Description
Join us for an insightful conversation with Nico Van den Bogaerd, European scout for the Miami Heat, as he shares what it takes for youth players to catch the NBA's attention, beyond athleticism and technical skills.
Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.
Transcription
My name is Nico van den Boogaert. I'm originally from Belgium. I scout for the Miami Heat in Europe. I'm interested as well in drives, which is, I think, something that can be very positive for possibly a lot of clubs.
Thank you. So what does it take to get the NBA's attention if I'm a youth player?
To get to the NBA, you definitely have to be an amazing basketball player. That's for sure. That's out of the question. And you have to definitely have also a certain level of physical and athletic qualities that are probably the highest in the world, more than in any league elsewhere in the world. There is a lot of players, for example, that I believe can participate in the NBA. But what I personally try to find in players as well is Can this player make us better as a team? Can this player help us win? Can we improve our roster? Not immediately, maybe in a couple of years after development, potentially. Can this player really help us to become a more competitive team and try to the ultimate goal of winning a championship, of course.
And beyond the physical or the technical qualities, is there anything else you're looking for?
The mentality, the toughness, the resilience, the winning mentality. Yeah. is definitely one of the key aspects for what we care about. And be ready for the complicated moments in the playoffs, at the end of the game of closed games. So those type of things, of course, that's coaching as well.
I love that. And I think it's really important when you're talking about, you know, the end of a closed game in the NBA playoffs. But when you're observing, youth players how are you able to tell those things because obviously this is not the nba right um they're not at this level yet well sometimes you have examples it's obviously not at the same level but maybe you see in the youth category as well you just you
can see how how they react in certain situations if they've been in certain situations before so there you can take out some conclusions but obviously then uh to to translate that to the to a whole other level and probably also a whole other role mostly because the biggest part of the players on the NBA roster are more, let's say, role players. There's not too many star players. About fighting through negative occurrences, when a game isn't going your way, when you start off bad, are you able to play that and just stay in the game and still be a contributor to help your team? And I think also the emotional stability is very important in that sense to be able to have that quality. And for example, what I believe is also very important is to be able to contribute without the ball. And while you're on the bench, the percentage of time, of minutes that you actually have the ball in your hands isn't that high. So you better be able to... be useful make yourself useful as well and when you don't have the ball do you actually pay attention to the bench like to how a player behaves on the bench definitely yeah especially because so often i'm i'm kind of zooming in on a on a couple players uh during during games so um i do try to focus as well on on the interactions on on the bench or um in warm-ups uh i like to for example i like to go to watch practices if i can if i'm allowed And then the warm-ups as well. You just see things if they're already preparing the game properly. If they're already with intensity, if they're taking shots that they might actually get during the game. The execution of even stretching and warm-up drills, are they doing that a bit in a decent way? Or they don't care that they're trying to... cheat on reps or stuff like that. I think it doesn't mean that you have to give it too much value, but it all adds up at the end.
And what about things or behaviors that you pay attention to that would be negative behaviors that would basically take away points for that player you're observing?
Lack of effort and defensive effort, playing in a selfish way. it's a team sport. So that is kind of important. And the work, the part that comes with the work ethics. Now, if you're not very coachable as a player, if. You already think that you're pretty good in your youth level and maybe you are dominant right there, but you're still far from being a good pro. So those things, you need to be coachable. You need to accept and listen and learn still a lot. The interaction with teammates, shouting at teammates or coaches, that body language after, well, if... um you're giving a pass and then your teammate didn't understand what you wanted to do and you lose the ball whatever and you're shouting to your teammate or your head goes down after a missed shot um it's plenty of plenty of uh situations that that you you can see how a player reacts or interacts with the coach with the team personnel on the practice for example if they have respect for other people with the referees as well um referees for example Obviously, everybody is always complaining, mostly about referees. But if you're able to communicate with them in a mature way, which is obviously not obvious for young players, but if you are able to, I think you can tell them things in a proper way. And they will see things maybe afterwards, because you told them, pay attention to this, look at this, this is happening. And there's many things if you're able to. communicate in a good way with people and referees as well it's only beneficial um on the other hand personally i'm not i don't like to write anybody off even if there are things that uh some are some aspects that aren't very positive because um players go through development so be it basketball technically physically as well and maturing as a person simply you know so you There are aspects of our behaviors that simply don't align with being or becoming a high level professional athlete, I would say. But it doesn't mean the person can't learn or can't change certain behaviors.
