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Originally Posted by Mwanr1
What level of play and did anyone get hired/offered an opportunity to ref in D-league?
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For people wondering what the level of play is at the Big Time tournament in Vegas, here are a couple of articles from a scouting organization on the first day of the event from two summers ago. You can see who was playing, but please note that you have to pay to attend one of the camps to get the games on the show courts. In this case the CCAA had the games at Foothill HS.
http://www.draftexpress.com/article/...-Day-One-1425/
http://www.draftexpress.com/article/...-Day-Two-1427/
http://www.draftexpress.com/article/...ay-Three-1428/
Lastly, I'm going to post this part of one of the stories because it makes some excellent observations.
The Two Faces of AAU Basketball
July 23, 2006
Jonathan Givony
The stereotypical side of AAU basketball was in full effect today, with teams that have absolutely no system, set plays or any kind of direction coming from their “coaching staff” on the sideliens. But even with how ugly certain star-studded teams looked at times today, there were two teams that showed us that not all AAU basketball has to be of the undisciplined one-upping playground variety.
The SoCal Allstars not only have arguably the most talented squad in Vegas, they also are probably the most well coached, led by former college coach Pat Barrett Their team has a distinct system and style of play that caters to it’s players strengths and always makes sure to get everyone involve. Very often they’ll spread the floor patiently and move the ball around endlessly looking for the best shot possible, encouraging its players to move off the ball, find the open man unselfishly, play great team defense, and actually run set plays in the half-court offense. Another example of this was Mike Mullins’ Illinois Wolves, who run a style of play very much reminiscent of many Big 10 conference teams. Their players enjoy great spacing, set excellent screens for each other, move off the ball endlessly and actually play for each other rather than strictly for themselves. The biggest difference between these two teams and almost every other team we saw in day one was the way their bench reacted to what was occurring on the floor. Rather than pout and moan about not being on the court, the players cheered each other on, celebrated every basket and were the first ones out to congratulate their teammates when play stopped. Instead of growling at the players and barking out incoherent insults when the teenagers mad a poor decision, we saw the coaches put an arm over their player’s shoulders and explain what they did wrong, which is what you would expect when dealing with players this young. When you begin to wonder where the me-first attitudes, complete lack of fundamentals and uncontrollable egos start in college and pro basketball, you can look no further than what we are seeing here in AAU basketball. If the majority of these “coaches” aren’t going to actually help their players improve on their weakness and teach them how to play winning basketball, then what is the point of holding these tournaments year round?