Good Time Charlie

This is interesting. I would have guessed that the Tarheels were the stronger team. Good luck to both of them.

To Magicfan: A direct quote from Leonard Hamilton, the current head coach for the Florida State Seminoles who is one of the winningest coaches in ACC history and noted defensive guru. "The best man defense looks like a zone and the best zone defense looks like a man." This is where my comment comes from. Not saying that a coach cannot figure it out, but that if you are playing either defense properly, no player should be just standing in the middle. You are also making assumptions that the teams that are pressing and running gimmick defenses are not looking to advance their skill set. If they have a good coach then they are also learning a well rounded game in practice and can continue to develop along with everyone else and stay ahead of the game. I have seen coaches come out in games with a trap and pressing zone to take a lead and then go man 2 man with the game in hand. And I am telling you that teams may have to play zones because they do not have the agility and speed to guard man 2 man yet. A team with a quick guard and a big who knows how to move can get layups all day on a slower non agile team. I am not going to argue that you do not teach man 2 man and I don't know what team wronged you in the past, but AAU is AAU. If you are playing it at a high level, you play to win. There are leagues that have rules that force you to play man 2 man along with a whole list of other restrictions to control the game. Again and to be clear, I have never said that you do not continue to teach man 2 man principles. I feel like these skills are essential for every player to learn.

Congrats. Always good to see a KY team do well.

Seems like a very old school philosophy. If you are playing any defense properly, someone would be hard pressed to tell the difference. Good zones look like a m2m and a good helping m2m will resemble a zone. Why should a team be forced to play m2m primarily if they don't have the quickness or agility to do so yet? I don't completely disagree with you. This is the way I was brought up as well, but you just don't see it anymore. Especially at AAU events.

Basketball is constantly evolving and as it does so must the players. Unorthodox defenses are common at all ages of AAU. Don't get me wrong. The basic fundamentals should always be taught and drilled and this should never end MS, HS, College, etc. AAU in particular is very competitive. If you want to remain in existence as a team, you must be successful on the court. Now you never put a player's health in jeopardy or do anything unethical, but you must learn and train to be the best. That includes pressing, playing the transition game, and utilizing different zone defenses. This starts as early as 2nd grade now. I know, but it is a different game now. You can't fault coaches for adapting and as long as they are still teaching the fundamentals then they are doing good.

Congrats and thanks for the info. Good luck to you at Nationals.

I actually saw this on the results page. I cannot believe there were only four teams entered in the third grade division and then only three participated in bracket play. Not to knock the Tar Heels finish, but I would expect a larger turnout for a 4 game guarantee tournament that ran all weekend and into Monday. Is this pretty common this time of year at this age?

I am looking for opinions on elementary age AAU leagues in the Northern KY or Southern OH area. I know there are a ton of options, but I am looking to people in the know in the area to help me find a "Good" fall league for rising 4th. graders. My team will be competitive so I am looking for good competition and a well run league. Reviews of the major players would be greatly appreciated.

Any list of the best loses credibility if one of the best is omitted. Make it eleven and move on.

The AAU has always been 9-1 to 10-31. Not everyone plays basketball in the spring and summer. The majority of kids I have coached always played baseball during the spring and summer at the younger ages. As they began to specialize in one sport and look towards recruiting in that sport they would play in the spring and summer events. I realize that more and more kids are starting to specialize earlier, but IMO if they keep it close to the school date, then it will eventually even itself out. You would be playing against your peer group in school and AAU. No matter where the cutoff is there will be older kids and younger kids, but I like that the most it can be is a year versus two years in the past.

What is the school cutoff date? Would that be acceptable?

Nice work Q.