From this month's Basketball Times.
Basketball development: Europe vs U.S.Go here for the remainder.
A thorough exam of the Euro
Marc Isenberg
June 30, 2009
Editor's note: What are the differences between the U.S. and European developmental systems? Marc Isenberg visited the Reebok Eurocamp in Treviso, Italy, to find out. He discovered a system that has much to envy, and some parts to be ignored.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.”
—Mark Twain
We have a dysfunctional basketball development system in the United States. The Redeem Team might have gotten USA Basketball back on track last summer at the Beijing Olympics, but the problems run deeper. Youth development is lagging. There are too many disparate and self-serving agendas involved.
Yes, we want to be competitive in basketball and mold fine young men and women. But we also want to use basketball as a vehicle to drive revenue. Just like politics and business, we start out with great, noble concepts, then sell it, milk it, bid up the price and finally wonder why things go awry. It’s the American Way.
When a problem emerges in college athletics, the response is often predictable. Downplay controversy. Absolve blame. Shoot the messenger. Form a “blue-ribbon” task force. Rinse. Repeat...
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1 comment:
I didn't get much out of that article. College basketball isn't some broken institution that hurts those that choose to play. It actually gives them the opportunity to get a degree for free; it's the most entertaining basketball in the world for my money; it plays into regional and institutional rivalries that have been built over many decades; and finally, if the players were allowed to practice 6 hours a day that would not lead to there being one more available spot on an NBA roster than there is now. There are only so many spots available.
I say let Europe be Europe and the US be the US. It's worked out pretty good for us so far.
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