N'Guessan

[tmcats]

team is good when dng is good, otherwise meh to bad. his play will be my first watch tonight.

[SCKSCat]

From today's Wichita Eagle....

N’Guessan has been playing his finest basketball of late. Over the past six games, he has been one of K-State’s best overall players by averaging 10 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.2 assists. If you could stretch those numbers out over an entire season, he might be in the running for Sixth Man of the Year in the Big 12. The Wildcats might not be on their current streak without him scoring 12 points and grabbing five rebounds against BYU or following that up with eight points and 10 rebounds against West Virginia. “David is just an amazing player,” K-State teammate Arthur Kaluma said. “For him to be able to go through the adversity that he’s going through and not starting ... man, you can see how that could affect some people. For him to have the mental fortitude to be able to come out there and give us his best every single possession these past few games has been great. He has been extremely efficient and he has been rebounding the ball. That’s what we need from.”

Read more at: https://www.kansas.com/sports/college/b ... rylink=cpy

[spot2180]

I'd like to see a few more foreign guys on the team. Why? Skill level and team attitude. While some high school age kids don't even play high school ball and choose AAU where 'practice' is scrimmage, the international guys are working the fundamentals. I don't know if any other high school coaches that frequent this board have seen it, but there is a lot of bad influences that AAU basketball to the high school court, with selfishness being a big one. NDG is a consummate team guy for the Cats, in my mind, and he embodies the 'play for each other' mentality. He just goes out there an busts his butt trying to win.

[tmcats]

I'd like to see a few more foreign guys on the team. Why? Skill level and team attitude. While some high school age kids don't even play high school ball and choose AAU where 'practice' is scrimmage, the international guys are working the fundamentals. I don't know if any other high school coaches that frequent this board have seen it, but there is a lot of bad influences that AAU basketball to the high school court, with selfishness being a big one. NDG is a consummate team guy for the Cats, in my mind, and he embodies the 'play for each other' mentality. He just goes out there an busts his butt trying to win.

knight said back in the 90s that the growing influence of shoe companies and aau basketball on youngsters was bad for the game. he always wanted to deal with the high coach not some for-money intermediary.

[spot2180]

I'd like to see a few more foreign guys on the team. Why? Skill level and team attitude. While some high school age kids don't even play high school ball and choose AAU where 'practice' is scrimmage, the international guys are working the fundamentals. I don't know if any other high school coaches that frequent this board have seen it, but there is a lot of bad influences that AAU basketball to the high school court, with selfishness being a big one. NDG is a consummate team guy for the Cats, in my mind, and he embodies the 'play for each other' mentality. He just goes out there an busts his butt trying to win.

knight said back in the 90s that the growing influence of shoe companies and aau basketball on youngsters was bad for the game. he always wanted to deal with the high coach not some for-money intermediary.

I had to constantly remind my freshmen this season that there were six freshmen ahead of them, 3 on varsity and 3 on JV, and that technically they were the B team. I also told them that there is a reason why their AAU coaches 'love' them. I dared them to tell their AAU coach that they weren't going to be able to pay the fee this month to see how much that coach really 'loves' them. AAU leads a lot of kids to drive into zone defenses without a plan when they get stopped. A ton of over dribbling, 'rebounding? you want me to rebound? ' an "I'm gonna get mine!" mentality that resulted in extremely poor shot selection, not to mention steals that instantly turn into turnovers because they cannot see the defense. Far too many close games that shouldn't have been, and far too many single digit losses. And defense is NOT a priority in AAU. Of course college coaches believe they can teach a shooter to play defense, so they don't scout defensive players. What you have eventually is talented kids with no basketball IQ.

European club coaches actually spend time on the fundamentals and teamwork.

[xtrawildcat]

knight said back in the 90s that the growing influence of shoe companies and aau basketball on youngsters was bad for the game. he always wanted to deal with the high coach not some for-money intermediary.

I had to constantly remind my freshmen this season that there were six freshmen ahead of them, 3 on varsity and 3 on JV, and that technically they were the B team. I also told them that there is a reason why their AAU coaches 'love' them. I dared them to tell their AAU coach that they weren't going to be able to pay the fee this month to see how much that coach really 'loves' them. AAU leads a lot of kids to drive into zone defenses without a plan when they get stopped. A ton of over dribbling, 'rebounding? you want me to rebound? ' an "I'm gonna get mine!" mentality that resulted in extremely poor shot selection, not to mention steals that instantly turn into turnovers because they cannot see the defense. Far too many close games that shouldn't have been, and far too many single digit losses. And defense is NOT a priority in AAU. Of course college coaches believe they can teach a shooter to play defense, so they don't scout defensive players. What you have eventually is talented kids with no basketball IQ.

