The worst pick up players.

[VDusen04]

Re: The worst pick up players.

The example I was talking about was a fastbreak situation. Yeah, I'ma rib you if you go up with a weak lookin dunk with one hand. Might as well do a layup

I can respect the two-hand no hang dunk though.

Shoot, 90% of my dunks are one-handers. Unless it's a two-hand hang (like we've been talking about in the OS Neighborhood) I feel like my one-handers allow me to dunk harder than a two-hand put-in finish. My two-handers are usually more Dirk than they are LeBron.

Back on topic of thread, I'm not a fan of opponents who go zone in pick-up games. I feel like that breaks some sort of man-law, but I'm not sure. It's not that a pick-up zone is impenetrable. Rather, it's just a breeding ground for frustration on both sides of the ball. Pick-up zones always seem to end with either A) the defense over-zoning and becoming stationary, allowing for overly easy finishes, B) offensive teammates becoming confused and not comprehending one's next course of action which subsequently leads to C) offensive players only shooting three pointers for the entire game.

So, I understand the logic of a zone, it just seems really strange to bust out in a pick-up game. It never seems to work out well for either party. In my area, the chances of stumbling upon 10 players who fully understand the concepts to implementing and attacking a zone are slim and none. There's usually at least one weak link on each side of the ball that ultimately leads to a messy destruction.

[Nathan_OS]

Shoot, 90% of my dunks are one-handers. Unless it's a two-hand hang (like we've been talking about in the OS Neighborhood) I feel like my one-handers allow me to dunk harder than a two-hand put-in finish. My two-handers are usually more Dirk than they are LeBron.

Back on topic of thread, I'm not a fan of opponents who go zone in pick-up games. I feel like that breaks some sort of man-law, but I'm not sure. It's not that a pick-up zone is impenetrable. Rather, it's just a breeding ground for frustration on both sides of the ball. Pick-up zones always seem to end with either A) the defense over-zoning and becoming stationary, allowing for overly easy finishes, B) offensive teammates becoming confused and not comprehending one's next course of action which subsequently leads to C) offensive players only shooting three pointers for the entire game.

So, I understand the logic of a zone, it just seems really strange to bust out in a pick-up game. It never seems to work out well for either party. In my area, the chances of stumbling upon 10 players who fully understand the concepts to implementing and attacking a zone are slim and none. There's usually at least one weak link on each side of the ball that ultimately leads to a messy destruction.

The guy who's always looking to make a flashy pass SMH

[cavsfan2]

Re: The worst pick up players.

The guy who thinks he is the best player on the court when in reality he is the worst.

[VDusen04]

Re: The worst pick up players.

The guy who's always looking to make a flashy pass SMH

Man, horrible. I might have touched base on this one already but man ... still horrible. At least things seemed to have toned down a little since the AND1 era. There used to be a regular at my park who insisted on throwing everything underhand. Killed every single fast break opportunity because, as I bet I said earlier in this thread, it turned what should have been a 1-on-0 fast break into a game of 500 (throw Hail Mary, points to who comes down with it).

[Nathan_OS]

Sorry if I posting alot, just played like 5 hours of pick up ball

The guy who talks trash, and when you get mad, and start looking there **** up they say "well I'm not 10 ft"

Ya best know I got in that dudes grill and just went off. He didn't score another point. I was talking **** the whole way through

[Nathan_OS]

Man, horrible. I might have touched base on this one already but man ... still horrible. At least things seemed to have toned down a little since the AND1 era. There used to be a regular at my park who insisted on throwing everything underhand. Killed every single fast break opportunity because, as I bet I said earlier in this thread, it turned what should have been a 1-on-0 fast break into a game of 500 (throw Hail Mary, points to who comes down with it).

Those are the same guys that say they could have played college ball but say it's because they were too short LOL

[VDusen04]

Re: The worst pick up players.

Those are the same guys that say they could have played college ball but say it's because they were too short LOL

And the ones who stopped playing ball in high school because, as they put it, the coach hated them.

[Nathan_OS]

Re: The worst pick up players.

Edit: might be against TOS

[Hassan Darkside]

Re: The worst pick up players.

Curious, when you guys go play pickup with your friends, do you always play on their team? I have a pretty good friend who likes playing but he's awful. He's long, kind of athletic, but has the coordination of an intoxicated figure skater. I mean he can't do anything smoothly, can't dribble, can't shoot, can't pass, etc. He can get rebounds due to his length and athleticism but that's about the only thing he can do. Anyway, he always tries to do way too much outside of his (lack of) skillset which includes dribbling, shooting, passing, etc.

My question is do you guys stay loyal to guys like that that kind of suck or do you insist on playing on the other team or shooting for captains/teams. And if you shoot for captains and are a captain, do you pick your friends over others, even if you think others are better?

I'm getting frustrated playing with him and his friends because they're straight ***. Today we played pick up all ones to 13 and I must have scored about 9 points because nobody else could do anything.

[VDusen04]

Re: The worst pick up players.

Curious, when you guys go play pickup with your friends, do you always play on their team? I have a pretty good friend who likes playing but he's awful. He's long, kind of athletic, but has the coordination of an intoxicated figure skater. I mean he can't do anything smoothly, can't dribble, can't shoot, can't pass, etc. He can get rebounds due to his length and athleticism but that's about the only thing he can do. Anyway, he always tries to do way too much outside of his (lack of) skillset which includes dribbling, shooting, passing, etc.

My question is do you guys stay loyal to guys like that that kind of suck or do you insist on playing on the other team or shooting for captains/teams. And if you shoot for captains and are a captain, do you pick your friends over others, even if you think others are better?

