I have a question for you guys (refs, coaches and mostly players)
I got cut from the team twice now (this is my freshamn year in HS, i got cut during winter and for summer league.) Both of the times have been because I "don't spend enough time in the gym". I have track practice in spring so i can't go to the gym during that time.
However, what can i do now? It gets frustrating, but i want to prove the coaches wrong. What should i do? Just work harder, or blame it on coaches (for some reason, our Varsity coach was cutting for JV, even though he didn't even watch the tryouts; he does watch all the open gyms though)?
What would you sugggest?

mysteryman,
Sorry to hear you got cut from the team.. I am not a basketball ref coach or player.. I was however a baseball player coach, and now an umpire.. my suggestion is dont blame the coach.. just work as hard as you can.. improve your skills.. try getting into a local summer rec league.. Boys club.. YMCA something along those lines.. talk to the varsity coach, and explain your concerns... how you run track in the spring preventing you from going to the open gyms.. ask him to come to a rec league game or two to evaluate you.. and maybe something will come along.. hope everything works out for you! Good Luck!

Ben

Cheer up. Those who can't play coach. And those who can't coach, Ref. Get good at track and then come back in your latter years and anoy that old basketball coach as a ref. :-) That is just the way I did it.

You've got it backwards. Those who can't ref, coach. And those who can't coach, coach anyway.

This reminds me of the letter to Ann Landers where the teenager writes in, "My mother is always nagging me to 'clean your room, do your homework, help with the dishes'. Ann, what can I do to get her off my back?" and Ann respoinds, "Clean your room, do your homework, help with the dishes!"

If he doesn't go to tryouts and he goes to open gym, and he tells you you need to go to open gym, then go to open gym!

Getting cut can be frustrating...however, you can also use it as a motivating factor...look at all the great players over they years who have been cut from HS teams...Pete Maravich was cut his freshman year...Michael Jordan was cut his Freshman and sophomore year...John Havlicek was cut three years in HS...all three either are or will be in the basketball Hall of Fame (ask your dad who they are if you don't recognize the names)...they certainly never quit. Keep working at it and improve to the point where he can't possibly ignore you any longer...

Its a fact of life in sports now that the multi-sport athlete is getting pushed out in favor of the single sport specialist. I personally find this a little troubling, but it is where we are now in sports. At your school, you may not be able to do both track and basketball.

If the coach is looking at open gym sessions and evaluating 1) your commitment or 2) your playing level or 3) both, you need to be there if you are going to have a prayer of playing ball in his program. Is it fair - maybe not as fair as possible, but all decisions regarding who to select and who to play are subject to a coach's opinions. Will you gain from blaming him for his biases - definitely not. If you couldn't make open gym in spring, you should try to do so in the fall. If you have another conflict in the fall and can't make open gym, expect the same result in winter tryouts - they told you what to do to make it and you didn't do it. If you make open gym in fall and make the team, you may be able to work out an accomodation for track in spring, especially if you establish yourself as an essential element on your team. If your skills are marginal and you aren't essential, don't expect them to invest in your basketball future if you aren't making that same investment by hitting the gym.

This is a good life lesson. Decide what you think want to do and figure out what it takes to do it. Then determine whether it is worth it to you to do what it takes to reach your goal. If it is, do what it takes. If not, adjust your goals and expectations accordingly.

I fondly remember "voluntary" summer open gyms and "voluntary" 5 am free throws.....

i thought MJ was cut only his Sophmore year. i know he played JV, not varsity that year. But i didn't know he was cut as a freshman. was he cut from Varsity, JV, Freshman or all of them so he didn't play for school at all?

anyways, thanks a lot guys! i'm going to go to the gym during the summer to work out and play some ball
and go to fall league so the coach can see me play :)

Ask the coach to evaluate your game! Do you need to work on ball handling, defense, inside game, outside game. Plus when you go to open gym with the rest of the players on the team, you learn their reactions to particular situations. Practice practice practice. I always told my son to Practice free throws and defense. Everyone knows how to play offense!

AK ref SE