Back in your "glory days"...

[teeray]

For some reason I like talking about my defensive failings in basketball lol.

 

AAU one summer at the national championships we were getting ready to play Team Georgia in the round robin portion.

 

We had a center on our team that was an NBA player.  He got in some trouble and went to prison, or else I know he would have played in the league.  We also had another 6'10 guy on our team that was more of a space eater and rebounder.

 

I tell you that because we were playing Team Georgia in a morning game.  The NBA caliber center had to go back to Raleigh to take a summer school class so he wasn't playing.  Then the 6'10 guy on the eve of the game literally walks through a glass door and cuts himself all up.  So now he is out as well.

 

Long story short Team Georgia had a fellow named Shareef Abdur-Rahim.  He went on to be Pac-10 player of the year, an NBA All-Star who had a career average of 18 ppg in the NBA.  Guess who got to guard him?  Yeah, me.

 

Also didn't go to well.  He scored 38 points.  This guy was 6'9 240.  I was 6'5 220 (at the time) and athletically challenged.  This guy just shot these 15-17 foot fadeaways that... there was just nothing I could do.  Maybe the most skilled big man I played in my time and I played guys like Jermaine O'Neal, Antwan Jamison (another interesting story I ripped Jamison's jersey almost clean off his body in a game) and Robert "Tractor" Traylor (best poo talker, he was hilarious RIP). 

 

This was about the time I realized my dream of playing in the NBA just wasn't going to happen.  I couldn't guard anybody  :D

 

edit:  Oh, but we still got the W over Team Georgia though ;)

[Proudiddy]

LOL wow.  That would definitely piss me off more if he ignored me as I was being torched.

 

I played against Melvin Scott and CJ Hooker at Woolen after we (UNC) won it all in 2005.  Melvin had just came back from camp with the Jazz, and he kept saying, "DAMN!" at stuff I was doing.  That was prior to me going to JUCO, so it was something I put in my back pocket at the time.  CJ told me I had D1 level quickness, same there.

Even when I was out of shape and playing pickup at UNC after I transferred in, it always felt good when someone would ask if I played somewhere before, which I got several times from guys who came over from Central.  There were some solid runs out there.

[Goondal]

i was good at everything but great at nothing

 

That was my problem as well.

[Anybodyhome]

I played hoops from 9 years old and could dunk until I turned 40.

 

Played baseball from 9 thru 17 years old into the Babe Ruth league and was part of a Little League team that made the first round of the LLWS. As a pitcher I only lost 4 games in 4 years.

 

Got into bicycle road racing and then to triathlons from the time I was 30 years old. Qualified for the Ironman Triathlon in 1985 and then was deployed overseas- one of the biggest disappointments of my life, I only recently got rid of the tri-a bike that got me there...

 

Now... I'm a total couch potato and my years of athletics and Navy career have taken their physical toll. I'm relatively healthy, but I feel every bit of all the sports I enjoyed in my younger years.

[Proudiddy]

I have to share this one too...

 

When I played rec. basketball one year, I was playing with my best friend at the time who was actually the person that got me into taking basketball seriously.  He averaged 28 ppg in our league and they nicknamed him "Bread Truck," after Barkley.  He was like a bull in a china shop.

 

And this rec. league was legit.  A couple of the guys ended up playing football at Florida, a pair of brothers.  Had a bunch of big athletes in there...  Well, my friend drives in one game and comes down on a guys foot and tore his ankle all up.  I still tease him because he started screaming, "Mommy!  Mommy!  Where's my mommy!"  He disputes this and says he did ask for his mother, but said "mom."  I think mommy is funnier.  Anyway...

 

He goes out, and everyone knew he was our leading scorer.  And it was like a f'ing movie.  He finally gets carried off the floor and over to the bleachers, I walked over to check on him, and this cornball looks at me dead in my eyes as we're dapping each other up, and holds my hand an extra second and says, "Win it for us, buddy."  LOL.  It was like a D-List, straight to home video movie.  I was like, "I got this, man, I will."  We went down, or were down by 2, under a minute left IIRC.  I knock the ball loose and shoot up the sideline and veer in slightly, I look back and see my friend pick up the ball...  I throw my hand up and call for it.  As I said, I was constantly compared to Jason Williams back in the day, and unbeknownst to me, pull up threes on the break were not considered solid offensive plays, lol.  So, I get the ball, the defender keeps running down as though to cut my path off to the basket.  Little did he know, I had no conscience and I was pulling.  I get the ball, take a dribble or two, and pull up high...  And I'm not exaggerating, for some reason, A LOT of people came to these rec. games.  I suppose it was because of the quality of players, as I mentioned earlier.  The gym was packed.  As I am floating in the air, it was like everything went quiet.  The sound and air was completely sucked out of the gym.  There was no chatter.  I let it go and swish the three... 

