Blowout

We played basketball tonight against someone...

I don't remember them much because it was clear that most of them were not ballers. And by that I mean that dribbling and completing passes was difficult. We were up 26-4 at half and continued the trend until we won 57-18. One of my teammates asked about a mercy rule. But not for the other team-- for us. He was tired of it.

We play one and only on style of D: Swarm and go for the steal. Some of our guys are particularly adept at pick-pocketing the ballhandler, a couple are solid shot-alterers and then you've got me who just wants to play the passing lanes. If we double-team and/or trap somebody, I immediately leave my man and work to make the other team pass it to me. Surprisingly effective. I'm convinced that ultimate has helped with this type of D.

I had one utterly ridiculous turnover. As the other team heaved the ball toward their bucket, I found myself underneath with good position. I jumped, tipped it to myself and jumped again to secure it. As I had made the original jump, I noticed a guy on my team on the opposite wing moving toward the open court. I assumed that he would keep going, so when I landed with the ball in my hands, I turned and fired to the open space without a second thought as we had been fast breaking all night. As it turned out, he stopped running and was coming back for the ball (he usually brings it up). I threw a 70 foot pass to absolutely no one. Immediate laughter from our team and the teams waiting to play. Something about "Leave it to the only honky on the team to mess it up."

My teammate immediately apologized and we agreed that we both blew that opportunity equally. I thought that was kind of him.

This was the basketball equivalent of a huck turnover in ultimate. I doubt that anyone else in the gym made that sinister connection.

The only other thing of note is that I seem to have injured my shoulder in some relatively minor though irritating manner. I am positive that consistent stretching and subtle strengthening over the next two days will rehab it enough to be nearly pain-free for the weekend. There's no weakness and although the pain was pretty rough when I got home, it improved rapidly with ROM exercises and vigorous stretching through the shoulder, neck and back region.

The odd thing is that there were no memorable bumps or falls or straining motions. I'm of the mind that it is a minor overuse injury and that refraining from dedicated upper-body workouts on Thursday and Friday will go a long way toward soothing my shoulder. If not, well, all of the buildup to playing in the first Pike tournament of 07 will be delayed until the NJ Invite in May. I love the early season, but the value I place on tournaments increases as the year progresses.

We shall see.
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Workout Total:
40 Minutes Basketball