European club coaches actually spend time on the fundamentals and teamwork.

Guess I would not expect high school freshman to have good shot selection, not to turn the ball over and to play good defense. Thats why they need to be coached. By the end of the year they should be better at those things.

We did not have AAU ball when I grew up and none of us had team basketball figured out. That was what we learned from coaches plus if we were lucky, they also taught us individual skills. IE, drop step, cross over, shot mechanics, passing individual defensive skills and on and on.

And if your school has three freshman on varsity and three one level up, then six freshmen must have learned something along the way.

[spot2180]

I had to constantly remind my freshmen this season that there were six freshmen ahead of them, 3 on varsity and 3 on JV, and that technically they were the B team. I also told them that there is a reason why their AAU coaches 'love' them. I dared them to tell their AAU coach that they weren't going to be able to pay the fee this month to see how much that coach really 'loves' them. AAU leads a lot of kids to drive into zone defenses without a plan when they get stopped. A ton of over dribbling, 'rebounding? you want me to rebound? ' an "I'm gonna get mine!" mentality that resulted in extremely poor shot selection, not to mention steals that instantly turn into turnovers because they cannot see the defense. Far too many close games that shouldn't have been, and far too many single digit losses. And defense is NOT a priority in AAU. Of course college coaches believe they can teach a shooter to play defense, so they don't scout defensive players. What you have eventually is talented kids with no basketball IQ.

European club coaches actually spend time on the fundamentals and teamwork.

Guess I would not expect high school freshman to have good shot selection, not to turn the ball over and to play good defense. Thats why they need to be coached. By the end of the year they should be better at those things.

We did not have AAU ball when I grew up and none of us had team basketball figured out. That was what we learned from coaches plus if we were lucky, they also taught us individual skills. IE, drop step, cross over, shot mechanics, passing individual defensive skills and on and on.

And if your school has three freshman on varsity and three one level up, then six freshmen must have learned something along the way.

It is easy to assume that, xtra, but when I corrected them, they were not 'Ok Coach' kind of kids. They didn't take to coaching that well, likely because there are a lot of AAU teams that suck and they the 'superstars' on their respective teams. And you are talking about kids who've played basketball since 4th grade.

[xtrawildcat]

Guess I would not expect high school freshman to have good shot selection, not to turn the ball over and to play good defense. Thats why they need to be coached. By the end of the year they should be better at those things.

We did not have AAU ball when I grew up and none of us had team basketball figured out. That was what we learned from coaches plus if we were lucky, they also taught us individual skills. IE, drop step, cross over, shot mechanics, passing individual defensive skills and on and on.

And if your school has three freshman on varsity and three one level up, then six freshmen must have learned something along the way.

It is easy to assume that, xtra, but when I corrected them, they were not 'Ok Coach' kind of kids. They didn't take to coaching that well, likely because there are a lot of AAU teams that suck and they the 'superstars' on their respective teams. And you are talking about kids who've played basketball since 4th grade.

i am sure AAU coaches are like all coaches. Some are good, some are not. But the same thing applies to junior high coaches paid by the school district.
But AAU gives them a lot of practice time and game time at early ages. I do not see how kids playing basketball makes them so hard to coach before they are even in high school.

Maybe things have changed. I thought suicides and playing time were still motivation for players at all levels.

My grandson was a freshman this year and they were terrible players and a terrible team. But still just high school freshmen and they got better as the season progressed.

And I watched all my grand sons games and freshmen on other teams played good team basketball. And lots of them from Maize, Derby, Hutch and others were skilled for their age level.

[spot2180]

It is easy to assume that, xtra, but when I corrected them, they were not 'Ok Coach' kind of kids. They didn't take to coaching that well, likely because there are a lot of AAU teams that suck and they the 'superstars' on their respective teams. And you are talking about kids who've played basketball since 4th grade.

i am sure AAU coaches are like all coaches. Some are good, some are not. But the same thing applies to junior high coaches paid by the school district.
But AAU gives them a lot of practice time and game time at early ages. I do not see how kids playing basketball makes them so hard to coach before they are even in high school.

Maybe things have changed. I thought suicides and playing time were still motivation for players at all levels.

My grandson was a freshman this year and they were terrible players and a terrible team. But still just high school freshmen and they got better as the season progressed.

And I watched all my grand sons games and freshmen on other teams played good team basketball. And lots of them from Maize, Derby, Hutch and others were skilled for their age level.

Well good for you, xtra.

[SCKSCat]

Yes, he has officially said he is returning for his covid year.
This very good.