Open Letter To Basketball England: Basketball OCD

I have this very rare condition called Basketball OCD.

It’s a condition where I scrutinise all the little things I feel hinder the sport that we love so much. I am sure that I’m not the only one suffering but I may be of the first to speak out on it. I then decided to write an open letter to Basketball England to address the issue…

Dear Basketball England

Let’s help our NBL players pursue their basketball dreams by adding value to the league as I am yet to find a different reason that a player opts to play in a league than to be valued.

Although no two players are the same, one can group them by the things that they have in common. I’ve given a name to a specific group that I’m using to support my argument.

Problem

With the NBL, particularly in D1, having no televised coverage available unlike the BBL (understandably – NBL is not the highest tier of national basketball). I regard the lack of published statistics to be a problem – a conflict of interests of the players and the league. Career builders (almost half of NBL D1 players) – are somewhat disadvantaged. Those who fall into this category generally include younger players (<22) in the league and imports, particularly Americans.

HOW?

Risk, Credibility and Safety

As well as a sport, basketball is a business. With business comes risk. What needs to be understood is like in EVERY business, if something goes wrong, someone is accountable and could even get fired! Ask Chris Grant, ex-Cav’s GM who gambled on Anthony Bennett (one of the most disappointing 1^st picks of recent years). I digress.

Providing these players progress, these players are bound to run into scouts, agents or coaches, general managers (GM) etc. These guys’ jobs are to hire the VERY BEST player for the job. Their reputations (and also their jobs) are on the line any-time they make a decision, a call or a referral. That being said, they will want to have the most sure thing; minimising risk and not putting their families’ lifestyle at risk. They want credibility in the candidate they select. They will also need to cover themselves and their decisions.

When a player doesn’t perform, ‘Well he averaged 25 and 10 at Kentucky’ justifies the player’s selection a whole lot more than ‘I liked the kid’. Theoretically, you don’t need to have played one day of college ball to be better than someone who has. But let’s bring that minimal risk concept back into play. Let’s call it the Safety Net Concept.

Where there’s no 100% guarantee with any signing, a guarantee of the level of training and competition a player would have been exposed to helps. Therefore, experience and verifiable stats are frequently requested by teams. It’s kind of like ‘educated to degree level’ popping up on a job ads, whether or not relevant to the job, it somewhat filters out many unsuitable candidates.

Do you see what I’m getting at yet?

Does the NBL have verifiable stats?

In the words of one of my former junior coaches,

“Either you are pregnant or you are not!”

Now this was something he said to our team’s response of ‘sometimes’ to his question of ‘do you guys work as hard as you can?’.

“You cannot be 29, 50 or 99% pregnant – Only pregnant“

Using my coach’s logic, it’s all well and good working hard, but if it’s only sometimes, it’s almost like wasting potential and not working at all. The answer is NO! There are cases where statistics aren’t recorded nor published, also there are times the stats are even recorded but not published. Why?

Being filtered out as unsuitable candidates

Back in the shoes of the GM. Imagine I’m intrigued by a player who has played NBL D1 and I want to explore further. I go to the BE and see this…

Haven’t seen it yet? I have news for you then pal, you haven’t got Basketball OCD!

No more than 3 players in the ENTIRE league which have every league game recorded statwise. A looking GM  could be,and probably should be of the mindset, when shortlisting, that ‘if it can’t be measured, it can’t be managed!’

RISK!

‘Maybe he registered DNPs for those game’

One could assume that the player didn’t play – which could mean having to play the guessing game of whether the player is uncoachable, injury prone or simply not good enough. These are questions that NO PLAYER wants to have thought of them! Even more so if it isn’t the case! It’s kind of like a good CV written in red ink – discarded despite its contents.

Reality

Let’s face it we have the second worst (from the standpoint of Brits) import to export ratio globally with more import players are brought in than Brits employed abroad. One could almost use this as a measure to determine a nationality’s overall value (in terms of playing skills).

Lack of verifiable stats may play a part in this.

The sanction and fines in place to teams who don’t upload stats – I assume are not enforced effectively. Perhaps there should be some sort of incentive in order for the teams to take part, equipment discounts, free training on using the software – Something! I don’t know… But it has to change.

We do have a bright spot in Dave Owen, an individual dedicated to the betterment of basketball in the UK. Whilst displaying high achievers in basketball here and those with British passports elsewhere, Dave has even devised several databases in order to make players more credible and valued. It would make his job easier if the stats were 100% accurate.

 All ballers, regardless of level, want to be taken seriously, valued.

-TBV Chapter 1: verse 1

Maybe I am just overreacting, like I said, I have a rare case of basketball OCD, or maybe we actually do have a problem. I’ll let you decide.

BE INSPIRED

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