My first organized basketball game

[t2r2s]

why i would diss y'all? its not like you are actually hating, just playing by the odds, that are against me, and after all i did get some useful information here


and when you talked about the warmups, i dont understand, i did warm up by stretching myself, and what do you mean by mental warmups, i listen to pump up music before playing ball if it is this what you're talking about if not, please explain yourself

[shadowgrin]

I didn't say anything conclusive about what happened to you, I could only speculate thus the question mark in my post.
Those quoted are not mine, it's from the Wiki link I gave you (did you even read it?) hoping that maybe you could figure it out by yourself on what happened to you.

It's actually good for you if you diss us, it would make a good story to the media. Just look at Arenas or Michael Jordan's speech. It will be a seller I tell you.

[t2r2s]

i've read it like 1yr ago, i dont know if it has been updated since then


before the media comes 3 things, practice, practice and practice... so i'm off to some more

[shadowgrin]

phpBB [video]

i don't need to be in all of my classes to get to the next year

So? Unless you have the physical ability of a Derrick Rose, don't skip classes unless you want to end up taking exams like Derrick Rose.

[t2r2s]

i never studied, and always got good to mediocre grades, now my grades are good enough to get me to pass the year, and its not like i skip classes every other day, just some days when i want really play ball(my school hasnt got any baskets that i can play on during breaks)


anyway, my practice was interrupted today by some soccer players that wanted to play on the court that i was playing on (over here the only court that isnt a basketball/football mixed one is like 5miles away from my home) i'm now searching the internet for basketball drills i could do at home that doesnt involve dribbling or jumping or making any kind of lound noise, if somebody here got some, would you mind sharing them with me?

[Andrew]

Just FYI, if your first professional basketball game is at 16, you're a bit late. Sean Williams was 15, but he's 7 feet tall and has massive hops. And he really lacked basketball fundamentals. And if your school or team sucks, then you have even more problems.

I'm guessing by professional, you mean organised.

For what it's worth, Hakeem Olajuwon didn't play organised ball until he was 14 and Tim Duncan didn't pick it up until he was 13, so I don't think that's necessarily a problem. Not as much as the other factors and obstacles at any rate.

[benji]

And Michael Olowokandi never picked it up outside of one jump hook and he played in the NBA for a decade!

Okay, so he picked it up at 17 when the coach at Pacific told him he'd get a scholarship because he was seven foot tall.

And okay, so David Robinson was 5-9 when he entered high school and had never played until he shot up to 6-7 for his senior year, joined the team and dominated. And then he joined the Navy without intending to play until he grew again and the coaches begged him to play. And he was only the most talented seven footer in league history not named Wilt Chamberlain.

[Andrew]

Olowokandi, giving hope to the least of us (should our genes be kind enough).

[shadowgrin]

And Hasheem Thabeet only started playing basketball at age 15 yet he ended up as the second overall pick. There's hope for everyone! who are really tall because height is a commodity in basketball.

[Oskar]

I hate people that try to break someones bubbles just like that. I mean, a person is supposed to have a dream like this one and he has to pursuit it. If he works extremely (like really) hard all day everyday (okay, not quite), he'll atleast get somewhere to the pro's, wether its some random Baltic League or NBA, doesn't matter. Now, he could just go by the way most of you here probably would, "Fk that, I ain't as athletic as LeBron, as tall as Yao and not as good shooter as Nash.. No way I stand a chance, I'll better end up as a drunk builder." Okay, I might be overreacting a tad, but seriously, everybody in this world has high hopes, atleast the ones that actually make it somewhere, they do. Just work hard on what you want to be, have high confidence in yourself, try to fix every little weakness in your game etcetera.

Just two years ago I couldn't play basketball for ish and I made the same type of threads as this very one, ofcourse I was shut up quite quickly by most of the guys around, but I didn't pay too much attention because I wanted to.. I don't know, I just kept going and I guess you could say I wanted to prove the people wrong a bit. As I got older, other stuff in life also came into the play and I haven't had the same type of push as I had before, but I still continued to work out a lot more than an average person and on the court I'm going all in, always. Two years ago I was struggling to make a jumper in my backyard, playing on the lawn field and the 10" ft rim we put up some time ago. Now I'm in the starting lineup of a team that went on to win the national competitions (pretty damn easily aswell, not the masterleague or w/e it is anyway, school league). I've put up 20 pt games against the 18 year olds and I'm not even 15 yet and I'll just keep going, I know I probably won't play in the NBA one day, but I can still have a dream, without ever having one, I probably wouldn't be nearly as succesful as I am in most of the stuff that I like to do.

