The Teams:
Team Jebus-
Jesus
Sergio
Alberto
Atiq B.
Team Fam (minus 1)
Me
Zuhair
Naveel
Shazil
Quick Recap:
We played 4 games, and each team won 2. I am unsure how to feel about that. On the one hand, this sort of kept any residual anger issues from competitive people (me) from rising too high. At the same time, it did leave everything a bit undecided. Ultimately i felt that while the games were good, there was a very casual environment to the games. Again, I cant say this is a bad thing, but personally, i would've liked a more serious game, mainly because that's what I had imagined the night before...
Instead of breaking down each game individually, I suppose i would look at it as a whole, in sort of a scouting report method-
Jesus-
He played a pretty passive game. Especially the first one. His shot was pretty much money, mainly since my brother was more concerned with him getting close to the rim. I cant fault that strategy, however, since jesus did arrive about 40 minutes before I did, i can assume he had some nice opportunities to warm up. He was feeling shooters elbow throughout the day, and anyone who has gone through that knows its pretty annoying. All in all, with the rosters the way they were, its a pretty obvious fact that he could've scored whenever he wanted to on the inside, so he kept the inside buckets to dire situations and fast breaks...
Defensively Jesus played what i would assume something close to what he learned in High School. Im only guessing, but i suppose in his mind he decided to make himself think he was in one of those past team games of his and played defense according to that. He would play my brother tight when he had the ball, then roam and provide help defense at every pass. It was menacing and since he had already blocked me viciously in a quick 21 game we started earlier, and since everyone had witnessed said block, everyone on my team, including me, was afraid of those long arms coming out of nowhere.
I was most impressed, though i suppose i shouldnt have been, with Jesus' passing in the games, especially from the post. tons of misdirections and quick decision making with 3 guys constantly surrounding him. It was just the exclamation that we were more outmatched than we realized. I also tackled jesus a couple times...but thats neither here nor there...
Beto-
I felt beto played a pretty well rounded game. I didnt get much time to watch his defense, but he seemed less 'stealy' and more focused on just protecting the paint. He handled the ball at times and made good passes, especially to cutting players.
The thing that really impressed me was alberto's shot. He seems like he is money from within 15 feet. His form stayed consistent, and although slow he does have a bit of a high release. he wavered a lot more when contested, which I think he shouldnt do. He should certainly trust his forms high release and so long as its someone like me or my cousins, he could probably get his shot off even with that hand in his face. His shot really reminds me of Wenningtons jumper.
Serge
-ARGH!!!! Serge hounded me all game long, pretty much keeping me from doing what i wanted to do on offense, and forcing me to play a style of play I kinda dislike playing. He was extremely physical on both ends of the court and really forced me to work. His jumper was falling in this game, and he was constantly the one sprinting alongside Jesus on fast breaks. He said his legs were burning after the game, and it wasnt hard to figure out why.
A large part of what made the game fun for me was Sergio's defense on me. He played a really smart style of defense and did a great job of securing rebounds on both sides of the court.
The thing that always keeps me in awe is Sergios shot, its pretty much picture perfect. Its always consistent even if he is on the move while shooting it. He is also capable of using that board without changing his shot. Serge also ran the point well, though only when he had to.
Atiq B-
Atiq b. might have been the biggest xfactor on team Jebus. He probably scored on most of the possessions, and did a great job of taking advantage of the attention on jesus to get himself open for high percentage shots. Me and Naveel had discussed that Atiq b had two killer qualities which were enviable. The first is his motor, he probably hustles and runs the floor harder than any of us that play. The second is his ability to box out, he constantly gets rebounds, and a big part of that is that he sneaks in and smartly gets position on bigger people to get rebounds. While the latter wasnt as apparent in this team (with guys like beto serge and Jesus, theres rarely many rebounds to go around) the former was.
Atiq b. stole the ball from me twice, while i was preoccupied (and yes, over dribbling) with the defense, he would sneak by and knock the ball loose. Not just me, but i feel he got everyone. Not to mention diving for loose balls. In these games however, it was really his offense which shined. Finding himself open and making the defense constantly pay for allowing those open shots. It was frustrating being on the opposition.
Shazil-
In a sense i felt bad for Shazil. He had a pretty difficult task on both ends of the court. Offensively it was hard for him to get any kind of rhythm going. Beto is a lot stronger than he looks, and with Jesus Roaming around he simply couldnt take his time in the post. Shazil doesnt really work on many parts of basketball, but when he does get some time he really does try to improve his ability to shoot. Its actually pretty solid. In this game I sort of denied him many chances to take those shots mainly because I couldnt find myself into the paint and thus if he missed there would probably never be a rebound for us. This forced shazil, with his bad back, to play inside more against physical defense and a shot blocker roaming. When he did get open buckets finally, he rushed his shots and would end up missing bunnies. One thing i do notice about shazil in those situations is that he does want to redeem himself on the next trip up, and sometimes vocally demands the ball so he can make it up.
