Thursday, March 15, 2012

NCAA Tournament


With the start of the NCAA tournament we often get wrapped up in upsets and our brackets. However, one thing that we often overlook is how widespread the talent has been throughout all of college basketball. 15-20 years ago the best teams were rooted in having a depth of talent that overwhelmed smaller schools. But the reason why the talent pool has been so widespread lately can be defined on how coaches use to define talent versus how they currently define talent.

In the past, talent was defined by having the biggest and most physically gifted athletes on a team and then maybe surrounding that core group of gifted athletes with a few shooters. In our current version of college basketball coaches have taken the small school approach to evaluating talent; and that's by seeking the most skilled players at their position and a players athleticism is a secondary attribute.

As a result, high school players have shifted their attention from dunks and block shots to ball handling and footwork. And this has given the game an appearance of talent being more widespread but I just think that the way talent has been viewed has changed thus evening out the playing field.



Throw it down Big Fella! Throw it Down!

One of the most exhilirating feelings for a basketball player is dunking on someone. Conversely one of the most humbling feelings is getting dunked on by someone. And if you have played long enough you have been on both ends of the equation. Recently I went to LA Fitness and I got the opportunity to play a 21 (Hustle) against some of the guys at the gym. As the game got more competitive one of the guys started talking trash with me, so much so that he had his brother record the game cause he believed he would have a hightlight of me on film. Little did he know what would happen next. Take a look.