Floor General
Learn the fundamentals. That was what he told me when he taught me how to play basketball. That means boxing out after every shot, bounce passes only in the paint, doing the pick n' roll correctly, with the screener pivoting in such a way that positions him between his opponent and the basket, and whatever you do, don't throw it away.
I first learned how to shoot from someone who played for UNLV. Coach was Number 44, and while he never played point guard, he knew it well. This position is also called the floor general, because he does the ball-handling duties and dictates the flow of the game. By default, I was always made the floor general more due to my height (or lack there of) and less because of my field vision and play-making abilities. It is a role that I have grown accustomed to simply because I love that feeling I get when that crisp backdoor pass is made for an easy lay-up. Come on here, we are talking about a guy who owns a John Stockton jersey and short purple shorts! You cannot get more old school than that!
Half my lifetime ago, we got steamrolled in the finals by 20+ points to an undefeated Celtics team that simply outplayed, outwitted, and outhustled us. We were 7-0 as well, and had an all-star roster that featured a dominant presence in the middle. I mean, when you are 13, and one of your teammates is almost 6'0" tall, it does not take much for you to know what to do with the ball. But their point guard was more athletic, and trap after trap I watched them take my ball the other way for an easy deuce.
When your big man and other teammates cannot even get their hands on the ball because you, as the floor general, turn it over, the result is pretty simple: you lose. When you start panicking and throw up rainmakers instead of chipping away at their lead with what you do best, the result is even simpler: you lose big.
Lesson learned.
---
I wish I was little bit taller
I wish I was a baller
I wish I had a girl who looked good
I would call her
I wish I had a rabbit in a hat with a bat
and a '64 Impala
I first learned how to shoot from someone who played for UNLV. Coach was Number 44, and while he never played point guard, he knew it well. This position is also called the floor general, because he does the ball-handling duties and dictates the flow of the game. By default, I was always made the floor general more due to my height (or lack there of) and less because of my field vision and play-making abilities. It is a role that I have grown accustomed to simply because I love that feeling I get when that crisp backdoor pass is made for an easy lay-up. Come on here, we are talking about a guy who owns a John Stockton jersey and short purple shorts! You cannot get more old school than that!
Half my lifetime ago, we got steamrolled in the finals by 20+ points to an undefeated Celtics team that simply outplayed, outwitted, and outhustled us. We were 7-0 as well, and had an all-star roster that featured a dominant presence in the middle. I mean, when you are 13, and one of your teammates is almost 6'0" tall, it does not take much for you to know what to do with the ball. But their point guard was more athletic, and trap after trap I watched them take my ball the other way for an easy deuce.
When your big man and other teammates cannot even get their hands on the ball because you, as the floor general, turn it over, the result is pretty simple: you lose. When you start panicking and throw up rainmakers instead of chipping away at their lead with what you do best, the result is even simpler: you lose big.
Lesson learned.
---
I wish I was little bit taller
I wish I was a baller
I wish I had a girl who looked good
I would call her
I wish I had a rabbit in a hat with a bat
and a '64 Impala
