Basketball

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Any other fellow basketball players here? I play every day at the YMCA for about an hour and love it. It's probably the best part of my day. It's one of the few things I can do each day and never grow tired of because there are so many aspects and things to practice and learn in basketball. It's also helped me lose a ton of weight and get me in the best shape of my life.

I mainly practice shooting and dribbling by myself but will also engage in a game against someone if they offer. I take basketball very seriously (probably my AS kicking in) and treat it like a chef perfecting a special recipe.

I'm a really good shooter with a somewhat unorthodox style that can throw the person playing against me off. I also take pride in playing tight defense and keeping someone from scoring on me. I analyze the opponent's style and make adjustments in real time on how to defend them based on their strengths or weaknesses. My handles are decent but I'm still working on bettering them. Sometimes I can lose the ball because my hands are on the small side but I have a few tricks up my sleeve. I'm not super quick but my style can allow me to make up for it and still find ways to score.

I'd love to hear from someone else on here that's also into basketball.

I'm not very good at basketball but I enjoy playing it. I haven't played in awhile but it usually takes about a week or two to get used to running, dribbling, and shooting the ball.

Usually after playing for a month, I can hit mid-range shots, three-pointers, and do lay-ups with the right hand. If my ball handling were better, I'd be able to create my own shot more often and get to the rim more often. I'm terrible in the low post and am one of those lazy guys who hang around the perimeter. Though, I do enjoy moving off the ball as a means of creating space for the ball handler. It's especially fun to run out of bounds and onto the other side of the court, forcing your defender to follow you, thus, allowing your teammate to isolate their opponent one-on-one.

I also pride myself on defense. I'm not great but I always push myself against the competition. It doesn't matter how tall or speedy they are because I enjoy looking for ways to expose them whether it's by angling my position or playing rougher defense or just putting my hand up more often.

I'm also a HUGE Blazers fan and want the NBA lockout to end soon.

Yea I've always liked b ball more than other sports and have been pretty decent. I too take a lot of pride in the defensive side. I tend to be at my best playing 1 on 1 or 3 on 3 rather than full teams, I tend to dispear if too many people on the court

I was a huge Sonics fan until our team got stolen from us. I tried my hardest to quit watching the NBA after that happened but I didn't last. It's also really frustrating seeing how good the Thunder have gotten and I've tried to hate them, but that team is very hard to hate with all the class act players they have and how fun they are to watch. How frustrating that it used to be our team.

Synecdoche: we seem to have similar styles. I haven't played a full sized game in so long that some of my fundamentals are a little rusty. I try to do too much or defend everyone instead of just sticking to my man but once the game goes on longer I start settling in. I also like moving off the ball and am a great screen setter. My weakness is I have no left hand for layups and I have to use my right hand even if I'm on the left side of the hoop. Something I'm working on, though. But I can knock down shots from anywhere on the court and I just recently within the last few months got a 3 point shot finally.

Defense is definitely a big thing for me as well. My favorite player growing up was Gary Payton so I try to emulate him as much as I can with the defense.

Scotch_Bingington: It's also easier for me to play either 1 on 1 or with smaller teams rather than full size teams.

Yeah, you guys got robbed with the Sonics. I didn't want to see them go either, especially because of Portland and Seattle's histories with one another. I hope they bring another team back to the Emerald City someday. As for Clay Bennet, he can go rot in hell.

Check these videos out:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSEMt5_ElOA

When my defender gets too close to me (or I get close to them), I like to use the first step. Michael Jordan was known for having a looooong first step, one of the main reasons why he was so quick and agile. Elite shooting guards like Kobe, Wade, and Roy have mastered this fundamental skill, allowing them to penetrate more often with success.

That's a great video. Thank you for posting it. I'm totally incorporating this into my game and going to try this out tomorrow. It doesn't seem too difficult by watching the video and it makes a lot of sense in terms of the long step gaining you more advantage. Recently I have been looking at videos similar to this to learn how to add to my game. I was watching some of the spin move ones last summer and I was able to incorporate a spin move to my arsenal. This one right here is something I definitely need to practice and get good at. Anything pertaining to beating my defender to the basket will be great for me to practice.

I agree with Bennett. He can go screw himself. I almost cried after watching the Sonicsgate videos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qukNKGNphoQ

MJ's first step.

It's a good technique but it requires your opponent to be considerably close to you. One way of making them get closer is to pump-fake and/or pretend to pass. In this way, they'll feel the need to pressure you by coming at you, giving you the proximity to blow right past them.

