Roland Coltrane
Superstar
do you play ball the same way you did when you were younger?
I played the 2 in high school and got MVP my senior year averaging around 18 a game , got on the news once and in the newspaper a coupe times(it was a small school) but I've really only played sporadically as an adult
anyways, back in the day(as much as it shames me to say it) I was somewhat of a chucker
I was 6' and I'd say I was mostly a slasher. I was real good at getting to the buckets through traffic, I was good at the stop and pop in the midrange, and I was known as a three point shooter. I had NO left hand up until the summer before my senior year but the summer before I went to courts all through the city and would just practice driving left all day long; by myself, in a game, it didn't matter. I was quick and able to get by most defenders and I had a little hops so I could elevate and shoot over defenders.
but then father time caught up to me
I would play here and there when I was in the military but as I got older hooping became less of a priority, but I still loved the game.
I lived in Europe for a lil bit in my early thirties and managed to get on with a C division semi-pro team in Scandanavia, and I had a lot of time to hoop again so I was at the courts every day in the summer. I was still a slasher, but I had reached my final adult height of 6'2 so I found myself in the post a lot more frequently than I was used to, but I was pretty good at guarding guys bigger than me cuz I still had a little hops and even though I was thin(think KD's build) I was stronger than I looked because I had a lot of lean muscle. I still slashed and was able to get by guys but nowhere near the frequency and ease I was able to do it before. The area I was living in had a bunch of dudes from eastern europe, latvia and places like that. and there was this one kid, 19 maybe, that is one of the quickest motherfukkers I ever played against. AND he had a J. he cooked the shyt outta me brehs I was getting buckets on him too tho
there's actually a lot of ballers over there tho, there was this one mixed breh who you could tell grew up watching all the And 1 tapes because he had a pretty ill handle.
but now I'm in my late thirties
now when I play I don't be crossing nobody up anymore, I just post people up and back em down and either do a fade way over my right or left shoulder. sometimes a hook
jumper is nowhere near as wet as it used to be
I'm out there winded as shyt, my man getting wild buckets on me if we're running full court cuz I'm too tired to keep up
sorry for the long exposition
but now I'm just sitting here and wondering how I went from prime Rip Hamilton to a washed KG
this happen to anybody else as they got older or am I the only one
I still have pride tho, I'm playing in a league out here and I went to CoachUp and found a breh who played D1 ball and had a 9 year career in Europe and I start working out with him this weekend so I can get my handles and J back
best 60 bucks an hour I'll ever spend
TLDR: fellow flabby heads do you still have the same skillset and physical attributes as you did in your younger years as a hooper, and if not what kind of adjustments have you made over the years and how has your game changed?
I was at the barber the other day and there was a breh in his late 30s who plays in Argentina and somebody asked him how he's been able to play for so long. breh said that at the higher levels you think the game more. it's not as much about your physical attributes like strength, quickness, and reflexes but understanding ANGLES. that was an eye opener the most I'll do is sag off dudes who got more bunnies and are quicker than me and make em make the jump shot I also defend according to their dominant hand and I try and funnel everything to the baseline
I played the 2 in high school and got MVP my senior year averaging around 18 a game , got on the news once and in the newspaper a coupe times(it was a small school) but I've really only played sporadically as an adult
anyways, back in the day(as much as it shames me to say it) I was somewhat of a chucker
I was 6' and I'd say I was mostly a slasher. I was real good at getting to the buckets through traffic, I was good at the stop and pop in the midrange, and I was known as a three point shooter. I had NO left hand up until the summer before my senior year but the summer before I went to courts all through the city and would just practice driving left all day long; by myself, in a game, it didn't matter. I was quick and able to get by most defenders and I had a little hops so I could elevate and shoot over defenders.
but then father time caught up to me
I would play here and there when I was in the military but as I got older hooping became less of a priority, but I still loved the game.
I lived in Europe for a lil bit in my early thirties and managed to get on with a C division semi-pro team in Scandanavia, and I had a lot of time to hoop again so I was at the courts every day in the summer. I was still a slasher, but I had reached my final adult height of 6'2 so I found myself in the post a lot more frequently than I was used to, but I was pretty good at guarding guys bigger than me cuz I still had a little hops and even though I was thin(think KD's build) I was stronger than I looked because I had a lot of lean muscle. I still slashed and was able to get by guys but nowhere near the frequency and ease I was able to do it before. The area I was living in had a bunch of dudes from eastern europe, latvia and places like that. and there was this one kid, 19 maybe, that is one of the quickest motherfukkers I ever played against. AND he had a J. he cooked the shyt outta me brehs I was getting buckets on him too tho
there's actually a lot of ballers over there tho, there was this one mixed breh who you could tell grew up watching all the And 1 tapes because he had a pretty ill handle.
but now I'm in my late thirties
now when I play I don't be crossing nobody up anymore, I just post people up and back em down and either do a fade way over my right or left shoulder. sometimes a hook
jumper is nowhere near as wet as it used to be
I'm out there winded as shyt, my man getting wild buckets on me if we're running full court cuz I'm too tired to keep up
sorry for the long exposition
but now I'm just sitting here and wondering how I went from prime Rip Hamilton to a washed KG
this happen to anybody else as they got older or am I the only one
I still have pride tho, I'm playing in a league out here and I went to CoachUp and found a breh who played D1 ball and had a 9 year career in Europe and I start working out with him this weekend so I can get my handles and J back
best 60 bucks an hour I'll ever spend
TLDR: fellow flabby heads do you still have the same skillset and physical attributes as you did in your younger years as a hooper, and if not what kind of adjustments have you made over the years and how has your game changed?
I was at the barber the other day and there was a breh in his late 30s who plays in Argentina and somebody asked him how he's been able to play for so long. breh said that at the higher levels you think the game more. it's not as much about your physical attributes like strength, quickness, and reflexes but understanding ANGLES. that was an eye opener the most I'll do is sag off dudes who got more bunnies and are quicker than me and make em make the jump shot I also defend according to their dominant hand and I try and funnel everything to the baseline