Help me become the Rudy of pickup basketball

Started playing casually at the Y recently and have been in a couple of small half-court games (2-on-2/3-on-3 type games).

I'm pretty bad - poor shooting, a bit sluggish (though I can summon up a good sprint), not much reach/height/leap for guarding. No one seems to mind but I would like to be better. I never played basketball competitively and never really learned much about fundamentals. I mean our gym teacher showed us super basic shit like guarding your dribble, basic passing techniques, etc. and I watch enough NBA to understand a little, but I'm pretty weak in every area.

I'm 31, 5'9" and 170 pounds, not entirely out of shape (go to the gym maybe 4 times a week and do light cardio and moderate weight training). Given everything I've just said I probably don't have the potential to be particularly great in any area of basketball, but I would just like to hold my own and I'm willing to work at it, plus I think it would be a fun challenge to see how good I can get with my late start.

So, ilhers, give me some ideas -- drills I can practice on my own, workouts that will get me in better shape to play, etc. Any particularly good books or videos would be nice, just remember that I probably need to learn bball at the level of a ten year old.

The one thing I will say is that I tend to have good hands/a good touch in other areas and I think I could probably become a decent shooter with more practice.

-get a partner and shoot 5 sets of 10 shots apiece from 15-17 feet, starting on one side of the hoop and working your way around to the other. (your parter rebounds and passes you the ball, and when he shoots he starts on the other wing and revolves around the basket in the other direction.) do this with 3s too - this is pretty tiring & it's good practice to remember to use your legs

-when you're by yourself go to the gym and dribble a lot, up and down the court esp with your weak hand. work on crossing over and finishing with your weak hand. sometimes when i go and it's just me there i'll dribble and shoot with only my left hand just for the hell of it. get to the point where you can go from having the ball at the top of the key and take the ball to the rack with your left hand comfortably, and fake a crossover with your off hand without carrying

-get in some 5-on-5 full court games every so often, it's the best exercise - in the winter playing basketball is basically all i do to keep in shape. i play almost every day tho

Thank you, helpful.

What about general workouts when I'm not on the court? I mean I know plenty of basic freeweight exercises and such, but anything especially good for balance, agility, particular kinds of strength or power needed in bball?

http://www.insidehoops.com/gym/jump-higher.shtml

ball skills are tougher to acquire at an advanced age, but if you're fit and willing you can play better defense and rebound better than most casual pickup players.

i would recommend playing aggressive denial defense. don't let your man get the ball. if he does, get in his grill (if you are going to slap at the ball/reach in, try to slap upward). you're probably not going to block a lot of shots, so don't leave your feet. shade your defense slightly to force your man to drive with his off hand.

when your man shoots, put a hand in front of his face -- not to block the shot necessarily, but to block his view of the basket. when a shot goes up, don't stand under the basket and wait for the ball to bounce to you -- find your man and put him on your backside.

depending on how well you dribble, on offense the only real thing i would suggest is to move fast. people will likely get out of your way, and there are no offensive fouls in pickup (one hopes). at the very least, you'll get a reputation as a maniac, which can't hurt.

Good tips. I've already been doing some of that instinctively, e.g. I realize I'm not going to block much so I focus on not letting the guy get a good shot in the first place. If I'm guarding someone who tends to drive to the basket, I try to keep a little distance between me and him though so I have room to block the drive, because I feel like if I'm too close I'm too easy to get around. I don't waste a lot of energy jumping on defense because I know it's usually futile.

(if you are going to slap at the ball/reach in, try to slap upward).

^^yeah is, and palm-up perimeter d in general, is a skill that a lot of even good players could stand to work on

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