The worst pick up players.

[mikenoob]

Re: The worst pick up players.

Sadly, just about every one of my teammates fit these categories. What's even worse? The coach is the father of the kid who bitches and moans to the refs and teammates every time something doesn't go his way. He's a chucker from three, and his reason for doing so, "I'm wide open, stfu, it's a good look". Also, his friend is on the team and is another coach favorite. It's an exact replica of him. 2 man basketball team with no defense whatsoever and non stop complaining. I've gotten to the point where I'm not even showing up to the games anymore. Our record is 1-8.... Coach is looking at the rest of us trying to point out "our" flaws by saying we need to cut more and actually do something because so and so is doing all the work. If you watch any of our games, they bring up the ball either drive in and miss every layup or jack up a three. Also, considering my team is full of guards and there is only 1 big guy we get killed on the boards. This is my first year where I'm "playing" the post. It's not working out to good for me. I'm told to bang down low and try to grab some boards. Did I mention I have no meat on me either? I'm in high school at 5'10 130 lbs, trying to compete against kids at 6'+ and probably at least 170 lbs. My game is definitely at the guard position and have played there all my life up until this year. Yet, the coach still would rather go with his kids at the guards that have no passing ability at all. My old coach that I have played with for the past 5 years even told my coach I shouldn't be playing down low either.

[Illmatic1991]

Re: The worst pick up players.

Ones I haven't seen mentioned here yet that I hate are

The headless chicken - The guy who just runs around like a headless chicken on offense. It's good that you wanna be active on O but seriously dude move with some purpose and stop screwing up the court spacing and clogging up your teammates driving and cutting lanes.

The All-Star defender - This guy has no fundamentals at the defensive end and instead just tries to make highlight reel defensive plays all the time. So instead of staying in front of his man he'll reach or gamble in the passing lanes constantly. Instead of just bodying up and contesting layups he'll try to send every shot to the bleachers, usually resulting in hard fouls. And usually this guy tends to be someone who's supposedly the best player on the court and plays no defense whatsoever. Then he gets scored on a couple of times and decides to "lock down" his man and turns into an All-Star defender.

[Chrisksaint]

Re: The worst pick up players.

My favorite is the guy who plays for fouls, as in just drives to the hoop constantly no matter what and calls a foul almost everytime when in reality all it does is create controversy and even if he's right all they do is get the ball back.

[NDAlum]

Re: The worst pick up players.

People who argue all game long

It doesn't matter who it's with either...their own team, the other team, people walking by, the basketball, the shoes, the court, the fly on the wall

Ok and for my #1 biggest pet peeve of pickup basketball:

Trying to kill me when I'm going up for a layup when it's early in the game!

I've been undercut a few times after I steal it, go up for a layup, and they mad so they come in 100mph to try and block it.

[ProfessaPackMan]

Re: The worst pick up players.

I'm with Marino on the "6'6 Dude who wants to float around the 3pt line all day".

Even more frustrating when he's the tallest one on the team and doesn't want to help out in the paint on Defense. Get your big *** down low and and help out there because I damn sure don't give a crap how many points you score, my purpose is to win the game.

At least with me, I'm probably the "easiest" guy to play team ball with(pause)because I at least know my limitations and know my strengths and wouldn't try to do anything out of the ordinary. For example:

+ I'm 6'5
+I can play either the 3, 4 or 5.
+Will/can grab rebounds, box out
+Can help out with Defense down low
+Not a selfish player meaning I'm not going to call for the ball every single time.

-I'm a horrible shooter from 8 Ft and beyond
-Having average-below average handles

So my limits/game restrict me to playing Down Low in the paint, which I am perfectly fine with.

[Chrisksaint]

Re: The worst pick up players.

I love playing against the guy who thinks he's a great passer/ball handler when in reality he's not that bad but he makes the most stupid and obvious decisions an I'll get about 5 steals in a game.

I'll admit im the guy who does all my offensive work with the ball midrange and up. My jumpsuit isn't great so I don't normally shoot unless wide open and I really suck going to the rim, gotta work on that somehow. But being 5'8" it usually results in a block, drawing a foul, etc. I do have a few post up moves I've been working in when I have a guy my size guards me, cause usually I outweigh them by 30 pounds since im still built like a football player now.