And in your opinion, when we're talking about growing and developing, what is the part of work ethics for a youth player in particular to reach their personal potential?
If you want to get better at something, you need to put in the work. It's not usually getting better at whatever in life. I think it's not a sprint normally with an immediate success and reward. It's a daily grind that requires a continuous effort. And you need to have the ability also to overcome plenty of obstacles along that road. You play with the team and for the team to win. But in the day-to-day, you try to get better yourself. You have to sometimes not do always the things that you're good at because you need to get better at other things. So you don't have to be afraid to make some mistakes, to dribble with your left hand, to just do basic things that is part of development. But you feel more comfortable with other things. So I'm hiding my weaknesses. That's not the moment to hide your weaknesses. win practices.
I love it. Practice is not the moment to hide your weaknesses. And particularly if you're goal oriented and you really, you know, set yourself some development goals, you know, the areas where you need to improve. How much tension do you pay to that, to improvement and development from year to year?
Players development over the years is important. If somebody's stagnating, that is something significant indeed. That's why it's interesting to start following young players already at a young age, let's say like U16 or something like that. So you have several years, at least for the NBA, before the draft age comes in place. So you have several years of development that you're able to witness. But also there might be other factors that you maybe don't know immediately unless you talk to coaches or to people. around them that there might be reasons. If it's an injury you probably know but there might be other factors, personal factors that you might not know immediately and I would say as well the joy and the passion to play the game is important to keep that work ethic at a high level because if you don't really enjoy playing then even if you are very good and you have a lot of experience physical athletic potential and skills, it might not be enough because you're not going to work hard enough. As a young player, you never... ready yet. So everybody needs still a lot of development and if you don't have that work ethic or the passion to keep that work ethic alive, then you might start that stagnation and to come back to that development from year to year, that might stagnate and not be enough to maximize your potential as a player. They have to be a little bit realistic. It's very good to have confidence, but the gap between being confident and your realistic level at that moment can't be too big. So, because otherwise it becomes a bit of an obstacle, I think to improve because you'd already think you're better than, than, than you are. So yeah, I think realism of a player is, is a part of it is important.
I love that you're saying that, that, you know, realism is a big part of. work ethics because it informs what you need to work on and how much you need to work on it now some players have big ambitions and they're not you know the star players we're talking about youth players here um but they still have this ambition to make it to the highest leagues um what do you say to them right because they may not be developing as the main guy on the team obviously if a player can do everything at a elite level
then better, no? Then they're LeBron James or Michael Jordan or whoever. So there are a lot of other players who they might be able to reach certain leagues. And in my case, well, the NBA is what I'm interested in, of course. Maybe they can't be star players in the NBA, but maybe they can specialize in a couple aspects of the game. that they can do at really such a top-notch level that they are able to make it to the NBA.
I've seen a few great young athletes, like young potential, you know, once they're on the court, they sometimes struggle because the energy of the group is not necessarily the way they want it to be. And they have these high ambitions for themselves. And you can see it, like you can see it all over their faces.
Well, I don't like to see it, but sometimes it can be coming from a place that players want to win. They're very competitive. Having lesser teammates that don't understand or aren't at the same level as that particular player. And so, yeah, maybe he still needs to learn how to lead in a different way and actually make his teammates better instead of... doing it in a negative way that is actually, well, not positive for the team dynamics and for this player to be as good as he can be, the other, the teammate. And I mean, it's like learning how to canalize things. And I think as a young player, you don't always know that. So, for example, a mental coach in that sense could have an impact, I believe, in helping a player realize why he gets frustrated. Okay, that. and know that not everybody is as good and but you still need your team and your teammates to be as good as as they can be as well and you have to try to lead them then if you're the better one and if you do that in a good way and you well you might need time for that not to learn that and to mature as well as that to become that leader
Description
Join us for an insightful conversation with Nico Van den Bogaerd, European scout for the Miami Heat, as he shares what it takes for youth players to catch the NBA's attention, beyond athleticism and technical skills.
Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.
Transcription
My name is Nico van den Boogaert. I'm originally from Belgium. I scout for the Miami Heat in Europe. I'm interested as well in drives, which is, I think, something that can be very positive for possibly a lot of clubs.
Thank you. So what does it take to get the NBA's attention if I'm a youth player?
To get to the NBA, you definitely have to be an amazing basketball player. That's for sure. That's out of the question. And you have to definitely have also a certain level of physical and athletic qualities that are probably the highest in the world, more than in any league elsewhere in the world. There is a lot of players, for example, that I believe can participate in the NBA. But what I personally try to find in players as well is Can this player make us better as a team? Can this player help us win? Can we improve our roster? Not immediately, maybe in a couple of years after development, potentially. Can this player really help us to become a more competitive team and try to the ultimate goal of winning a championship, of course.
And beyond the physical or the technical qualities, is there anything else you're looking for?
The mentality, the toughness, the resilience, the winning mentality. Yeah. is definitely one of the key aspects for what we care about. And be ready for the complicated moments in the playoffs, at the end of the game of closed games. So those type of things, of course, that's coaching as well.
I love that. And I think it's really important when you're talking about, you know, the end of a closed game in the NBA playoffs. But when you're observing, youth players how are you able to tell those things because obviously this is not the nba right um they're not at this level yet well sometimes you have examples it's obviously not at the same level but maybe you see in the youth category as well you just you
can see how how they react in certain situations if they've been in certain situations before so there you can take out some conclusions but obviously then uh to to translate that to the to a whole other level and probably also a whole other role mostly because the biggest part of the players on the NBA roster are more, let's say, role players. There's not too many star players. About fighting through negative occurrences, when a game isn't going your way, when you start off bad, are you able to play that and just stay in the game and still be a contributor to help your team? And I think also the emotional stability is very important in that sense to be able to have that quality. And for example, what I believe is also very important is to be able to contribute without the ball. And while you're on the bench, the percentage of time, of minutes that you actually have the ball in your hands isn't that high. So you better be able to... be useful make yourself useful as well and when you don't have the ball do you actually pay attention to the bench like to how a player behaves on the bench definitely yeah especially because so often i'm i'm kind of zooming in on a on a couple players uh during during games so um i do try to focus as well on on the interactions on on the bench or um in warm-ups uh i like to for example i like to go to watch practices if i can if i'm allowed And then the warm-ups as well. You just see things if they're already preparing the game properly. If they're already with intensity, if they're taking shots that they might actually get during the game. The execution of even stretching and warm-up drills, are they doing that a bit in a decent way? Or they don't care that they're trying to... cheat on reps or stuff like that. I think it doesn't mean that you have to give it too much value, but it all adds up at the end.
And what about things or behaviors that you pay attention to that would be negative behaviors that would basically take away points for that player you're observing?
Lack of effort and defensive effort, playing in a selfish way. it's a team sport. So that is kind of important. And the work, the part that comes with the work ethics. Now, if you're not very coachable as a player, if. You already think that you're pretty good in your youth level and maybe you are dominant right there, but you're still far from being a good pro. So those things, you need to be coachable. You need to accept and listen and learn still a lot. The interaction with teammates, shouting at teammates or coaches, that body language after, well, if... um you're giving a pass and then your teammate didn't understand what you wanted to do and you lose the ball whatever and you're shouting to your teammate or your head goes down after a missed shot um it's plenty of plenty of uh situations that that you you can see how a player reacts or interacts with the coach with the team personnel on the practice for example if they have respect for other people with the referees as well um referees for example Obviously, everybody is always complaining, mostly about referees. But if you're able to communicate with them in a mature way, which is obviously not obvious for young players, but if you are able to, I think you can tell them things in a proper way. And they will see things maybe afterwards, because you told them, pay attention to this, look at this, this is happening. And there's many things if you're able to. communicate in a good way with people and referees as well it's only beneficial um on the other hand personally i'm not i don't like to write anybody off even if there are things that uh some are some aspects that aren't very positive because um players go through development so be it basketball technically physically as well and maturing as a person simply you know so you There are aspects of our behaviors that simply don't align with being or becoming a high level professional athlete, I would say. But it doesn't mean the person can't learn or can't change certain behaviors.
