At All Costs - Netflix Documentary

[dyemeduke]

I finally got around to checking this documentary out. I recommend it for all ball fans. My takes:

1) I had no idea that E-Tope was so involved in the players' lives. I find him annoying...well, maybe not so much him, but more the role that he fills in society...or more that the role even exists.
2) PJC's dad is a little intense.
3) Arizona is a Nike school and Compton Magic is Adidas. Just found that interesting....
4) There are some famous AAU squads around, so I would venture that they similar to Compton Magic. I wonder what life is like for the other squads in the country that aren't sponsored. I hope that's it's a lot more normal, but perhaps I'm naive.

 

[YngC]

1.) Tope is actually one of the best guys in the business. To many of these kids, he's a father figure and he plays the part well.
2.) Arizona's surge in west coast recruiting from 2010 on was due to relationships with the Oakland Soldiers and California Supreme, primarily. Compton Magic wasn't quite the feeder for UA like the other two, though Gabe York going there obviously was a big deal.
3.) I can assure you, the AAU scene is grimey as the rumors make it seem and much of it is actually due to the college coaches.

 

[dyemeduke]

1) Yeah, I definitely can see the care he has for the kids, so that's why I expanded on my thought of general annoyance that his role exists. Some could be more cynical and say he's just playing and conning the kids for his benefit...but it does seem like he cares for the kids. The annoyance is more from ideological differences with how HS sports (or specifically AAU) seems to treat kids, and also college sports in general...but that's a much larger and separate discussion. Back to Tope though, there was one part of the documentary where York was complaining about his playing time, and Tope is just agreeing with him, telling York that in HS, he was the elite scorer and SG in the country. No, York was NOT. In his class, Shabazz was consensus top scorer and SG. After that, Sulaimon perhaps? York was not in the discussion of top scorer or SG. That's not a knock against him, because I liked him a lot. But I wasn't a fan of that scene in the documentary. Tope is stroking a young kid's ego with unrealistic praise, practically encouraging him transfer instead of earn his playing time. That scene made Tope look like he was more interested in his brand and power than the kid imo.
3) Thanks for ruining my sweet, innocent, naivety... . I get if the answer is no, but care to expound on this comment?