CANADA BASKETBALL VS USA BASKETBALL

well after reading the forum that was closed down that introduced a new meaning to canadian basketball. I became very intrigued about the whole differences and etc. Well for one being a player, I tried myself to go down to the states and still am to improve chances of playing pro ball. I know the chances are low but like jay-z said " difficult takes a day, impossible takes a week". The thing that gets players going is that the fact that universities from the states dont ever come up to canada unless u are 6'8 or dropping 30 a game. Top players in the states sometimes average 17ppg, 7 apg and still get recruited highly. So with that being said players think "well i drop like 22 ppg here then if i go there its a sure thing" ( i have met PLENTY of players who think like that).

Another reason is that the facilities are top notch compared to high schools and colleges here. High school gyms in the states are MASSIVE compared to high school gyms here, such as the bleachers reaching the ceiling, brand new floors, shot clocks on the nets, state of the art workout facility. Colleges/ universities are the exact same. They even sometimes have a seperate gym just to practice in. This is extremely attractive to players because it allows them to work on their game during class breaks and etc.

People actually come to the games. Im not talking bout like 30 people, more like HUNDREDS. This makes for more exposure and also plays a psychological toll on the game/ players ( getting more hype and performing better).

COMMUNITY CENTRES & BASKETBALL CENTRES. My friend from the states ( lived all over the states) said that the community centres there were open 24/7. That is HUGE to the development of athletes in the states because they can stay as late as they want and work on their game, or wake up early and work on their game when no one is there. Now we have a beginning with hoopdome, but there is just one flaw with it. It is always packed, never enough room to just shoot around or you're waiting 45 minutes just to play once. I think we should increase the amount of basketball places such as hoopdome and also increase the hours of community centres.

The coaching here in Canada isnt bad at all. The difference is the techniques/practise. What I mean by this is that they have 2 a days sumtimes even 3. I was just watchin this video on youtube about findlay prep (where corey joseph goes) and they sometimes practise ALL DAY. That is the difference because they are learning new things constantly as well as polishing their skills.

I am leaving this board up for discussion. These are just my thoughts and views on it. Please feel free to add/ argue some of the points that I have made

that's very true. for example every time i try and go in my school's gym during lunch, spares or even after school to work on my jumper teachers are always passing by kicking me out

Mr. #3,

You may want to consider asking your PE teachers much before you want to practice to come up with a working arrangement. Many programs are willing to negotiate some "supervised" access. But worse than the weight room, if you leave the gym open for students to use to shoot around, soon serious players are now playing with casual people who want to mess around and there's a potential for injury.

Much like a webmaster who needs to take down posts to keep his website viable, PE programs must protect their space.

CDN vs States
#1 [u]scholarships in the States are a dime a dozen.[/u] Lived there. Everyone I knew that was athletic was getting scholarships or got a scholarship. At an early age you or your parents pick a sport for you and you get a scholarship. Eg. At 13 in only my first year of competitive swimming I was approached by coaches from Duke and Ohio State. It was shocking but told this was the norm. Fast forward...returned to Canada I dropped swimming..didn't love it.
#2 Many(not all) high school facilities are state of the art. No University or college here can compare. High schools had practice pools and competitive "fast pools", diving pools....practice fields and competitive fields for football, practice gyms and competive gyms for basketball. All games
were paid entrance. Many area HS football games would make 10K per game. Weight rooms were HUGE bigger then most gyms here with state of the art equipment and a proper trainer. Facilities here suck!
#3 Coaches are [b]PAID[/b] in the states. High school, rep etc. You get the best coaches and along with that you get excellent training.
#4 I play BBall now, got alot of offers here and south but will stick with Canada. I know too many that have gone south on D1 only to return because many (not all) of the 'cdn boys' don't get the playing time. The US likes to showcase their own and will. I am concerned of the NEDA boys going south will they or won't they get played?....it may be a wake up call for them. Hope they do get played. If I would have stayed there it may be a different story for me. ...but NO regrets.

slamdunk proves some very good points. I dont know if you would consider it a scholarship but canadian colleges pay part of the students tuition to attend school ( my friend had his tuition and part of res. paid for).

