You are comparing apples to oranges my friend... EYBL=SEC/ACC, UA=Conference USA, Adidas=WACC/Patriot League

 

I'll have to disagree with you on this one. But you won't change your mind no matter how many facts I throw at you.

 

I happily admit that the EYBL is the premiere AAU circuit in the US. However, claiming the Adidas Gauntlet is the equivalent of the Patriot League is flat out wrong.

It's quite funny that doubletake continually throws jabs at coach Q and Hoop Dreams, when his team is basically ranked 50 out of 50. Sorry guys. I have no dog in this fight. But I watch the superiority talk on here and that just struck me as funny. You should worry more about your Travelers than you do Coach Q's Hoop Dreams.

 

Not sure if you have a dog in this fight or not, but most would say it takes two to tango and in this case it has cuts both ways at times. Coach Q to his credit can be pretty subtle and Doubletake not so much.

 

To your suggestion that the Traveler 16U team is basically ranked 50 out of 50 there seems to be a misunderstanding on your part. Travelers 16U went 1-2 in pool play in both Hampton & Louisville during live periods acquiring 2 total points as the Nike scoring system awards points for every victory in addition to other bonus points you can acquire in bracket play or if you win your pool. It is a circuit that rewards 2 teams from each pool. You advance to gold and silver bracket play if you win your pool or come in 2nd. You play no more in an event if you do not come in 1st or 2nd.

 

There are 18 teams with more points and 17 teams with fewer points. There are ten teams including the Travelers who have 2 points. They are not a top team for sure, but neither are they at the bottom. If you are attempting to leave the impression they are at the bottom of a 50 team league you are not being fair or accurate.

Not sure if you have a dog in this fight or not, but most would say it takes two to tango and in this case it has cuts both ways at times. Coach Q to his credit can be pretty subtle and Doubletake not so much.

 

To your suggestion that the Traveler 16U team is basically ranked 50 out of 50 there seems to be a misunderstanding on your part. Travelers 16U went 1-2 in pool play in both Hampton & Louisville during live periods acquiring 2 total points as the Nike scoring system awards points for every victory in addition to other bonus points you can acquire in bracket play or if you win your pool. It is a circuit that rewards 2 teams from each pool. You advance to gold and silver bracket play if you win your pool or come in 2nd. You play no more in an event if you do not come in 1st or 2nd.

 

There are 18 teams with more points and 17 teams with fewer points. There are ten teams including the Travelers who have 2 points. They are not a top team for sure, but neither are they at the bottom. If you are attempting to leave the impression they are at the bottom of a 50 team league you are not being fair or accurate.

 

Well put!!

Not sure if you have a dog in this fight or not, but most would say it takes two to tango and in this case it has cuts both ways at times. Coach Q to his credit can be pretty subtle and Doubletake not so much.

 

To your suggestion that the Traveler 16U team is basically ranked 50 out of 50 there seems to be a misunderstanding on your part. Travelers 16U went 1-2 in pool play in both Hampton & Louisville during live periods acquiring 2 total points as the Nike scoring system awards points for every victory in addition to other bonus points you can acquire in bracket play or if you win your pool. It is a circuit that rewards 2 teams from each pool. You advance to gold and silver bracket play if you win your pool or come in 2nd. You play no more in an event if you do not come in 1st or 2nd.

 

There are 18 teams with more points and 17 teams with fewer points. There are ten teams including the Travelers who have 2 points. They are not a top team for sure, but neither are they at the bottom. If you are attempting to leave the impression they are at the bottom of a 50 team league you are not being fair or accurate.

 

Thanks for the clarification. They aren't 50 out of 50, but very close. Hope they can improve on that standing this weekend. Really, I find it entertaining watching those 2 fire shots at one another. At the end of the day, they have the same goal. Free college for their kids.

Thanks for the clarification. They aren't 50 out of 50, but very close. Hope they can improve on that standing this weekend. Really, I find it entertaining watching those 2 fire shots at one another. At the end of the day, they have the same goal. Free college for their kids.

 

I get a chuckle too, but we all have to remember when we take a shot at each other's programs there is collateral damage (the kids) when doing so.

I get a chuckle too, but we all have to remember when we take a shot at each other's programs there is collateral damage (the kids) when doing so.

 

President Obama should send GoHard to the Middle East. He could broker peace within a week.

