The worst pick up players.

[Yeah...THAT Guy]

Re: The worst pick up players.

Pretty funny thread. Thus far we've named just about every type of basketball player possible along with their polar opposites (The guy who doesn't work at all/the guy who works too hard, the guy who sets too many picks on offense/the guy who stands around and does nothing on offense, the tall guy standing on the perimeter/the guy telling you to stand on the perimeter because you're tall).

Now I'll make my opposing contribution:



I have an issue with the guys who foul me everytime I go to the basket. There have been a number of times where the on-ball defender is either playing much too tight or for whatever reason cannot keep me in front of them. As such, I drive to the basket every time he allows it. Every now and again, there will be a helpside player, likely in poor defensive positioning because they allowed me to get all the way to the tin, who will simply decide to "take a foul". Every. Single. Time.

Out of the halfcourt or in transition. I drive. They foul me. So in that case, I never really understood the "he calls fouls, even when he's right" argument. One of us is doing something wrong, and it's not the guy getting into the paint at will. If a defender wants someone to stop calling fouls, the first thing they can do is stop fouling.

And Chrisk, I'm imagining you're referring to guys who call fouls all the time even when there's no contact. I feel you there. I was just using your quote as a jump off point for a separate complaint.

And in regards to the ol' 6'6'' guy on the perimeter thing, it totally depends on the player in my eyes. In my history, it's honestly being split right about down the middle. It seems half the 6'6'' ballplayers I've known have been bruisers and posts while the other half have been ballhandling perimeter types. Sending a 6'6'' wing/shooter into the post just because he's tall will end up doing more harm than good.


Can I ask an honest question? What do you do when you don't have the ball on offense during a streetball game? I ask out of sincerity. I know there's cutting to the basket and posting up. And there's V-cutting and ball screens. But in truth, wouldn't throwing in an off-ball screen here or there vastly improve your team's ability to get open?

I can't say I ever considered not setting an offball screen just because it was a pick-up game. It just feels like a basketball staple. If I have a gunslinging teammate standing near the basket, looking to get open, I don't see how I could not give him a downscreen to work with.

Without offball screens, even in an ideal world, I'm just picturing four guys running about like headless chickens. Realistically, I see four guys standing around waiting for the guy with the ball to shoot or pass to them.

To answer the question at the end, in the pickup games here at Syracuse, there really isn't time for many off-ball screens besides when you check up. Most of the time, it's spreading the floor and driving and kicking with the occasional off ball screen or pick and roll.

[Threes_Co.]

Re: The worst pick up players.

VDunsen, I play PG so if I don't have the ball, I'm calling for it.

I may also backdoor cut for an easy layup.

[Jukeman]

Re: The worst pick up players.

I thought this was a thread about NBA players

[Chrisksaint]

Re: The worst pick up players.

Yeah the big man on the wings is entirely based on the type of player, 2 of my best friends I run with are around 6'3" and are usually the tallest on the court but they've played SG/SF ever since they started playing rec at like 6 or 7.

[VDusen04]

Re: The worst pick up players.

VDunsen, I play PG so if I don't have the ball, I'm calling for it.

I may also backdoor cut for an easy layup.

My fault, when you made your previous statement I misinterpreted it as you saying no one in your streetball games set offball screens. I look now and it was clear you just said you yourself do not set them.

Even then, I still have to say, I run a lot of point and offball screens are still very, very present in my personal game. For instance, if I make an initial pass, I may cut backdoor like you said. But if I don't get the ball at that point, then what? As a point guard I'm trying to attack when possible, pass to a player in a position to score when possible and third, I'll be trying to open someone else up to score when possible. That may mean, after I cut backdoor and don't get the rock, setting a screen away. I never really interpreted my position as having the ball or else calling for it if I don't. I feel there's a lot more that be accomplished there.

To answer the question at the end, in the pickup games here at Syracuse, there really isn't time for many off-ball screens besides when you check up. Most of the time, it's spreading the floor and driving and kicking with the occasional off ball screen or pick and roll.

Yeah, I definitely know there can be a lot of variation of play amongst pickup scenes across the world. In fact, even within the same state, it seems every city has a different way of running. With that said, I wasn't attempting to paint a picture of some elaborate offense during every possession ending in a double screen on the baseline for a bankshot layup.

Instead, I was just saying off ball screens are a part of our game. There's a lot of running, but if the defense is attempting to do their part, there will have to be a chunk of offensive execution as well. And often that may mean we'll spread the floor and operate. But there's still a lot of times where that doesn't work for us. Or, I may recognize that I have a teammate who is deadly off a screen but struggles off the dribble. As such, it just seems logical to try to help him out.

I guess that's me working up to one of my streetball complaints: guys who stand idly around the 3pt. line while I'm anxiously awaiting a downscreen. I'll extend that complaint to include players who just stand idly, period. There are times when I bring the ball down the floor and I'll just have four teammates standing around the arc, staring at me. Of course, it allows for some key self reflection, as I wonder if maybe this is their way of telling me I'm dominating the ball too much. More times than not though, it's just a case of a teammate standing still on the wing, calling for the ball then doing nothing of note upon receiving a pass.

