I Have A New-Found Respect For NBA Players. God Damn!

[Gazoo]

It's always easier to hit jumpers in a pickup game.

The point the OP is making is that most of us can't even begin to imagine hitting that many NBA three's consecutively even in practice.

We don't respect professional level athletes' game. Someone like Kenny Smith could go to most courts now and run your typical cities best players in the ground. A Lebron or Kobe would score 120 in a summer league game if given the green light.

 

[8SD8-retired_member]

believe me fellas..... it takes a lot of hard work. but CONFIDENCE IS EVERYTHING. i'm in europe right now hoopin and the guys that don't worry about missin shots and keep playin aggressive are the ones that play the best. you never see kobe gettin down after he misses 3 in a row cause he always believes he's gonna knock down the next 4 or 5. alot of guys can hoop but the confidence is what separates good from great.

So, what made Jordan what he was? Confidence?

I mean, their couldn't have been THAT big of a difference in speed, quickness, and strength between him and the other guards.

Also, I know Jordan was skilled, but .. really ... we're talking about guys who'd practiced for years on shooting and slashing to the basket....

I know some people are more talented, but I just wonder if what made Jordan what he was...was something most wouldn't expect.

 

[8SD8-retired_member]

The point the OP is making is that most of us can't even begin to imagine hitting that many NBA three's consecutively even in practice.

We don't respect professional level athletes' game. Someone like Kenny Smith could go to most courts now and run your typical cities best players in the ground. A Lebron or Kobe would score 120 in a summer league game if given the green light.

I don't know why, but even after he had ESTABLISHED himself in the league....Ricky Davis played in the summer leagues one year...

...and this fool averaged 46 per game. First of all, their is someone sitting at home, because they never got the chance to shoot, and this dude was a lock in the league at that point...

 

[cosmologics]

I went to highschool and college with a dude in the league now. We were both on JV together and I transfered to a different school. Dude sprouted to 6' 11".

He was a guard before so he had a decent outside touch. Came to college and focused on rebounding. Rebounded his was to lead the nation in that category. When he got drafted all of my crew scratched our heads. 9 years later he is still in the league......

 

[LennyNero1972]

yeah man.i remember when I was a kid and went to an Isaiah Thomas basketball camp and him and Joe Dumars came out and played with us...and Dumars was built a like a fucking truck...dude's legs were huge...

Speaking of which, when I was in 8th grade me a couple cats stuck around after a Hawks game and the players came out to greet some of the fans, I'll never forget how big Terry Cummings (Milwaukee Bucks)looked when a friend of mine gave him a pound.

 

[blackman8]

yall killin me @ mark jackson doing a 360

I refuse to believe. Mark Jackson was an ol'school "back em down at the halfcourt" type of player, I never saw him with any flare, ever

 

[DLateshow]

So, what made Jordan what he was? Confidence?

I mean, their couldn't have been THAT big of a difference in speed, quickness, and strength between him and the other guards.

Also, I know Jordan was skilled, but .. really ... we're talking about guys who'd practiced for years on shooting and slashing to the basket....

I know some people are more talented, but I just wonder if what made Jordan what he was...was something most wouldn't expect.

Confidence is everything when playing ball. I know some of you Chi-town brothers remember Teddy Grubbs. He was all everything in highschool. He followed Mark Aquire to Depaul and lost his confidence. He did not do one thing while he was at Depaul.


Dlateshow

 

[CeeloChamp]

Yep, a NBA scrub will go and dominate any rec you and your boys play at...

yup yup i've always said this

the worst player in the nba that gets no burn would go to rucker or anywhere

and bust ass

steve kerr would bust ass in any playground

manute bol

george mureasan

shawn bradley

qunicy douby

jarvis hayes

bobby simmons

 

[4ce of n8ur]

believe me fellas..... it takes a lot of hard work. but CONFIDENCE IS EVERYTHING. i'm in europe right now hoopin and the guys that don't worry about missin shots and keep playin aggressive are the ones that play the best. you never see kobe gettin down after he misses 3 in a row cause he always believes he's gonna knock down the next 4 or 5. alot of guys can hoop but the confidence is what separates good from great.

co-fucking sign.

confidence is everything in ball. in the nba they're all freaks of nature. AI, Iguodala? Nate Robinson, Shaq Chris Bosh, Dwayne Wade? These niggas are athletic FREAKS of nature. but even freaks of nature can fail in the nba.

nobody gets ocked on bgol more than kwame brown and even he is a freak of nature. difference is that he has no confidence.