It sounds extremely funny right now as I'm just a 14 year old that thinks he has all the priorities and stuff set in stone and so, but no, not really.. I know I'll probably look back to it in a couple years and have a good laugh on it because by the time, who knows about my goals and stuff, they still might change as I'm very young.. What ever happens, though - I will always love the game and the dream will still be there, just like it is for billions of others in the world, everyone has some type of a dream, mine's being a pro player one day, and I'm fkn' optimistic!


.. should get some sleep.

[Oznogrd]

Thats exactly the problem Oskar you're 14. Do you know much LIFE happens in between 12-14 and lets say you finish school at the age you do in the states (21 or so). Thats 7 years anything can happen. You can blow out a knee, you can have as you said "life" take over in a different way. I started for a team that won a national championship when i was 13. Guess what success ive had since then in the realm of basketball despite hard work, trying 110% every game, and a dream? Zilch. By college, i wasnt even sure i wanted to play basketball anymore and it took a long talk with my coach to play my senior year of high school.

Eventually, you kids are going to realize theres more to life than being rich and athletic and famous. Real life is going to hit you like a cartoon anvil and its going to hurt. Some people get hit by the anvil and say oh that was just a raindrop. These people might as well have traumatic brain injuries

Its like I said in the other post. Its fine to have dreams. I'm not even saying you or t2 wont make the NBA. But dont be stupid about it. The odds are greatly against you. Go to class, study, that way if you get injured or something bad happens and you DONT achieve your dream? you have something to fall back on that, although not your original dream, could give you just as much fulfillment. Never wrap up your entire life in one activity, because if that activity becomes no longer feasible: you'll have nothing.

Now get off my lawn.

/end old fart rant...
(odd that 24 is old around here)

[t2r2s]

i dont want to sound smartass or convinced, but i really dont need to study to get acceptable grades, and when i do get a bad grade i work like a crazy maniak to get it back to acceptable level, now i know i could do better, but seriously, id rather work more physically than mentally, just to much stress in being at work like 8hrs a day and thinking about the same thing over and over again, i already went to try some work on easter holidays (one week as a fisherman on a boat and quite frankly i think i could handle it), and also theres a chance of unemployment that goes up with the level of qualification, so its like basketball, you can work your ass of in the college to graduate just to get the same crappy job that the guy who dropped out of high school

[NovU]

I Just two years ago I couldn't play basketball for ish and I made the same type of threads as this very one, ofcourse I was shut up quite quickly by most of the guys around,

Lolz... I understand where you are coming from, but you gotta think that most of us have been in your shoes before when we were at your age. Not only do we often see this kind of thread(talking about future in the NBA, or how talented they are), but we've also grown up hearing others around us saying pretty much the same thing that one day they'll be with the big boys and more. With that said, you shouldn't expect to hear big encouragement with your career as a professional basketball player from most of people since they already do know how slim the chances are, and the chances even look slimmer if you are from somewhere else other than USA, where basketball court/gym is everywhere, and smaller leagues are well developed, thus providing better facilities to raise better talents. In t2r2s's case, he doesn't have all that benefits and also plays in lessor league at the moment. He also does not seem to be the dominant or outstanding player in such a situation.

In most of our case, if anyone was as good as they claimed to be, they'd have heard from the scouts or even would have seeked after athletic scholarships from colleges. That of course didn't happen to 99.9% of people, let alone making it to the NBA. The bottomline is that most of us have moved on to a life where we're fans and don't dream anymore and see this kind of things as part of growing up procedure. Hearing too much of course makes some of us tiresome. Encouragement is good but not on a false base of our knowledge.

If t2r2s makes it, I hope he won't forget to diss us like shadow said. We deserve it.

