“In basketball, there’s two or three aspects of the game that are emphasized to the point that it discourages kids from learning any of the other skills.” -D’Vante Mosby
Since I work full-time as a mental health counselor, let’s talk about some anxiety that I’m having:
I love basketball. Always have, always will. I say that on the front end because I don’t want to sound like the angry old guy (I’m only 26) yelling about how things used to be better back in my day. That’s not what this is - it’s a legitimate concern for something I care about. I also don’t think it’s all bad. Right now, the state of the sport of basketball is at an all-time high. More people are following the NBA than ever before, and the game has spread all over the world. And in my opinion, the more basketball, the better.
So, I’m not worried about the sport of basketball, I’m worried about trends I see in the way the game itself is being played. Primarily, scoring the ball is the only basketball skill that is emphasized by players, teams, scouts, coaches, and organizational leaders. And look, I get it, winning a basketball game requires putting the ball in the hoop more times than the other team. Plus, offense and scoring are super fun. So, I’m not saying the ability to score shouldn’t be considered the most important individual skill in basketball, only that having a team of 12 “pure scorers[1]” isn’t going to win a team many games. There’s a reason a current NBA team doesn’t have a starting 5 of Lou Williams, Jordan Clarkson, James Harden, Carmelo Anthony, and Nikola Vucevic. Any of those guys can get you 40 on a given night, but there simply isn’t enough ball to go around and they will get trashed trying to play defense.
This “only scoring” mindset is present at every level of basketball, but the effects of “only scoring” are more destructive to the game the further down the basketball talent ladder that one travels.
NBA
Let’s start at the top of the ladder with the NBA:
I’ve been watching a lot of these NBA playoffs, and I’ve been really enjoying them, but two things have bothered me. 1. The Miami Heat (my favorite team) got swept. 2. I couldn’t answer the question: Why am I so drawn to watching Facundo Campazzo?
For those of you who maybe aren’t as die-hard of an NBA fan as myself, Facundo Campazzo is a backup point guard for the Denver Nuggets. Because of injuries, he was given a shot at meaningful minutes and made the most of his opportunity largely because he is 5ft 10inches of pest. He plays defense like a swarm of hornets. And he passes, oh my gosh he passes. Every bounce pass is so quick and has so much flare. It’s wonderful. And he sets great screens on much larger players. He always seems to know where to be on the court too. Don’t get me wrong, he can knock down open shots, but he played significant minutes and averaged less than 10 points per game in these playoffs before the Nuggets were eliminated.
So, to answer my question, I realized that I enjoyed watching this 30-year-old Argentine rookie who seemingly came out of nowhere so much because he’s doing things that hardly anyone else is doing- HE’S NOT THINKING SCORE FIRST! And guess what, largely because of Campazzo’s winning plays, the Nuggets managed to make it to the second round of the NBA playoffs without star point guard Gary Harris. It’s sufficient to say, even teams at the NBA level don’t need everyone on the floor to think “score first” in order to win. Good NBA teams have players who understand and thrive in their roles.
Professional Basketball & College
I a recent conversation with D’Vante Mosby (member of the 2017 D-II National Champion Northwest Missouri State Men’s Basketball team), we were discussing his professional playing options after he graduated and he told me something particularly interesting, “Overseas, all teams are looking for are guys who can get a bucket. If your scoring drops, they’ll drop you because there’s a ton of people who can score even if they can’t do anything else.” In D’Vante’s collegiate career, he started at William Jewel College and led the team in points and rebounds both his freshman and sophomore years. He told me, “If I would have stayed at Jewel, my overseas playing options would have been far greater because my stats would have been higher.” However, D’Vante valued winning and the chance to compete for a national championship, so he came to Northwest Missouri State and helped the team from a 6th man/key role player position. As a result, that 2017 Northwest Missouri State team won the National Championship.
One would think that a professional team would value someone who knows how to win championships at a high level while averaging an efficient 10 points per game for a great team over someone averaging 17 on a terrible one. However, the “only scoring” mentality has permeated the professional and collegiate ranks adversely affecting both the quality of the game and the livelihoods of talented players.
High School & AAU
The high school level certainly has the capacity to evade the “only scoring” mentality. In high school, you have a group of teammates who possibly have known each other for many years and played together for a long time, so they know what each other can and can’t do. However, if any member of the team has a chance/desire to earn a scholarship to play at the collegiate level, there is an added pressure for that individual to “pad their stats.” They may shoot a long shot early in the development of an offensive play instead of letting the play develop to possibly get a team member a lay-up opportunity. Plays like this are often subtle, and a talented kid may pull off taking and making a bad shot a few times per game. Let’s be clear though when scholarships are awarded based on “only scoring,” there are things other than just trying to win that go through talented high school players' heads, and I’m blaming the system, not the 17-year-old kid for that.
Scenario: Let’s say a high school junior is averaging 18 points per game. They are starting to generate some interest from some small colleges in the area. A local college scout attends their next home game. In that game, the kid is double-teamed because the opposing coaches are also starting to take notice of the kid’s talent. Due to the double team, the kid scores only 8 points but had 9 rebounds, 12 assists, and only 2 turnovers.
