Ugly basketball

Interesting blog entry from Damany Hendrix, the new boys basketball coach at Justin-Sienna High.

What Are We Doing?
Damany Hendrix
May 26, 2015

"Memorial Day weekend is a huuuge AAU weekend so I am sure a lot of you all watched a ton of games like I did this weekend. Does everyone else feel like I do?  What the hell are we doing? I watched so much bad basketball this weekend it almost made my stomach turn. What are we doing with these kids? Are we teaching them how to play basketball or what? Now let me be clear, there is not one “right” way to play the game of basketball, but there are a lot of “wrong” ways to play the game, and I continuously see more “wrong” than “right”.

This may be opinion based, and again I am not the basketball end all be all, but I have played, coached, and studied this game for years now and I have noticed a decline in the quality of the game. It’s become a lot more self-centered and star-centric. Whatever the cause is, we have to recognize there there is a problem before we can talk about fxing it. The NBA has recently come down hard on AAU basketball and I agree with their sentiments, especially after this weekend.

AAU compounded with this new rise in “trainer” has conributed to the decline of the game. I don’t think kids should play games every weekend and they need to be in the gym working on their skills, but now we have trainers enforcing bad habits just as much as these games do.  Now we have a bunch of kids that over dribble and go nowhere, and they can’t shoot. I can’t tell you how many times I saw a kid go one on one, dribble 10+ times and take a crazy contested pull up jumper. It’s actually become disgusting to watch. What are we teaching these kids? I observe kids when I am around them, I listen to the conversations and the watch their actions. Too many kids are glued to Youtube watching guys “mixtapes”. The rise in the mixtape has also contributed to the decline in the quality of the way the game is played. This Blog will be incomplete because I have too much to type and I don’t want to e too long winded but I am very passionate about the game and I hate to see the direction it’s going at the youth level. Then we wonder why college scores are down and the NCAA wants to change rules to try to increase the numbers. It has nothing to do with the rules, but everything to do with the players and their lack of basketball IQ, their understanding of what works at the college level offensively, and their inability to SHOOT! I want to write so much more but I will say this, DON’T ALLOW JUST ANYONE TO COACH YOUR KIDS. DON’T ALLOW JUST ANYONE TO TRAIN YOUR KID. DON’T JUST PLAY GAMES EVERY WEEKEND, GET QUALITY INSTRUCTION, AND LEARN TO SHOOT THE BALL MORE THAN YOU LEARN TO DRIBBLE THE BALL.

Coaches, take greater pride in teaching kids the fundamentals of the game. Teach them the importance of screening, cutting hard, boxing out, running the floor. Teach them a pump fake. Teach them to understand the game and not to just play it. Teach your guards to control the game, and be vocal. Teach them leadership skills. Teach them to respect the game and their coaches. TEACH THEM!!

Last thing. The most amazing part of my trip this weekend was taking my kids to see the Birthplace of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. They also got the see the final resting place of Dr. King and his wife. I really take pride in teaching my kids about the world. Basketball is a small aspect of life when you put it in perspective. Ball is not life. Commit to being great but that doesn’t mean that other things aren’t equally as or more important. Engage in your studies and your family because that’s life as well.  Peace and Blessings."