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I'm not pretending to be some type of basketball guru. But I've played a lot of organized ball in my lifetime and it becomes abundantly clear during pickup games which players have been exposed to an organized format of play and which haven't. So here is a short list of things that kill me during regular pickup games.
1. Spacing - Seems like this would be simple enough to understand. Most guys understand this in the bathroom. If you've got an empty bathroom and 10 urinals, do you choose the urinal right next to the only other guy in the bathroom? If you're in an empty airport on a Wednesday night, do you sit directly next to some stranger (exception for cute chicks, of course)? Most people understand that other people enjoy their space and act accordingly.
Yet this principle doesn't always seem to extend to the hardwood/blacktop. If you've got one guy with the ball at the key, and another guy at the 3 point line 10 feet away from him, is it really a good idea to occupy the space between them? You're just allowing 2 defensive players to guard 3 offensive players, which should never happen. You're not making a defense work hard if all they have to do is slide over ever so slightly to hack away at the next guy who gets the ball.
2. On the Ball Screens (and Off the Ball Screens Too) - There's obviously nothing bad about on the ball screens per se. The one thing I hate, though, is when a guy passes me the ball and then immediately comes over to set a screen for me. While I appreciate the effort, he's often just dragging his man into my space, so if I had any inking to drive, those thoughts simply go away. It's also the perfect way to invite a double team in many cases, which isn't so bad I guess if you're rolling to the basket after the pick, but few guys ever do that, and the pick-and-roll takes practice to execute correctly. So the pick ends up being a waste probably 3 out of 5 times.
Now what guys rarely ever do is set off the ball screens. These are way more effective than on the ball screens because most people don't see them coming. With on the ball screens, everyone is paying attention to the ball, and when the pick comes everyone shouts out "Pick to your right!" With off the ball screens, you can pin down another man's defender virtually undetected, freeing him for an easy streak to the basket. This is especially effective if you travel from one side of the floor to the other.
3. Cuts - A lot of guys actually do cut. But many don't cut in a way that actually makes them a scoring threat.
4. Inaccurate Passes - This really annoys me. I understand that we're not professional players, but you need to take pride in your passing. I don't like to give sloppy passes any more than I like to receive them. Making a simple bounce pass that winds up slightly behind a guy cutting to the basket or giving a guy who's wide open a pass that lands on his shoe laces should really be criminal. Guys always leave the gym talking about how their shot wasn't falling, but rarely do they ever talk about the pass they threw to a wide open man in the corner that was too high, causing him to leap up for the pass and not get his feet set for the shot. 99% of pickup games aren't lost because of someone's failure to make Kevin Durant-type step backs. Most games are lost simply because guys fail to do very basic crap like get a pass to a guy on time who's standing underneath the basket wide open.
5. Floating Around the Perimeter - I hate guys who constantly pop up to the perimeter. In a 5 on 5 game, someone needs to be somewhere that's not along the 3 point line. Yet you get these guys whose off the ball movement consists of tracing the pattern of the 3 point line from end of the court to the other while occasionally stepping inside of it for rebounds or dribble drives. These are usually the guys who stand right next to you when you're taking the ball out quietly saying "Ball, ball, ball." Can you at least fake like you're going back door and then pop back out for the ball? These guys have no interest in rebounding or creating space for teammates and simply hover around the 3 point line waiting to get a pass.
My observation is that #5 seems to happen a lot with the younger generation.
One of my pet peeves are guys who do not play defense. There are some guys who instead of playing defense will hang around the perimeter and raise their arms to the team on offense trying to get them to pass the ball to them. Freaking ridiculous!
Then there are guys who half way cherry pick by not playing defense by acting tired yet have the energy to sprint out after their team gets the ball back.
Another peeve is when someone comes to doesn't play basketball so they get wreckless in playing physical.
Learning the game happens best over time, its very common in pick up games where you have old guys vs young guys where the old guys win. 30s vs upper teens early 20s.
Unsuccessful cherry picking is the most annoying to me. Rather than bring the ball up, they chuck it down court and more often than not, throw it out of bounds. Wasted possession that's the equivalent of a Hail Mary in football.
I don't really mind a lack of skill or knowledge as long as a person hussles on defense. Sometimes I see another player's weakness as an extra challenge to win...how can I still find a way to win or direct my teammates to help the team.
