Didn't make varsity

[99Centsand1]

Title speaks for itself.

I tried my hardest at try outs, I did what coach said he was looking for (passers) and i still didn't make it. There were 4 spots available and i didn't see 5 players better than me. I should've made it.

Maybe because I was too small and our varsity team lacked size, only 2 players bigger than 6'4. I'm 5'10 and weigh 66 KG...apparently i can only play "limited positions" which is why i didn't make the varsity team which is complete crap because most players who made it were smaller than me in height and weight..

I'm a junior in high school btw. This is just motivation for next year

[ChrisCP3Paul]

I'd like to give you the typical motivational comment, but I'm a realist.... some people were born with it, some are not.... not saying you're one of them, but the typical hard work motivational stuff one always hears, it's truth. But at the same time you can work as hard as you want, but if your brain isn't wired to do a certain thing, you will never be good at it no matter how hard you work. A lot of these guys in the NBA were born with the gifts they posses, I know you always hear "HARD WORK HARD WORK" and that's barely half the truth... the REAL truth is, they already possessed these skills all their life, but it's their hard work that KEEPS them at that level, it doesn't GIVE them these skills. Guys like Chris Paul, Steve Nash.... you can practice a lifetime and never learn how to dribble and pass like them, that's something they were naturally gifted with..

My suggestion would be if you're not good at the obvious things like scoring, rebounding, assists.... find one thing that your team doesn't have, like judging by your size you must be quick, focus on perimeter defense and be very good at that. I'm sure that's bound to get you on the team. Every team I've ever been on, we always could have used a good perimeter defender, it's one of those things that's very important but at the same time for whatever reason not many guys relish doing that dirty work there.

Everyone has a role, and once you find what yours is you will enjoy the game to it's fullest.. good luck

[Patr1ck]

Ask your coach if you can come to the varsity practices as an alternate. Players get injured, don't always turn out to be as good as the coach thought, etc. Don't adhere your game to what the coach wants, but play your game. You can adapt later.

[buzzy]

Mike got cut in high school as well. He turned out to be okay.

Just use every emotion you have right now as a motivation to improve. Give them a reason to regret that decision.
And do what Pdub said.

[99Centsand1]

Mike got cut, so did John Wall. I can still play basketball but its going to be JV not varsity which is really painful. The last 2 years I've played in JV and i won MVP for both seasons...As for asking to join Varsity practice, I did ask but their is a squad of around 15-20 players who train with them including the varsity team.
I'm going to play to my strengths e.g. driving and dishing and being the floor general.

I'm going to train extra hard this season and off-season to show what coach missed out on when he didn't put my name on the list. I'm going to try increase my vert leap and try dunk by the end of this year

[shadowgrin]

I'm going to try increase my vert leap and try dunk by the end of this year

lol so much for showing your coach how much you've improved your game.

[[Q]]

stop your whining. play in a city league/intramural league or pick up to satisfy yourself. improve on the holes in your game

[cyanide]

I'd like to give you the typical motivational comment, but I'm a realist.... some people were born with it, some are not....

Anyone can excel at something if they put 10,000 hours of practice into something and they might find a specialist niche. Physical limitations are obvious. Muggsy Bogues and Shawn Bradley are good examples of hard work vs. genes.

[shadowgrin]

You still need to have talent in such fields like sports. If a person with talent who practices the same amout of time as a hard working person with lesser talent went up against each other, the person with more talent probably wins.

You make it sound like Bogues was a no talent bum that worked hard.
Muggsy Bogues had the talent needed to be a decent basketball player but he still needed to work his ass off to go up against players bigger than him.

This alone already shows he had athletic talent...

Though only 63 inches tall, Bogues has a 44-inch leap

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1066197/1/index.htm

And let's not forget factors such as opportunities and chances that may or may not open up to a person that will help him to go further in his field.
Just look at Joel Anthony. Not being given enough minutes by the Heat to show the dominance that had never been seen since Wilt Chamberlain. Add Darko to that and Brian Scalabrine.

[The X]

I'd like to give you the typical motivational comment, but I'm a realist.... some people were born with it, some are not....

Anyone can excel at something if they put 10,000 hours of practice into something and they might find a specialist niche. Physical limitations are obvious. Muggsy Bogues and Shawn Bradley are good examples of hard work vs. genes.

Looks like you've been reading Outliers.

[benji]

Nobody here has bothered to tell this guy what he needs to do? Hit 80% at the line. There, you're more talented than LeBron. The scouts will be calling. As long as you have NBA size, which means you're taller than 6-2.

[Patr1ck]

Just rent basketball teaching videos, suck up to the coach, try to be"friends" with all the other players and they will look for you as a teammate. Don't just say "maybe next year."

[cyanide]

You still need to have talent in such fields like sports. If a person with talent who practices the same amout of time as a hard working person with lesser talent went up against each other, the person with more talent probably wins.

Talent != hard work. There's a ton of talented players who get drafted high and end up forgotten or never reaching their potential. You kind of answered that with Darko.

You make it sound like Bogues was a no talent bum that worked hard.

Not sure how you came to that assumption. Everybody in the NBA is talented.

Muggsy Bogues had the talent needed to be a decent basketball player but he still needed to work his ass off to go up against players bigger than him.

Thanks, captain.

Though only 63 inches tall, Bogues has a 44-inch leap

Yeah, I'm sure he was born with that. Never had to jump a lot or anything

Looks like you've been reading Outliers.

That was a good read!

[shadowgrin]

Talent != hard work. There's a ton of talented players who get drafted high and end up forgotten or never reaching their potential. You kind of answered that with Darko.

How could I take you seriously in this discussion if you think a god like Darko needs to stoop himself to the low standards of mortals by working hard?