Thanks for the clarification. They aren't 50 out of 50, but very close. Hope they can improve on that standing this weekend. Really, I find it entertaining watching those 2 fire shots at one another. At the end of the day, they have the same goal. Free college for their kids.

 

NASCAR might be less confusing than this scoring system in the way it produces point totals. With a total of (2) points from two pool wins, your suggestion is that is very close to 50th out of 50. But you also have to take into account that those teams with 0 or 1 point will never get to 2 points if they fail to win pool games. There are 17 teams that played in Hampton or Louisville (some both) that have fewer points than The Travelers. There is an equal number of teams that have more points. That makes their position in the standings pretty much middle of the pack.

 

3 of the 4 losses came to teams that rank in the Top 10 (5th, 7th, & 10th) so the losses came to quality teams that are as good as any in the country. The other loss was a bad loss in overtime in a game that should have been won.

 

If you use 2 points as a guide to being very close to the bottom, that argument holds true for 32 16U EYBL teams being very close to 50th. When Atlanta ends the picture should be more clear as point totals will only account for the best two event performances. The league is brutal and if you are hunting for victories the EYBL is not the league for that.

NASCAR might be less confusing than this scoring system in the way it produces point totals. With a total of (2) points from two pool wins, your suggestion is that is very close to 50th out of 50. But you also have to take into account that those teams with 0 or 1 point will never get to 2 points if they fail to win pool games. There are 17 teams that played in Hampton or Louisville (some both) that have fewer points than The Travelers. There is an equal number of teams that have more points. That makes their position in the standings pretty much middle of the pack.

 

3 of the 4 losses came to teams that rank in the Top 10 (5th, 7th, & 10th) so the losses came to quality teams that are as good as any in the country. The other loss was a bad loss in overtime in a game that should have been won.

 

If you use 2 points as a guide to being very close to the bottom, that argument holds true for 32 16U EYBL teams being very close to 50th. When Atlanta ends the picture should be more clear as point totals will only account for the best two event performances. The league is brutal and if you are hunting for victories the EYBL is not the league for that.

 

Did they play m(any) tourneys outside of Nike this year besides AAU state playing up? Like you said, the circuit is brutal.

Did they play m(any) tourneys outside of Nike this year besides AAU state playing up? Like you said, the circuit is brutal.

 

They played the Memorial Day Classic last year before there was a 16u EYBL. They were eliminated in tournament play by Hoop Dreams.

Did they play m(any) tourneys outside of Nike this year besides AAU state playing up? Like you said, the circuit is brutal.

 

I think you are asking about this current spring season and the answer to that would be no. The challenge as many know with a team made up with kids from a wide geographical area is getting together for practice. Non-EYBL dates were set aside for weekend practice dates, otherwise you basically have no time to practice.

 

I guess there are pros & cons for playing other events, but the challenge is playing in events at the expense of limited practice availability. Last year I was part of a team that had 40 games in April and May in what I recall as 7 or 8 tournaments, most beyond the state border. We seldom practiced and development was not part of our effort, we were a team built to play in tourneys. But we won 39 games during that span so I also have a perspective on both playing in many events /games and having the kids taste success. I know one thing, it costs a lot of money to hit the road every weekend....lol.

President Obama should send GoHard to the Middle East. He could broker peace within a week.

 

Thanks, but I have a hard enough time keeping peace over the dinner table at home. Sports rivalries are great, it feeds us old guys our competitive hunger from days we used to be out there playing. I just remind myself we are all part of the same fraternity that in the end there are far to few people associated with helping the kids in KY who dream of playing college basketball.

They played the Memorial Day Classic last year before there was a 16u EYBL. They were eliminated in tournament play by Hoop Dreams.

 

I am obviously not in tune with the real job today, so blame the frequent posts on being bored and anxious for a big weekend of basketball coming up.

 

For illustrative value, I am going to use Coach Q's post and the solid performance last year for the 16U Hoops Dream team at the Nike Memorial Day Classic to put things in perspective with how dominating many Nike EYBL programs can be.

 

* Last year it was an open Nike event with Nike EYBL programs and many of the best non-Nike teams like the 16U Hoop Dreams competing in the same open division. This year will be separated due to 16U EYBL changes made. I feel Coach Q will vouch that the HD 16U team of last year was one of the best in their program and became the nucleus of their very good 17U team of this season.

* As Coach Q pointed out, Hoop Dreams 16U (1st in their pool) did beat the Travelers 16U team (2nd in their pool) in 1st round bracket game 49-47.

