Remembering the And1 Era

I don't miss the gameplay, I miss the shoes and t-shirts.
Back then they actually had innovative and good looking shoes.

I've had 2 pairs and both of them were excellent. One of them I'm still wearing for outdoor courts - and1 taichi.

Wearing some And 1s right now.Probably gonna get the monta ellis shoes too.

[QUOTE=Rake2204]I knew exactly what clip that was going to be before I even watched. I loved that move too.

However, my watershed moment was a move that used to be on the commercials for HoopsTV.com (if basketball is your religion, HoopsTV.com is your church): [url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Coa7E3LvHns#t=0m54s[/url]

I eventually ended up taping a special program off TNT called On Hallowed Ground and I'd just watch that clip over and over (and the Vince Carter alley-oop) until my friend stole the tape.[/QUOTE]


Hoops tv was a shitty website. Skip to my Lou Mian Event and Black Widow was the only thing i remembered from the And-1 mixtape series.

[QUOTE=DaHeezy]This is why I think Iverson should be put in the basketball HOF. I think AI had just as much, if not more street influence[/QUOTE]

Yeah, and you know... He was an MVP, 11 time all star, is 17th on the all time scoring list, 12th all time in steals, and was consistently one of the best players in the league for a long duration.

But his street influence is why he belongs in the HOF.

[QUOTE=Rake2204]Sometimes that might work, but in this case it did not. As I alluded, direct criticism only made things worse. I'd say something like that, then he'd snip back and attempt to freeze me out while I attempted to freeze him out. Then if I made a mistake he'd let me hear about it. Then before you know it, the game has devolved into an unplayable mess. So then the next time, everyone tries to play it cool with that guy for the sake of the game. And eventually, it's just something folks learn to kind of live with to the best of their abilities.

Basically, I'm 6'3'' 170. Nothing I say is going to seriously intimidate a fellow adult on the basketball court. Further, my region was never one that believed in physical street justice, so we're usually left to attempt to solve matters in a civilized manner and often, it wouldn't work well. And1 guys would And1 through thick and thin. It was an uncontrollable tick. It was an addiction. We all had to work through it together.[/QUOTE]

Any idea what came of the guy? Prison? Good job?

It was not a good era at all. I remember guys doing the same moves over and over and over until they finally passed the ball. Eventually you learn the pattern and knock it off their hands. But I don't care how nostalgic some are here, it was horrible basketball.

I remember complaining last year that I would go to the playgrounds and all I saw were kids shooting 3 pointers and 30 footers, and celebrating big time because they hit rim. I'm glad I'm not seeing that this year, so hopefully that's not the new era.

This year I'm seeing the kids moving the ball around.

[QUOTE=jstern]It was not a good era at all. I remember guys doing the same moves over and over and over until they finally passed the ball. Eventually you learn the pattern and knock it off their hands. But I don't care how nostalgic some are here, it was horrible basketball.

I remember complaining last year that I would go to the playgrounds and all I saw were kids shooting 3 pointers and 30 footers, and celebrating big time because they hit rim. I'm glad I'm not seeing that this year, so hopefully that's not the new era.

This year I'm seeing the kids moving the ball around.[/QUOTE]
I'll break your ankles than pass the ball, that's ball movement!

[QUOTE=jstern]Any idea what came of the guy? Prison? Good job?[/QUOTE]
I think he ended up putting on a fair amount of weight and becoming a cook. It's not like he was some dude I was physically afraid of though. It's just I'm not an intimidating person myself, so there's never a lot I can do about someone being a jerk on the basketball court besides getting into verbal altercations, ultimately trying to make the best of it, then talking about it years later on a computer forum.

[QUOTE=jstern]It was not a good era at all. I remember guys doing the same moves over and over and over until they finally passed the ball. Eventually you learn the pattern and knock it off their hands. But I don't care how nostalgic some are here, it was horrible basketball.

I remember complaining last year that I would go to the playgrounds and all I saw were kids shooting 3 pointers and 30 footers, and celebrating big time because they hit rim. I'm glad I'm not seeing that this year, so hopefully that's not the new era.

This year I'm seeing the kids moving the ball around.[/QUOTE]
You are silly, you can't blame and 1 for that shit. Those guys stressed values of hard work and working on your fundamentals before trying that stuff, I remember main event preaching on that topic. You have to be very skilled to do those moves and people will always want to take shortcuts and go for flash instead of substance for almost anything related in life. How are you going to blame And 1 for people being dumb?

