Pick-up basketball in the city sucks

[Gingahbman]

Good players don't have to foul to score. Don't get me wrong, it provides an advantage (shirt pulling, elbows, grabbing wrists), but the best ball players I've played with try not to do this.

You're playing at pretty public places, so everyone thinks they are Michael Jordan. If you want proper competitive play without the hassle of being fouled unfairly then join a competitive league of some sort with refs, etc.

That being said, there are PLENTY of good pick up games. If anything go with a crew of five and just play the other team. That way you can get the good fundamentals you deserve.

However, the race of a pickup game doesn't mean **** nowadays. Most people just front like they are hard: white, black, spanish, it doesn't matter. If anything stand up for yourself a few times and it won't happen anymore... or you'll get fucked up if you are really playing on a rough court, lol, but I doubt that's the case.

 

[Nil]

This is why I prefer boxing. The wussies tend to weed themselves out rather quickly.

 

[chenc]

Originally Posted by airblaster503

Where I play there are a few people that take it to seriously. Especially this battle-ax of a girl that is like 6'2 200 that I have had to guard several times, she just straight up throws elbows into your stomach until you don't guard her. I finally had to give her a well placed elbow to her baby maker one time and she stopped. There are some people that get overly pissed about nothing though.
You should never do that to a girl. Even if she's 6'2/200.

 

[Stokely]

Dear OP,

This thread is a perfect comparison to a pick up game. You bring weak ****.....well....

Come on man, did you expect some other reactions?

In this thread you've been elbowed, boxed out and shut the **** down.

It sounds like the games went the same way. It sucks to suck, doesn't it?

 

[Dr Huh?]

You put your life on the line playing those pickup games:

 

[gladhands]

I agree that the race was unimportant, and class was completely speculative. I've found that non-blacks don't do the best job of guessing the socioeconomic backgrounds of unfamiliar black people.

Competitive pick-up ball is usually physical, unless you're playing with gunners who chuck up threes as soon as the ball passes half-court. I never played in either of those runs, but on the whole my experience is that playing pickup with black guys in Chicago is less physical than playing with white guys in Boston.

 

[ter1413]

Originally Posted by TheD0n

From year of playing unorganized basketball I can generalize the type of game that will be played based on the appearance of the players. The color of peoples' skin affects their appearance.

What the F are you talking about???
As someone stated, you want fun and exercise, put a hoop up in ur yard!

 

[epb]

Originally Posted by TheD0n

Closing comments
These guys are taking pick-up ball way too seriously. To me it's about having fun, getting exercise, and not getting injured (a goal resulting from a shattered knee cap last year). Instead these guys pet their egos with ridiculous shots that go in 20% of the time. Then they seem surprised and upset when their team loses. I'm about to give up on finding good basketball games in the city.

I am pleased with the enlightened, enthusiastic responses to this post, and speaking as a 6'2" 210-lb African-American man also in Chicago, here's my take: TheDon's right, the crazy motherfuckers will kill you. His only error was characterizing them as working class - I know MBAs and company VPs that are just as bad. Michael Jordan has the competitive drive of Ghandi compared to these guys. I gave up the game years ago, after a team-mate had a knife pulled on him in a parking lot by someone on the losing team. In the immortal words of Cypress Hill, "I ain't going out like that."

 

[Douglas]

Playing pick-up basketball as an adult anywhere sucks. It's always just a bunch of overadrenalized marsupials with overinflated senses of their abilities pretending they're superstars. There are always fights, always horrible fouls committed, and always phantom fouls called. And if you tool one of the guys who really thinks he's good, get ready to really hear about it.

 

[sho'nuff]

Originally Posted by TheD0n

Background
I played in two different pick-up games in college - a game with fellow undergraduates, and one with University staff ages 25-60. Each game had its disadvantages, but it was always good-natured fun.

I don't know what it is about Chicago, but people here take it way too seriously. I have played at two different gyms around my neighborhood; each experience sucked.

Attempt 1
Location: X-Sport Gym
The crowd: mostly African-American men ages 25-35, lower class
The problems:
-fouls committed on every play (I couldn't even make a pass without getting hacked across the arms)
-fouls called even when there was none (I absorbed the impact of a 200-pound black man driving to the basket, and he called a foul on me after missing his shot)
-at one point people yelled at each other for literally 5 minutes over a loose-ball call. This was common.
-after my team won, one of my teammates said to the other team "Get the **** off the court!" These guys are friends who play together regularly

Attempt 2
Location: DePaul's Ray Meyer Fitness Center
The crowd: mostly African-American men ages 18-30, middle class
The problems:
-a complete lack of passing (except for one sweet alley-oop, which was ironically dunked by a 6'1" white guy)
-I was fighting for position against the guy I was guarding before the ball was even passed in, and he fuckin throws an elbow at my mid section. Luckily it hit my forearm, which started to cramp up as the game went on.

Closing comments
These guys are taking pick-up ball way too seriously. To me it's about having fun, getting exercise, and not getting injured (a goal resulting from a shattered knee cap last year). Instead these guys pet their egos with ridiculous shots that go in 20% of the time. Then they seem surprised and upset when their team loses. I'm about to give up on finding good basketball games in the city.

now how do you think the Lakers felt playing against the celtics?

 

[fairholme_wannabe]

Originally Posted by Davidko19

there is a HUGE difference between white & black / high & low socioeconomic games in the level of physicality, trash talking, athleticism, organization and passing (or lack thereof).

FTFY

 

[West24]

you see the biggest losers at pick up. when i was serious into basketball i would play tons of pick up with completely different people in completely different areas. i can tell you that playing with urban guys 28-38 still living off their highschool stardom is the worst. they generally havent accomplished anything more then what they were in highschool, yet they suck now and are losing the athleticism etc. they get pissed when you beat them and get rough, call fouls on everything and talk ****.

the next worse are young black guys in not so rough areas trying to over compensate for them not actually being from a rough part.

 

[sho'nuff]

Originally Posted by West24

you see the biggest losers at pick up. when i was serious into basketball i would play tons of pick up with completely different people in completely different areas. i can tell you that playing with urban guys 28-38 still living off their highschool stardom is the worst. they generally havent accomplished anything more then what they were in highschool, yet they suck now and are losing the athleticism etc. they get pissed when you beat them and get rough, call fouls on everything and talk ****.

the next worse are young black guys in not so rough areas trying to over compensate for them not actually being from a rough part.

ha ! that's funny.

 

[Kris]

All y'all hella raysist and ****. Errbye posting up in this thread hella hella raysist.

 

[chenc]

I played some today at the local college's rec center. There was this old guy (probably in his early 60's). He (obviously) can't keep up with guy he's guarding (everyone else probably 4 decades younger than him), so he'd commit foul on defense when the guy he's guarding gets close to scoring in the paint. He knocked me down once with elbow. Then give that disgusting smile and trying to play nice (so he doesn't get hit). I let it go. I thought it could be an accident. Today he knocked my teammate (I don't know the dude), and did the same smile **** again, even praised my teammate for making the shot despite being hit in the face by the old man. I was very tempted to "accidentally" let him have some.
Oh, and today some black dude called me ********. WTF?