Ball hogs certainly do annoy me in pickup games because they can take away everyone's motivation to rebound/play D/go for loose balls, etc. And the worst ball hog is the one getting into trash talk battles while dribbling the cover of the ball and/or pulling up for 25 ft 3s as soon as they pass half court. Of course everyone won't get the same amount of shots/ball handling/passing opportunities, but just recognize when you're a black hole. I play pretty competitive pickup games and we always have at least a couple out of shape/uncoordinated "scrubs" but we make sure they get at least a few looks every game...maybe more if they hit one. Once in a blue moon they'll even hit a game winner if someone decides to double leaving them wide open. Pickup games aren't the NBA Finals so no need to be a one man wrecking crew even if you're THAT good and shooting 80% against the competition.
And the worst ball hog is the one getting into trash talk battles while dribbling the cover of the ball and/or pulling up for 25 ft 3s as soon as they pass half court. Of course everyone won't get the same amount of shots/ball handling/passing opportunities, but just recognize when you're a black hole. I play pretty competitive pickup games and we always have at least a couple out of shape/uncoordinated "scrubs" but we make sure they get at least a few looks every game...maybe more if they hit one. Once in a blue moon they'll even hit a game winner if someone decides to double leaving them wide open. Pickup games aren't the NBA Finals so no need to be a one man wrecking crew even if you're THAT good and shooting 80% against the competition.
When I played on the weekends at the local high school, there was a guy like this. Kid was 28 years old and playing against guys who were 40-50+, I was one of the "younger" guys at 36. Kid didn't have a job, just sat around and smoked weed all day and played basketball. Of course he's going to beat up on the older guys, yet he would talk trash.
Learning the game happens best over time, its very common in pick up games where you have old guys vs young guys where the old guys win. 30s vs upper teens early 20s.
I don't know if I notice so much an age difference as I do an experience difference. A college student who played 2 years of HS Varsity basketball and attended one or two basketball camps plays the game differently from someone who hasn't participated in any meaningful type of basketball practices. The way you play without that ball tells me more about your experience level than the way you do with it.
My observation is that #5 seems to happen a lot with the younger generation.
One of my pet peeves are guys who do not play defense. There are some guys who instead of playing defense will hang around the perimeter and raise their arms to the team on offense trying to get them to pass the ball to them. Freaking ridiculous!
Then there are guys who half way cherry pick by not playing defense by acting tired yet have the energy to sprint out after their team gets the ball back.
Another peeve is when someone comes to doesn't play basketball so they get wreckless in playing physical.
I agree wholeheartedly. Defense largely boils down to effort, though, or the lack thereof. I'm more or less talking about guys who may be putting in the effort, but simply don't make good decisions or don't understand basic principles.
And don't get me wrong, this isn't some diatribe against people who didn't grow up going to basketball camps. I got the idea for this thread because I have an acquaintance who has good individual basketball attributes (good physique, hops, handles, pretty good shooting) and can be devastating in one-on-one or "21" formats. Yet all of those good attributes are negated in a team format because he's constantly out of position on both ends of the floor.
Then he comes over after we get our ass handed to us in 3 straight games by "seemingly" far less athletic guys and says "My bad, shot wasn't falling tonight." I could have listed 10 things that lost us those games that had nothing to do with outside shooting.
My observation is that #5 seems to happen a lot with the younger generation.
One of my pet peeves are guys who do not play defense. There are some guys who instead of playing defense will hang around the perimeter and raise their arms to the team on offense trying to get them to pass the ball to them. Freaking ridiculous!
Then there are guys who half way cherry pick by not playing defense by acting tired yet have the energy to sprint out after their team gets the ball back.
Another peeve is when someone comes to doesn't play basketball so they get wreckless in playing physical.
Or the guys who think they are point guards but make decisions so slowly that they miss cutters and wide open shooters, they're too busy pounding the ball and thinking about their own options.
Turnover guys, often the above who don't seem to care when they give the ball up for an easy bucket at the other end.
The slow guy who wants to iso.
But actually, pickup basketball is played far smarter and less selfish than pickup soccer in my estimation, I've played plenty of both. At least pickup bballers usually want to win and generally play somewhat hard. Pickup soccer? Most guys will spend the entire game trying to attack and do nothing to prevent goals. Most pickup soccer games aren't worth keeping score or celebrating goals, easy BS 5 on 1s are the rule of the day. Oh, and if you really suck, you usually don't keep playing basketball, plenty of awful athletes still come out for soccer.
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