My Basketball buddies and I didn't have a good night. We have some major differences of opinions regarding the rules of basketball. In this post, I simply want to flesh out some of the reasons why the past few weeks have produced growing tension.
~ Part of the problem, I think, is the 8 years of age difference b/w them and me. Believe it or not, basketball has changed a lot since I was a teenager. The game is a lot more '1 on 1' now instead of team oriented. I get a bit frustrated by the lack of give-n-go's, pick-n-rolls, effort on the boards, and general movement. They just don't play the way I'm used to playing and, being competitive, this isn't helpful. It's more of a show-off circus that team basketball.
~ Part of the problem is simply a disagreement about which rules we are playing with. I'm of the mentality that we should play by basic High School/NCAA rules. I've always been rule oriented. I don't have fun in chaos. My friends are of the mentality that 2 vs. 2 is much more of a free-for-all. No 5 second rule. No charging fouls. I really think we need to agree on a set of rules. Eliminating those 2 rules gives the bigger players a huge advantage, so my competitive nature gets frustrated by their absence.
~ Part of the problem may be what we're looking for each Wednesday night. I'm looking for exercise & competition. They seem to be looking more for fun. Like I said, I don't fool around well. I like to play seriously. They like to try to tap the ball on the head of the player guarding them whereas if you do that in a real game the other team will take a swing at ya.
~ Part of the problem is my poor play recently. Usually we have 4 people playing. I like 2 vs. 2. When only 3 of us are present we have to play '21' which I hate. I don't have a lot of 1 on 1 skills and I'm not a teen anymore. I get worn out fast. We had a streak where we only had 3 on quite a few nights so I was getting frustrated. I think that's when I started getting tired of the circus-like rulelessness.
So here is my proposal/compromise
1. I'll waive the 5 second rule
2. I'll never call a charge
3. They can't fool around during games
4. They must bring a 4th person
5. No negative comments
4 comments:
I get pretty competitive, too... So, I hear where you're coming from.
this one is too easy. just get a big guy who charges a lot and play w/ him against them. they will change their mind about the chargin rule. Next negitive comments and bounceing the ball off the opponents head gives a free shot to the other team. As far as the fourth person you just need a phone a friend.
hey... i got booted the othernight and didn't feel like messing with getting back on. so sad on the night of our glorious reunion. anyways... talk soon, maybe?
hope so rach :)
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