When was the last time you actually played a game of Basketball ?

[alexrgct]

What choo tawkin about Willis? Say hello to Clyde for me.

What can I say? The Knicks simply had a need for Reed...

 

[Ozzie Nelson]

OK...time for the annual guess the BoneYard Athlete sweepstakes...winner gets a partially free lunch with the poster, but there are certain qualifications, addendae, rules, and hidden but crucial and, indeed, onerous stipulations and relevant axiomatic considerations to considered before any nutrition is ingested.

"I played in a 35+ JCC league from 37 to 50 years old. I have to say, I was really good. I led the league in scoring a few times. Could hit the three when open and being left handed, everyone would forget and play me to go right. Quite an advantage...lol.

I stopped after my heart issue but around 5 years later, I was there on a Sunday and wondered if I could still play. Risking my life, I played in a pick up game. Hit a three, a few nice drives to the hoop and was pretty happy.

That was the last time I played. I do shoot around if I see a basket."

guess away

 

[Aluminny69]

Forgot to mention, the highlight of my basketball "career" was playing in our high school student-faculty game back in 1976. I was high scorer, and most of my students were shocked that I could play hoops, let alone shoot from long range, before they had the three point line. I practiced a couple times with the varsity, who were state Champs that year. ( They went out of their way to set picks on me.)

 

[MilfordHusky]

July of 2013. Played against guys who were football stars at Temple and Yale. High school friends from 40+ years ago. No one got hurt. I was out-hustling them until I got gassed. I knew I should have gotten back to marathon training.

Chris Elsbury actually wrote a nice article on it. We were in town to have dinner with our old high school football coach, Vito DeVito. Vito was also the long-time freshman hoops and later football coach at Yale. He was a college teammate and life-long friend of Andy Robustelli.

 

[Aluminny69]

OK...time for the annual guess the BoneYard Athlete sweepstakes...winner gets a partially free lunch with the poster, but there are certain qualifications, addendums, rules, and hidden but crucial and, indeed, onerous stipulations and relevant axiomatic considerations to considered before any nutritious is ingested.

"I played in a 35+ JCC league from 37 to 50 years old. I have to say, I was really good. I led the league in scoring a few times. Could hit the three when open and being left handed, everyone would forget and play me to go right. Quite an advantage...lol.

I stopped after my heart issue but around 5 years later, I was there on a Sunday and wondered if I could still play. Risking my life, I played in a pick up game. Hit a three, a few nice drives to the hoop and was pretty happy.

That was the last time I played. I do shoot around if I see a basket."

guess away

I played against a lefty while at UConn. PITA! I made sure he was always on MY team, so I didn't have to deal with him. Kudos to you for still playing into your late forties. I found basketball to be the hardest on my body of all sports.

 

[Ozzie Nelson]

BTW, there are still way too many "I stunk at Basketball and never played" BoneYard t-shirts available...

 

[Ozzie Nelson]

I played against a lefty while at UConn. PITA! I made sure he was always on MY team, so I didn't have to deal with him. Kudos to you for still playing into your late forties. I found basketball to be the hardest on my body of all sports.

Reread the post...it is not me, you have to guess which BoneYard Poster it is.

 

[JimGunther]

Next time I make a basket it will be my first.

I was humiliatingly BAD.

The UCONN women (first year on CPTV) developed my interest in the game.

PS: Even if I had a real interest (as a kid), I'm sure I'd STILL be bad.

 

[msf22b]

OK...time for the annual guess the BoneYard Athlete sweepstakes...winner gets a partially free lunch with the poster, but there are certain qualifications, addendae, rules, and hidden but crucial and, indeed, onerous stipulations and relevant axiomatic considerations to considered before any nutrition is ingested.

"I played in a 35+ JCC league from 37 to 50 years old. I have to say, I was really good. I led the league in scoring a few times. Could hit the three when open and being left handed, everyone would forget and play me to go right. Quite an advantage...lol.

I stopped after my heart issue but around 5 years later, I was there on a Sunday and wondered if I could still play. Risking my life, I played in a pick up game. Hit a three, a few nice drives to the hoop and was pretty happy.

That was the last time I played. I do shoot around if I see a basket."

guess away

Sounds like a different class from me, only a school-yard punk.
Mid-range was my happy hunting ground, non-Ice definition one-hander.
Modeled after Bill Sharman, Carl Braun, my heroes.

 

[Ozzie Nelson]

No one wants to guess with the name of a BoneYarder?

 

[Orangutan]

It's been a year or two since my last pickup game. Last organized game was in middle school.

On the right day I can shoot well enough to prevent embarrassment. Otherwise, I'm not very good. I'm 6'6, but slow and thin with no handle. I can bother shots and get in passing lanes on defense but...unfortunately offense is part of the game too.

 

[huskyharry]

Great thread. I still love to shoot baskets. It has been my form of relaxation therapy through two Afghanistan deployments and I continue to shoot as part of my routine workouts...perhaps 3-4 days per week for 20-30 minutes. I've had complications after hip replacement last fall from which I have had a slow recovery, but I did play with my men in Sep 2103 and played against some random strangers in a game of 21 rebound 2 months ago (despite limping, I still beat 3 guys who were in their 20s or 30s). I still shoot 85-90% on FTs, 35-40% from 3 and would love to play in an over-50 league some day, if such an animal exists.

