Kobe Bryant says European players more skilled then Americans, blames AAU

[Sportsguy9695]

 Kobe Bryant believes European basketball players are more skillful than American basketball players, and says it's a growing trend that can be blamed on the greed and coaching at the AAU level.
"I just think European players are just way more skillful," Bryant said Friday night after the Los Angeles Lakers' 109-106 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. "They are just taught the game the right way at an early age. ... They're more skillful. It's something we really have to fix. We really have to address that. We have to teach our kids to play the right way."
 
Bryant was quick to point the finger for the decline of skilled players in the United States.
"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."
Source: ESPN

 

[bosoxlover12]

For those who didn't know , kobe played euroball growing up as a kid, so this makes sense

 

[Teagz]

He's not wrong.

 

[Pugz]

brandon jennings said he doesn't agree.

i can see why.

 

[travesy3]

This is the most idiotic thing that I have ever read.

 

[RipCity32]

They might be more skilled. But that doesn't necessarily make them better basketball players. So I think he's right. 

 

[Giantmetfan07]

Not from the footage I've seen. 

 

[BwareDWare94]

This is the most idiotic thing that I have ever read.

 
Whoah whoah whoah, you realize that Kobe Bryant is 100% correct, right?
 
AAU focuses on athleticism. High school basketball games have come down to layups and the 2-3 kids that can actually shoot the 3 ball, and it often comes down to 2-3 kids combined between teams.
 
Developed skills have mostly vanished from the majority of American basketball.

 

[Giantmetfan07]

http://hardwoodparoxysm.com/2015/01/05/nba-youth-academy-alternative-aau-ncaa-basketball-development/

Excellent read and a very interesting concept.

The concept is to create a centralized NBA Youth Academy that is operated by the NBA and funded by all 30 teams. The NBA would open a private high school somewhere large enough to accommodate a school building for up to 3000 students along with student housing and basketball facilities for all 30 teams and would undergo the full accreditation process for whatever state or region they are located in this requires meeting set curriculum, faculty, and facility requirements set by state law.

This idea draws on how European soccer teams operate youth academies that serve as development grounds for young players. Soccer organizations that get these young players into their youth academies to develop them in their playing style and tailor their skills for the highest level are able to have a smoother transition when bringing young players onto their main squad.

Barcelona does this exceptionally well with their academy La Masia, which produced eleven players currently on their roster, including Gerard Pique, Xavi, Pedro, and Lionel Messi. The success Barcelona has had with their youth academy is greater than most, and this comes through their financial commitment to ensure that facilities and academic and athletic instructors are the best available. The financial cost for La Masia in 2009 was estimated to be around 5 million Euros (per Reuters), and included the cost of the school and all of the facilities.

The idea of the youth academy is that it allows teams to develop players skills to best fit the NBA game something that the high school and AAU levels often fail to do pitting the best young talent from around the world against each other on a regular basis, creating an ideal scouting environment. WIth regards to health and fitness, these players would have access to elite training staffs that would be tremendous for their physical development and each team would operate their own dining hall which provides an opportunity to keep the students on a much more regimented diet than they receive in high school. From a basketball development perspective, the players would be playing for top-level coaches that would build their fundamental skill-set as well as honing their skills for the style of the NBA.

The biggest problem with scouting high school talent is trying to understand their basic skill level because the competition is not equal. A 6-foot-6 player with ball-handling skills will be able to dominate at the high school and AAU level even if there are major flaws in his game that may not come to light until they reach the college or even professional level. Contesting games between teams made up of the best players from around the world players can be signed from all over at each age group would provide an unrivaled scouting opportunity for teams to evaluate players.

 

[Pugz]

would be great but sadly i can't see something like that happen anytime soon. would maybe cause some of the bigger hybrid type players to only play big though.

 

[elcheato]

It depends on ones definition of "skilled". Obviously Europeans focus on the fundamentals because their basketball players usually aren't as athletic and physically gifted. If they were, they'd play soccer.