think confidence doesn't matter? why is there esuch a thing as home court advantage then? because hearing niggas boo you and talk shit about you - can affect your performance if you're not supremely confident.

there's this show called sports science. they did a test to see how much stress noise and cheering against you induced on a nigga shooting freethrows. they got a division one ball player and had him shoot ten freethrows baseline in silence. he shot 9 of ten. his heart rate was in the 50s (really elite athletes have really low heart rates - lance armstrong's resting heartrate is like in the 40s - because his heart is so efficient). they bring out niggas making noise and cheering against him and his 9 of 10 dropped to 6 of 10 and his heart rate jumped to 100. so a nigga who shoots 90 percent on the reg from the line shoots on 60 percent in the game depending on context because his confidence - his EMOTIONS are effected by the people in the crowd. CRAZY.

 

[pitbull]

I'm sure you cats know Kenny 'The Jet' Smith from TNT, and formerly of the Houston Rockets.

Kenny was never a super-star, but he played in the NBA. As of today, that shit says a lot to me. It's not that I thought guys could actually make it and be straight garbage, but...

Well, a friend of mine gave me a video he recorded back in 1998 of Kenny Smith, God Shamgod(Cat from NY, that played for Providence, with the slick handles), and Joe Wolf, formerly of the Orlando Magic. These dudes were working out, right? Now, peep ... Shamgod was always known for having a broke jumper, and Joe Wolf's GAME was broke(At least on the pro-level) and Kenny Smith could always dial it in from long distance, but...

On this video, I see God Shammgod knocking down jumpers like they were lay-ups. Sure, it was a work-out, but this dude would knock down 15, miss on or two, hit another 15, miss one or two, knock own another 15. I'm like, what in the fuck am I seeing? I've never seen that kind of shooting in my life.

Joe Wolf? This big gawky White boy was firing away from deep like it was breathing. I mean jumper after jumper after motherfucking jumper. I'm wondering how did that dude suck in the NBA, at all.

If you think this is nothing because it's not in a game, then get a ball, go outside, and try to knock down fifteen 15-foot jumpers in a row.

But, that's not even the best of it...

Kenny Smith. Kenny Fucking Smith...

This is my fucking word...

...The Jet knocked down 20 three's. Missed one. Knocked down TWENTY-FIVE!! Missed two. Knocked down like 11. Missed one. Knocked down 24....

You get my point.

They played this game where you started at the top of the key, and you could only use two dribbles. All three of those guys were draining jumpers like it was nothing...

I thought to myself, 'None of these guys were superstars, and they're hitting shots like it's throwing a rock into a ocean. The NBA must be a motherfucker. GOD-DAMN! HOW GOOD WAS JORDAN, REALLY ... IF THESE DUDES LOOK LIKE JORDAN RIGHT NOW?!?!"

To any of you cats that tried to make it pro, and never made it, I understand completely now. These dudes are FAR better than people give them credit for.

ken smith use to play wit jordan at unc and some other hall of famers may i add.

 

[trumacadocious]

This is a pretty inspirational thread.

Everything said is applicable way beyond basketball, or even sports.

You know what kind of "freak of nature and work ethic" Barack Obama is? How about someone we consider a less-than-stellar actor like Shamar Moore?

You wanna be a superstar at whatever the fuck it is you think you're hustling at?

You wanna even have the good fortune of "riding the bench?"

Then log the fuck off of BGOL my brothers, and get to work.

That's what I'm doing.

Gracias to the the OP.

 

[lbg23]

it is about confidence and context. ALL NBA niggas can shoot - especially guards.

also you underestimate defense. in the nba, especially for guards - especially at the one - you worried about not being able to get a shot off because of size - it's different just shooting in the gym - perfect conditions. it's different when chris bosh lunging at you, full reach, while you trying to shoot a J and you know you already 0 for 6 from the field. context is everything.

babe ruth said - I didn't hit a whole bunch of homers. i hit the same homer over and over again. it's about being about to produce the same result regardless of context. i paraphrased the babe ruth quote.

i seen this analysis of AI crossing a nigga and shooting a J - to give perspective of how a smaller guard has to compensate in order to score over taller players - and it was from his height/angle - he crossed the nigga - pulled up and was like 37 inches off the floor - fading back (AI fades back on almost all his jump shots) and the defender jumped - hands up to contest the shot and AI could NOT SEE THE BASKET - like it was not in his field of view - this nigga AI shooting of radar - he knows where the basket it/should be - he been doing it so long it's like a fucking science.

niggas don't remember AI dropping like 80-100 pts in the rucker in the late 90s-2000. he averaged like 60 a game one time. if you seen AI the nigga is not six feet. I'm eye to eye with the nigga and I'm 5'10" maybe 5"10 and 1/2 if a nigga get a yoga session in.

don't sleep - professional athletes are all freaks of nature AND WORK ETHIC.