Scholarships are a dime a dozen. just look at the ncaa watch about the amount of commits this year.

Canadian university ball isnt bad up here at all. Every year you have ncaa D1 or D2 teams comes up here and play exhibition games against our universities, and most of the time we come up with the win or it is close. BUT i think that the USA teams dont have respect for canadian basketball because when they do come up (my friends play for carleton and york) say that they barely play the best players. Smart move because they dont want them 2 get injured but also is it just because they think we arnt good enough. Personally i would rather get slapped by 40 points playing their best players than to lose by 10 or less to there benchwarmers.

The close games when CIS plays NCAA is a new trend, but a newer trend is our elite players going to prep school down south in droves. Things have changed in Canada over the past ten years - particularly the last three. Not sure if it's all for the better . . . only time will tell.

If the CIS would offer players more money they would be able to retain players. It's all about the $
The only 'prep' school I can think of here is NEDA. Not really a true 'prep' format but close.
A number of CIS players play pro in Europe after graduation. I know some have alot of good $ offers there once completed university here.
$ are really tight right now in the States, so you may see the trend change starting after next year. They may not be able to offer what they have in the past. College money is tight right now in the states.
CIS bball is good ball. We have good coaching..they just don't get paid enough. Why not highlight your career here on the floor rather then riding the pine for a few years down south. If the D1 players don't return after year 1 or 2 there (which seems to be the trend to come back after disappointment)they usually come back for 5th eligible year here.
As for NEDA which is a 'national elite' program, which I am sure is somewhat partially government funding, why would you prep kids to play in the states? Shouldn't they be contracted to play here at a CDN university for 1 year minimum after completing NEDA. If you are trained here shouldn't you have to play here. I could never quite get that.

[quote="slamdunk"][b] Why not highlight your career here on the floor rather then riding the pine for a few years down south.[/b] If the D1 players don't return after year 1 or 2 there (which seems to be the trend to come back after disappointment)they usually come back for 5th eligible year here[quote]

why not go to a school where everytthin is covered and ur playin in front of thousand of people instead?
im sorry, but i had a canadian school try to lure me back to play cis, i went on their page to check their facilities, their gym could hold a max of 300 people...
lol ru serious?!?! what athlete in their right mind would want to play in a gym that can at max hold 300 people.. and this is a top10 team in cis btw... i don't think ive been in a high school gym in the u.s. that couldnt hold at least as many people if not more

i feel like there is no appreciation in canada for basketball.. you gotta pay your own way for school, and dont give me that bull about you can get bursaries and academic scholarships. If i'm coming to your school to play basketball then you better have something to entice me with and me not payin a dime is one way to start. Canadian facilities are outdated, little media coverage, none of the new equipment that even high schools in u.s. have (vertimax, shootin gun), barely any gear given out compared to what you get in the states, and little fan support... In one of these threads I was following someone wrote 'come play cis, you can play in front of hundreds..' lol to me thats comical, I'm in town of under 20,000 people yet we have over a 1000 people come to EVERY home game this season. People here know your name, you're in newspapers and constantly in the spotlight.. can the same be really said for cis schools?.. And then of course what it really comes down to is that the talent of level and competition is just much higher in the states. In my eyes, the only cis schools i would probably consider to be legit 'basketball' schools in canada would be ottawa and carleton. Besides them..

i think the 2 major factors that have our boys going down south are:

1) $$$ - think about it, every team i have ever been on there has been a player who struggles to pay the fee....now if a kid cant come up with 300 bucks how can they afford 10-12000 (assuming they get there 3500 joke).......kids who cannot afford to pay for school get opportunities to go to school for free and they jump at it, who wouldnt ?

2) being the best - there is no doubting the fact that NCAA basketball is at a completely different level than CIS....personally, with whatever i have done in sports i have always wanted the biggest challenge, assuming other athletes are like this, i would say that kids go to the states because they want to play the best and be the best