First off, I’m not all that great, but I know how to use my body and create room for the shots I take.
Occasionally I’m ill nasty from 3-land, but for the most part, I stick to Tim Duncan 18 footers off the glass at an angle, and my <5’ baby hook shot.
Some days, especially after you lift and work your arms/back out, I lose the soft “touch” completely and nothing wants to go in. I still hustle on D… thus leading me into this story.
So I get out of work late today. Blast over to the gym, do a quick chest/tris/shoulder work out, squat like 3 sets of 300 something, and jet. I didn’t really rest between sets, I just wanted to knock them out, and run to the high school around here and play ball.
There’s a bunch of college or fresh out of college kids there, all young, fucking in shape as fuck, running around all over, jumping and shit, fucking fuckers. OK, that’s fine, I’m a little taller / much wider than most of them, and since I’ve been squatting again and working on my legs I’ve managed to gain like, 4-5" on my vertical (it wasn’t much before, but anything is better…).
Enter the gym. A guy I play with, his name is J, is pretty good. He’s a killer pointguard who will spot up for a shot off the pick and drill it every time. He’s also got great handles. This kid has been slashing to the hoop all night. I walked into the gym seeing him slice through 5 defenders and protecting the ball and making an sick off hand layup.
Ok, other team looses, we’re up. I’m shooting around before the game and I quickly realize my shot is completely terrible. My arms feel like they are two huge Viagra’d boners and I have the shooting touch about as soft as cement. Second possession, I chucked up my usual go-to mid-range bank shot, only to have it hit the backboard where I wanted it, but due to the lack of spin, it ricochets off the backboard and onto the other side into the other teams hand. Next possession I post up, try a little baby hook, and it sails waaaaaay over the rim. Ok, I’m done shooting.
I feel fucking worthless. I’ve caused 2 turnovers essentially, my team is down 4-1, and game is to 8. That kid has been burning every defender and getting into the lane again. We need a change of plan. The guy I’m guarding is a meathead kinda guy, he kinda meanders around the weak side looking for a rebound, not really looking to shoot. I give up covering him past 12 feet, and kinda “cheat”, play a little defensive 3 seconds a little and wait…
Oh. The. Joy.
Kid comes barreling in, snakes past two of my teammates, and comes right at me, with his head down. I purposefully take a step back, wait for him to jump, jump as well, and swatted the fucking ever living shit out of that ball.
It soared back toward half court, and eventually bounced out of bounds. Their ball. Who the fuck cares? It was one of those blocks that anyone who saw it happen cringed. It was like, the same cringing feeling you get when you see some kid get kicked in the balls. Hard.
From then on, I didn’t give a shit if I gave up the ball like, 10 more times (I really didn’t, I swear), I was happy and content with my entire night of basketball, even though it was a mere five minutes in…
Cliffs : Do you agree? Blocking the shit out of someone > scoring in basketball
PS. STFU and your “Basketball is gay” banter, Hockey isn’t exactly that fucking awesome. Go fuck yourself.