Agree With Point on the Players; Otherwise a Bit Conflicted

Agree With Point on the Players; Otherwise a Bit Conflicted
by dillon77 (2018-06-14 11:15:38)

In reply to: I agree for senior level events. posted by NDBass

I'm hoping that Abby and Jordan were involved in this (these?) discussions and that they're all in on the decision.

But I'm a bit conflicted on this:

- USA Basketball had to have known about the ND European Trip ahead of schedule.
- It's a good idea to have top caliber-players compete for a team for a variety of reasons, ranging from seeing how individual and team skills are progressing for the player, to developing a talent pool for the US organization.
- UConn players (KLS and Collier) have gone to trials and not made them due to similar Husky trips (thanks UConn Cat for example).
- So, what was the deal here for this particular team?
- Was this accept and decline prearranged (if so, why not announce the change earlier?) or was a decision reached later?

As for the pro's and cons, I see both sides:
- U18 is kind of the final step for a HS player before stepping into the college jersey, literally and figuratively. I think it's a big deal to represent your country.
- Plus, they'll get good experience practicing against each other, playing with each other and going against international competition.
- And, it's not as if the ND season starts in late August. Yes, I know the ND team comes home from the trip and then goes into a bit of a hiatus until official practice, but there will be time to acclimate.

On the other hand....

- They did commit to ND and that's the primary focus, starting with the summer session. (But, if so, why go along with it up to now?)
- Good for overall team building and the various points many of you have made about positioning certain players at certain spots, primarily Jordan Nixon.

Lastly...
- MM, for whatever reasons, has not gotten involved in national team matters in a major way. That's her call. I wonder if this decision would've been different had she been involved at some point?

As I said, if Abby and Jordan are cool with the way it went down, so be it. But I don't think they'd really be missing that much if they went and something about the process seems a bit off....

Surprised, conflicted, and disappointed

The girls traveled to Colorado, competed for a spot on the team, made the team (depriving others of the thrill of making the top 12), and then left the team. As Dillon says, no schedule changes were made. All this was known ahead of time. I hope I don’t get another “ignore”, but UConn seems to have handled this situation much better, when everyone knew they were not going to play on the team, but participated in the trials.

Also, it is hard to believe the girls quit the team without a lot of pressure from the ND coaching staff. I just don’t know what to think at this point. Did Muffet miss all this with the approaching wedding?

I think I lean more toward feeling sorry for the girls who (had to) quit.