[Mr.Knick 32Participant]

I believe that AAU hurt basketball a little bit.

AAU- How could you hate someone you’d played with for 5, 6, 7 years? Think about it: If your Austin Rivers: Can you really hate someone if you played on the same AAU team together? Could Brandon Knight look at Kyrie Irving and say ” My goal? Being better then him” when odds are they played games vs each other, went to big camps together and probably hung out dozens off times at said camps. In the time where #1 pick John Wall and #4 DeMarcus Cousins played together since the ages of 14 and 15: If those two became the best players in the NBA- How could one have the same level or hatred or ( to a lesser extent) that someone like Magic, Jordan, Bird or even Barkley had for his opponents when winning was on the line?

What do you think?

[FDAPO]

This is ridiculous…

So you are encouraging that they separate all the good players from each other and while they are at it train them to despise each other.

[Malik-UniversalParticipant]

in those situations, a persons tru competitive spirit is unrealuquished

[Mr.Knick 32Participant]

No, What I’m saying is we have players who are just robots out there in NCAA and even NBA when playing players they are good friends with.

Go watch Jordan vs Barkley in 93 or Jordan vs Magic in 91 or the Lakers-Celtics in the 80’s. That was more tougher basketball where even when some players were friends- They weren’t friends on the court at all.

[Tyreke JohnsonParticipant]

It depends, in that sense it really can ruin a players competitiveness with other players to the point where they will try to beat them no matter what and are rivals with each other but also it has really helped basketball. Players who would never get recognized are getting fair chances playing AAU, big time schools would not be looking at small town teams schools even if they had good players, having to these showcases gives players the chance to show their game and get nationally ranked and recognized, it also is easier for scouts and coaches to view these players because they are all condensed in one area whereas back in the day, scouting would take you to every part of the country whereas in todays game the showcases are in Vegas, West Virginia, Pittsburgh, Providence, and Orlando. So it really depends how you look at it, because it can really make it easier on scouts and players to get a chance at their basketball dreams.

[SubZeroParticipant]

About the Knight-Irving thing, not necessarily. Both my best friends and I play basketball and baseball together for our school, and we’re always trying to one-up each other. Sometimes, it’s better if you know them personally

[delfamParticipant]

AAU has ruined recruiting IMO, AAU is all about running up and down the court in a fast-paced offense seeing who has the most athleticism.

Alot of good point guards who aren’t as athletic fail to impress in these games and don’t get recruited but when put in real game situations they thrive, this is where I think AAU has ruined basketball.

[651TwolvesParticipant]

The way ball was played during “the golden years” (70’s, 80’s, into 90’s). What I mean is that the NBA has gone from set, strategic offense, to more of a freelance, individual driven offense. Players have better competition during the AAU season than the highschool season. And more often than not, highschool ball is where players learn set plays; AAU is more of the freelance style to showcase players offensive skills.

Im not saying one style is better than the other, but with players participating in more games during the AAU season vs highschool, while playing during the highschool season, it seems that they are growing more during AAU.

[goneParticipant]

Charles and Mike were good friends off court but went at it on the court

[delfamParticipant]

that’s exactly what I was trying to say, that’s why alot of recruits go missing cause the don’t play well in that freelance style..

[CelticJayhawkParticipant]

AAU encourages street ball and 1v1, and it discourages team basketball. AAU puts lesser value on fundamentals and more emphasis on the flashy play…that’s why they got rid of the nike camps and the ABCD camp so they could replace it with the skills academy’s (lebron, pierce, bryant, williams, amare). AAU got a lot of heat for when our olympic teams sucked.

[SubZeroParticipant]

That’s exactly why I sucked in the few AAU games I played in when I was 13 2 years ago lol

[SteroidParticipant]

Some people just are more competitive than others. Whether you’re playing your best friend or your worst enemy, none of that really doesn’t matter on the court to a competitor. Certainly, some of that can play a part in how hard you play, but I don’t think it would affect you to the point where you’d wanna drop a game or go soft. For instance, I compete with my friends in a lot of different things, and when I do, I want to beat them even worse just because they’re my friends. You compete to win, and not because of friendships or hatred even though they can have some effects, but not the effects you would think, because I like punishing my friends when I’m competing with them. I want them to know who’s the alpha dog in the group. If I was a professional basketball player, and if I played a close friend of mine, I’d play them harder than anyone.

[JuicyMcnamusParticipant]

John wall and eric bledsoe played together at kentucky and im sure they played against each other durin high school and when it came time for summer league they went at each other on the court,

[SupParticipant]

Yes, it did ruin basketball just not for those reasons. Quite frankly through because of corruption AAU has become more important to the players and D1 coaches than actual highschool basketball. That’s a problem, it takes the heart out of these kids, there is no loyalty in AAU. Winning barely matters to scouts at AAU games, they just look at athleticism and potential. A person I know avgeraged 5ppg for his high school career…after senior year had one good AAU game and got a full scholarship to Seton Hall.

[delfamParticipant]

good point, they don’t care about winning. Winning is all that matters but these scouts don’ care, you look at someone like Derek Fisher and he doesn’t put up the best numbers but he wins cause he knows when to shot and when to control tempo. It’s hard to find players like that in AAU.

[courtvisionmagParticipant]

the NBA is a small close nit group where most of the players are close. the competitiveness of each player will create rivaries. Playing in a circut together will create that. If a player was out played by another they can get back at them at the next event. Them seeing each other all the time does not forbid them from being competitive. Michael, Bird, and Magic were all friends, and their rivalries came from playing each other so much.

http://www.courtvisionmag.com

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