Defensively Shazil had to try to play the anchor to our defense, which was difficult since after every shot jesus would find his way into the paint for rebounds. Blocking Jesus out is a team effort on its own, but with beto and serge around it was even harder. Still shazil did secure quite a few rebounds.
Naveel-
Naveel was hounded by atiq b all game long, and anyone who has ever been guarded by atiq knows that it makes things difficult. He was rarely able to get himself free, and when he did it was up to the ball handlers (namely me) to see him and get the pass off. I had recently spent a day shooting around with Naveel, so ive learned that as a shooter naveel has come a very long way within a year. He essentially can knock down 50% of his wide open shots, at least! And no, I am not exaggerating, we shot around for hours and I kept track of misses and makes of his. Not only that, the guy has range. Like real range. His form, though not as smooth as sergio's or as quick as Juju's, is consistent regardless of the range. However, he doesnt just rely on his shot, and has made strides of rounding out his overall game and that showed a lot more in these games.
Especially his ability to finish in traffic. While i myself was bothered by a possible shot block or the physicality of Sergio and Beto, Naveel was able to find ways to get to the rim and finish. He also made a few good passes especially to Juju in the games and handled the ball well, though he still shows signs of not being comfortable with that role. I used to be able to say that i was better than naveel, now, I dont think I'm sure that i am. Definitely not in the shooting department at least.
Myself-
Usually i dont choose to talk about myself in these things, mainly because i always want other people to comment and critique my game....well let me just tell you, Y'ALL SUCK! No one ever goes out of their way to just tell me about my game, i mean...what the hell guys!! At any rate, I do think about my game the way i think about everyone elses game, the only problem is I dont have that outside perception to earn a more objective analysis so its flawed....but i regress
I felt good going into this game, and thanks to serge and his defense, it didnt last long. I started the game off getting open at and easily knocking down a 10 foot banker. I am starting to love the bank shot, maybe too much. Off the elbows i rarely look to shoot the ball into the net and really just look to use that board whenever possible. I think this over relying on the bank shot has created a paradox for me. On the one hand its a good shot from the elbows, and I have become quite consistent with it. In terms of rebounding it makes nice soft shots easy for guys on my team to predict and nab. On the other hand, it has made it harder for me to shoot from the side of the rim (where the backboard is hard to hit from) or from dead on, and since my form is a bit different on those shots it creates a strange confusion in my shot.
I was able to knock down the banker a few other times, but they didnt come as easily. I have tried to adapt my game to be a sort of ultimate role player. Depending on the roster you could plug me in and know that i could do certain things. If i play with Guys who are good at scoring inside I would want to be able to turn into a long range shooter, if I am playing with shooters I would want to turn into a post up option, if I am playing with guys who can handle the ball i would want to become a great passer. I am no where near getting to that point though I continue to work towards this goal.
With the roster we had, my idea was to play in the post. I felt that i could maybe get a few shots off and force Jesus to lay off my brother more and open up long range options for him and naveel or keep defenders away from shazil and let him have more uncontested close shots. Again, this didnt work because serge is so much stronger than me and a good defender to boot. I couldnt post him down at all, and even catching the ball was proving to be difficult. I then relinquished myself into the perimeter which put me at an uncomfortable place.
In my mind, I am relegated to shoot only when there are capable re-bounders waiting. Shazil was the only one in the paint and he had beto right on him, and of course Jesus and serge were ready to fly down and help with the boards. I tried passing the ball to better shooters in naveel and my brother but I found myself unable to evade Serge and go help with rebounds. It was essentially a large part of my game, the little things, being stolen away from me. I also tried to attack the rim and create. There werent many options. Serge would push me back anytime i tried to get a drive, if i got the step then beto would rotate to me and jesus would rotate to beto's spot, if i tried to crossover and go to the other side atiq would run by and try to knock the ball loose. It was a hard time finding shots or plays for me.
My solution ended up being a game I dont like playing, which was more of a selfish style of game. I would try to set screens for my brother and naveel but ultimately i found myself more and more with space on the 3pt arch. So i shot the ball. At first it seemed odd to me, but i loosened up to the idea the more I thought about losing, and eventually began to disregard my team mates. I sort of dislike that style of play, especially since i know it will lead to more losses than victories, however, i did feel that it was a little effective. Guys like Nauman constantly tell me that I should be more assertive because it could help the team if i attract more defense, i think it's just a hard pill for me to follow because it means i have to rely on everyone to do the little things...and it also means that if we lose than a larger part of it was my fault.
