The Passing Of The Torch

After a month off, it was time to get back into the swing of league basketball.  One of the summer league's began this afternoon with a 1 PM game which we lost 47-41.  This particular team is talented on paper but a lot of the guys have not played with each other that much.  That showed in our chemistry today.  There were a lot of turnovers because everyone wasn't used to playing with each other.   The chemistry can be worked on as we lost a couple of guys to injury and that will shrink our rotations down a bit.

But the one thing we can't work on is our ages.  Out of the 11 players who played today, eight of them were over 30 including guys who were 47, 39, 38 (two), 35, 34 (two), and 31.   The other three guys were 27, 26, and 24 respectively.   The old guys looked a little slow against our competition, many of whom were in the early to mid 20's.  They were stronger,  more physical, quicker and simply more athletic that us.   Our 24 year old was our most effective player simply because he could still get up and down the court. Most of the old guys struggled against the other team's quickness.   

Yet, as I look at some of our old guys, I remembered the days when we could do the same to other teams.   Our team will be fine as we all know how to play.  It'll just take some time to get the chemistry together. 

However, I see there are a few other athletic teams similar to our opponents today.  We will have to play real well to be competitive.  We can no longer out run and out jump our opponents.  That's what the next generation of kids are going to do to us instead!  :)

Old Man Still Got A Little Game

Over the weekend, I inched a little closer to being a middle aged man (aka celebrating my birthday!).  I had a pretty relaxed weekend.  I watched a basketball tournament and caught up with a young person I have been mentoring a bit.  I played a little basketball myself and had a nice dinner with some folks.

Today, it was back to work and after a busy day, I went to play in my Monday nigh basketball league.  My team's been struggling a bit but we finally broke through with an exciting 83-82 win.  I contributed heavily with 18 points (7-17 FG, 4-6 FT's).

Though most professional players don't played into their late 30's / early 40's, there are plenty of amateur athletes who are able to play at a pretty good level for many years.  When I got hurt back in 1999-2000 during the prime of my athletic life, I thought I would never get back to level.  These days, while I am little slower and less athletic, I still can pick my spots and do well (like tonight!).

Playing like this into your 40's require both mental and physical preparation.  Mentally, you can't subscribe to the fact that you are "too old".  You have to say to yourself that you can do it.   Physically, you just have to keep playing and stay in shape in general.  I've been fortunate to be abel to do both.

A guy in our league is 53 and is still playing pretty well.  He's a little slow and not mobile but can hit a shot.  I would be happy to be playing well into his age and beyond!

I Am Not Young Anymore..........

As much as I like to think I am young, the fact is age is slowly creeping up on me.  The reason I say that is that my knees are screaming out at the punishment I put it through today:

1.  Officiated three basketball games from 9 AM until 12:30 PM
2.  Played pick up basketball with friends from 2 PM until 5 PM

In fact, this past Spring, I have put my body through some punishment:

1.
Officiated a JV basketball game at 4:30 PM, played an adult league basketball game at 8 PM at one gym,  and played another game at 10 PM at another gym.

2.
Played in TWO tournaments this past Spring plus played in a Monday night league.  That equated to playing FOUR games in 3 Days after the first tournament and playing FIVE games in 3 days after the second tournament.

I used to officiate and play basketball afterwards on Saturday frequently but I don't do it as much anymore.  My legs have trouble taking the punishment and eventually I'll have to figure out what I'm going to do in the future.

For now, I'll ice down my knees and get some rest.  :)

There's Always Something To Remind Me

(Song Reference:  "There's Always Something To Remind Me" by Naked Eyes)

As we all get older, we inevitably start slowing down and have less energy.  This is most evident for those of us who play in sports.  As someone who's played a lot of basketball in my lifetime, I've gone from an energetic young kid in my high school and college years to the grizzled veteran in current times.

However, as a single man with minimal responsibilities in life besides working and paying bills, I have more time to play basketball than my married and attached friends, some of whom also have kids.  I play basketball at least twice a week and sometimes more depending if leagues are going on   Because of this, I remain in reasonable shape compared to some of my friends.

Because I'm in shape, I can still compete with the younger kids on the basketball court occasionally.    I like to surprise the high school and college kids with the fact that I can still play a bit.  However,  while it's good to be confident, there's always something to remind me that I am getting up there in age!

Tonight was one of those nights when I played some pick up basketball.  I was matched with a couple young kids over the course of several pick up games.  One was this mid twenties college kid who played some high school basketball.  I had played against him and his team in league basketball so I was familiar with him and his game.  He was around my height but quicker, faster, stronger and a great shooter.   I could barely stay in front of the guy and his quickness had me off balance all night.  He would either just shoot over me and just drive by me for a layup.  If I could get in front of him, he would lean into me, bump me back and spin the other way.  Overall, this guy was just a beast on offense.    I guess I shouldn't feel too bad as others who tried to stop this kid didn't do that well either.   The only thing I could do was just try to get open on offense and I did hit a few shots when the kid tried to double team one of my team's players.

On the other hand, there was this other guy I had trouble with.  I don't know how old this second guy was but he looked to be also in his mid twenties.  The second guy was nowhere the offensive player the college  kid was.  However, he was quick, energetic and wouldn't stop moving.   He had no difficulty driving by me a few times to the basket.  When he didn't have the ball, he would keep cutting and moving.  With his quickness and jumping ability, I had a tough time keeping him away from the basket.    When I got the ball against the second guy, it was difficult to get any shots.  His quickness allowed him to close on me fast as soon as I got the ball.  I managed to get a few shots off but missed quite a few because I rushed them.

Tonight's pick up games reminded me of the difference between playing with my friends who are my age and people who are younger and more athletic.  With my friends, I feel I can get off shots almost anytime I want.  Since my friends are a little older, defense is a little easier and I don't have to work as hard to get shots on offense.

However, when you play these younger kids, you have to work extra hard on both offense and defense. This extra effort wears on you and my knees and ankle were feeling it tonight.   Plus, when you're playing against quick guys on offense, you need precision passing and timing.  If a pass is off by a split second, you may not be able to get your shot off.  I found this was definitely the case tonight.  I was on the receiving end of passes that were not perfect and I either didn't shoot or missed the shots badly.

All in all, I think I need to stop dreaming that I can hang with these young high school and college kids.  I should stick with people my own age in the future.  It just makes basketball more fun for me!