Yeah the big man on the wings is entirely based on the type of player, 2 of my best friends I run with are around 6'3" and are usually the tallest on the court but they've played SG/SF ever since they started playing rec at like 6 or 7.

Precisely. I'm a 6'3'' guard as well. I don't limit what I can do on the court, but it's clear I'm more comfortable slashing and handling the ball on the perimeter. I actually thought I'd be more of a threat at my height with guard skills instead of trying to be a "big man" at just 6'3'', even if I were taller than a lot of streetballers. The same goes for a number of my 6'6'' friends. As bigs, they would have been average. With guard skills, they can be real threats.

[VDusen04]

Re: The worst pick up players.

<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/fgZ-KQKrzZ0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I've seen all of these. In fact, I'm half of them.

[Kashanova]

Re: The worst pick up players.

lol Mr Excuses, is one I play with all the time, blaming the knee or the shoulder or them working out earlier...


Me I'm definitely the 6'4 dude at the wing but that's only if I know the defender can stay in front of me if not I'll post and toast them

[ProfessaPackMan]

Re: The worst pick up players.

Mr Excuses and Always Fouled Guy are the 2 most notorious players to step foot on a Basketball Court.

Player/Coach is usually the one you want to slap the **** out of when they wanna be Phil Jackson/Pat Riley/Jason Kidd on the court when they're stinking the joint up themselves.

[Yeah...THAT Guy]

Re: The worst pick up players.

[cocky]I think the only one that describes me is Baller the Kid[/cocky]

I thought the Richard Simmons one was pretty funny when he was just sitting on he knees and leaning back and was like "AHHHHHHHH" lol

I played with a dude the other day that was:
Player/Coach
Always Fouled AND Never Foul guy
Johnny Clear Out

Personal favorite that I played with was a dude wearing shirt and tie, slacks, and dress shoes... dude must have gotten his ankles broken at least 5 times in one game up to 15 lol.

[VDusen04]

Re: The worst pick up players.

Last summer, I put a couple solid hours of basketball in at the gym with my younger brothers who were in town for the week. On my way home, they saw a whole slew of people down at the park playing basketball. They wanted me to stop so they could see what the competition was like on my local court. It was the wrong choice.

At the park this day, playing basketball, there was:

-A player smoking midgame
-A player sharing that cigarette midgame
-Someone freestyle rapping on the sideline
-A player playing in his bare feet
-Two players in jeans
-One player in a camo-hat
-An ex-convict named Sin (who, to be honest, couldn't have been nicer)

To top it all off, one player had a camera set up on a tripod to tape this whole mess and create a mix tape out of it.

My brothers, obviously, thought it was hilarious and the best thing ever, so we played. It was one of the worst nights of my life. For days after this event, I would get upset at random moments, just because I was still so affected by that evening at the park. I'm getting a little frustrated just talking about it now. It was just one of those nights where the wrong crew ended up at the courts (likely because many of the normal ballplayers played with us at the gym beforehand). But now my brothers are going to think that's how my court is all the time, and that depresses me.

I guess the good news is both of my bro's got to play the role of "kid baller" that night, but just because it becomes 10 times easier to cross up a guy in jeans and bare feet.

In an unrelated note, at that same park, I capped off a game one night with a breakaway flush, which yielded this response from the sideline: "Who said white men can't jump? Just look at Yao Ming!"

Let that one sink in for a while.

[Threes_Co.]

Re: The worst pick up players.

^LMAO at that post

[Shield]

Re: The worst pick up players.

The quarterback. This guy throws the ball downcourt after rebound and hopes someone catches up to it and he gets the assist.

[i've only ran into 1 guy like this but he pissed every off]

[jeebs9]

Re: The worst pick up players.

The kids that want to play zone defense right off because they want to leak out for easy baskets. How boring...

Or how about the coach in the game who is telling you what to do with every turn and rebound to when to shoot.


By the way I loved VDusen04 story. That was pretty funny! lol

[sycodmn]

Re: The worst pick up players.

I haven't really played ball in YEARS, since back when I was in HS (never played for my school, I was a wrestler, just street ball). I can't shoot, like, I missed lay-ups. I was totally the 'Football Player', though. I'd post up, then kick it back out, use my size (6'2", 225 when I played) on defense, and go after every loose ball and rebound. I did the dirty work, and you were NOT dunking on me, I was going to take the charge, and if you wanted to go, we could go.

Which brings me to my 'guy'. The 'Way Too Angry' Guy. Dude, you just got fouled, no need to go off, asking if dude wants to 'catch a fade' like you're gonna come back with heat. I mean, seriously...

[The 24th Letter]

Mr Excuses and Always Fouled Guy are the 2 most notorious players to step foot on a Basketball Court..

I was playing with an excuses guy yesterday...

"man I hate these shoes"
"man I need to stop smoking"
"man we need to swing the ball" (like thats why he missed a lay up)

Also, theres that one guy who always waves off your pick... then proceeds to dribble the ball away...smh