The ShotScience videos provide excellent tips. If you have time, you should watch the other ones.

I watched a whole bunch of the shot science videos yesterday before work. They do a great job in explaining in easy to understand terms and showing you how to do it. It's funny because I found out while watching the defensive stopper videos that I already have natural good defense habits. For example I already follow the 3 point line and my stance is how they showed in the videos as well.

I tried to play basketball as a kid, it never worked out for me ever. I was always like, too slow for everyone else, not physically, but interacting with a team, too many variables to keep track of. I tried like hell at it when I was a kid, and couldn't "get it" ever.

However, nowdays my gym has one of those "Iron Man" training balls, it weighs 8 pounds. I'll shoot around with that just to cool down after a workout, because it's fun shooting an 8 pound basketball and works you out well, but it's not like "ARGH I HATE THIS" for an arm workout. I can occasionally make 3 point shots with the 8 pound ball, and 90% of the time I hit the rim or backboard with it. A regular basketball feels like a helium balloon after playing with the 8 pound ball, it's sweet.

I enjoy shooting around by myself to an extent, but I can't for the life of me play against another person very well, just too much stuff to keep track of. Same with watching, I could never really watch basketball as a kid, as it was too much to keep track of. Oddly, soccer, I found a bit easier, maybe because the playing area is a lot bigger, and I usually played defense or goalie, and did quite well. Yeah, basketball was like one of the things looking back that I can go and see that I wasn't "normal" in.

Oh well, found sports I do like doing and are good at now that I'm an adult, so it's fine.

I have been a basketball fanatic (on and off) for many years since 1991. I too grew up in the Seattle area and witnessed some awesome basketball from the Sonics in 90s. Watching that 96 Sonics team play the Bulls in the Finals was quite a treat. Unfortunately like many other of Michael Jordan’s foes, the Sonics had to lose.

The irony of this was that I was more of a Bulls fan since I didn't have cable back in the day. My parents didn't want to fork over money to buy tickets to the Sonics games. So the only free source of NBA was NBC. And of course with the popularity of the Bulls, they played nearly every single sundays they broadcasted NBA games. I even became just as familiar with the Bulls' roster than the Sonics' rosters. I even loved the Bulls' home introduction by Ray Clay and his voice marked my memory even to this day.

I took basketball seriously as a youngster and had dreams to play for UW’s team. But reality kicked in and I was physically, mentally, and skillfully outmatched as I moved onto high school. I think the biggest challenge for an Aspie who plays basketball is empathy. As someone mentioned above my post. There’s just too many things to keep track of (whether watching or playing). . I think many of us Aspies would demonstrate great individual skills but poorer team skills.

As you mentioned TheTigress I find out lately that playing 1 on 1 or 2 on 2 is obviously more simplistic compared to 5 on 5. I am practicing a lot of pick and roll moves with a buddy of mine. And we use them when getting challenged out in the play ground.

These days I like watching Carmelo Anthony just because learning from him will benefit more to me than learning the triple post offense from Tex Winter. Most of the time, I get challenged 1 on 1 and have to play the way Carmelo does in an NBA isolation situation. I really like his jab step and my entire game is based on that jab step alone. Shot Science is a good source but also to add (and I don’t work for him) is Ganon Baker’s DVDs. I have his “How to thrive as an undersized.” It gave me a nice blue print to work with as far as being an all around basketball player.

I didn't want to start a new thread so while we are at it, the NBA season will go underway. Not sure exactly on the details of the new CBA but the first games of the season will start on Christmas day.

I am really hoping Chris Paul and Dwight Howard to be put on the same team. I would love those Chris Paul to Dwight alley oop dunks. Just like when Tyson Chandler was with the Hornets a couple of years ago.

PS: Please no soap box monologues about pro basketball is filled with thugs and criminals. I have read it all from casual fans (non basketball fans). Save your elitist yet hardly revolutionary opinion for some other forum.

I love playing basketball but no one really plays it here in the United Kingdom, everyone plays soccer, cricket or rugby. I wish it was more popular in England because it really is a fun sport to play.

Yes Basketball is indeed treated like somewhat of a freak sport. Like Cricket is treated in the US. The first British NBA player John Amaechi was talking about training facilities in England being primitive and unsafe because England's sport investment lied more in football (Soccer to us yanks), rugby, and cricket.