Basketball Diary

[dannywpt]

How many days in a row can you guys play without feeling it all week? Went 3 days in a row for the holidays and legs are feeling like gelatin.

I'm used to playing 4 days in a row through mon-thur (sometimes 5 if I've had a sunday game). This has a couple of times lead to having real issues with inflammation in my calfs due to all that load from playing on hard indoor surfaces. Other than that, no issues with playing 4 or 5 days in a row.

[Scal]

How many days in a row can you guys play without feeling it all week? Went 3 days in a row for the holidays and legs are feeling like gelatin.

The main thing is to remember to stretch extensively before hand. I will admit that I've been lazy at this in the past and would have aches for the next few days. But since I've started stretching prior to games (and I mean holding the stretches for longer than 15 seconds), I've been able to play more games (usually 3 per week), and play longer in those games.

Obviously part of it is conditioning as well - the more conditioned you are to it, the quicker you recover. Must say, playing in the park is no use for conditioning (if you are playing half/quarter court where you don't have to go into a full sprint).

[Lebron23]

We practiced some basic pick and roll plays. and I also told them to improve our passing, 3 points shooting, and free throw shooting. we are gonna use the 2-3 zone defense, and man to man defense in the last 3 minutes of the 4th quarter if the game is closer.

[iznogood]

The main thing is to remember to stretch extensively before hand. I will admit that I've been lazy at this in the past and would have aches for the next few days. But since I've started stretching prior to games (and I mean holding the stretches for longer than 15 seconds), I've been able to play more games (usually 3 per week), and play longer in those games.

I wouldn't recommend static stretching before activity like basketball. What I would do before a game is some foam roller / lacrosse ball rolling and do some specific mobility drills before my warm up. I wouldn't stay in any position longer than a couple of seconds when performing mobility drills though. I would do the passive stretching with longer stretches after the game.

How many days in a row can you guys play without feeling it all week? Went 3 days in a row for the holidays and legs are feeling like gelatin.

Age and intensity are important factors to consider when playing consecutive days and so are diet and ability to recover. Also the overall level of physical preparedness. If you're not used to playing 3 consecutive days you're probably feel tired as hell. I am 28 years old and in good shape. I do strength training with some resistance / cardio 3-4 time a week and I can feel 2 consecutive days at high intensity takes a pretty high toll on my body.

[Rake2204]

Since I was in the area, I decided to check back in on my high school alma mater for the second time this year. They were playing in the statewide game of the week (which more or less means heavy media coverage, live blog, yadda yadda). Great home crowd, excellent atmosphere; then this happened to them, ha: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wwd6wyT2eE

[Scal]

I wouldn't recommend static stretching before activity like basketball. What I would do before a game is some foam roller / lacrosse ball rolling and do some specific mobility drills before my warm up. I wouldn't stay in any position longer than a couple of seconds when performing mobility drills though. I would do the passive stretching with longer stretches after the game.

Yeah, I understand what you are saying. I neglected to mention I also do a light jog first, just dribbling a ball from base line to base line as a warm up, then a few good minutes of solid stretching. And I found the stretching helped an older guy like me not have the aches and pains that a lot of the guys my age get after playing (a single game in a week too).

[Scal]

I played in my local rec league tonight. It was a good game to play in. Admittedly we are probably a grading below where we should be, so we tend to get relatively easy wins, and I'd be surprised if we don't get graded up next season. After a slow start, integrating a new pivot, and losing a few good shooters, we've really found our stride.

The team we were up against tonight actually give us a few problems. Earlier on in the comp we had a win against them by a point, but beat them well in the next encounter. But I like the way they play. They are a smaller team, but move the rock well, find the open shooter, and their big - though smaller than all of our front line - plays BIG.

We were a bit sluggish to start but at the half we were up 6. Keep in mind that we are usually pushing 20 pt leads on most teams, the game tends to become a bit sluggish on both sides following the half - us with a comfortable lead, the opposition facing a tough deficit (some teams you can even sense the feeling of defeat at this point, whereupon it becomes a chuckfest from 3).

I stressed to our guys the need to defend well and box out. We switched our usual 2-3 zone to a 3-2, with an emphasis on stopping their speedy point. And it worked well, disrupted the way they like to play 3 high and just keep moving to the weak side where they can usually catch one of our guys along the base not coming out quick enough for an open j (and to their credit, they hit at a reasonable clip to give themselves a chance at winning).

We managed to push the lead to 12, getting some easy buckets in transition, and moving the ball well inside (if there is one advantage we had, it was our size and our movement cutting). We ended up with an 8 point win, but it was good to be pushed (previous weeks score was a 46-9 scoreline).