* I will post link at bottom to the schedule and bracket results, but few (less than a handful) of the 2014/2015 EYBL Nike programs failed to either win their pool or advance into bracket play as a 2nd place team. Several EYBL programs had A & B teams or even 15U teams playing up along with their 16U teams advance into bracket play.

* Hoop Dreams went undefeated in their pool which included one Nike EYBL program team, the 15U St. Louis Eagles who played up an age group which HD beat by 10 points in pool play.

* After 1st round play was completed, 11 Nike EYBL teams advanced to the round of 16 and 5 non-Nike team which included Hoop Dreams

*After the round of 16 play, 7 Nike EYBL programs advanced and one Non-Nike program won to advance. That single non-Nike EYBL teams was Hoop Dreams who beat another non-Nike EYBL team (FL Tarheels) to advance to the quarterfinals

*In the Round of 8 half of those teams (4) came from 2 Nike EYBL programs which were the A & B team from the host program GA Stars, and the 15U & 16U St. Louis Eagles.

* The Final Four or semi-finals were all Nike EYBL program teams as the Hoop Dreams team was eliminated by the GA Stars "B" team that actually went on to play their Elite EYBL team in the finals.

* The Elite GA Stars team beat their "B" team by 20 in the finals, but both of their teams finished 1st & 2nd in the event.

 

My point to all this is that until you really dig beyond the surface, the level of competition faced in Nike EYBL exclusive events is unprecedented. I had no idea myself what to expect until you actually experience it.

 

Schedule

I am obviously not in tune with the real job today, so blame the frequent posts on being bored and anxious for a big weekend of basketball coming up.

 

For illustrative value, I am going to use Coach Q's post and the solid performance last year for the 16U Hoops Dream team at the Nike Memorial Day Classic to put things in perspective with how dominating many Nike EYBL programs can be.

 

* Last year it was an open Nike event with Nike EYBL programs and many of the best non-Nike teams like the 16U Hoop Dreams competing in the same open division. This year will be separated due to 16U EYBL changes made. I feel Coach Q will vouch that the HD 16U team of last year was one of the best in their program and became the nucleus of their very good 17U team of this season.

* As Coach Q pointed out, Hoop Dreams 16U (1st in their pool) did beat the Travelers 16U team (2nd in their pool) in 1st round bracket game 49-47.

* I will post link at bottom to the schedule and bracket results, but few (less than a handful) of the 2014/2015 EYBL Nike programs failed to either win their pool or advance into bracket play as a 2nd place team. Several EYBL programs had A & B teams or even 15U teams playing up along with their 16U teams advance into bracket play.

* Hoop Dreams went undefeated in their pool which included one Nike EYBL program team, the 15U St. Louis Eagles who played up an age group which HD beat by 10 points in pool play.

* After 1st round play was completed, 11 Nike EYBL teams advanced to the round of 16 and 5 non-Nike team which included Hoop Dreams

*After the round of 16 play, 7 Nike EYBL programs advanced and one Non-Nike program won to advance. That single non-Nike EYBL teams was Hoop Dreams who beat another non-Nike EYBL team (FL Tarheels) to advance to the quarterfinals

*In the Round of 8 half of those teams (4) came from 2 Nike EYBL programs which were the A & B team from the host program GA Stars, and the 15U & 16U St. Louis Eagles.

* The Final Four or semi-finals were all Nike EYBL program teams as the Hoop Dreams team was eliminated by the GA Stars "B" team that actually went on to play their Elite EYBL team in the finals.

* The Elite GA Stars team beat their "B" team by 20 in the finals, but both of their teams finished 1st & 2nd in the event.

 

My point to all this is that until you really dig beyond the surface, the level of competition faced in Nike EYBL exclusive events is unprecedented. I had no idea myself what to expect until you actually experience it.

 

Schedule

 

That was actually the 15U A team that finished runner up in the 16U tourney.

It's quite funny that doubletake continually throws jabs at coach Q and Hoop Dreams, when his team is basically ranked 50 out of 50. Sorry guys. I have no dog in this fight. But I watch the superiority talk on here and that just struck me as funny. You should worry more about your Travelers than you do Coach Q's Hoop Dreams.

 

Updated standings has them tied for 26th.

Both programs are great, anytime you can play in a circuit is great for the kids, some AAU coaches lose sight of that or are in it for themselves, or they are each others number 1 competitor and are fighting for one anthers kids.