Word, I remember when I went to Miami for memorial a few years back and he was hanging on the corner of 19th and Collins, and i'm like "This nigga mad little...I should take his chain"


Then I came to my senses, prolly got shooters all around. Chopped it up with him for a few, cool ass dude.

 

[thismybgolname]

I remember Robert Meachum came by the YMCA before he got drafted and he was shitting on everybody in the weight room in terms of strength and form.

Then he went outside and played a pickup game of football

He was playing against high school kids, a few D1 kids and of course the ones that had the talent but never made it.

None of them were worthy of trying to D him up on that football field.

Simple things like him running made EVERYBODY look like chickens with their heads cut off.

He was one of the kids that I always saw with either a basketball or a football in his hands.

Now his team is playing on MNF.

 

[BDR]

yup yup i've always said this

the worst player in the nba that gets no burn would go to rucker or anywhere

and bust ass

steve kerr would bust ass in any playground

manute bol

george mureasan

shawn bradley

qunicy douby

jarvis hayes

bobby simmons

I can tell you never played ball in your life

 

[irvthaperv]

Great fucking post! Kinda puts your own life into perspective doesn't it? I mean...everything's a competition - even mere mortals like us have to compete for that job, or that spot in college, or whatever. Always remember: CONFIDENCE IS KEY!!

 

[Brother Blues]

When I was coming up,there was this cat in Boston...Owen Wells,rip...he was the best player I had ever seen,or played against.
He was six-seven,could run,fast,had handle and range...could go to the hoop and hop over you.His game kinda reminds of Tracy McGrady's today.

I forgot where he went to college,but he would come back and tear the summer league up.

He wound up being a first round draft pick of the Pistons back in the 70s.

He sat on the bench for three years,hardly getting off.

I remember thinking,how great do you have to be,to be in the NBA
Here is the greatest player I have ever seen....and he can't get any playing time,at all.

Wells wound up going over and playing in Europe.

 

[Riley Freeman]

co-fucking sign.

confidence is everything in ball. in the nba they're all freaks of nature. AI, Iguodala? Nate Robinson, Shaq Chris Bosh, Dwayne Wade? These niggas are athletic FREAKS of nature. but even freaks of nature can fail in the nba.

nobody gets ocked on bgol more than kwame brown and even he is a freak of nature. difference is that he has no confidence.

think confidence doesn't matter? why is there esuch a thing as home court advantage then? because hearing niggas boo you and talk shit about you - can affect your performance if you're not supremely confident.

there's this show called sports science. they did a test to see how much stress noise and cheering against you induced on a nigga shooting freethrows. they got a division one ball player and had him shoot ten freethrows baseline in silence. he shot 9 of ten. his heart rate was in the 50s (really elite athletes have really low heart rates - lance armstrong's resting heartrate is like in the 40s - because his heart is so efficient). they bring out niggas making noise and cheering against him and his 9 of 10 dropped to 6 of 10 and his heart rate jumped to 100. so a nigga who shoots 90 percent on the reg from the line shoots on 60 percent in the game depending on context because his confidence - his EMOTIONS are effected by the people in the crowd. CRAZY.

very interesting perspective here.

ken smith use to play wit jordan at unc and some other hall of famers may i add.

oh yea, Kenny's jumper is no JOKE wasnt he on TNT last year and they played recent footage of him shooting jumpers, it may have been around All-Star season talking about the 3-Point contest, and his jumpers where still wetter than a bottom of a Sea-Doo. like literally hitting just about every shot.

 

[4ce of n8ur]

This is a pretty inspirational thread.

Everything said is applicable way beyond basketball, or even sports.

You know what kind of "freak of nature and work ethic" Barack Obama is? How about someone we consider a less-than-stellar actor like Shamar Moore?

You wanna be a superstar at whatever the fuck it is you think you're hustling at?

You wanna even have the good fortune of "riding the bench?"

Then log the fuck off of BGOL my brothers, and get to work.

That's what I'm doing.

Gracias to the the OP.

damn homey. you're right. i'm logging off too. good shit.

