Canadian players and positions down south?

why is it that our coaches up here train most big guys to play big but then they go down south and have to play guard positions, most if not many guys who are 6'4-6'6 play centre and power forward.As for the guards most of our guards range from 5'7-6'3, i dont mean to offend anyone but i remember a coach saying that anyone under 6 feet will not succeed down south.I dont blame the players who play prep because at prep school they train the players to play their positions not play big then guard thats non sense.

This Is Very True, I Agree.

I agree with you on this because look ath the top players from the United States right now or ever and look at their height. Kobe Bryant 6'7, Lebron James 6'9, Kevin Durant 6'10, Magic Johnson 6'9, Michael Jordan 6'6. If they were up in Canada coaches would have them on the block working on drop steps for 2 hrs and if your lucky maybe some free throws. That's why when you look at the Canadian roster most of the players are either guards or true big men very few 3s or 4s because they would have been taught the skills of a big man and how is a 6'6/6'7 guy really gonna match up with the likes of a Dwight Howard, Greg Oden, or even Chris Bosh who can dribble. I myself am a huge fan of the European game because they build complete players, 7'0 like Dirk or Hedo who can shoot and attack the basket. Also Manu Ginobli is one of my favorites in the league, for a guy who isnt amazingly fast or athletic he easily gets to the basket to finish. I also believe thats why Brandon Jennings is such a great player because out of high school to now is a huge difference, that one year in the European system did him wonders! Sorry to turn this into an NBA thing but it had very good examples.

Great topic! I agree with all three of your comments.

Most coaches do this but not all. It is not a matter of "Canadian" coaches compared to "American" coaches; any coach from an area that is "short" on tall players will feel tempted to force a smaller player into a bigger position.

However, not all coaches did this. The Canadian National Player of the Year (Kelly Olynyk) is now at Gonzaga and part of the reason for this is that his club coach (his father Ken) played him at the guard position and insisted that he develop all of his skills, which are now good enough to play Div I (14.6 min, played in all eleven of the team's games, okay for a freshman). Blake Griffin also did all the guard drills when he was at Oklahoma.

We sometimes are forced to play guys out of position but there is no need to short-change them on skills. The European system was mentioned and I think that more players will follow the Brandon Jennings path in the future (play a year abroad instead of college to earn $ and experience before entering the draft with the rest of their class).

With competitive practices and workouts, a coach can help their 6-4 "post" player develop an all-around game. Not doing this is bad coaching, wherever it may occur. Also, players share some responsability and must be willing to "put in the time" to become elite players. Good coaching enables motivated players to reach the next level but cannot drag the player across the finish line.

One thing about the European system is how the club model encourages young players to train on and off the court. Too many games are played in North America and there is not enough skill development time for <i>all</i> players. Some kids in North America play over a hundred games per year; that time and energy could be devoted to focused high-intensity practice.

But if too much time is allocated to games, systems, and travel, that player will not bring their skills to the next level. I think that I saw Leo Rautins on The Score speaking about how Canadian N.B.A. players - aside from Nash - are all role players.

I'm not comfortable with the post about how a Canadian coach would take a Michael Jordan and force them to repeat a drop-step for two hours. I don't think that any good coach would do this.

Let's turn it around. Say you are a coach with a quick guard like T.J. Ford and Allen Iverson who can get to the rack against high school and most college competition. Do you iso for this player every play or do you force him to develop other aspects of his game? Too many coaches and players have taken the easy way out and the guard does not have all the abilities needed for the next level.

A good coach recognizes the best attributes of a player, uses them to the player and team's advantage, but helps the player develop all abilities (i.e. teaching the quick guard to pass and shoot well).

Watching Steve Nash tonight: before he got pulled, he went about two quarters without taking a shot. The announcers commented how he doesn't look to score personally but looks for the best alternative for his team. At this point, Nash saw the Clips sagging into a zone and hit a pull-up three. Even though Nash must have dominated high school basketball, he worked on all aspects of his game. Also, Nash's work ethic is unique - even among N.B.A. players - and not shared by many high school players.

1) Any coach should force players to work on all their skills, maybe at the expense of an additional game or three during the season.
2) Coaches should emphasize Nash's attitude of getting the best shot for the team

"Twoneedles" i agree with you 100%