Pre-Game Ritual

[3.2.1.]

What is your pre-game ritual?



Before playing a big game/season opener/playoffs what do you do to get the butterflies out of your stomach?



Explain your pre-game ritual.

[Ives]

If I started feeling nervous I normally just joke around with friends and/or talking about something different that basketball.

OR... you can meditate to R.Kelly - I Believe I Can Fly. :D

[Fallguy20]

Before the season even starts I get a copy of our game schedule. Then, looking at the games and taking what I know from past experience, I build a quick custom playlist for each game with hard music or hip-hop or whatever I think ill need for that games intensity/flow. It goes anywhere from 5-10 songs. When the actual game rolls along a few weeks or months later, its a just one less thing I need to worry about, and I can think back to when I made the list and what I was thinking of at the time.

Other then that, I make sure to talk to my shoes. They carry me through battle, so I gotta treat my babies right.

:pimp:

[Maniak]

Just do my shootaround with music playing(usually songs to pump me up).

Do some streches.

Talk to some buddies and joke around, keep my calm

A little trash talking never hurt anybody either :pimp:

[Fallguy20]

A little trash talking never hurt anybody either :pimp:

Yea, but alot can kill ya

[Maniak]

Yea, but alot can kill ya

Not if you are good and got your buddies to back ya up..

I dont usually do that, but Im gonna start doing it more :lol

[3stat2]

Usually eat some fruit, like a banana and an apple about 1 hour beforehand. Walk a little, then jog a bit to get the knees and ankles warmed up. Get my hands warmed up by doing some dribbling, then do some dynamic stretches (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_stretching).

Talk some trash to my teammates (we probably joke around a bit too much but meh), play a little bit of slow warm-up 1 on 1. Get a few catch and shoots in, and a few bank shots. Then some free throws.

Sometimes I'll size up the opposition while they're doing layup drills etc - see who's the most uncoordinated and worth gambling for steals against. :lol

[JJ81]

Get your team mates into it during the warm up and that usually makes me forget about any nerves I myself have got.

[FG20]

bump

I always got in at least 5 freethrows before each game.

[Tking714]

Me and my two boys throw ally's to each other to try and intimidate the other team. We either try to do a dunk fest or challenge each other to half court threes so we get adrenaline for the game.

[The_Night_Elf]

Pre-Game Sh*t...helps drop a few pounds and you feel lighter on your feet...:D

[Automajic23]

Me and my two boys throw ally's to each other to try and intimidate the other team. We either try to do a dunk fest or challenge each other to half court threes so we get adrenaline for the game.

this

[Zak]

this
where the hell do you guys play?

dunking will get you a tech if the refs are on the floor.

[iTwistAnkles]

i pray before games, (i go into the washroom, since i do not want to bother anyone, and there are few muslims on my team) i pray not to get injured, to win, and to have a good game.

besides that i just jump up and down in the locker room, swing my arms to get loose. and i dont listen to music, thats just me, i need to concentrate on who my matchup is gonna be, or how im gonna score off set plays

[iTwistAnkles]

where the hell do you guys play?

dunking will get you a tech if the refs are on the floor.

some refs allow you to dunk in layup lines

[phoenix18]

My Freshman year, I would just sit in the locker room, come out shoot around and then sit on the bench and wait. I would just sit there and picture what I am going to do to the other team.

[1manfastbreak]

just get mentally prepared. usually on game days during school i wouldn't talk to a whole lot of people, wouldn't really do that much work, just visualize. as for before the game, i would listen to Tupac, and the last song i would always listen to was the intro to its dark and hell is hot by DMX. that **** will get you ready for a game.

[Automajic23]

where the hell do you guys play?

dunking will get you a tech if the refs are on the floor.

in warm ups it's okay... actually you are right. In a lot of my leagues, a game dunk = TECH. I had a friend nearly 1 hand a put back, but he refrained from grabbing the rim and kinda did the 'Dwight Howard' throw in.

But in WARM UPs, it's okay. Touch glass, dunk, throw up halfcourt shots; refs don't care till clock runs.