I'm getting frustrated playing with him and his friends because they're straight ***. Today we played pick up all ones to 13 and I must have scored about 9 points because nobody else could do anything.

Most frequently, we shoot for teams straight up. Then the winner stays while those sitting out shoot for the next five challengers. Other times, we'll shoot up for captains and go from there. Rarer still, if there's a ton of folks, people sitting will get five together and call next.

To be honest, I don't often see friends insisting they stick together on a single team, for our system just is not set up like that. When we go with the captain system, I'd say about 9 out of 10 times, caps will pick players according to skill, regardless of alliance. I think any of my poor basketball playing friends have enough self actualization to know they're not great at the game. By no means have I ever felt obligated or stuck to being on their team.

[Hassan Darkside]

Re: The worst pick up players.

Usually when I go there's already a game going on and I just call next so I'm stuck with my friends regardless. And if there's a couple people waiting in front of me, rather than me joining their team to help them get to 5, I just call next after them to keep my "loyalty."

[VDusen04]

Re: The worst pick up players.

Usually when I go there's already a game going on and I just call next so I'm stuck with my friends regardless. And if there's a couple people waiting in front of me, rather than me joining their team to help them get to 5, I just call next after them to keep my "loyalty."

As I've said before, always interesting to hear how folks operate in other regions. My priority is to get on the basketball court so regardless of friends, teammates and opposition, I just want to get on the floor and stay there. With that said, I suppose it's not terribly unusual for some people to sit out an extra game because they don't like who their teammates may have been if they were to play earlier.

[Kriech23]

Re: The worst pick up players.

Curious, when you guys go play pickup with your friends, do you always play on their team? I have a pretty good friend who likes playing but he's awful. He's long, kind of athletic, but has the coordination of an intoxicated figure skater. I mean he can't do anything smoothly, can't dribble, can't shoot, can't pass, etc. He can get rebounds due to his length and athleticism but that's about the only thing he can do. Anyway, he always tries to do way too much outside of his (lack of) skillset which includes dribbling, shooting, passing, etc.

My question is do you guys stay loyal to guys like that that kind of suck or do you insist on playing on the other team or shooting for captains/teams. And if you shoot for captains and are a captain, do you pick your friends over others, even if you think others are better?

I'm getting frustrated playing with him and his friends because they're straight ***. Today we played pick up all ones to 13 and I must have scored about 9 points because nobody else could do anything.

I can't stand playing ball with my friends (on my team or not). They are pretty much what you described and it makes me look bad for bringing them. If there are some other people there, I normally ask them if they have next and if I can be on their team. I wouldn't mind playing on my friends team if they didn't think they were "good".

I normally just go hoop by myself and pick up other players or with one of my other friends who is actually pretty good.

[VDusen04]

Re: The worst pick up players.

I'm throwing this one out there to see how it sticks. It was a frustrating situation, but I'm not convinced whether it's streetball acceptable or not. Tonight, on two separate instances, an opposing player made a lazy play leading to a turnover between the three point line and half court. In both instances, I garnered a loose ball and began sprinting down the floor. Each time, the player who committed the turnover grabbed me and bear hugged me with both arms as I attempted to speed around him into the open floor.

The first time, it brought the game to a screeching halt and created a general, "Okay, what the hell was that?" amongst fellow players. The second time, I refused to call a foul and the ball then trickled out to a teammate ahead of the pack for a breakaway layup. This caused the defending team to become very upset. My feelings are if a team wants to be bush league and grab and hug me as I'm breaking out into the open floor (before I even hit half court), then playing on and not having me call my own foul should be a taste of their own medicine.

Most of all, regardless of the "foul or no foul" dispute, what are your feelings on grabbing someone in mid-sprint and wrapping them up in lieu of playing proper defense or running back? My feeling is that it's not an NBA game and we're there to play basketball. If a precedent is going to be set where any fast break can be openly squashed by a bear hug, then what's the point of playing? Will it not just reduce the game to endless check-ups and half court horridness?

[Kriech23]

Re: The worst pick up players.

I'm throwing this one out there to see how it sticks. It was a frustrating situation, but I'm not convinced whether it's streetball acceptable or not. Tonight, on two separate instances, an opposing player made a lazy play leading to a turnover between the three point line and half court. In both instances, I garnered a loose ball and began sprinting down the floor. Each time, the player who committed the turnover grabbed me and bear hugged me with both arms as I attempted to speed around him into the open floor.

The first time, it brought the game to a screeching halt and created a general, "Okay, what the hell was that?" amongst fellow players. The second time, I refused to call a foul and the ball then trickled out to a teammate ahead of the pack for a breakaway layup. This caused the defending team to become very upset. My feelings are if a team wants to be bush league and grab and hug me as I'm breaking out into the open floor (before I even hit half court), then playing on and not having me call my own foul should be a taste of their own medicine.

Most of all, regardless of the "foul or no foul" dispute, what are your feelings on grabbing someone in mid-sprint and wrapping them up in lieu of playing proper defense or running back? My feeling is that it's not an NBA game and we're there to play basketball. If a precedent is going to be set where any fast break can be openly squashed by a bear hug, then what's the point of playing? Will it not just reduce the game to endless check-ups and half court horridness?

Can't say I have ever seen this in a pick up game. Regardless, after the 1st time, I would have warned him to not do it again. When I play against some people that do 'bush' league stuff like that or undercutting I let them know about it. There is no place in any game for stuff like that. I would either play on or just demand the point/(s). I'd say you handled it pretty though.