Team Culture vs Individual Culture in Basketball

[charcat]

I think one of the great things about the NU Basketball story this year has been how this group of guys came together as a team to get to the NCAA's. For all the star culture of youth basketball and the one and done culture of some of the top teams, it is refreshing to see a team like NU do well with a great bunch of kids who have worked hard together to build something for themselves and their school. That is what made the NU story so compelling this year.

I thought of this when I read the CNN story about the UConn Coach's comments about how too many of the kids only think about themselves and how that is reinforced as they come up in basketball.

As NU gets the attention of top players going forward, Collins, like Fitz, needs to continue to recruit quality kids willing to be a part of a great team, not just a bunch of great basketball players.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/22/healt...iemma-video-youth-sports-parenting/index.html

 

[scru]

I think one of the great things about the NU Basketball story this year has been how this group of guys came together as a team to get to the NCAA's. For all the star culture of youth basketball and the one and done culture of some of the top teams, it is refreshing to see a team like NU do well with a great bunch of kids who have worked hard together to build something for themselves and their school. That is what made the NU story so compelling this year.

I thought of this when I read the CNN story about the UConn Coach's comments about how too many of the kids only think about themselves and how that is reinforced as they come up in basketball.

As NU gets the attention of top players going forward, Collins, like Fitz, needs to continue to recruit quality kids willing to be a part of a great team, not just a bunch of great basketball players.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/22/healt...iemma-video-youth-sports-parenting/index.html

I need this regard, recruiting character and fit, I think CCC has done really well to date. You could see the buy-in the entire team had from seniors down freshman. The bench was always engaged and supportive, even guys in difficult spots due to injury. Check out Anthony Gaige's twitter feed and you'll see a young man who appears very excited to join the team and already highly supportive of NU. As far as I can tell, there really has only been one miss. No names necessary. 11/12 is solid in my book.

 

[TheC]

One of the reasons Auriemma has been so successful is that he gets some of the best women's basketball players in the world coming out of high school and then totally breaks them down. They may have had egos coming in, but he destroys those and then builds them back up in the mold that he wants. It is amazing. It also helps that he has a track record of success to point to so the kids buy in. Check out the NCAA tournament edition of Sports Illustrated last week. In addition to the great article about our guys, there is also a really fascinating article about UConn women's star Katie Lou Samuelson. A really fascinating read.

 

[NUCat320]

You need guys from great high school teams , not just aau superstars.

I don't purport to know much about every recruit, but I do know that Pardon came from a powerhouse, Mc won a state title, and Lindsey's Fenwick program is strong (or, was strong in the 90s, when I last would have known).

AAU can show raw talent. But those kids don't even care about winning. They care about showing their raw athleticism.

The high school season - which requires teams to coalesce and relationships to evolve and strategy to adjust - is what always needs to matter most.

 

[elgatoloco]

You need guys from great high school teams , not just aau superstars.

I don't purport to know much about every recruit, but I do know that Pardon came from a powerhouse, Mc won a state title, and Lindsey's Fenwick program is strong (or, was strong in the 90s, when I last would have known).

AAU can show raw talent. But those kids don't even care about winning. They care about showing their raw athleticism.

The high school season - which requires teams to coalesce and relationships to evolve and strategy to adjust - is what always needs to matter most.

Not sure this is the case. Those coaches of those teams do care about winning because winning brings better players and shoe contracts. They win by recruiting, though. If the player wants to develop skills they usually have at least one trainer.

College coaches rely heavily on what they see on the AAU circuit, particularly the showcase events, because it's the best vs. the best. When they're at high school games it's usually just to be seen. I've seen teams stacked with D1 talent that are well-coached, teams stacked with D1 talent are indifferently coached, and teams with no future college players extremely well coached. All three types of teams can win state titles.