This
article tracks recent developments in U.S. youth basketball and asks elite AAU players their opinions of them.
Old George Raveling (former Southern Cal coach, now Nike frontman) and others were predicting gloom and doom for USA basketball following the '02 and '04 debacles, and of course the media picked up the story and ran with it, complaining that basketball stateside had devolved into glorified pick-up games with players who were more concerned with dunking than setting picks and understanding screen & roll defense.
Somewhere in between the controversy lied the truth. US players, coaches, and directors/coordinators had grown complacent and overconfident due to past success, so stacking NTs with a mixed bag of players that didn't compliment each other, didn't take tournaments or opponents seriously, and were only given weeks to prepare had become acceptable by USA Basketball, and particularly by Stu Jackson, the chief architect behind the Ugly Years.
Notwithstanding, the media's rush to judgment about the structural collapse of American basketball was premature, misinformed, and often mean-spirited. In 2004, I can still remember reading columnist from coast-to-coast denouncing the Team USA performance as "lazy" and "unpatriotic", with some complaining about the "street ball" mentality of American players. It was complete overkill.
The two most noticeable differences between 2004 and today is the emphasis on team building and the understanding of how international basketball differs from American-style ball and employing strategies that work best to win. I still think the European system (if there is uniform system) does a slightly better job of teaching its young players fundamental basketball, but the US kids aren't exactly miles behind in learning the right way to play basketball. As recent results show, when given proper training time combined with the right players and coaches, the US is still a threat to win most junior and senior titles.