 

The crowd went absolutely apeshit.  I looked over at my friend and he did some corny poo like gave me a thumbs up and looked like a character out of a Mentos commercial.  My team was jumping all over me.  It felt like the crowd was still going for the rest of that game after that.  It was the game winner.  And I didn't even realize until after the fact that we were down two, I just knew we were down and the three is what won it and pulled us ahead. 

My friend was happy at the time, but he became jealous about me hitting that game winner, so later in the season, we were in similar scenario and were standing in the huddle before the last play of the game.  I'm feeling myself, so I say, "get me the ball.  I'm going to win this for us."  My friend calls for the ball on the inbound.  Three defenders converge on him, I'm yelling for him to pass it to me and I'm standing like 5 feet from him, wide open.  This douche pulls it and shoots the most anti-climatic airball in the history of airballs.  It landed in the restricted area and bounced up and hit the bottom of the backboard.  We almost had a fist fight that night on the way home and I kept reminding him how he tried to be a hero like me and failed...  We still laugh about it to this day.

[TheRumGone]

I had to guard Jerry Stackhouse once at Chavis Heights summer league in Raleigh (back then everyone from the ACC on tobacco road past, future, and present played in that league including the dudes in the NBA).

I had to guard Jerry Stackhouse who had just gone to the league at the time. I hit a floater over him and got an "and one" on him. Decided to let him.know about it a little (I was just a little cocky lol).

Yeah. Didn't work out too well. He dropped I believe 46 points on me after that. Including 4 threes in a row right in my face. On the last one for good measure I fouled the poo out of him. He still made it. Banked it in and called bank.

He never said a word to me. I trolled him the whole game just trying to get him to acknowledge me. He just ignored me like I wasn't even worthy to be on the same court as him.

It was way more demoralizing than a guy talking poo the whole game. I wasn't even worth his trash talk, lol.

He was a cool dude. I almost got him to laugh when I started cracking on his Fila shoes that he had an endorsement with at the time.

A family friends son was college roommates with stackhouse......they got into a fist fight lol

[TheRumGone]

Oh and if we're talking about people we've played against: Cameron Maybin and that bumgardner dude who plays for the giants. Both were super cool guys and absolute monsters at baseball

[teeray]

I have to share this one too...

When I played rec. basketball one year, I was playing with my best friend at the time who was actually the person that got me into taking basketball seriously. He averaged 28 ppg in our league and they nicknamed him "Bread Truck," after Barkley. He was like a bull in a china shop.

And this rec. league was legit. A couple of the guys ended up playing football at Florida, a pair of brothers. Had a bunch of big athletes in there... Well, my friend drives in one game and comes down on a guys foot and tore his ankle all up. I still tease him because he started screaming, "Mommy! Mommy! Where's my mommy!" He disputes this and says he did ask for his mother, but said "mom." I think mommy is funnier. Anyway...

He goes out, and everyone knew he was our leading scorer. And it was like a f'ing movie. He finally gets carried off the floor and over to the bleachers, I walked over to check on him, and this cornball looks at me dead in my eyes as we're dapping each other up, and holds my hand an extra second and says, "Win it for us, buddy." LOL. It was like a D-List, straight to home video movie. I was like, "I got this, man, I will." We went down, or were down by 2, under a minute left IIRC. I knock the ball loose and shoot up the sideline and veer in slightly, I look back and see my friend pick up the ball... I throw my hand up and call for it. As I said, I was constantly compared to Jason Williams back in the day, and unbeknownst to me, pull up threes on the break were not considered solid offensive plays, lol. So, I get the ball, the defender keeps running down as though to cut my path off to the basket. Little did he know, I had no conscience and I was pulling. I get the ball, take a dribble or two, and pull up high... And I'm not exaggerating, for some reason, A LOT of people came to these rec. games. I suppose it was because of the quality of players, as I mentioned earlier. The gym was packed. As I am floating in the air, it was like everything went quiet. The sound and air was completely sucked out of the gym. There was no chatter. I let it go and swish the three...

The crowd went absolutely apeshit. I looked over at my friend and he did some corny poo like gave me a thumbs up and looked like a character out of a Mentos commercial. My team was jumping all over me. It felt like the crowd was still going for the rest of that game after that. It was the game winner. And I didn't even realize until after the fact that we were down two, I just knew we were down and the three is what won it and pulled us ahead.