The shots did feel good eventually, and even when they missed, the aim was just a centimeter off from going in. It also did force serge to guard me a bit closer allowing more options for my brother and shazil.
Defensively I felt i did as good as i usual. I eventually switched to Jesus because i felt that it would help with the rebounding a little, although to be honest I'm not sure it had much of an affect....Well...jesus didnt shoot as many 3s when i was on him (he got layups instead). I wasnt overly disappointed in my game, at least not at the end. Sergios defense forced me to embrace a more selfish side of the ball, and i think i really needed that.
My brother-
....i got nothing.....
....
Okay im kidding. My brother has been waiting for his scouting report for a long time, and I guess maybe I will give him one here (but not an official one yet). My brother has improved quite a bit, and ultimately, i would say in the family, at this moment, he is the best basket ball player. He still lacks defensively, he often goes into 'serious mode' which is really more for show than anything. He gets lower, slams his hands on the court, moves his feet likes hes on hot lava, and gets tight against the offensive player....and its all for show.
He has good timing when going for blocks, he does a good job of reading peoples shooting styles and their release point, maybe because he has changed and tried so many jumpshots himself. His ability to steal is really lacking. He has slow lateral movement and if he reaches he gets beat. He also times dribbles and hand motions wrong and ends slapping peopls hands...hard...its gonna get him punched by someone in my family one day...
His offensive game is where he shines, mainly in the ability to create his own shot. My brother is starting to remind me more and more of a ben gordon. He has a bunch of quick strike dribble moves, and he does a good job of throwing elbows and dropping his shoulder to evade people trying to reach for steals. His best ability is to transition from a dribble to a jumpshot, he has a very nice and quick shot, but more importantly is him getting into the posture for the shot. He can go from hunched low to straight backed in a second, and i feel he shoots his best when he goes through this motion as opposed to just standing straight up. Like gordon though, his ball handling becomes more and more limited when its less and less about his own shot. Bringing up the ball, or just trying to set someone else up, he ends up losing track of the ball and committing a turnover. His passing is also something that needs to be worked on, apparent in these games....
With jesus on him, my brother, regardless of how quick and effective his jumper is, was missing another key ingredient in his ability to score. Against family my brother gets the ability to either be quicker, or taller than everyone where he can get his shot off without worrying about the block. Against jesus he lost both those attributes. My brother has a game that revolves around wide open set jumpers, or iso situations. He cant however, like naveel, run clear across the court and find a curve or lane to lose his defender on and get open. He will instead opt to use the lazier v cut to get open, and even then rushes the shot too much when he loses some of his consistent form. My brother probably could have (and when he got the mismatch did) abuse alberto, sergio and atiq, but against jesus' length, quickness, and more importantly reaction, he was flustered all day.
As a ball handler my brother tried to run the point, it was a bit easier for him here since jesus wouldnt play him full court but would get back to defend any possible fast breaks. My brother forced a bunch of bad passes, specifically to Shazil in the post. Part of it might be that he is used to playing more experienced players at school....maybe... but his passes come at an extremely high speed which, unless you have conditioned hands, are gonna hurt if you dont catch it on your palm, and aside from the speed they happened to be sometimes off the mark (usually higher). My brother also tried some bounce passes, the problem which with they were constantly extremely low and again with more speed than needed.
I think in this game, because his offensive game was more contested than usual, he decided to play my kind of role and did a great job on the defensive end and doing the little things on offense. He has evolved (matured?) his game to a point where he is more willing to make the pass and get everyone involved. And while he did turn over the ball on bad passes, his intentions were always good. Not only that he was constantly running back on defense even at times when i gave up on breaks. At some point he withstood me yelling at him for walking back on offense even though later naveel told me he had been holding his chest at the time, obviously exhausted.
While my brother may not have dominated the game offensively like he usually has been lately, i felt his game was far more respectable on saturday, and the games we did win were a large part of him doing the little things like making the right pass, running down the floor and stretching jesus away from the ball, and forcing jesus into jumpers instead of conceding the drives.
heres a video of my brother shooting around!!!!
- I think the games were fun, but at least for me what i walked away with was more a learning experience. I learned a little more about my limitations and playing a style I dont really play often, and maybe i should. Hopefully the next time i post it will be soon and about a game that involves more than 10 people...hopefully
Conclusion
Comment below on your thoughts on the game and what you learned. For those of you who didnt play...shame!
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