Things you learned from experience during a game

What I learned the hard way is not to bite on fakes and rely on my usually superior athleticism to contest shots and make them shoot over me rather than try and block everything.

The other thing is how much distance I have to give a guy so I can still contest jumpers and can stay in front of my man. Also off course looking at his middle and not at the ball.

But the most important thing I learned is to stay positive and keep my team-mates positive even if things aren't going the right way, negativity won't magically makes us play better but being positive sometimes helps...

the little things matter the MOST

Well, I guess the harsh times are what decides a person's true traits. I planned to go at 4 15 to 6 to do my shooting workout everyday and workout on my scheduled days then do skill training. Then some inconviences came such as 4 essays due in 2 days(my fault though I didn't do it right away) and the 40 degree weather in the morning. It was even cold with my heater on lol. I'll train tomorrow. I must!

Well, I expected my vertical jump to increase slowly. I can touch the rim most of the time when running from the 3 point line and 1/2 times when jumping from one spot to the rim without running. I am extremely frustruated from not making the time to do my shooting and skill training workouts this week though. I wasted valuable time and now that I finished all my hw and got my motivation back, I shall do my training to the max. It's true that you pick up habits when you don't train enough when you play pick up ball. The day after I trained for the full week I had perfect form and made 5/6 shots every pick up game. This week I couldn't train and was just too freaking cowardly to go out at 4 am and practice.

Oh yeah, I also learned that instead of just pouring hours of hours into watching HOW to do stuff, you should set guidelines on the limit of learning the information then do a minimum training everyday(such as 30 minutes of learning basketball then 2 sessions of 1 hour 15 minute intense training or something).

Random Quote: "Don't play scared" -Dre Baldwin

people will not cut backdoor or move without the ball unless that kind of play has been part of that teams demeanor.

i hate trying to hint to people to cut or set screens off the ball. people should know that shti.

^ yeah I really worked on my cutting for 3 weeks, because I found that I was just standing around too much. Now I also get aggravated when people don't cut.

Mini Update: Strange thing is that I'm becoming too fast for my handles. A month ago my slow for my handles today was its fastest. I guess I got to play in more control now. A positive for it is that my crossover and jumpstop is freaking deadly now. Whenever I crossover someone I somehow get 2 steps ahead from the help defenders and get like a basket with no one guarding me most of the time. When I jumpstop, it seems like there are so many openings to shoot. Not much of an update but it seems that weight training has made me a lot more explosive and faster.

I feel you. My handle is also too slow compared to my normal speed. I end up having to dribble more because by the time I shift my body for a crossover, the ball is still in the other hand. On the other hand, I can move up and down the floor much quicker on a fast break both on offense and defense.

i learn that it's hard to guard cutters in my opinion.

btw i notice that my jumper is on today and making half of my shot attempts
and i use my left hand less akwardly {SP?} in dribbles

i have a question what bodyweight exercises help in basketball? and can you give me body weight exercise that focus on full body?

[QUOTE=KokoWarzone]i learn that it's hard to guard cutters in my opinion.

btw i notice that my jumper is on today and making half of my shot attempts
and i use my left hand less akwardly {SP?} in dribbles

i have a question what bodyweight exercises help in basketball? and can you give me body weight exercise that focus on full body?[/QUOTE]

You have to face guard cutters. At least that's the easiest way to negate them cutting.

[QUOTE=Swaggin916]You have to face guard cutters. At least that's the easiest way to negate them cutting.[/QUOTE]

I've always been taught to just bump them... don't let them go where they want to go.