Yeah, I'm sure he was born with that. Never had to jump a lot or anything

Physical ability is a talent.
And it's a reply relating to the original quoted statement...

I'd like to give you the typical motivational comment, but I'm a realist.... some people were born with it, some are not....not saying you're one of them, but the typical hard work motivational stuff one always hears, it's truth. But at the same time you can work as hard as you want, but if your brain isn't wired to do a certain thing, you will never be good at it no matter how hard you work. A lot of these guys in the NBA were born with the gifts they posses, I know you always hear "HARD WORK HARD WORK" and that's barely half the truth... the REAL truth is, they already possessed these skills all their life, but it's their hard work that KEEPS them at that level, it doesn't GIVE them these skills. Guys like Chris Paul, Steve Nash.... you can practice a lifetime and never learn how to dribble and pass like them, that's something they were naturally gifted with..

Anyone can excel at something if they put 10,000 hours of practice into something and they might find a specialist niche. Physical limitations are obvious. Muggsy Bogues and Shawn Bradley are good examples of hard work vs. genes.

...that even if you put 10,000 hours of practice into something if you don't have 'it' to begin with that 10,000 of practice won't have something to mold and polish.

[cyanide]

Physical ability is a talent.

Not really. Physical ability is something we're all born with. Anyone can learn to dribble or learn how to shoot a basketball that doesn't depend on talent. Talent, or as you call 'it,' would be something as reading a play before it happens, or learning how not to be distracted at the free throw line, or figuring out how to have a sweet shooting technique.

Even Darko is a beast at practice who can't seem to carry that over to games, so I can't tell if this is attributable to his lack of talent or lack of work ethic.

[Patr1ck]

Sorry, you two, but it's both something you are born with and something that you need to work at as well. Someone who wasn't born with it would have to work a bit harder than someone who was.

Take school for a comparison. Some kids just don't "get it" when it comes to certain problems, even when a teacher explains the idea or exactly how it's supposed to be done, the kid just can't figure it out.

The word you all use as talent could also be looked at as "gifted." I look at it as more of having more increased cognitive abilities that allow a person to learn quicker and thus improve their performance in a shorter term to the point where they have lots of potential "talent" compared to their peers. Regardless, you still have to work at it to get to a higher level. So, some people have more talent than others, and some other people work harder than others.

[cyanide]

I agree more or less, however I look at "gifted" differently. Individuals like Mozart and Einstein are gifted and I would consider players like LeBron and Magic Johnson to be as well. I would not consider Shawn Bradley gifted, though.

[shadowgrin]

Even Darko is a beast at practice who can't seem to carry that over to games, so I can't tell if this is attributable to his lack of talent or lack of work ethic.

I'M DONE WITH YOU! HOW CAN I EXPECT A DISCUSSION OUT OF YOU WHEN YOU KEEP SPEWING LIES ABOUT DARKO!

Most NBA players are good at practice (unless you're AI) like how Shaq is rumored to get 8/10 FTs or Sheed can go 9-10/10 on 3pt shots made during practice.

I would not consider Shawn Bradley gifted, though.

He's gifted with height.
And I mean gifted because his body held up well supporting that height unlike some of the extremely tall people that have/had serious problems because their body can't handle being tall.

Sorry, you two, but it's both something you are born with and something that you need to work at as well. Someone who wasn't born with it would have to work a bit harder than someone who was.

The word you all use as talent could also be looked at as "gifted.".

Talent is something you're born with or gifted as well. That's how I see talent.
Skill is something that you worked for or learned.
If a skill comes easily to you without that much learning on your part, that's talent as compared to people who have to put in more work to learn or hone that skill.


If you work hard to achieve a Magic T-Mac level of play it means you are as skilled as him but not talented as him to begin with.

[NovU]

Humm. Question of OP. Can you elucidate me on the reasons how you were snubbed for being short when smaller guys made it. While you are at it, can you also elucidate me on the reasons why 4 worse players made it over yous and why better player like you didn't?

[AMenace]

First thing coaches would look for these days in High School basketball, is the player trying out athletic enough for the team? As that is something some coaches look at as something a lot harder to teach than skills.

What I think is the most likely reason why you were cut, is look at the 4 people who made it. If they were similar height/weight, similar skill level, if they are a freshman for example, the coach has 2 more years to work with that player as opposed to you, who the coach would only have your junior year and senior year. 4 years to develop a player of similar skill level a coach will take every time as opposed to 2 years. That would be the way I would look at tryouts for high school basketball if I was a coach, two identical players, one being a junior, one being a freshman, i'm taking the freshman.

I will be honest here. If you didn't make the team this year, the odds are heavily stacked against you come next year's tryouts with you being in your last year of high school. If you truly want to make the team, you will need to work your butt off this off-season both skill wise, and athleticism wise if possible. You're gonna need to be explosive at 5' 10" to even stand a chance in today's game. Who I would base your game off is Aquille Carr, watch his highlights on hoopmixtape. He is 5' 6" and the one thing that sets him apart from everyone else his size is his explosiveness. It's something that you can train, I've gone from a 24" vert to 32" in little over 6 months, and am looking to hit 40" sometime in the future. A lot of this is having belief in yourself and your training no matter what anybody else thinks. If you want to make the team, don't waste any days slacking off. If you need help with a plan, PM me.

And don't take in any negativity that may occur in this thread, if anything use it as motivation for training.

[Houndy]

If they were similar height/weight, similar skill level, if they are a freshman for example, the coach has 2 more years to work with that player as opposed to you, who the coach would only have your junior year and senior year.

Just saw this thread, and saw this post. This year, two buddies of mine got cut. Not because they were bad.... but as the coach said, because they were Juniors.