And in your opinion, when we're talking about growing and developing, what is the part of work ethics for a youth player in particular to reach their personal potential?
If you want to get better at something, you need to put in the work. It's not usually getting better at whatever in life. I think it's not a sprint normally with an immediate success and reward. It's a daily grind that requires a continuous effort. And you need to have the ability also to overcome plenty of obstacles along that road. You play with the team and for the team to win. But in the day-to-day, you try to get better yourself. You have to sometimes not do always the things that you're good at because you need to get better at other things. So you don't have to be afraid to make some mistakes, to dribble with your left hand, to just do basic things that is part of development. But you feel more comfortable with other things. So I'm hiding my weaknesses. That's not the moment to hide your weaknesses. win practices.
I love it. Practice is not the moment to hide your weaknesses. And particularly if you're goal oriented and you really, you know, set yourself some development goals, you know, the areas where you need to improve. How much tension do you pay to that, to improvement and development from year to year?
Players development over the years is important. If somebody's stagnating, that is something significant indeed. That's why it's interesting to start following young players already at a young age, let's say like U16 or something like that. So you have several years, at least for the NBA, before the draft age comes in place. So you have several years of development that you're able to witness. But also there might be other factors that you maybe don't know immediately unless you talk to coaches or to people. around them that there might be reasons. If it's an injury you probably know but there might be other factors, personal factors that you might not know immediately and I would say as well the joy and the passion to play the game is important to keep that work ethic at a high level because if you don't really enjoy playing then even if you are very good and you have a lot of experience physical athletic potential and skills, it might not be enough because you're not going to work hard enough. As a young player, you never... ready yet. So everybody needs still a lot of development and if you don't have that work ethic or the passion to keep that work ethic alive, then you might start that stagnation and to come back to that development from year to year, that might stagnate and not be enough to maximize your potential as a player. They have to be a little bit realistic. It's very good to have confidence, but the gap between being confident and your realistic level at that moment can't be too big. So, because otherwise it becomes a bit of an obstacle, I think to improve because you'd already think you're better than, than, than you are. So yeah, I think realism of a player is, is a part of it is important.
I love that you're saying that, that, you know, realism is a big part of. work ethics because it informs what you need to work on and how much you need to work on it now some players have big ambitions and they're not you know the star players we're talking about youth players here um but they still have this ambition to make it to the highest leagues um what do you say to them right because they may not be developing as the main guy on the team obviously if a player can do everything at a elite level
then better, no? Then they're LeBron James or Michael Jordan or whoever. So there are a lot of other players who they might be able to reach certain leagues. And in my case, well, the NBA is what I'm interested in, of course. Maybe they can't be star players in the NBA, but maybe they can specialize in a couple aspects of the game. that they can do at really such a top-notch level that they are able to make it to the NBA.
I've seen a few great young athletes, like young potential, you know, once they're on the court, they sometimes struggle because the energy of the group is not necessarily the way they want it to be. And they have these high ambitions for themselves. And you can see it, like you can see it all over their faces.
Well, I don't like to see it, but sometimes it can be coming from a place that players want to win. They're very competitive. Having lesser teammates that don't understand or aren't at the same level as that particular player. And so, yeah, maybe he still needs to learn how to lead in a different way and actually make his teammates better instead of... doing it in a negative way that is actually, well, not positive for the team dynamics and for this player to be as good as he can be, the other, the teammate. And I mean, it's like learning how to canalize things. And I think as a young player, you don't always know that. So, for example, a mental coach in that sense could have an impact, I believe, in helping a player realize why he gets frustrated. Okay, that. and know that not everybody is as good and but you still need your team and your teammates to be as good as as they can be as well and you have to try to lead them then if you're the better one and if you do that in a good way and you well you might need time for that not to learn that and to mature as well as that to become that leader
Share
Embed
You may also like
Description
Join us for an insightful conversation with Nico Van den Bogaerd, European scout for the Miami Heat, as he shares what it takes for youth players to catch the NBA's attention, beyond athleticism and technical skills.
Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.
Transcription
My name is Nico van den Boogaert. I'm originally from Belgium. I scout for the Miami Heat in Europe. I'm interested as well in drives, which is, I think, something that can be very positive for possibly a lot of clubs.
Thank you. So what does it take to get the NBA's attention if I'm a youth player?
To get to the NBA, you definitely have to be an amazing basketball player. That's for sure. That's out of the question. And you have to definitely have also a certain level of physical and athletic qualities that are probably the highest in the world, more than in any league elsewhere in the world. There is a lot of players, for example, that I believe can participate in the NBA. But what I personally try to find in players as well is Can this player make us better as a team? Can this player help us win? Can we improve our roster? Not immediately, maybe in a couple of years after development, potentially. Can this player really help us to become a more competitive team and try to the ultimate goal of winning a championship, of course.
And beyond the physical or the technical qualities, is there anything else you're looking for?
The mentality, the toughness, the resilience, the winning mentality. Yeah. is definitely one of the key aspects for what we care about. And be ready for the complicated moments in the playoffs, at the end of the game of closed games. So those type of things, of course, that's coaching as well.
I love that. And I think it's really important when you're talking about, you know, the end of a closed game in the NBA playoffs. But when you're observing, youth players how are you able to tell those things because obviously this is not the nba right um they're not at this level yet well sometimes you have examples it's obviously not at the same level but maybe you see in the youth category as well you just you
can see how how they react in certain situations if they've been in certain situations before so there you can take out some conclusions but obviously then uh to to translate that to the to a whole other level and probably also a whole other role mostly because the biggest part of the players on the NBA roster are more, let's say, role players. There's not too many star players. About fighting through negative occurrences, when a game isn't going your way, when you start off bad, are you able to play that and just stay in the game and still be a contributor to help your team? And I think also the emotional stability is very important in that sense to be able to have that quality. And for example, what I believe is also very important is to be able to contribute without the ball. And while you're on the bench, the percentage of time, of minutes that you actually have the ball in your hands isn't that high. So you better be able to... be useful make yourself useful as well and when you don't have the ball do you actually pay attention to the bench like to how a player behaves on the bench definitely yeah especially because so often i'm i'm kind of zooming in on a on a couple players uh during during games so um i do try to focus as well on on the interactions on on the bench or um in warm-ups uh i like to for example i like to go to watch practices if i can if i'm allowed And then the warm-ups as well. You just see things if they're already preparing the game properly. If they're already with intensity, if they're taking shots that they might actually get during the game. The execution of even stretching and warm-up drills, are they doing that a bit in a decent way? Or they don't care that they're trying to... cheat on reps or stuff like that. I think it doesn't mean that you have to give it too much value, but it all adds up at the end.
And what about things or behaviors that you pay attention to that would be negative behaviors that would basically take away points for that player you're observing?
Lack of effort and defensive effort, playing in a selfish way. it's a team sport. So that is kind of important. And the work, the part that comes with the work ethics. Now, if you're not very coachable as a player, if. You already think that you're pretty good in your youth level and maybe you are dominant right there, but you're still far from being a good pro. So those things, you need to be coachable. You need to accept and listen and learn still a lot. The interaction with teammates, shouting at teammates or coaches, that body language after, well, if... um you're giving a pass and then your teammate didn't understand what you wanted to do and you lose the ball whatever and you're shouting to your teammate or your head goes down after a missed shot um it's plenty of plenty of uh situations that that you you can see how a player reacts or interacts with the coach with the team personnel on the practice for example if they have respect for other people with the referees as well um referees for example Obviously, everybody is always complaining, mostly about referees. But if you're able to communicate with them in a mature way, which is obviously not obvious for young players, but if you are able to, I think you can tell them things in a proper way. And they will see things maybe afterwards, because you told them, pay attention to this, look at this, this is happening. And there's many things if you're able to. communicate in a good way with people and referees as well it's only beneficial um on the other hand personally i'm not i don't like to write anybody off even if there are things that uh some are some aspects that aren't very positive because um players go through development so be it basketball technically physically as well and maturing as a person simply you know so you There are aspects of our behaviors that simply don't align with being or becoming a high level professional athlete, I would say. But it doesn't mean the person can't learn or can't change certain behaviors.