Here are the positives, And 1 got kids playing basketball and got kids outside in an era where all they did was play video games.

i was a big professor fan.

[IMG]http://static.tumblr.com/9zmye4n/KqYl41pov/the_professor_and1.jpg[/IMG]

and1 was an incredible era for the true ballers (not the over-the-top showoffs like hotsauce)..

but for guys like [B]headache, alimoe, skip [/B](first 2 couldve and SHOULDVE played in the nba), the and1 era will always be remembered as a great era.

[QUOTE=RaininTwos]You are silly, you can't blame and 1 for that shit. Those guys stressed values of hard work and working on your fundamentals before trying that stuff, I remember main event preaching on that topic. You have to be very skilled to do those moves and people will always want to take shortcuts and go for flash instead of substance for almost anything related in life. How are you going to blame And 1 for people being dumb?

Here are the positives, And 1 got kids playing basketball and got kids outside in an era where all they did was play video games.[/QUOTE]
I think And1 definitely led to more isolations where pretenders executed what in their mind they believed to be sick fake-outs when in reality they looked like they were imitating Elaine's dance moves, but I think I agree with you that it did not altogether lead to the downfall of overall play.

[QUOTE=jstern]It was not a good era at all. I remember guys doing the same moves over and over and over until they finally passed the ball. Eventually you learn the pattern and knock it off their hands. But I don't care how nostalgic some are here, it was horrible basketball.

I remember complaining last year that I would go to the playgrounds and all I saw were kids shooting 3 pointers and 30 footers, and celebrating big time because they hit rim. I'm glad I'm not seeing that this year, so hopefully that's not the new era.

This year I'm seeing the kids moving the ball around.[/QUOTE]
I know everyone's region, area, and court scene is different, but I feel as though those 30 foot rainmaker guys have always existed, even entirely outside the influence of And1. Making long shots is one of the most satisfying moments of the game, so inexperienced players will always enjoy chasing that. It's like if I were to play sandlot baseball and only try to hit homeruns. People like going for the big one, often to a fault.

I'll say though, I had serious wondering thoughts in the mid-2000's if the Pistons' Championship and their reliance on the mid-range game would in fact lead to a regional infusion of players who developed adept jumpers from 15. The jury is still out.

[QUOTE=RaininTwos]You are silly, you can't blame and 1 for that shit. Those guys stressed values of hard work and working on your fundamentals before trying that stuff, I remember main event preaching on that topic. You have to be very skilled to do those moves and people will always want to take shortcuts and go for flash instead of substance for almost anything related in life. How are you going to blame And 1 for people being dumb?

Here are the positives, And 1 got kids playing basketball and got kids outside in an era where all they did was play video games.[/QUOTE]

What I'm blaming are the idiots. The era of idiots dribbling, dribbling, and dribbling leading to nothing. I didn't see them working hard on anything else. Most people are idiots.

I don't hate 3 pointers, but I would hate that little era in the playgrounds around here where all the kids wanted to do was ball hug to shoot a long 3 pointer and then celebrate because they almost hit the rim.

[QUOTE=Rake2204]I think he ended up putting on a fair amount of weight and becoming a cook. It's not like he was some dude I was physically afraid of though. It's just I'm not an intimidating person myself, so there's never a lot I can do about someone being a jerk on the basketball court besides getting into verbal altercations, ultimately trying to make the best of it, then talking about it years later on a computer forum.[/QUOTE]

I didn't think he sounded intimidating, just sounded really immature so wonder where he ended up.

[QUOTE=jstern]I didn't think he sounded intimidating, just sounded really immature so wonder where he ended up.[/QUOTE]
Oh word. I see where you're coming from now. You pretty much hit the nail on the head. I haven't been in direct contact with him but from what I've heard he's matured a little bit (don't we all) though I think it's safe to assume he's still more or less the same guy. Don't know about his career though. I think he's been in and out of college, then culinary school, for a good portion of his teens and 20's.

In the early 2000's, there were a handful of guys I made a point to catch whenever they made an appearance on TV: Vince Carter, Jason Williams, and oddly enough, Rafer Alston. I found out about him from a SLAM cover many years earlier and I was then interested in his journey from unknown to NBA. And digging through my archives today, I was able to find the clip I've mentioned here before, where young Alston checks in during garbage time and tries to bring a little bit of And1 to the big stage (before these moves became mainstream).

It's nothing crazy, which kind of makes the outcome more amusing: [url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgZp38dF9B0[/url]