Broken Pipeline

By John Karalis

john@redsarmy.com

The system is broken.

Weeks of workout analysis, guessing, mock draft-ing, re-mocking, un-guessing and actually drafting can be boiled down to those 4 words.

The system is broken.

The first draft in the age-limit era has produced the first ever selection of a European at the top spot. Now, that’s not a knock on Europeans. Actually, it’s quite the contrary. THEIR system is working. Ours isn’t.

But don’t take my word for it. Commissioner David Stern said the same thing a few weeks ago: "There is something totally wrong with the development system for young basketball players."

You see, there is a fine line between capitalism and cannibalism. And the way things work now, young players in the United States are being eaten alive. Between AAU leagues, shady private schools, and greedy sneaker companies looking for the next trailer hitch to tow in billions more in revenue, a kid with potential has a better chance at surviving a safari draped in flank steaks than learning fundamental hoops.

Kids in the US are left to fend for themselves. Vultures circle basketball courts looking for that killer crossover, the silky jumper, or the sick vertical. Kids are told from a young age “you’ve got the stuff” and encouraged to show off that nasty skill instead of put together a complete game.

Overseas, the kids are learning on the job. They’re in structured leagues as teenagers with no hangers-on… just coaches, teammates and refs. Got a great handle? That’s nice, but you put three straight passes into the second row, so sit down until you figure out how to pass.

In the US, we cover the warts. In Europe, they try to heal them.

The developmental path wasn’t always a ragged one in the US. To be fair, Stern had a big hand in the problem he’s now railing against. It was the NBA’s money-grab, er, expansion that started this whole thing. Almost suddenly, 80 new jobs were open in the NBA. Then, in the great fishing tournament we know as the NBA Draft, GM’s were no longer tossing back the small catches to get one of the bigger fish out there. They felt like they had to take the small catches home, put them in an aquarium, and feed them slowly until they hopefully turned into big fish. If they didn’t, then they went into the trash. Before you knew it, the big fish were gone, and it almost nothing but small fish were left.

In the meantime, Europeans were zealously drinking up everything they knew about basketball. In many countries, it’s about as popular as soccer. They formed leagues, and developed their skills. No camps. No random guys who call themselves coaches but don’t have actual teams. No sneaker companies trolling the masses for their next stud. They were playing ball like we used to. Kids kept playing the game, not specializing in aspects of it.

And now Andrea Bargnani is the personification of the broken system. Sure, Euros have their flaws too, but that continent is producing players as talented as ours. This goes beyond the Team USA flops in international play. Those are explained away using the “they always play together while we don’t” excuse. But now the guys who always play together are getting as talented as our guys who don’t.

The one thing Stern floated was the possibility of the NBA stepping in to fix the problem it created. "It historically has not been the place for professional leagues to do [something about] it, but on the basis of the consistent failures of everyone else to do it, we are at least thinking about it, and we'll be getting some dialogue with some interested parties to see if there's something that can be done here,” he said. And while it’s an admirable notion, the precedent is still correct. It’s not the NBA’s place to fix it.

It’s USA Basketball’s.

The NBA has instituted its age limit and created the NBDL. They’re doing something on their end. But European countries have their own national federations that handle problems like this, but we really don’t. USA Basketball’s primary concern seems to be how to assemble NBA players into a unit that can reassert America’s basketball dominance. What USA Basketball should also be doing is making sure these talented young kids have available leagues, camps and programs that are not affiliated with any corporate entity. Filter these kids into a pipeline that will teach them the proper fundamentals at a formative age. Teach them the GAME, not how to show off for some And1 Mix Tape. Then, when they get into high school and college, they’re playing the game correctly. The improved product will pay off down the road when drafts are full of quality players who, when Team USA comes calling for a favor, will be happy to repay their debt.