 

[RoadRage]

Its all in the way you practice during your shoot around, most players work on mechanics so they can get a good feel for the ball during warm ups, I used to however, work on my quick release and try to push my range as well as my speed of my release.
Some of my practice shots used to look crazy as hell 'cause most of the time I would practice coming off of the pick spotiing grabing and shooting, all in one motion from the 3 point range.
It never made much sense to me practicing on a shot that 9 times out of 10 you would never be that open and have that much time to shoot in a real game.
I, instead, tried to simulate game speed conditions, and pushed the envelope to shoot faster and faster. People who never saw me play would accuse me of not looking when I shot, just throwing shit up, but it was something that I worked hard and long at to master. I say that to say, that I feel that many players,even the ones in the pro go about shoot around the wrong way, what is the point of looking nice when no one is sticking you and can't hit for shit with a hand in your face. Sorry to say but that way of playing is ass backwards!
The speed of the game is what throws off most players shots, if you fuck up their rhythm most of them can't shoot, so if a player looks nice in practice but can't hit shit during the game, they better work on ways to speed up their setting up and release point during the shot.

 

[Heist]

God Shamgod ... not that's a name I haven't heard in awhile.

I remember when Jerry Powell would take us up to see him and Rafer and them play back in the early 90's.

Or we'd with play Troy Jackson up at Dix Hills somewhere when he was home from school.

We tried to get Mike James to come along but he was on punishment for something

Good to see Mike and Rafer doing their thing the NBA now.

And for a huge mound of a man, Troy Jackson has sick handles and passing skills. Trying to strip him was like trying to through mountain. If he only had hops, he could have been the next Barkley.

 

[Philli]

I have too many stories about how good NBA players and college players are. I played bball on the

regular in Philly (AAU, Sonny Hill, Sam Rines) in high school and I was witness to how good these

college dudes were. Jonathan Haynes, who was a starter at pg for Villanova for three straight

years (with Alvin Williams on the same team), was a counselor at my camp and he played pro ball

overseas. He was truthfully the best player I have ever seen on a basketball court for many years.

Now, I played on the same team as the no.1 high school player in the country at that time, Eddie

Griffin (RIP), and Jon Haynes was killing everybody in scrimmages. He was going against D1

players and other pro ballers.

 

[A to Dah K]

uh,its kinda different shooting a wide open jumpshot than with a defender all in your grill,worst if he`s taller than you. Factor in running up and down the court,fatigue,also having to defend a bigger better taller player all night also. that 15 jumpers QUICKLY goes from 15 in a row to 4-15

 

[Heist]

Its all in the way you practice during your shoot around, most players work on mechanics so they can get a good feel for the ball during warm ups, I used to however, work on my quick release and try to push my range as well as my speed of my release.
Some of my practice shots used to look crazy as hell 'cause most of the time I would practice coming off of the pick spotiing grabing and shooting, all in one motion from the 3 point range.
It never made much sense to me practicing on a shot that 9 times out of 10 you would never be that open and have that much time to shoot in a real game.
I, instead, tried to simulate game speed conditions, and pushed the envelope to shoot faster and faster. People who never saw me play would accuse me of not looking when I shot, just throwing shit up, but it was something that I worked hard and long at to master. I say that to say, that I feel that many players,even the ones in the pro go about shoot around the wrong way, what is the point of looking nice when no one is sticking you and can't hit for shit with a hand in your face. Sorry to say but that way of playing is ass backwards!
The speed of the game is what throws off most players shots, if you fuck up their rhythm most of them can't shoot, so if a player looks nice in practice but can't hit shit during the game, they better work on ways to speed up their setting up and release point during the shot.

Co-sign. My coach reinforced that 100%. When doing your shooting practice, after taking a rack of warm-ups. Do the rest at full speed, with game time shooting motion, height, and release - not the one you do to look good on video.

He make me shoot until my arms and calves burned. Until I had no more lift. And then he'd make me do lay-up drills and tell me, if your J is getting weaker you better start taking it to the rack and try to draw the foul or score.

 

[4ce of n8ur]

Its all in the way you practice during your shoot around, most players work on mechanics so they can get a good feel for the ball during warm ups, I used to however, work on my quick release and try to push my range as well as my speed of my release.
Some of my practice shots used to look crazy as hell 'cause most of the time I would practice coming off of the pick spotiing grabing and shooting, all in one motion from the 3 point range.
It never made much sense to me practicing on a shot that 9 times out of 10 you would never be that open and have that much time to shoot in a real game.
I, instead, tried to simulate game speed conditions, and pushed the envelope to shoot faster and faster. People who never saw me play would accuse me of not looking when I shot, just throwing shit up, but it was something that I worked hard and long at to master. I say that to say, that I feel that many players,even the ones in the pro go about shoot around the wrong way, what is the point of looking nice when no one is sticking you and can't hit for shit with a hand in your face. Sorry to say but that way of playing is ass backwards!
The speed of the game is what throws off most players shots, if you fuck up their rhythm most of them can't shoot, so if a player looks nice in practice but can't hit shit during the game, they better work on ways to speed up their setting up and release point during the shot.

the point you made is interesting - because stephen curry throws up shots mad quick. he'll come off picks catch and pop. he clearly practices that because that nigga is fucking aqua frio with it.

