Fade aways.

Wrong angle of the feet.

Step back and short shot.

No boxing out.

No defense.

The boy who did the 'too small' celebration at 13 years of age.

The boy who covered his mouth while talking to me.

The boy who wanted to do the post block humiliation, before he could block.

As someone with a background in media studies, and several years of playing and coaching youth basketball, I tend to pay attention to some less evident elements in the young players development path and in their game, elements that relate to the effects of media, especially online video, on their behaviour on and off the court.

A number of coaches know that - these days more than ever - the advice they give to their players is far from being 'a single source of truth' (as software developers call it). Rather, it is adding to, or competing with, information that the young players collect from various sources. To give it a short name, some refer to 'Coach YouTube'.

(...)

It should be noted that this process not only involves the act of watching videos, but also the act of playing 'for the camera', an attitude which peaks in celebrations and gestures. In other words, it is a two-way process: starting from the video, returning to it.

The partiality of highlights.

What you don't see: the importance of the 'lowlights'.