I believe in my Delaware league dunking is okay because there was an NY team posterizing everyone

plus, in the filipino/asian leagues I play in I don't think refs expect any of us to dunk, but they get kinda surprised when they see guys 5'10 - 6'1 exploding off the floor... the bigger guys is obvious but, well I mean my guards get up pretty high and you wouldn't really be worried about it till they do it

[Zak]

i pray before games, (i go into the washroom, since i do not want to bother anyone, and there are few muslims on my team) i pray not to get injured, to win, and to have a good game.

besides that i just jump up and down in the locker room, swing my arms to get loose. and i dont listen to music, thats just me, i need to concentrate on who my matchup is gonna be, or how im gonna score off set plays
you muslim? i am too bro


on this whole dunking thing, i got a warning when i dunked a couple minutes a game was about to start. but i'm talking about highschool basketball, i dont know if you guys are talking about aau or what.

[Automajic23]

you muslim? i am too bro


on this whole dunking thing, i got a warning when i dunked a couple minutes a game was about to start. but i'm talking about highschool basketball, i dont know if you guys are talking about aau or what.

I would consider the leagues I play in at this level:

Tier 1:
18-Under
Juveniles
REC Leagues
Asian Ameteur

Tier 2:
Mixed Ameteurs <--- here
Asian Open Division <--- here
Mixed Open Division
College Club Team <--- here

Tier 3:
AAU


Granted that the asian leagues I play in don't boast the height and athleticism that mixed leagues will (whites/blacks included), the skill level of play and talent is still just as high. Ex: I'm a legit 3-4 in the asian leagues, but when I play with my college club team, I'm a 2nd unit 2-3, and I'm a short 3 @ 6feet tall

[Tking714]

you muslim? i am too bro


on this whole dunking thing, i got a warning when i dunked a couple minutes a game was about to start. but i'm talking about highschool basketball, i dont know if you guys are talking about aau or what.


I play in New York. A lot of our games are in Brooklyn and Bronx. The refs don't care about the dunking part as the lay up lines are used as warm-ups, they know that. I don't see why it would be a problem :confusedshrug:

One of my boys who is 6'8" got warned for hanging on the rim and smacking the backboard tho.

[Basketman]

Always stretch.

[1manfastbreak]

in HS play if you touch the rim during warm ups it is supposed to be a tech, at least in california anyways.

[Automajic23]

in HS play if you touch the rim during warm ups it is supposed to be a tech, at least in california anyways.

WOW REALLY But a lot of people dunk in HS games across the US?

[Tking714]

in HS play if you touch the rim during warm ups it is supposed to be a tech, at least in california anyways.

Wow thats pretty sucky. Whats wrong with warming up your dunks? lol

[Zak]

WOW REALLY But a lot of people dunk in HS games across the US?
during games its fine, but if a ref is on the floor when you dunk before tipoff its a tech.

[iTwistAnkles]

you muslim? i am too bro


on this whole dunking thing, i got a warning when i dunked a couple minutes a game was about to start. but i'm talking about highschool basketball, i dont know if you guys are talking about aau or what.

my grandther is muslim, his side of the family is muslim,
me and the rest of the family is christian. but i grew up/live in a area filled with a lot of arabs, so i know they're ways,

ive noticed some arabs act however they like outside and at school, but at home they won't say a single word

[S13M]

I always put the right shoe on first, I don't remember when was the last the last time I didn't.:D

Then just some shooting + lay-ups, and I always do some stretching after that.

[Kebab Stall]

Our team had a whole team stretching and warm up thing that was planned and led by the captain. I never took it seriously and always gave the captain sh!t during the warmup, he would then make the warmups longer - bastard.

I just wanted to play, I couldn't be arsed stretching and doing a bunch of boring shyte that I couldn't care less about. I just wanted to get the game going.

After the stretching and jogging, we started shooting drills. Nothing major, just around the world sort of thing and layup lines. I never took that seriously either and was always using it as my time to try out new dunks and crazy shots I thought would be appropriate - apparently my coach thought different. Hell, I think most of my antics in warmups explain why I didn't get as many starts as I thought I should have gotten (personally I thought I should have started every game, but that's just me).

[Spec5ial5k5]

during games its fine, but if a ref is on the floor when you dunk before tipoff its a tech.
yea my area its a tech too as long as u dont grab the rim i dont think they care