Kobe Takes Shot at AAU Basketball

[Stallion]

"AAU basketball," Bryant said. "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."
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When you have limitations and you understand your limitations and you stay within yourself, you can be great," Kobe Bryant said. "You know what you can do and what you can't do. In America, it's a big problem for us because we're not teaching players how to play all-around basketball. That's why you have Pau and Marc [Gasol], and that's the reason why 90 percent of the Spurs' roster is European players, because they have more skill."
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"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"

"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."


http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/stor ... blames-aau

Look Kobe just said what all colleges coaches know but can't say

[blackoutpony]

He's right

[ponyscott]

Way too general...there are good AAU teams with good coaches that teach the fundamentals and don't just throw the ball out there.

[GiddyUp]

Way too general...there are good AAU teams with good coaches that teach the fundamentals and don't just throw the ball out there.

true, but kids are more interested in the highlight than fundamental basketball. More of a society thing. It is a general statement but just seems like a trend to me. The European players coming into the NBA are very fundamentally sound the last 5-10 yrs in NBA.

[CalallenStang]

Way too general...there are good AAU teams with good coaches that teach the fundamentals and don't just throw the ball out there.

true, but kids are more interested in the highlight than fundamental basketball. More of a society thing. It is a general statement but just seems like a trend to me. The European players coming into the NBA are very fundamentally sound the last 5-10 yrs in NBA.

I think that's more of a product of ESPN than AAU

[couch 'em]

Who is better paid in the NBA, the highlight stars or the fundamental guys?

[CalallenStang]

Who is better paid in the NBA, the highlight stars or the fundamental guys?

Moreover, who gets the bigger shoe contract?

[whitwiki]

Well the real superstars, like kobe, are meticulous about fundamentals too

[lwjr]

"AAU basketball," Bryant said. "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."
-----------------------------------------------
When you have limitations and you understand your limitations and you stay within yourself, you can be great," Kobe Bryant said. "You know what you can do and what you can't do. In America, it's a big problem for us because we're not teaching players how to play all-around basketball. That's why you have Pau and Marc [Gasol], and that's the reason why 90 percent of the Spurs' roster is European players, because they have more skill."
----------------------------------------------
"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"

"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."


http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/stor ... blames-aau

Look Kobe just said what all colleges coaches know but can't say

Didn't Coach a Brown say something similar about NBA D-League?

[Morris Code 11]

Who is better paid in the NBA, the highlight stars or the fundamental guys?

"The Big Fundamental" gets paid pretty well. Nice longevity too. Finals appearances/rings solid. Not sure how many rings Vince Carter has.

Kobe has the best fundamentals in the league, that's why he is still playing at this level at this age when his athleticism is all but gone. No matter how you dice it, bball fundamentals are essential if you want to WIN, especially over the long term. We'll see how many playoff wins gerald green and demar derozan rack up.