Sunday, May 20, 2007

AAU Basketball

AAU basketball is a helluva interesting thing. For you that don't know, AAU basketball is played by high school players in the spring and summer for the main purpose of being seen by colleges. That's part of the reason that AAU basketball is interesting.

Everyone wants to excel in front of the college recruiters. This means everyone wants to be in the game at all times. That is difficult though because most teams are basically all-star teams with good players 1-10 on their depth chart. So, in many instances players get upset about not starting, not playing enough minutes, not getting enough shots, not getting enough touches, not playing down the stretch in close games. I think we can all see the drama building.

That drama created between players and coaches and players and players is compounded when you throw in the parent factor. They are also worried about their kid and their kid only getting minutes and points and stuff like that. The small amount of drama created between players and coaches is nothing compared to that of coaches and parents. Parents are usually less understanding and less patient.

The drama often boils over into fights and verbal arguments. Parents being the ones who usually start the verbal abuse. Players usually just gripe to a couple teammates and once in awhile say something small to their coach. Parents will complain to other parents in the stands and then to the coach at some point. A lot of parents are being bad role models to their kids about how to deal with problems and it is pretty disgusting.