And in your opinion, when we're talking about growing and developing, what is the part of work ethics for a youth player in particular to reach their personal potential?
If you want to get better at something, you need to put in the work. It's not usually getting better at whatever in life. I think it's not a sprint normally with an immediate success and reward. It's a daily grind that requires a continuous effort. And you need to have the ability also to overcome plenty of obstacles along that road. You play with the team and for the team to win. But in the day-to-day, you try to get better yourself. You have to sometimes not do always the things that you're good at because you need to get better at other things. So you don't have to be afraid to make some mistakes, to dribble with your left hand, to just do basic things that is part of development. But you feel more comfortable with other things. So I'm hiding my weaknesses. That's not the moment to hide your weaknesses. win practices.
I love it. Practice is not the moment to hide your weaknesses. And particularly if you're goal oriented and you really, you know, set yourself some development goals, you know, the areas where you need to improve. How much tension do you pay to that, to improvement and development from year to year?
Players development over the years is important. If somebody's stagnating, that is something significant indeed. That's why it's interesting to start following young players already at a young age, let's say like U16 or something like that. So you have several years, at least for the NBA, before the draft age comes in place. So you have several years of development that you're able to witness. But also there might be other factors that you maybe don't know immediately unless you talk to coaches or to people. around them that there might be reasons. If it's an injury you probably know but there might be other factors, personal factors that you might not know immediately and I would say as well the joy and the passion to play the game is important to keep that work ethic at a high level because if you don't really enjoy playing then even if you are very good and you have a lot of experience physical athletic potential and skills, it might not be enough because you're not going to work hard enough. As a young player, you never... ready yet. So everybody needs still a lot of development and if you don't have that work ethic or the passion to keep that work ethic alive, then you might start that stagnation and to come back to that development from year to year, that might stagnate and not be enough to maximize your potential as a player. They have to be a little bit realistic. It's very good to have confidence, but the gap between being confident and your realistic level at that moment can't be too big. So, because otherwise it becomes a bit of an obstacle, I think to improve because you'd already think you're better than, than, than you are. So yeah, I think realism of a player is, is a part of it is important.
I love that you're saying that, that, you know, realism is a big part of. work ethics because it informs what you need to work on and how much you need to work on it now some players have big ambitions and they're not you know the star players we're talking about youth players here um but they still have this ambition to make it to the highest leagues um what do you say to them right because they may not be developing as the main guy on the team obviously if a player can do everything at a elite level
then better, no? Then they're LeBron James or Michael Jordan or whoever. So there are a lot of other players who they might be able to reach certain leagues. And in my case, well, the NBA is what I'm interested in, of course. Maybe they can't be star players in the NBA, but maybe they can specialize in a couple aspects of the game. that they can do at really such a top-notch level that they are able to make it to the NBA.
I've seen a few great young athletes, like young potential, you know, once they're on the court, they sometimes struggle because the energy of the group is not necessarily the way they want it to be. And they have these high ambitions for themselves. And you can see it, like you can see it all over their faces.
Well, I don't like to see it, but sometimes it can be coming from a place that players want to win. They're very competitive. Having lesser teammates that don't understand or aren't at the same level as that particular player. And so, yeah, maybe he still needs to learn how to lead in a different way and actually make his teammates better instead of... doing it in a negative way that is actually, well, not positive for the team dynamics and for this player to be as good as he can be, the other, the teammate. And I mean, it's like learning how to canalize things. And I think as a young player, you don't always know that. So, for example, a mental coach in that sense could have an impact, I believe, in helping a player realize why he gets frustrated. Okay, that. and know that not everybody is as good and but you still need your team and your teammates to be as good as as they can be as well and you have to try to lead them then if you're the better one and if you do that in a good way and you well you might need time for that not to learn that and to mature as well as that to become that leader
Description
Join us for an insightful conversation with Nico Van den Bogaerd, European scout for the Miami Heat, as he shares what it takes for youth players to catch the NBA's attention, beyond athleticism and technical skills.
Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.
Transcription
My name is Nico van den Boogaert. I'm originally from Belgium. I scout for the Miami Heat in Europe. I'm interested as well in drives, which is, I think, something that can be very positive for possibly a lot of clubs.
Thank you. So what does it take to get the NBA's attention if I'm a youth player?
To get to the NBA, you definitely have to be an amazing basketball player. That's for sure. That's out of the question. And you have to definitely have also a certain level of physical and athletic qualities that are probably the highest in the world, more than in any league elsewhere in the world. There is a lot of players, for example, that I believe can participate in the NBA. But what I personally try to find in players as well is Can this player make us better as a team? Can this player help us win? Can we improve our roster? Not immediately, maybe in a couple of years after development, potentially. Can this player really help us to become a more competitive team and try to the ultimate goal of winning a championship, of course.
And beyond the physical or the technical qualities, is there anything else you're looking for?
The mentality, the toughness, the resilience, the winning mentality. Yeah. is definitely one of the key aspects for what we care about. And be ready for the complicated moments in the playoffs, at the end of the game of closed games. So those type of things, of course, that's coaching as well.
I love that. And I think it's really important when you're talking about, you know, the end of a closed game in the NBA playoffs. But when you're observing, youth players how are you able to tell those things because obviously this is not the nba right um they're not at this level yet well sometimes you have examples it's obviously not at the same level but maybe you see in the youth category as well you just you
can see how how they react in certain situations if they've been in certain situations before so there you can take out some conclusions but obviously then uh to to translate that to the to a whole other level and probably also a whole other role mostly because the biggest part of the players on the NBA roster are more, let's say, role players. There's not too many star players. About fighting through negative occurrences, when a game isn't going your way, when you start off bad, are you able to play that and just stay in the game and still be a contributor to help your team? And I think also the emotional stability is very important in that sense to be able to have that quality. And for example, what I believe is also very important is to be able to contribute without the ball. And while you're on the bench, the percentage of time, of minutes that you actually have the ball in your hands isn't that high. So you better be able to... be useful make yourself useful as well and when you don't have the ball do you actually pay attention to the bench like to how a player behaves on the bench definitely yeah especially because so often i'm i'm kind of zooming in on a on a couple players uh during during games so um i do try to focus as well on on the interactions on on the bench or um in warm-ups uh i like to for example i like to go to watch practices if i can if i'm allowed And then the warm-ups as well. You just see things if they're already preparing the game properly. If they're already with intensity, if they're taking shots that they might actually get during the game. The execution of even stretching and warm-up drills, are they doing that a bit in a decent way? Or they don't care that they're trying to... cheat on reps or stuff like that. I think it doesn't mean that you have to give it too much value, but it all adds up at the end.
And what about things or behaviors that you pay attention to that would be negative behaviors that would basically take away points for that player you're observing?
Lack of effort and defensive effort, playing in a selfish way. it's a team sport. So that is kind of important. And the work, the part that comes with the work ethics. Now, if you're not very coachable as a player, if. You already think that you're pretty good in your youth level and maybe you are dominant right there, but you're still far from being a good pro. So those things, you need to be coachable. You need to accept and listen and learn still a lot. The interaction with teammates, shouting at teammates or coaches, that body language after, well, if... um you're giving a pass and then your teammate didn't understand what you wanted to do and you lose the ball whatever and you're shouting to your teammate or your head goes down after a missed shot um it's plenty of plenty of uh situations that that you you can see how a player reacts or interacts with the coach with the team personnel on the practice for example if they have respect for other people with the referees as well um referees for example Obviously, everybody is always complaining, mostly about referees. But if you're able to communicate with them in a mature way, which is obviously not obvious for young players, but if you are able to, I think you can tell them things in a proper way. And they will see things maybe afterwards, because you told them, pay attention to this, look at this, this is happening. And there's many things if you're able to. communicate in a good way with people and referees as well it's only beneficial um on the other hand personally i'm not i don't like to write anybody off even if there are things that uh some are some aspects that aren't very positive because um players go through development so be it basketball technically physically as well and maturing as a person simply you know so you There are aspects of our behaviors that simply don't align with being or becoming a high level professional athlete, I would say. But it doesn't mean the person can't learn or can't change certain behaviors.
