnot. But the school coach wanted him to drive to the basket and stop taking outside jumpers. While the player would nod his head and say yes to his school coach, he wouldn't do it to the point of frustrating the coach so bad he considered benching him (who happened to be the best player on the team) for a game (at least not starting). But the thing is, his AAU coach installed this belief that this player was a shooter and needed to shoot while not playing more of a physical presence.
Now, what I am getting at is this: it took hard work and effort for the school coach to install a different mentality to his players and work his players out of the AAU mindset and into the school ball mindset where they need to continue to work on skills. And he was not one to feed nonsensical drivel to his players. He told them what they NEEDED to hear and not what they WANTED to hear. I have a feeling these AAU coaches, judging by my experience from them is they see these potentially college prospects in the making and instead of sharpening their games, they feed these kids egos way up, saying how they can play at the next levels with ease with just the raw talent they have. My "cousin-in-law" (as I call him) did an amazing job battling over the egos and the tension among the players through that, got them to play HIS way and got to the championship game. It was quite honestly an awesome sight to watch. If he REALLY wanted to, I could easily see him being a D-3 or D-2 college coach. With that said, he was really fighting a war with these AAU coaches during the season, making sure his players were more focused on the team he coached.
But the thing is, and this is why I think my cousin-in-law is one great coach is that he is able to get players to play HIS way and have his style go over the AAU style his players play outside of school. But he is one of the rare ones who is able do it. These coaches I have seen in my area that are AAU as I mentioned earlier, are not about improving players' skill levels. It is, "let's see who I can ride to show I am a great coach." It is more or less an ego trip for them. A few years back, I worked with another basketball team at another school and I overheard an AAU coach tell his player on the school basketball team "not to listen" to what his school coach said and do what he is best at doing. Unfortunately, what the player thought he was "best at doing" was taking 3 point shots and trying to break out of presses to which he committed 10 turnovers and went 0-for-10 from beyond the arc, to which he was benched in the entire 4th quarter.
As I mentioned, I think there are A LOT of AAU coaches who are very good coaches and get a lot out of their players. But that said, the few ones who are really want to get that glamour and glitz of showing that he "coached" these 4 or 5-star recruits to go to Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, and so on have made it very difficult on the coaches at the next level. We can talk about how great coaches like Coach K, Calipari, etc. are. But they can "tolerate" these players that come up and that are AAU because, well, once those players leave and genuinely believe they can play at the next level in the NBA, they can just get the next best guys out of where ever they want. And for those guys, it is all about winning. And for the players, they go to those guys for the reason of, "well, they produce the players to get to the NBA while other coaches can't. Those coaches know nothing." And they have that mindset. These players we see now, the skills are very limited. If somebody has a nice jumper, nobody is telling them to come up with other skills to help out, whether it is to play more physical on the defensive end, or attack the floor to make themselves multi-faceted.
Which brings me back to the college to the pros bit. Garnett is right as you see these players who are freshmen in college who strongly believe they can do it at the next level. Some might be right, but others may have birdies whisper in their ears saying "hey, look, I told you back when you were 14 that you were going to be the next big thing in the NBA. Don't worry about what your college coach says. You're ready!" And they declare, only to be drafted in the 2nd round and going into the NBA D-League where they don't sniff a chance at getting to the NBA with any team. Or they are, and then they are riding the pine as the 11th and 12th men of their teams. Or they may be on teams that have little talent and see a lot of playing time, only to get to be on a poster for LeBron, Durant, Harden, etc. And then a few years later, you never hear from them again.
Overall, I think AAU basketball, for it's pure purpose is excellent as it does prep these players for the higher levels of basketball. However, it is who runs these squads that have different motives. A few has ruined the many where these players do not continue to build off the skills and really not have that basketball "knowledge" or "instincts" that players like LeBron, Curry, or Durant have now. So really, if you need to change the game and look into the AAU, look at some of the coaches who are not really coaching them, but feeding these potentially great players nonsensical drivel and stunting their growth as players. That is just my two cents.
-Fan in the Obstructed Seat