[QUOTE=DWRIGHTWAY]the little things matter the MOST[/QUOTE]

true

@carpevis yeah, me too. I used to could only dribble up the floor in 5 dribbles. Now it's like 3 dribbles.
@kokoWarzone practically all of them do lol. pushups/squats/burpees/pull ups/etc. In my experience with the past year though, weight lifting has given me more in 3 months then it has in doing variations of pushups, variations of squats, variations of situps, and burpees of 3 years.
Yeah it's pretty hard to guard them. In my opinion, it just goes back to one on one defense and use what you have such as size and stuff such as using your size to block them or using your quickness. If a guy who steps back over the arc isn't a shooter, then you shouldn't step and deny the pass otherwise he would just cut back in and stuff like that.

Mini Update: Now I understand what some videos meant about playing while skill training. After I trained hard in building up my shot form, I played some normal pick up with my friends and ended up messing it up from doing trick shots and stuff.
I also relearned that you HAVE TO find the minor details. I played with a friend in 2v2 who said he was good at inside shooting and rebounding. I ended up trying to set him up for cuts(at the moment I thought CUTS=INSIDE SHOOTING SO I SHOULD PASS IT TO HIM WHEN HE CUTS)...too bad he didn't know how to cut in. I also set him up with easy midrange jump shots... too bad he didn't know how to shoot(he said beforehand he didn't know how to so I was just being dumb). I also set him up with some easy 3 foot layups...too bad he didn't know how to do a layup without a backboard. Well, from this experience, I relearned that you have to do the right things at the right moments. We ended up losing 6-11. I had 4/7 while my teammate had 2/20. Well you learn from mistakes I guess lol.

Major question: how do you stop someone with an obvious weight advantage over you?

I played 2 on 2 today, had to guard this dude who was 40 pounds heavier. He was quick, too, with a handle, so I had to back off. Then he started draining 3s in my face. As soon as I'd step up, he'd drive. I wasn't playing bad defense, I had a hand up and stayed in front of him, but he'd drive his shoulder into my chest and keep the ball back so I couldn't get it. I ended up getting wrecked on every one of his drives.

So how do you play against someone like that? Not just one physical advantage, but many? I couldn't do anything on offense or defense...

[QUOTE=carpevicis]Major question: how do you stop someone with an obvious weight advantage over you?

I played 2 on 2 today, had to guard this dude who was 40 pounds heavier. He was quick, too, with a handle, so I had to back off. Then he started draining 3s in my face. As soon as I'd step up, he'd drive. I wasn't playing bad defense, I had a hand up and stayed in front of him, but he'd drive his shoulder into my chest and keep the ball back so I couldn't get it. I ended up getting wrecked on every one of his drives.

So how do you play against someone like that? Not just one physical advantage, but many? I couldn't do anything on offense or defense...[/QUOTE]

Ah those people. The first thing it made me remind me of is the NBA. They're either the ones with the most talent or the ones who worked more then the ones with a lot of talent.

When I'd face situations like that my mind would always say "it's almost next to impossible". Then I would just continue to ponder about how to do it. I would constantly be saying "it's almost next to impossible" over and over until I just finally admit it. It's just that you got to find his weakest area and force him on it(even if his weakest is more than your strongest lol). Remember when playing against opponents: Focus on their weaknesses, not their strengths

Through experience during a game I've learned not to overstate any game's given importance. The minute I began thinking about ramifications of failure, I was done. I drive this point home with my brothers all the time. One of them is fearful of his classmates laughing at him if he airballs a shot. It just doesn't matter. I couldn't begin to play "real" basketball during my seasons until I learned to let go a little bit and realize that my audience is likely going to forget about anything I accomplish one way or the other. There's no use in playing tentative. That's not what your coach wants, that's not what your fans want, that's not what you want.

Through game experience, I also learned all the things it's possible to get away with in an officiated ballgame. It's one of the aspects I miss most from official basketball contests - the mental warfare aspect. It was interesting to learn how to assert my control on a game from that perspective.

dam found out that the reason why I can't dunk on like 8 foot rims is because my hands are too small lol. I can dunk easily on 9'5 rims with like size 6 balls but it just doesn't feel right with a size 6. I'm still continuing my training. Just putting in work.