And in your opinion, when we're talking about growing and developing, what is the part of work ethics for a youth player in particular to reach their personal potential?
If you want to get better at something, you need to put in the work. It's not usually getting better at whatever in life. I think it's not a sprint normally with an immediate success and reward. It's a daily grind that requires a continuous effort. And you need to have the ability also to overcome plenty of obstacles along that road. You play with the team and for the team to win. But in the day-to-day, you try to get better yourself. You have to sometimes not do always the things that you're good at because you need to get better at other things. So you don't have to be afraid to make some mistakes, to dribble with your left hand, to just do basic things that is part of development. But you feel more comfortable with other things. So I'm hiding my weaknesses. That's not the moment to hide your weaknesses. win practices.
I love it. Practice is not the moment to hide your weaknesses. And particularly if you're goal oriented and you really, you know, set yourself some development goals, you know, the areas where you need to improve. How much tension do you pay to that, to improvement and development from year to year?
Players development over the years is important. If somebody's stagnating, that is something significant indeed. That's why it's interesting to start following young players already at a young age, let's say like U16 or something like that. So you have several years, at least for the NBA, before the draft age comes in place. So you have several years of development that you're able to witness. But also there might be other factors that you maybe don't know immediately unless you talk to coaches or to people. around them that there might be reasons. If it's an injury you probably know but there might be other factors, personal factors that you might not know immediately and I would say as well the joy and the passion to play the game is important to keep that work ethic at a high level because if you don't really enjoy playing then even if you are very good and you have a lot of experience physical athletic potential and skills, it might not be enough because you're not going to work hard enough. As a young player, you never... ready yet. So everybody needs still a lot of development and if you don't have that work ethic or the passion to keep that work ethic alive, then you might start that stagnation and to come back to that development from year to year, that might stagnate and not be enough to maximize your potential as a player. They have to be a little bit realistic. It's very good to have confidence, but the gap between being confident and your realistic level at that moment can't be too big. So, because otherwise it becomes a bit of an obstacle, I think to improve because you'd already think you're better than, than, than you are. So yeah, I think realism of a player is, is a part of it is important.
I love that you're saying that, that, you know, realism is a big part of. work ethics because it informs what you need to work on and how much you need to work on it now some players have big ambitions and they're not you know the star players we're talking about youth players here um but they still have this ambition to make it to the highest leagues um what do you say to them right because they may not be developing as the main guy on the team obviously if a player can do everything at a elite level
then better, no? Then they're LeBron James or Michael Jordan or whoever. So there are a lot of other players who they might be able to reach certain leagues. And in my case, well, the NBA is what I'm interested in, of course. Maybe they can't be star players in the NBA, but maybe they can specialize in a couple aspects of the game. that they can do at really such a top-notch level that they are able to make it to the NBA.
I've seen a few great young athletes, like young potential, you know, once they're on the court, they sometimes struggle because the energy of the group is not necessarily the way they want it to be. And they have these high ambitions for themselves. And you can see it, like you can see it all over their faces.
Well, I don't like to see it, but sometimes it can be coming from a place that players want to win. They're very competitive. Having lesser teammates that don't understand or aren't at the same level as that particular player. And so, yeah, maybe he still needs to learn how to lead in a different way and actually make his teammates better instead of... doing it in a negative way that is actually, well, not positive for the team dynamics and for this player to be as good as he can be, the other, the teammate. And I mean, it's like learning how to canalize things. And I think as a young player, you don't always know that. So, for example, a mental coach in that sense could have an impact, I believe, in helping a player realize why he gets frustrated. Okay, that. and know that not everybody is as good and but you still need your team and your teammates to be as good as as they can be as well and you have to try to lead them then if you're the better one and if you do that in a good way and you well you might need time for that not to learn that and to mature as well as that to become that leader
Share
Embed
You may also like
