Been an interesting week or two with AV's rankings and Obert releasing his midseason Top 25 at azcentral. The social media posts and conversations that rankings create is off the charts. It creates so much activity for media outlets that they would be dumb not to do them, even though most of the feedback is typically negative. The reaction from parents, coaches and players has been crazy.
Rankings don't really matter in the big picture. Sure, it is great to see your name and be recognized but it really doesn't matter. Parents and coaches need to be constantly reminding their kids/players of what is important. Rankings are always different as to what they are ranking - college prospects vs current production, etc. Every individual person ranking has a personal preference and places importance on different skill sets or types of players. Rankings will never please everyone. If a player or their team keeps improving, success will follow and accolades will come.
The outrage over this latest azcentral rankings is crazy. First off, Richard Obert ranks differently then AV. He is not a basketball talent expert nor does he claim to be that I know of. He just gave his rankings based on his opinions and those of his colleagues. Typically he goes by a few others opinions, puts a high emphasis on maxpreps stats and ranks kids he has seen in person higher. He has a fraction of what AV uses to rank guys but Obert is out at games constantly during the season. He was at the Gilbert/Mesa game a few days before the rankings came out. Basha/Perry last night. Holiday tournaments, he was there in the gyms I attended. Take the rankings for what they are, one person's opinion. That's it.
The biggest concern is the reaction by players/coaches. Calling players who are listed in these rankings "trash" and disrespecting people really isn't helping anyone. Immature players doing it is one thing but parents/coaches are leading the way. No wonder the kids are doing it. It is sad. If my son or one of my players were calling another player trash and disrespecting family or an adult over player rankings, he wouldn't see the court for a while.
Perspecitve people. Who cares? They are rankings. Players.....get in the gym and work on your game instead of spending hours on social media commenting on old guys who don't know the game. Coaches.....get control of your players. If you want the media to rank your players and they are good enought, get the media information on your guys. Invite them to games, practices, send them game film. Quit complaining and do something about it. Parents.....support your kids and cheer them on. Remind them of what is really important and keep the game fun.
Rankings don't really matter in the big picture. Sure, it is great to see your name and be recognized but it really doesn't matter. Parents and coaches need to be constantly reminding their kids/players of what is important. Rankings are always different as to what they are ranking - college prospects vs current production, etc. Every individual person ranking has a personal preference and places importance on different skill sets or types of players. Rankings will never please everyone. If a player or their team keeps improving, success will follow and accolades will come.
The outrage over this latest azcentral rankings is crazy. First off, Richard Obert ranks differently then AV. He is not a basketball talent expert nor does he claim to be that I know of. He just gave his rankings based on his opinions and those of his colleagues. Typically he goes by a few others opinions, puts a high emphasis on maxpreps stats and ranks kids he has seen in person higher. He has a fraction of what AV uses to rank guys but Obert is out at games constantly during the season. He was at the Gilbert/Mesa game a few days before the rankings came out. Basha/Perry last night. Holiday tournaments, he was there in the gyms I attended. Take the rankings for what they are, one person's opinion. That's it.
The biggest concern is the reaction by players/coaches. Calling players who are listed in these rankings "trash" and disrespecting people really isn't helping anyone. Immature players doing it is one thing but parents/coaches are leading the way. No wonder the kids are doing it. It is sad. If my son or one of my players were calling another player trash and disrespecting family or an adult over player rankings, he wouldn't see the court for a while.
Perspecitve people. Who cares? They are rankings. Players.....get in the gym and work on your game instead of spending hours on social media commenting on old guys who don't know the game. Coaches.....get control of your players. If you want the media to rank your players and they are good enought, get the media information on your guys. Invite them to games, practices, send them game film. Quit complaining and do something about it. Parents.....support your kids and cheer them on. Remind them of what is really important and keep the game fun.
