zls44
Your #icebus Tour Director
- Joined
- Aug 24, 2011
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When I stepped off the plane from California after returning home from the Elite 24 high school basketball showcase last August, “it” was building. The feeling percolated and simmered to the point of sadness. The level of concern for this generation of players was weighing on my mind.
OK, that’s not exactly truthful. It actually took only five minutes into the event’s first scrimmage for “it” to begin. It was a feeling that crystallized as I watched two dozen of the best high school basketball players in the country gather for what should have been a chance to improve, push themselves and measure themselves against other great players.
Instead, what we saw was a microcosm of some of the ills of the game manifesting in one final end-of-summer setting. Don’t get me wrong. Some players were buttoned up, had their shirts tucked in and were working hard. But those players were in the minority. Most of the guys loafed around the bench, feigned injury and couldn’t have been more disinterested. I can’t say there was anyone pushing them or holding them accountable, but that’s merely part of the bigger problem.
The effort on the court was bad enough. Seven minutes in, the scrimmage disintegrated into a cherry-picking contest of uncontested dunks and missed layups. Having been in all-star settings before, expectations are low. But this was unreal. The best way to sum it up would be to say if college coaches had been allowed in the building, scholarships would have been pulled. Yes, it was that bad.
When I stepped off the plane from California after returning home from the Elite 24 high school basketball showcase last August, “it” was building. The feeling percolated and simmered to the point of sadness. The level of concern for this generation of players was weighing on my mind.
OK, that’s not exactly truthful. It actually took only five minutes into the event’s first scrimmage for “it” to begin. It was a feeling that crystallized as I watched two dozen of the best high school basketball players in the country gather for what should have been a chance to improve, push themselves and measure themselves against other great players.
Instead, what we saw was a microcosm of some of the ills of the game manifesting in one final end-of-summer setting. Don’t get me wrong. Some players were buttoned up, had their shirts tucked in and were working hard. But those players were in the minority. Most of the guys loafed around the bench, feigned injury and couldn’t have been more disinterested. I can’t say there was anyone pushing them or holding them accountable, but that’s merely part of the bigger problem.
The effort on the court was bad enough. Seven minutes in, the scrimmage disintegrated into a cherry-picking contest of uncontested dunks and missed layups. Having been in all-star settings before, expectations are low. But this was unreal. The best way to sum it up would be to say if college coaches had been allowed in the building, scholarships would have been pulled. Yes, it was that bad.
