playing basketball

I played ok, outsmarted dudes for the most part w my old man game but they were athletic and had tons of energy so lots of running. lots of one on one ball too which isn't my type of game. most high school kids I've played with over the years are compete garb

also w wide dudes they can just camp in the key w no 3 second rule

def generally avoid playing w kids if i can they r tedious

their stabs at trash talk is unbearable

just barrel into you cause there's no charge calls

this was a great revelation as a kid, that if you run hard at someone they'll usually get out of the way. doesn't help if you can't handle the ball tho

I'm stubborn enough to try to take charges from 6'4"/230lb ex-football players. Well, not like I think a charge will get charged, but I can't abide giving anyone free run to the hoop.

Re: 3 secs, yes this is annoying. I'll start counting "3...4...5..." so at least they're aware that I'm aware they're technically cheating.

IME like 1 out of 6 young guys are good to play with (will actually do something other than hang around 3 pt line begging for a pass or try to do fancy dribble moves for 15 seconds with their heads down while teammates are wide the fuck open)

1 out of 6 is probably about right yeah

I have no problem with Steph Curry et al "evolving" the NBA game but ugh I do not look forward to that influence on young people I'll have to play with/against. It's already bad enough. More than once, myself and a team of even older guys have beat teams of young guys simply cause we like pass and set picks and box out and all that boring shit.

basic fundamentals will get you very far in pickup ball.

tbh i'd rather you called a charge than counted out three seconds

unless you're significantly taller and/or heavier and are a habitual lane camper, you're not getting a count-out anyway

spottie so cool abt your cuz!

Yah it's been fun following him for the last few years. Been to a bunch of his games. He travels like crazy. Starting getting letters when he was 14. I know all the drama and ins and outs of club ball and why so and so player switched schools and what not, get the DL from him and his parents on a weekly/biweekly basis. His little bro is tracking to be the same size and might be better.

uhng ran 5s tonight and i was wet as fuc, scored 9 in one game to 15 and was just generally pouring

u know whats interesting i was rusty as fuck after not really playing for five years and ive been rounding into form the last few months of playing multiple times a week and my skills r p much back but my court vision still isnt there like i love to pass and cut but im just not seeing it, my rhythm is off

yeah rhythm is real man

I'm trying to improve my passing/vision. Doesn't help that good cutters are a rarity.
The dude who last week I made have the passive aggressive tantrum gave me a nice in n out dribble to a euro step tonight. Was mad at myself for allowing that. Thought I got revenge a few plays later by blocking his layup but juuuust grazed his eyebrow with my elbow on the follow thru so had to give him the foul :(

Been finding lately that my hands/forearms get really stiff and it makes it harder to shoot decently. May be a byproduct of my lifting regime, or maybe age, idk. Anyone have any suggestions?

Played two full court and a half court game at my office outing btw and made a decent showing -- scored a few times in the first game because I wasn't really adequately D'd. Later I relegated myself more to playing defense/roleplaying but got a surprising number of boards, even with much bigger players around. I have decent ups for my size and good timing on going up for rebounds.

Felt good to just be in good enough overall shape to run the whole time and not completely die.

just need to consistently stretch re stiffness prob, flexibility is great for lifting too!

Been finding lately that my hands/forearms get really stiff and it makes it harder to shoot decently. May be a byproduct of my lifting regime, or maybe age, idk. Anyone have any suggestions?

― socka flocka-jones (man alive), Friday, July 29, 2016 11:59 AM (54 minutes ago)

funny you mention this because i started lifting weights for the first time in my life about 4 or 5 weeks ago and something funky is going on with my forearms and wrists, i can't shoot 3s at all anymore, like literally have trouble reaching the basket. something similar happened years ago in college when i was playing inner-tube water polo intramurals and lost a lot of grip strength for a while for some reason. kind of pissed about this but then again i'm in better shape than i've ever been

r u lifting right before u play

not right before no, but i am lifting m/l every day

stretching probably a good idea, i've always hated stretching

oh man ive gotten so into stretching/yoga recently and i fn love it, i do it for ~30mins before any workout, also have been approaching lifting more from the pov of stretching, lifting lighter while getting more into the form, like a squat w a medium weight cant really help u get depth and open up yr hips in a way that u cant really do w/o the weight, but then if u go too heavy youre not gonna be able to control yr form as much

its crazy how much its helping me work out some chronic physical problems, neck tightness and so forth, and it feels so good

also w yoga im really starting to understand the benefits of a personal practice over a class cause u can work on yr individual needs instead of going along w the class a t breakneck speed

Alan Thrall says the whole idea that stretching before a workout "reduces power" comes from a single study, and that the effect is actually super shortlived.

ya also i dont care abt power i care abt being balanced and healthy :)

stretching would prob help but maybe u get dehydrated? idk

my official game ball is finally broken in enough that only a couple stragglers still bitch about using it. I love the feel of the leather grain, and the swish sound it makes is A+.

i need a new ball, the surface of my ball is slowly starting to peel back which feels weird and unpleasant while dribbling/shooting.

i know its savage but im really starting to love 4s full

i think it might be good with that rule that kevin mentioned but idk man i hate the spacing

if you're in good shape it's great, gives you such an advantage

my problem with it is finding 7 others who are in good enough shape. otherwise it turns into a shitshow after a few times up n down the court.

Def not in good enough shape for full anything but i can dream

hah i have an older mate who i normally play to 21 with, standard procedure is for him to get up like 14-nil before he runs out of puff and i win by a point

i used to to run for like 3-4 hours a night. done after a few good games now :/

spin or behind the back dribble going toward the basket when someone is overplaying yr strong hand on the perimeter is such a crucial move to have in ones arsenal

get the ball on yr back hip wait for them to lunge and then go

I Was Never Jackie Chan, and I’m Not Jeremy Lin

i get his point -- and the story about the guy at the bank (among others) is fucked up -- but i think this is kind of the culture of pickup? you don't know names, there are no numbers, so people make up shorthand

as a white person i wld like to state that i am the true vicitm

tho not anymore now that i live in colorado

i tried the mkg feet-perpendicular-to-the-baseline-spin-ball-off-side-of-hand corner 3 yesterday and had to stop after a couple shots b/c it was making my hand feel weird

lol

been meaning to tell u guys last week i made a perfect bounce pass through three defenders guy caught it in stride dunked w two hands and i screamed

^5

same