I feel I had a pretty decent game - running the point I try to focus on keeping down turnovers and find my teammates in spots they have the best chance of scoring from. I had 6 points, 2 floaters scything into the center of the zone, and sunk my 2 foul attempts (which I've been working really hard at - probably sitting around 50%, but it's hard to find a rhythm when you only shoot maybe 2 every game). My jumper hasn't been great lately, but I've been shooting it way less - that's something I'd like to improve, but as I'm running the point this season I tend to find myself at the top of the key rather than on the wing where I usually like to catch-and-shoot from. But it's working for the team and we are playing well, and are balanced on offense so I'm not complaining (I'm gonna make it a priority to get up a few more straight on 17-19 footers.

[iznogood]

Yeah, I understand what you are saying. I neglected to mention I also do a light jog first, just dribbling a ball from base line to base line as a warm up, then a few good minutes of solid stretching. And I found the stretching helped an older guy like me not have the aches and pains that a lot of the guys my age get after playing (a single game in a week too).

That's great, I'm happy to hear you feel no pain playing.
You should definitely do warm ups and stretching, I would only advise against static stretching, where you would stay in position for a longer time for a simple reason. This type of stretching reduces your muscle strength and would therefore more likely lead to injuries. It also takes away some of the explosiveness in your muscles, but the percentage is small (3-5%), so it's not an issue from a performance point unless you're very serious about it.

http://fitness.mercola.com/sites/fit...tretching.aspx

Anyway, if your previous routine worked, you don't have to change anything. But it wouldn't hurt to try changing some of the static stretching for dynamic ones - let's say you perform a 5 reps per leg set of forward lunges with a slight hold at the bottom position instead of holding a static lunge for a longer period of time. Then after you see how your body responds. Do the stretching where you hold your stretches for longer period of time after you're finished with basketball. It should help with your recovery and relieve some soreness if you experience any.

Good luck!

[Ai2death]

Hey Ish Fam, Time for my latest update.

Had a bye this week for my normal social league game, so instead I opted to go play a few hours of pick up at one of the best courts around my area.

We had 16 or so people which is a pretty good number, 10 minute games, 3 teams, you win, you stay on. however you can only stay on twice in a row. Keeps the games competitive.

I came out good, hit my first shot clean, however I didn't really get to touch the ball again in a scoring position, this seemed like a bit of a theme over the whole night. I don't know if it's me being in the wrong spot, or my team mates just not passing it my way.

Which was a bit bizarre as over the course of the night, I was hitting almost everything and was also coming up with lots of positive plays for the team.
Offensive rebounds, big defensive boards, clean steals and boxing out.
The most memorable moments of the night came in the later games.

Had a 2 on 1 fast break, my team mate had the ball, he drew the D but threw the pass way late, I managed to secure it after it was tipped about 10ft from the ring, I pump faked which threw the first defender off, drove past him and stepped back only to throw another watching the next defender fly past, did a little step under and up and in. Just a nice little sequence.

Then the next was in the last game, was iso'd on D against the best player, he crossed as I read it perfectly and tapped the ball out back up the court, I ripped past him and collected my dribble. Their C, a really tall lanky guy got back on D at the free throw, I drove to my right, hesitated, to which he stepped forward slightly, which timed my drive past him perfectly to finish with the right handed finger roll.

I also had numerous mid range J's in dudes faces that got some smack talking from the team on the sideline, I rarely talk shit so I just stay quite. All in all it was a good night, and I really feel like I'm hitting my grove lately.
My knees on the other hand were aching after that, and are still a little bit tender today, I should be good to go by tomorrow for my weekly Saturday ball.

Can't wait.

Laters fellas

[L3B120N J4M35]

What are some good drills to do with 2 people?

[Rake2204]

March Madness struck early for my little brother tonight. They coughed up a 13 point second half lead and were upset by a single point in the first round of districts tonight. My bro missed a tough tip-in at the buzzer.

After peaking at 10-1 and a top 20 Class A state ranking, they finished up at 14-7. To add insult to injury, they were hosting districts on their home floor. If it's any consolation, they lost to a team tonight who stands at 12-9, the worst record of any team that beat my brother's team this year. Bad they took their worst loss tonight, but they had themselves one of the toughest conferences in the state and had an impressive year considering.

Still, bowing out like this is tough. Brother is bummed. I do not think he wants to play college ball, so basketball is over. He's struggling to come to terms with that. I know the feeling.

