Basketball: Loves & Bugs

The smell of the gym . . .the bounce, bounce, bounce of the ball . . .the soft sound of the swishing net . . .the cheering of the raucous crowd . . . the drowning sound of the buzzer . . .the piercing referees' whistles . . .the crowd's second-guessing . . .the comparisons of yesterday's stars to today's heroes . . .the memories of so many games past . . .ah, what a life I have shared!

It's basketball season! As this one gradually grinds to a halt, I find myself recognizing just how much I love the game, the atmosphere, and the theatrics that make it my sport of choice. Having been involved with it for as long as I can even remember, that round ball is part of me . . .and I am so thankful for it. With each passing year, though, the game changes bit by bit, sometimes positively  but sometimes negatively. The view from my seat exposes what I love and what bugs me about today's high school, college, and professional games!

Loves

In addition to the opening paragraph, I thoroughly enjoy the coaching strategies on display throughout games. Defensive shifts, offensive sets, adjustments during time outs and half times, immediate plays after time outs, clock management, substitution patterns . . . all contribute to the thinking that influence games' outcomes. Of course, coaches try to be as unpredictable as possible, but so much of what they can do is reliant upon their players' basketball intellect. If the players are a bit limited in their understanding of in-game shifts, coaches are handcuffed and are left with limited options. What really impresses is when a team is comprised of high academically achieving kids--they tend to be much more receptive to adjustments that benefit the team, not necessarily the individual.

Hearing people bickering in the stands is something I welcome. Listening carefully, I can pretty much always hear the following yells: "Call 'em both ways!"  "Get 'em off of him!" "Over the back!" "Three seconds!" "Refs must be from [their school]!" "How can they miss that?" "Our coach doesn't know what the hell he's doing!" You get the drift? Fans are fans no matter where they come from. I strongly suspect none of them has ever donned the whistle or coached in a pressure game and truly seen how difficult it is to call or coach a game . . . but that's the beauty of it, I guess.

Watching the competitiveness of athletes never gets old. The give-and-take, back-and-forth  with crowds reacting to the action only heightens the crowd's enthusiasm. As games tighten and time heads toward expiration, the roaring of the crowds brings high school games toward an emotional climax that leaves all involved physically drained at the conclusion . . .who has not felt that exhilarating sensation? The old adage of "thrill of victory and agony of defeat" lives on . . ., but I think we can agree that the "thrill" sure as hell beats the agony!

Bugs

The Euromove--I remain unconvinced it is not a travel.

Today's game allows players to put their heads down and steamroll toward the basket, forcing the referees to dictate whether to call a foul or ignore it. The pressure has intensified for the officials because getting all the way to the basket is the primary thinking of many kids today--I have to think it has arisen because of the example setting from the NBA game.

"Palming the Ball"--it seems as if it is an accepted and overlooked way to dribble the ball.

The elbow jump shot seems to be more of an afterthought, directly related to the steamrolling drive. On rare occasions, I still see it, but I am convinced that the 15'-17' jump shot has fallen victim to the aforementioned drive and the beautiful allure of the 3-point shot . . . a slowly dying fundamental beauty of the game.

The "leave my feet and hope somebody is open so I can make a pass" offense--seems like the jump stop fundamental has ridden itself to the grave.

At the risk of sounding like an ol' codger chomping on about how "it was better in my day," I will cease with my "bugs." To stay current, we have to adapt to the new game . . . , but I didn't say I liked it.

Experiments

I thoroughly enjoy attending the Canton Charge games, and I would encourage anyone who likes basketball to attend a few games (although I just was informed that crowds are soon to be banned from Ohio sporting events because of the dreaded Coronavirus). Yes, if one is geared toward the walk-it-up pace of various high school games or wants a foul every time two players touch, then this league is not an attractive option. I occasionally get asked if those teams are any good, and my response is "Hell yes, they're good--players are one step above Division I and one step below the NBA." They put on a great show with outstanding talent--it's worth a few looks. I mention the Charge for a central reason: the G-League (of which they are a part) experiments with rules/alterations that the NBA is testing to see if they should implement at their level. This year's main tinker is with foul shots; in an attempt to speed the game somewhat, all foul shots until the last two minutes and overtime follow this format: one foul shot is taken: if it is a one-shot foul, the result is one point; if it is two-shot foul, the shooter takes one shot that counts as two points; likewise, if it is a three-shot foul, the shooter takes one shot that counts as three points. If the foul shot is missed, no points are awarded. After watching it for one season thus far, I really like this option. Traditionalists may challenge it, but the pressure is certainly on to make the shot!

That is enough for today...the long winter has dried me up a bit as for my writing. Many topics remain to be explored, but, at this moment, I have chosen to stay removed from the polarizing state of politics and other related issues that seem to represent at times the sorry state of our human minds.Thus, I have ventured into waters that make me happy . . . basketball is my elixir!