Kobe Bryant: European players are more skillful than Americans

[hpantazo]

Interesting thoughts from Kobe:

http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/story/_/id/12114523/kobe-bryant-says-european-players-more-skilled-americans-blames-aau?src=mobile&rand=ref~%7B%22ref%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2F%22%7D

"I just think European players are just way more skillful," Bryant said Friday night after the Los Angeles Lakers' 109-106 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. "They are just taught the game the right way at an early age. ... They're more skillful. It's something we really have to fix. We really have to address that. We have to teach our kids to play the right way."

"When you have limitations and you understand your limitations and you stay within yourself, you can be great," Kobe Bryant said. "You know what you can do and what you can't do. In America, it's a big problem for us because we're not teaching players how to play all-around basketball. That's why you have Pau and Marc [Gasol], and that's the reason why 90 percent of the Spurs' roster is European players, because they have more skill."

"Horrible, terrible AAU basketball. It's stupid. It doesn't teach our kids how to play the game at all so you wind up having players that are big and they bring it up and they do all this fancy crap and they don't know how to post. They don't know the fundamentals of the game. It's stupid."

I have to say, I agree with Kobe to some extent and have felt this way for a while. I'm glad to see someone of his level speak out about it. We are not promoting and teaching the game the right way here anymore. It will catch up to us soon.

[RJ87]

I've thought that for some time. So many young guys are coming into the league now with raw talent but no idea how to play the game.

[Chief]

I 100% agree. It's sad too.

[krumeto]

I think it has a bit of "grass is always greener" and truth in it.

The game has become way more international in recent years. Everywhere there are some good basketball programs and some bad ones. In Europe more and more kids play and come out of those. Kobe sees the best ones in the NBA and compares to the mass in US.

When I look at this years draft I cannot say Hezonja and Porzingis are better all-around players then US guys at the same age and talent.

I watch basketball in my home country Bulgaria - same pattern - some talented kids become chuckers, some are all-around players but do not work on their bodies and some - very few succeed to become good players.

[Onslaught]

I agree with him.

 But I'd point out to him this "When you have limitations and you understand your limitations and you stay within yourself, you can be great,"

Perhaps he should listen to himself.

[Clench123]

Sorry but this is crap.  If this is truly the case how is it that Europe isn't lighting it up or nearly as popular as the U.S basketball.  He may have a point in some instances but to make such generalization is ridiculous.  The problem I see is how fast these kids are being churned into the league with little to no substantial experience behind them.  And I won't be too quick to ignore the obvious bias here as Kobe is a foreign player.

The message is also coming from a wrong player.  Take your own advise, Kobe.  Play the game the right way.

[Celtics4ever]

I think in some areas it is true, shooting wise.  I do think we have better athletes and better overall players.   Our USA players are also tougher in most cases and more physical, Euros are softer and their game is more finesse.  Their D is not as good either.  There is a reason we dominate in basketball like we do.   It is not just about populace or China would own.   Part of it is Culture, I would wager the best athletes in Europe play soccer.   Here they play football, baseball and basketball.  They certainly put a hurting on us with that.

I see a Euro step which has become part of the game, as a travel.   Now they do it in high school, should have sent it back to Europe.   

[Boris Badenov]

I love how his example of American players' flaws is "big guys don't know how to stay in the post."

Instead of, perhaps, "selfish one-on-one gunners who jack up contested shots out of the flow of the offense and torpedo their team's chemistry."

[hpantazo]

Sorry but this is crap.  If this is truly the case how is it that Europe isn't lighting it up or nearly as popular as the U.S basketball.  He may have a point in some instances but to make such generalization is ridiculous.  The problem I see is how fast these kids are being churned into the league with little to no substantial experience behind them.  And I won't be too quick to ignore the obvious bias here as Kobe is a foreign player.

The message is also coming from a wrong player.  Take your own advise, Kobe.  Play the game the right way.

This is the type of mentality that causes deterioration of the game that is happening. Our players used to be much more skillful and knowledgable up to about the early to mid-90's. Then we had a huge drop-off that persists today. We have better, tougher athletes, but they are not taught the game correctly, instead we promote individual play and flashy moves rather than skill and knowledge of the game, and it can be fixed. The idea that the U.S. is o far superior to the rest of the world in basketball is about a decade outdated and if we continue this mindset we will soon be losing the international contests. Popularity of basketball is catching up in Europe and more of their top athletes are becoming attracted to the sport instead of soccer.

[hpantazo]

I love how his example of American players' flaws is "big guys don't know how to stay in the post."

Instead of, perhaps, "selfish one-on-one gunners who jack up contested shots out of the flow of the offense and torpedo their team's chemistry."

LOL...yep, excellent point!

[coco]

Well, looks who's talking now....

Commendable comment from Kobe but....
Kobe's brand of basketball is a big part of the problem.  Taking forced shots? Not looking for the open man?  -  i.e. not playing the right way...

Children see this and the accolades he gets for it.....

[hpantazo]

I think in some areas it is true, shooting wise.  I do think we have better athletes and better overall players.  Our USA players are also tougher in most cases and more physical, Euros are softer and their game is more finesse.  Their D is not as good either.  There is a reason we dominate in basketball like we do.   It is not just about populace or China would own.   Part of it is Culture, I would wager the best athletes in Europe play soccer.   Here they play football, baseball and basketball.  They certainly put a hurting on us with that.

I see a Euro step which has become part of the game, as a travel.   Now they do it in high school, should have sent it back to Europe.

To be fair, he did say 'more skillful" and talked about learning the game the right way, he didn't say "better overall". We obviously have the better, tougher athletes, but that can change quickly as popularity of the sport increases in other countries, unless anyone honestly thinks that americans are inherently tougher people than the rest of the world, which is absurd.

[PAOBoston]

I think he's more right than wrong. I think European players have better fundamentals of certain concepts (shooting, rebounding, etc) than American players (at least the newer generations). I think NBA players today rely too much on their athleticism to get by. That's why we see players like Javale McGee. Great athelete, no idea how to play actually play basketball.

[Chief]

I think a good example of what he is talking about is Jeff Green.

[krumeto]

I think in some areas it is true, shooting wise.  I do think we have better athletes and better overall players.   Our USA players are also tougher in most cases and more physical, Euros are softer and their game is more finesse.  Their D is not as good either.  There is a reason we dominate in basketball like we do.   It is not just about populace or China would own.   Part of it is Culture, I would wager the best athletes in Europe play soccer.   Here they play football, baseball and basketball.  They certainly put a hurting on us with that.

It is a good point - volleyball is more popular here in Europe and lots of talented kids 6'4'' and higher play it. I'd say in many big countries like Poland and Italy volleyball is more popular than bball.

Agree with the other points too.