[Valor]

i dont want to sound smartass or convinced, but i really dont need to study to get acceptable grades,

you do realized that at your age, if you are not topping your class with little or no effort. There is a problem
Wait till you become a senior (if you are in any decent education system that is), you'll see the huge level of difference between the final push for uni and anything prior. It's kinda like the talent level between Michael Olowokandi and Hakeem Olajuwon (maybe not THAT much, but pretty close)

Lolz... I understand where you are coming from, but you gotta think that most of us have been in your shoes before when we were at your age. Not only do we often see this kind of thread(talking about future in the NBA, or how talented they are), but we've also grown up hearing others around us saying pretty much the same thing that one day they'll be with the big boys and more.

Exactly

[t2r2s]

when i become a senior i'll push harder to get the job done, now theres no reason for that in any classes except math

[Andrew]

If t2r2s makes it, I hope he won't forget to diss us like shadow said. We deserve it.

Or a shoutout in an interview during the Draft, either way is fine.

[J@3]

I think the problem with Oskar's thread wasn't that people wanted to destroy his/your dream, it was the hilarity involved in you counting stats from 2 on 2 pick up games and acting like they were official in game numbers.

[shadowgrin]

...and I think Oskar's opponent was his younger friend or cousin. Talk about total domination.

rant

We (or me, whatever) are not trying to break his bubble. We're giving him a hard time about it because he seemed to ignore other priorities for the sake of another priority (skipping class just to practice ball) when in reality he should try to do both, at least in this point in his life, unless he is physically gifted as I mentioned before.
Shane Battier doesn't approve of such plans.

id rather work more physically than mentally, just to much stress in being at work like 8hrs a day and thinking about the same thing over and over again

Wait 'til you turn pro. You'll be thinking and doing the same thing over and over such plays, practice, travel, promotionals, counting your money, etc.

and also theres a chance of unemployment that goes up with the level of qualification, so its like basketball, you can work your ass of in the college to graduate just to get the same crappy job that the guy who dropped out of high school

But those guys that went to the pros after coming out of high school are pretty athletic (or think so themselves) than normal players.

And that compromise reasoning of yours is somewhat screwed up, imo.
"I would rather half-ass going to class when I will probably get the same job as that guy who didn't even finish high school, I'd rather practice more to get to the pros" is almost the same as "Why should I practice often when I'm not athletic enough to get to the pros, I'd rather concentrate on getting a degree."
Try to do both if possible and if you can excel in both like Tim Duncan, then much better.

[benji]

Joke character?

[shadowgrin]

There's a link of Iverson talking about the importance of practice. "It's easy to sum it up" as AI says.

[dare]

This is turning to a one awesome thread.. Hardwood Classic

[t2r2s]

Wait 'til you turn pro. You'll be thinking and doing the same thing over and over such plays, practice, travel, promotionals, counting your money, etc.

doing something i like its much easier that to do something i dislike, and should i turn pro there i could always hire someone to do some of the thinking for me, and anyway, if i or you or somebody else go pro, if they have half a brain they wouldnt stop thinking about how to get better, and that type of thinking is quite different from the typical office drone type of thinking

Joke character?

Me?

[Oskar]

Yeah, I absolutely agree with most of you here about not concertrating on just one aspect of life (in basketball that is) and that it's necessary to enjoy life to the fullest. Thats what I do and I don't think or claim to be working out as hard as I could or as hard as I should in order to reach (one of them) my dreams, it's an option, a terrific one, more than anything. And if I won't go too far in basketball which might very well happen, I'll just take it and go with different stuff that I like and that are.. um, good in all parts that are needed and I'll try to make the most out of the situation I'll fall into.

Btw, I understand that my thread 2 years ago was rather stupid, counting stats from 2 on 2 games and at that time I thought it was completely normal and nothing unusual about it, well yes, I hadn't seen it all in a bigger picture or so, you could say.. That's what I'm saying right now, but as ya'll said, the picture will get bigger and bigger as the time goes by, which is why I'll look back one day laughing again, just like I laugh now over what I did 2 years ago, although it looks just like yesterday. I'm a young kid with a dream, so are many others that post stuff like I do and whatever life has got for me, I'll try to make the most out of it.

Btw.. I don't know, you should know there's no point in telling me what type of stuff to do because most likely I'm not going to realize that the suggestions were right before I'm older aswell, that's how it's always been. Nevermind, don't bother yourself, hehe.

[benji]

and should i turn pro there i could always hire someone to do some of the thinking for me

Joke character confirmed.

[t2r2s]

wtf is a joke character?