Pick-up Basketball

I’m not a great basketball player. Good may even be stretching it. But I’m certainly not bad. Today I went to play ball with interns, residents and medical students from “the Garden” (Garden City Hospital.)

In the first game we were severely undersized as I was the tallest player. But we used quick hands and good defense to win 11-8.

Things got interesting in the second game. A first year surgery resident came in and was on the opposing team. He matched up with me and I knew right away he was trouble. He held my shirt so I couldn’t come off a screen and then on the offensive end he took a contested two (three) point shot. He looked at me as he shot the ball and said, “This is good.” The ball hit the rim, hit the top of the backboard, then the front of the rim, rolled to the back of the rim, stopped for a second and fell through the hoop.

I thought, “Don’t talk shit like that if that’s how you’re going to make your shots.” The next time down he tried the same thing. However, he was not aware of my abnormally lanky arms and I blocked his shot. The next time down I stole his pass. On the offensive end he still held me, but I managed 2/5 shooting and beat him down the court for an easy lay-up and then off a screen for a 15-foot jump shot. I had three assists and despite having a little more girth than me, I out-rebounded him 5-1. (I decided to keep track of the stats because I thought this guy was a prick.) My team won 11-5.

Then as I was getting a drink of water we crossed paths. Instead of saying good game like I did, he said, “You better be ready because I’m running at you harder. Try to keep up.”

When it came time to match up on defense he asked someone else to guard me. So much for a rematch I guess. It wasn’t much of a game, my team won again 11-4.

After his second game he said he had to leave and told me, “I still have to go play a soccer game at ten so I conserved my energy.”

Really jackass? Because I ran 5 miles at seven this morning and you couldn’t keep up with me in the first game and didn’t want to defend me in the second.

I’m not saying all of this because I’m a superstar. I’m not. I just don’t like guys who talk and talk and then don’t back it up. I said nothing as I blocked his shots and stole his passes. Or nothing as my team beat his two straight games. The rest of the guys who play are awesome. They like to have fun, but also play hard. The calls are fair and no one gets upset. It's generally an outstanding atmosphere.

Overall my team was 4-1, with our only loss coming in “OT” 14-12. I played well. I didn’t’ miss my lay-ups like Goran the Moron and I shot 10/20 for the night and had to defend in the post a lot. Sometimes basketball becomes too competitive and people take it too seriously. I think it is the most common sport where people completely over-estimate their skills.