My friend was happy at the time, but he became jealous about me hitting that game winner, so later in the season, we were in similar scenario and were standing in the huddle before the last play of the game. I'm feeling myself, so I say, "get me the ball. I'm going to win this for us." My friend calls for the ball on the inbound. Three defenders converge on him, I'm yelling for him to pass it to me and I'm standing like 5 feet from him, wide open. This douche pulls it and shoots the most anti-climatic airball in the history of airballs. It landed in the restricted area and bounced up and hit the bottom of the backboard. We almost had a fist fight that night on the way home and I kept reminding him how he tried to be a hero like me and failed... We still laugh about it to this day.

Pffft. Pull up threes on the break is always a good play!

Donald Williams and Dell Curry were possibly my two favorite players when I was younger and I tried to model my game off of those two players. I routinely got into the double digit three point attempts in games.

Once in college I started off a game 1-7 from three point land. Early in the second half I came out of the game and told the coach "I'm not missing anymore"

He said "I know because your ass isn't going back in the game!"

I lived and died off a motto Dell Curry once said: "if you are hot, shoot it. If you are not hot, shoot it till you get hot"

[SCP]

I used to block the fug out of Brian Simmons when he played LB at New Bern. Brian went on to UNC then to play LB for the Cincy Bengals. I bet he told stories to his Bengals teammates about me blocking the fug out of him in high school.

[Anybodyhome]

Oh... you wanna go "Who I played with...?"

 

I played hoops against Sir Charles, although he was known as the "Round Mound of Rebound" then, and while he claims 6'6" as his listed height, I'm 6'6" and he's shorter than me by at least 1" if not closer to 2".

 

Don't care what anyone says, one of the most genuine people I've ever met. We crossed paths several years ago at a Jimmy V thing and he and my wife commandeered the DJ booth while I was hitting on a certain ACC basketball coach's wife......

[Proudiddy]

Pffft. Pull up threes on the break is always a good play!

Donald Williams and Dell Curry were possibly my two favorite players when I was younger and I tried to model my game off of those two players. I routinely got into the double digit three point attempts in games.

Once in college I started off a game 1-7 from three point land. Early in the second half I came out of the game and told the coach "I'm not missing anymore"

He said "I know because your ass isn't going back in the game!"

I lived and died off a motto Dell Curry once said: "if you are hot, shoot it. If you are not hot, shoot it till you get hot"

 

LOL!  Gotta love coaches!

[Guest Dark Knight]

Oh and if we're talking about people we've played against: Cameron Maybin and that bumgardner dude who plays for the giants. Both were super cool guys and absolute monsters at baseball

I graduated from South Caldwell in '07 & played baseball with Madison Bumgarner. He is indeed a monster, & right there with Kershaw as the best young pitcher in the game.

Our senior year we went 31-3 & won the state 4A title. We won the championship game 10-0 in 5 innings. Madison threw a no hitter & hit 2 home runs. Lol

Senior year he went 11-2 1.05 ERA & hit .424. He signed with UNC & they wanted to make him an outfielder. The Giants even thought about it when they first drafted him. He probably could've been a big time power hitter but lefties with his size & pitching talent are pretty rare.

He's a super cool & down to earth dude.

I started at short stop but I looked pretty mediocre playing alongside Bumgarner, Messier, & those guys.

Basketball was my sport. I averaged 19 pts 5 ast in high school & 24 pts 2 years at a juco before I transferred to Charlotte to get my bachelors.

[TheRumGone]

I graduated from South Caldwell in '07 & played baseball with Madison Bumgarner. He is indeed a monster, & right there with Kershaw as the best young pitcher in the game.

Our senior year we went 31-3 & won the state 4A title. We won the championship game 10-0 in 5 innings. Madison threw a no hitter & hit 2 home runs. Lol

Senior year he went 11-2 1.05 ERA & hit .424. He signed with UNC & they wanted to make him an outfielder. The Giants even thought about it when they first drafted him. He probably could've been a big time power hitter but lefties with his size & pitching talent are pretty rare.

He's a super cool & down to earth dude.

I started at short stop but I looked pretty mediocre playing alongside Bumgarner, Messier, & those guys.

Basketball was my sport. I averaged 19 pts 5 ast in high school & 24 pts 2 years at a juco before I transferred to Charlotte to get my bachelors.

Yea he jacked like a 500 foot hr off me. Wasn't even mad

[Guest Dark Knight]

Yea he jacked like a 500 foot hr off me. Wasn't even mad

No shame in it lol...

Everybody knew he was gonna be big time by like 6th grade. They wouldn't even let him play little league or in middle school because he was already throwing mid 70s & jacking 300 ft home runs every other at bat. And he was a year younger than everyone due to his august b-day & starting school early.