A skilled collegiate scout would be thrilled because the kid has proven they know how to play winning basketball when they continuously made the right plays and gave the ball up. The problem is, I don’t think many scouting efforts are currently working that way. It’s more like, “the kid only scored 8 points, I guess he can’t play.” Or worse, a local kid is making a lot of winning plays, but no scout goes to see them in the first place because they aren’t filling up a box score. When this happens, talented kids playing smart basketball aren’t rewarded because they get no exposure to scouts and aren’t offered a scholarship because the scout’s attention happened to be focused on another kid averaging 21 ppg on 13 for 35 shooting.
Speaking of exposure to scouts, let’s talk about Amateur Athletic Union Basketball.
AAU is perhaps the level of basketball I am most critical of, so again, please don’t hear me wrong. There’s nothing wrong with the premise of AAU Ball. I am all about getting kids increased exposure to collegiate coaches. Getting kids exposure so they can earn college scholarships can change lives and even impact families for multiple generations, so again, my critique is simply about what is being emphasized at these levels.
For as many scouts as there are, I think scouting efforts still miss out on a lot of talent. However, modern scouts seemingly focus all their time and energy on AAU ball, and that’s a huge detriment to the game. Again, I get it, all the area talent joins up on a few premiere teams in an area making it easy to scout a bunch of talent at once. However, painting with a broad brush, these scouts often aren’t evaluating quality basketball. Throughout many AAU circuits, individual scoring is traditionally way overemphasized and defense and winning are underemphasized. For the level of talent on the AAU circuit, it’s just not good basketball. Plain and simple. Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said it well in a 2012 article he wrote for Grantland:
“Even if today’s players are incredibly gifted, they grow up in a basketball environment that can only be called counterproductive… Like everywhere else, you have good coaches and bad coaches, or strong programs and weak ones, but what troubled me was how much winning is devalued in the AAU structure. Teams play game after game after game, sometimes winning or losing four times in one day. Very rarely do teams ever hold a practice. Some programs fly in top players from out of state for a single weekend to join their team. Certain players play for one team in the morning and another one in the afternoon. If mom and dad aren’t happy with their son’s playing time, they switch club teams and stick him on a different one the following week. The process of growing as a team basketball player… becomes completely lost within the AAU fabric.”
Rec League/Church League/Pick-Up
Pick-Up basketball can be either extremely fun or brutal when you are playing. It’s extremely fun when you get a group of guys who just want to do what it takes to win on your team. It’s extremely brutal when you are playing, and the game is basically the best offensive player on your team playing a game of 1 on 1 against the best offensive player on the other team and everyone else on the floor is just standing around watching. It’s so annoying when that happens. It’s not fun to watch basketball like that, and it’s even less fun to play. Especially when you’re like me, and are rarely if ever the best offensive player. It’s sad to see that “only scoring” is present even at this level.
USA Today reports that when addressing his 2018 Duke Blue Devils team, Coach Mike Krzyzewski told his team, You guys are saying ‘well, holy mackerel, I’m working on all this stuff…’ Cool. Work on all that stuff. The free throw and the standstill three, you’ve got to be able to hit.
One of the reasons I love basketball is precisely because Coach K’s words ring true whether you are playing for Team USA or at your local court: You can contribute offensively to a winning team if you can knock down standstill threes and free throws. Basketball is for everyone because threes and free throws are a skill that can be learned by nearly everyone, no matter your body type. We’ve all had the experience of playing with or against someone who physically looked like they had no business being on the court with your “traditional” skinny and tall players. Then, much to the traditional player’s surprise, the “non-traditional” player shows really quickly why they belong when they frustrate the opposition with a monsoon of made 3’s.
At any level of the game, if you can knock down open threes, free throws, and make layups, you can be on the court without being an offensive liability to your team. So, if your true talent lies in seeing the court and passing the ball, or being a defensive stopper, that skill should be emphasized instead of the player feeling as though they must look for a shot more.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I don’t mean to over-react, but I think the only logical thing to do here is burn every gym where AAU ball is played to the ground and get back to more jump stops and right-handed layups. Now, who’s with me?
In all seriousness, if you’re a new parent like me and have kids who are probably going to be interested in sports, let’s make a pact to teach our kids how to play winning basketball. Let’s celebrate the kid whose role on the team is to take charges and get rebounds as much as we do the kid whose role it is to put the ball in the hoop. In doing so, our kids will have fun, feel important, value one another, be great team-mates, and the game of basketball will become even more prosperous at all levels.
And if you still don’t believe me that other aspects of the game besides scoring are fun/important, please watch my all-time favorite NBA highlight reel: Jason Williams Most Amazing Career Passes[2]
If you made it to the end of my article and want more content like this, check out my brother’s article about the Purity of Football.
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Thanks for reading, and y’all have a blessed day.
-Hayston
____________________________________________________________________________________________ [1] The phrase “Pure Scorer” has no universally agreed-upon definition. In this context, I’m using the phrase as a sort of back-handed compliment to describe players who, when allowed to be ball-dominant can score efficiently against anyone, but the other facets of their game are a liability. They often don’t contribute to winning basketball, but can often be the star on terrible-mediocre teams.
[2] Even Jason Williams said that if he played today, he would have to think score first more often because of the way the game is now played. Of course, in the same interview he also said that if he didn’t play in the NBA, he would probably have worked driving a delivery truck.
Photos provided via denverpost.com; maryvilleforum.com; and thebasketballnetwork.com; respectively.
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