 

[zakalex]

I last played basketball in high school gym class (I graduated in 1963) and it was so nasty I've repressed the details. Girls' basketball rules were something like dribble twice and take three steps and then you had to pass the ball, and half the team had to stay on each side of the court. It was a slow, stupid game and impossible to really get anything going. I was a gym rat, however, and devoted my passions to softball, soccer, and volleyball though there were no extramural girls' team sports at my school back then. After I married and had kids I played in town women's leagues in softball and volleyball until I was in my early 40s. Now I shoot free throws with my brother-in-law whenever I'm in Greenwich. And I miss 90% of them, which is very irritating.

 

[meyers7]

OK...time for the annual guess the BoneYard Athlete sweepstakes...winner gets a partially free lunch with the poster, but there are certain qualifications, addendae, rules, and hidden but crucial and, indeed, onerous stipulations and relevant axiomatic considerations to considered before any nutrition is ingested.

"I played in a 35+ JCC league from 37 to 50 years old. I have to say, I was really good. I led the league in scoring a few times. Could hit the three when open and being left handed, everyone would forget and play me to go right. Quite an advantage...lol.

I stopped after my heart issue but around 5 years later, I was there on a Sunday and wondered if I could still play. Risking my life, I played in a pick up game. Hit a three, a few nice drives to the hoop and was pretty happy.

That was the last time I played. I do shoot around if I see a basket."

guess away

I know, but I'll let people guess. And no it's certainly not me, I'm not sinister.

 

[CL82]

At this point, I only play with my sons (Senior and Freshman in HS) in pick up games at a local park. My vertical has left me and I have trouble getting a shot off against anything resembling decent defense. Fortunately, my oldest is 6'7" and can shoot so my best strategy would be to pass the ball anyway.

I know what you mean about losing your vertical. I hadn't played in a while, maybe 5 yrs or so, and was playing against a young kid (i.e. late 20s) I went to take a jumper over him and it was like I was playing on Jupiter. Really, when did they turn the gravity up?

 

[rvwsleep]

No one wants to guess with the name of a BoneYarder?

I was going to guess but when you added the qualifier about a heart problem, that eliminated everyone I could think of.
Is it a mod ?
Biff ?

 

[rvwsleep]

I know what you mean about losing your vertical. I hadn't played in a while, maybe 5 yrs or so, and was playing against a young kid (i.e. late 20s) I went to take a jumper over him and it was like I was playing on Jupiter. Really, when did they turn the gravity up?

Exactly. My mind was giving the same instructions but my body was not responding in a similar fashion.

 

[Ozzie Nelson]

I was going to guess but when you added the qualifier about a heart problem, that eliminated everyone I could think of.
Is it a mod ?
Biff ?

nope

 

[ed4ourgirls]

The acme of my basketball career occurred when I was starting center on my Junior High
team - and it was all downhill after that. Played a few pickup games as a grad student
back in the 60's, but nothing since.

I was slow, lacking in quickness and athleticism, couldn't jump, and couldn't shoot accurately
when guarded. Apart from that, I was a hell of a basketball player.

 

[wire chief]

The college women gathered up the male faculty for the annual game. I scored 2 pts. 1970.
Long before I got the red hat

 

[vtcwbuff]

1959 - A mandatory Catholic grammer school team. I thought the game sucked - gimme' a baseball!

 

[Bestiarius]

At my 50th high school class reunion, we were reminiscing about the "good old days" and one of my classmates told me that I had made the most spectacular game winning basketball shot he had ever seen. I accused him of not having seen many basketball games, but I too remembered the shot.

Our team was down by 1 with only a few seconds left in the game and the opposition had the ball. One of the opposition guys for some reason took and missed a shot, and I took off down the court. Our center got the rebound and heaved the ball in an inaccurate attempt at a full court basket. The ball and I arrived near our basket at the same moment but since I was running facing the basket I didn't see the ball until the last second when I turned my head. In a panic, I jumped and flung my hands into the air. The ball bounced off the backs of my hands, popped up about 3 feet above the rim, then swished through the basket for the win. It was pure dumb luck but it looked spectacular.

I saw no need to spoil the image my classmate had retained for 50+ years.

 

[UConnCat]

A pick-up game at the Los Angeles Athletic Club about 15-20 years ago. As some here know, I'm short. But I am slow.

 

[cohenzone]

It's been quite a while (I'm 69 now). I quit when I was about 50 when too many much younger, over-aggressive players started showing up at a regular pickup game and were out to break ankles jumping on loose balls. But just this past week-end, I got into a game of horse with my son and his brother-in law, both in their 30's, and won one game. The shot is still there, but my range is about 8 feet shorter. They must have raised the hoop or something.

 

[cohenzone]

At my 50th high school class reunion, we were reminiscing about the "good old days" and one of my classmates told me that I had made the most spectacular game winning basketball shot he had ever seen. I accused him of not having seen many basketball games, but I too remembered the shot.

Our team was down by 1 with only a few seconds left in the game and the opposition had the ball. One of the opposition guys for some reason took and missed a shot, and I took off down the court. Our center got the rebound and heaved the ball in an inaccurate attempt at a full court basket. The ball and I arrived near our basket at the same moment but since I was running facing the basket I didn't see the ball until the last second when I turned my head. In a panic, I jumped and flung my hands into the air. The ball bounced off the backs of my hands, popped up about 3 feet above the rim, then swished through the basket for the win. It was pure dumb luck but it looked spectacular.

I saw no need to spoil the image my classmate had retained for 50+ years.

Hey, don't knock it. Who cares if the hole-in-one bounced 200 feet into the cup from off a tree. Still a hole in one and in the retelling, perfectly struck off the tee.