[Jailblazers7]

Got my first good run in this week after a looong break from basketball. I got super winded 5 minutes into the game but I felt find after getting my 2nd wind. Played pretty badly all night because there was just too much rust to overcome.

The first dribble I took of the night was coming around a pick at the wing. I took a hard bounce with my right hand and wanted to turn the corner but the ball never met my hand on the way up. I pretty much committed to 1 or 2 dribbles in the half court after that until I can feel comfortable with the ball again.

The touch on my shot was really poor too. At the beginning it was just coming too soft off my fingers resulting in everything being short. I got a bit better as the night went on but the best I could do was a couple in and outs. That will come back though as I have always had a nice shot.

Ended up getting going a little bit at the end because I was able to get to the rim. Beat my man on a couple back door cuts and got out in transition for some easy lay-ups. I blew by my man baseline on one possession and had a really juice dunk opportunity but I passed it up because I'm not confident I can throw that one down yet.

I've probably added 10 lbs of muscle since I last played tho and I noticed my finishing around the rim is miles better. I had a couple really nice and-1s where I was able to absorb contact pretty easily.

[Ai2death]

Peeps ma sqweets,

Latest update, Had our next game on Tuesday night. We were against one of the teams we versed in grading, however they had 2 more guys this time.
We started horribly, I was playing decent though. Reffing wasn't bad, but not the best. They missed calls either way, but it was consistent.
Our bigs are just to slow to react and also lazy which led to a lot of points being scored on backdoor cuts.

Then when we adjusted and stayed locked in in the paint, they were hitting shots they never make... We finished the first half down 15.
Same story through the first 12 minutes of the second half, still about 15 down.

This is where things changed though, my team was getting frustrated, starting to take little digs at each other. I could see why though, I was feeling the same but tried to keep everyone positive and working together.
I'm normally a very unselfish player. I had only taken 2 shots in the first half, hit 1 on a shot clock beater.

My team was pissing me off, their team was pissing me off. So the very next possession, I had the ball at the 3, just off centre. I had one guy facing me on D, threw a couple crosses and stepped forward. He dropped back behind the free throw, I had been blowing past him all game so he was giving me space. This time I rose for a J straight in his face, SWISH.
As we headed back on D, they pushed the pace, (Our bigs love to have a chat as they JOG back, which shits me off) they got caught sleeping as I made the stop and got the rebound.
Bring the ball up the floor, same spot as before, I had the same guy D'ing me. This time I went left to right cross over, then a step back right, pulled up again as he closed out. SWISH again.
This time I blasted our bigs yelling to get back on D, we got another stop.
I demanded the ball, had it, same spot again. This time I threw a sham god dribble left, followed by going between my legs Iverson step back. Pulled up again, SWISH. Followed by a time out call at 4 minutes left.

Now the lead was down to 9. I tried to booster my teams energy and confidence. When we came back out on the floor, we had another stop. I got the ball again. This time the D went for a box and 1 floater, their best defender on me. I knew I could take him. However.... Our friggen bigs were so idotic, setting useless half assed screens that I didn't even need. I was telling them to clear out, as soon as one cleared out, another came to set a screen I couldn't beat the dude like this, as the screens were so stupid they took up room I could of used to operate and get by the defender.

I could hear my bro on the bench telling them to clear, feed the hot hand, but nothing... Next thing, shot clock was getting low, I spotted one of our bigs inside, threw a perfect blazing pass, caught him sleeping out of bounds. It was pretty much game at that point.. So deflating, but those series of plays before that were a huge confidence booster. I'm going to start looking for my shot more often.

We have really been struggling with line ups that work and game plans with the personal and skills we have. Hopefully over the next few weeks we can find something that works. I'm hoping to hit our stride by mid-season. At the moment, a lot of the guys on the team try and jam the ball inside to our bigs, neither of which can seal his man leading to lots of TO's. Also neither can finish strong.
One always turns around and throws it over his head, missing of course. And the other shoots flat footed from his waist, that in pick up games when I've been against him, I've stuffed his shot multiple times.. They really need to lift there game if we are going to be successful.

Got 3 hrs of pick up games this afternoon, so we'll see how we go.

[Lebron23]

We practiced yesterday. We improved our team defense. My team is planning to play some zone defense, and man to man defense if the game is closer in the 4th quarter.

I just came back from the basketball court. We won a 2 back to back 5 on 5 games.

Next week is the start of the basketball tournament. (March 22 to May 31, 2014).

[Lebron23]

I struggled offensively (not really familiar with this basketball court). I think I am only 2 out of 8 from the field. But I think I had 7 assists.