 

[Heist]

I refuse to believe. Mark Jackson was an ol'school "back em down at the halfcourt" type of player, I never saw him with any flare, ever

You didn't see Jackson when he was younger and in his prime. I don't know about all that 360 shit, but his passing skills were sharp and sick. Sicker than Kidd or Nash. He'd get the ball into impossible gaps or off angles.

And he was UNFUCKING STRIPABLE ... you couldn't get the ball away from him. The best bet was to catch him off the inbound before he could fully control it because outside of that - the ball was on lock.

 

[BlueDevils]

Yep, a NBA scrub will go and dominate any rec you and your boys play at...

CO-SIGN that to the fullest!

 

[Detroit's finest]

I agreee with A to Dah K. Shooting like that is harder than people think.

 

[seagramsg]

bingo.

 

[3rd__Optic]

Dude Deion Glover did make it to the league. Played with the ATL Hawks, Toronto Raptors, and the San Antonio Spurs. He lasted in the league 5 years. After he blew his knee out in college, he never was the same. I know his brother Ron Glover, actually better than Deion had the same problems except with both of his knees

That's real talk. I played with many folks who played relatively big time high school basketball, moved on to Div. 1 schools, and played professionally (overseas, CBA, NBDL, etc) and the talent differences are huge. I don't think people really have an appreciation for how good Div. 1 basketball players are compared to your run of the mill pick-up player. Then you start talking about pros and it's a whole other level.

Best player I ever played against casually was Dion Glover (HS Bball player of the year and a guard at GA Tech) and that dude didn't make it in the NBA at all.

 

[blackman8]

there's this show called sports science. they did a test to see how much stress noise and cheering against you induced on a nigga shooting freethrows. they got a division one ball player and had him shoot ten freethrows baseline in silence. he shot 9 of ten. his heart rate was in the 50s (really elite athletes have really low heart rates - lance armstrong's resting heartrate is like in the 40s - because his heart is so efficient). they bring out niggas making noise and cheering against him and his 9 of 10 dropped to 6 of 10 and his heart rate jumped to 100. so a nigga who shoots 90 percent on the reg from the line shoots on 60 percent in the game depending on context because his confidence - his EMOTIONS are effected by the people in the crowd. CRAZY.

that SportsScience test was a bit unrealistic, they brought clowns and shit that were basically less than 3ft surrounding the man invading his personal space. In a real game, the noise is intense but all those distractions are much farther away.

 

[xcluesiv]

yea they put in some work combined with their talent, you gotta respect them even those who we look at as scrubs, good points made

 

[NorthsideOKC]

There are a lot of dudes who can hit shots all day that are not even close to NBA talent. It's whether you can do it in the game which is a totally different story.

The benchwarmers are very good. You'd hope so, because they're profession is basketball. That's all they do. It's not like dudes that don't get in the games can't do nothing

 

[unknownsoldier]

my 2 cents:

I've seen them all...went to high school with K-Mart & watched jeryl sasser tag niggas all day. When I got to the H, two of my friends got roasted by two sorry as rocket niggas:

Matt Maloney-lit my boy up @ westside tennis court for about 9 points in a pick up game. Dude looked like Stockton.

Kelvin Cato-we played a pickup game with dude in 99, muthafucker killed us from outside. he wouldn't play inside cause we 5 ft nothing...but the muthafucker was a beast shooting. In NBA games...he was shit.

 

[NorthsideOKC]

I remember Robert Meachum came by the YMCA before he got drafted and he was shitting on everybody in the weight room in terms of strength and form.

He would dunk on cats all the time back in aau/hs

Shelden fucking Williams use to cross niggas up. In the league, he looks absolutely terrible & can barely dribble the ball.

These dudes are damn good

 

[Freedom Of Chat]

u kno wats more shocking than professional basketball players knocking down wide open jumpers in practice


professional basketball players missing fuckin free throws... i never understood that shit... i dont care what position u play, theres no explanation for sum1 touching a basketball everyday since they were toddlers n cant sink a fuckin uncontested shot from 10 feet 3 out of 4 times at least