[SoxFan01605]

Re: The worst pick up players.

I dunno...I was never really bothered by big guys playing the perimeter as long as that's actually where there game is. I've played with more than a few who, despite their size, where much better at spotting up or coming off high screens than doing ANYTHING down low...lol. Size doesn't mean a whole lot if you don't play big.

As for me, there are two versions (old and new), and neither was very impressive:

When I played all the time:

+Had a great shot
+I'm barely 6ft (and was skinny), but could rebound pretty well relative to my size
+I was usually good at spotting open guys and getting them shots.

-No handle with my right hand, so everyone knows which way I'm going.
-weak defense (I hustled, but my footwork was poor and I admittedly had those "all star defender" moments someone mentioned...lol...trying to get too cute on D)

Right now, as I've recently picked back up, I'm pretty much just a warm body/extra. I can still shoot okay (not money like I used to be though) but I am slow, fat, and mostly just suck. Still fun to be playing again though and I'm starting to slowly get a little bit back.

[jfsolo]

Re: The worst pick up players.

The headless chicken - The guy who just runs around like a headless chicken on offense. It's good that you wanna be active on O but seriously dude move with some purpose and stop screwing up the court spacing and clogging up your teammates driving and cutting lanes.

Wooden said it the best, "Never confuse activity with achievement"

I, more pejoratively, have labeled it "fake hustle" non discerning players and fans of the game sometimes fall in love with these players, because they seem to be working so "hard", but they fail to realize that not much is being accomplished and quite often they inadvertently sabotage the whole offensive set by moving too fast, too soon, and to the wrong spot.

These guys also mess up things on defense a lot as well. Double teaming non offensive threats, leaving a deadly scorer open, just because they want to feel like they're "causing havoc on D"

They also mess things up for me a lot when I'm baiting an offensive player into thinking a player is open so I can shoot the passing lane and go the other way. They're like, "OMG, so and so is wide open, I'd better go get inside of his jersey so that he doesn't get the ball", and I'm screaming, "NO, NO that's the pass I wan't them to make", "Oh, sorry my bad, he just looked so open ", " I know, that was the whole point."

[Yeah...THAT Guy]

Re: The worst pick up players.

My game:
I'm only 19. I'm like 5'9" 140 lbs or something like that.

I've been a good shooter pretty much since I was like 10 (had 10 3 pointers in one of my CYO games back when I was like 12, and shot over 50% from 3 point range through my high school career).

Going through drills and stuff, coaches were always blown away with my ball handling, but for whatever reason, I didn't really show it off in games. I didn't even go between my legs in a real game until like 9th grade, and I've never been the type to cross someone over and drive.

Defensively, I'm short and skinny, so kids tend to try to take me in the post, but I'm stronger than I look and unless the kid is like 6'4" or something, I can usually keep them from being able to get into the post by being physical on the outside. I'm not really quick enough to stay with the more athletic players, and I can't jump to save my life (I can hit the backboard but that's it), but I'm a very smart player, so if I'm guarding a shooter, I'll deny him and play him tight and force him into the help defense, and if it's a kid that's extremely quick but can't shoot consistently well, I'll give him a step so that I can stay in front of him.

I never really started to try to thread the needle or do no-lookers or anything until I got to Syracuse, but I've always been a very accurate passer.

So basically, I can find open guys or shoot the ball if the defender gives me space, but I'm not very good at creating my own shot. And defensively, I'm not really athletic enough to be a lock down defender, but I ended up being the best defender on my high school team (which isn't saying much unfortunately) because I'm good at picking up on player's tendencies and strengths and forcing them to do things they don't want to do.

As for the players I hate playing with, it's definitely the cocky PG that thinks he knows everything (trying to set up actual offenses in a pick-up game) and passing you the ball only if he picks up his dribble and then he'll demand it right back.

The big guy that only shoots 3's even if he has no shooting ability whatsoever.

The kid that tries to make no look passes or throw alley-oops that simply aren't there.

And the kid that calls a foul every single time he misses a layup and then will pick a fight with you if you even roll your eyes at him.

[Illmatic1991]

Re: The worst pick up players.

Wooden said it the best, "Never confuse activity with achievement"

I, more pejoratively, have labeled it "fake hustle" non discerning players and fans of the game sometimes fall in love with these players, because they seem to be working so "hard", but they fail to realize that not much is being accomplished and quite often they inadvertently sabotage the whole offensive set by moving too fast, too soon, and to the wrong spot.

These guys also mess up things on defense a lot as well. Double teaming non offensive threats, leaving a deadly scorer open, just because they want to feel like they're "causing havoc on D"

They also mess things up for me a lot when I'm baiting an offensive player into thinking a player is open so I can shoot the passing lane and go the other way. They're like, "OMG, so and so is wide open, I'd better go get inside of his jersey so that he doesn't get the ball", and I'm screaming, "NO, NO that's the pass I wan't them to make", "Oh, sorry my bad, he just looked so open ", " I know, that was the whole point."

I totally agree with you. I love hustle as much as the next guy but it's got to be smart hustle not, as you put it, "fake hustle."

[st0rmb11]

Re: The worst pick up players.

I'll try to name a few that I've played with and against, that I haven't seen in here yet.

-the "it's just for fun" guy. he often has very little talent, but takes pride in ruining possessions by firing up shots well out of anyone's range, and always falling back on his excuse for why he would try - "it's just for fun...no harm done"

-The guy who does a great job of seeing passing lanes and passes, but executes HORRIBLY; often firing the ball 10 feet over anyone's head.

-The guy who swears that he could be playing college ball or professional ball, and spends the entire game trying to prove it to you and everyone else. this usually doesn't work, since he's, well, not that good, but when you lose he makes sure you know that it wasn't his fault.

-the guy who loves to let you go by him when he's on defense, and then tries to reach from behind and poke the ball loose, often slapping the hell out of your arms and sides.

-one guy I hate playing with and against is the guy who calls for a screens EVERY time he gets the ball. I especially hate playing with this guy because he brings everything to a standstill while he just stands and waits.

-the guy who will hit 2 or 3 J's in a row, then insists that he's "on fire", and shoots the next 5 or 6 times down, and misses all of them.

-the guy who has one "go to move". every time he gets the ball, he wants to be in the same spot, so he can drive the same lane, and pull off the same move every time. it usually works the first couple of times, but he insists on trying it over and over again after the defense has adjusted. (actually played with a guy like this a few months ago...he did a spin move immediately after his 2nd dribble while driving in with his right hand EVERY TIME; and his spin move was actually a walk..about 4 steps)

-the guy who is doesn't want to be crossed over. if he's guarding a guy with sick handles, and a really good shot, he'll stand back 3 or 4 feet, and let the guy shoot uncontested jumpers all day, just because on the first possession of the game, he pressured the guy and got shook something fierce. but he refuses to switch with someone else.


I also agree with several of these I've seen. I hate the 6'6" guy, who (begrudgingly) played post in high school, but wants to spend the rest of his life trying to prove that he belonged on the perimeter.

Also, I have a friend that I've played with multiple times that fits into the category of the not so good player who will run his mouth all day, but the second you bark back, he acts as though you just pissed in his breakfast.

also, as a guy who's played point guard my whole life, but have a good shot, I hate guys who make me choose which to do. I've played with a few guys that have seriously told me "look, you can either run point and distribute, or move to a wing and try to shoot...not both.." - so stupid.


EDIT - have one more. the guy who will try to trade baskets with the other team's best player. as if he is trying to force his way into that "role" on your team.

[TheMatrix31]

Re: The worst pick up players.

I can't even play pickup basketball anyway, since I don't wear contacts. Sucks though, it's a good way to stay in shape.

[Chrisksaint]

Re: The worst pick up players.

Yeah my vision is a little off when playing basketball cause I take my glasses off, but it's not a big deal I just can't read anything far away.

The past few years I've been pretty much playing with/against the same group of friends, I find it really fun when you know everyone's moves/tendencies,etc.

[Gibbz]

Re: The worst pick up players.

The guy who puts his feet under yours when you take a jump shot. This isn't the NBA and you definitely aren't on Bruce Bowen's level, so don't try that BS in a pick-up game.

Just had this happen. Some guy put his feet right under mine when I came down from my jumper. Re-sprained my already completely wrecked left ankle.

[ProfessaPackMan]

Re: The worst pick up players.

Oh nah, that's an automatic Chris Childs to that person's jaw for that offense.