Letting the Game come to YOU.

My shot hasn't been falling all that well lately, so I've been putting in a little extra time at the gym working on it. Everything I put up seems to be falling a little short, or rolling off the inside of my index finger whenever I try to put a little extra UMPH! in the release. I've been blaming the problem on my new eyeglasses, but I know in my heart that the problem is really in my legs. That and the fact that a lot of the guys I play with now aren't really all that great about sharing the ball, so I rarely get a clean spot-up look in rhythm.

These days I mostly like to shoot the "trey," which is basically a complete reversal of my game from my younger days. Back in my prime I was pretty much a quick-first-step-to-the-basket kinda guy -- one aggressive dribble to my left or to my right, then elevate and finish hard at the hole (although as a five-foot-eleven-and-three-quarters-inches-in-my-stocking-feet white guy, I was NEVER really able to play ABOVE the rim...despite playing more like six-foot-one in my sneakers). Didn't even bother to wear my glasses in those days, which also meant that I had a hard time even SEEING the rim from much beyond the free throw line. Of course, in those days there wasn't a three point shot anyway. That 19 foot 9 inch line has extended my playing days for at least two decades -- although at times it feels like I've sold out and moved to the suburbs (which I'm ashamed to say I've done off the court as well).

In the meantime, I've been trying to do more of the "little things" that keep me in the game and contributing even when I'm not putting up that many points. Good defense, both on and off the ball. Rebounding. Passing. Screening, Screening, Screening. It really is a team game you know, even at the lowest levels (and you don't get much lower than over-35 pick-up rec ball). And it's amazing how satisfying this can be. Two weeks ago I found myself back defending against what was shaping up into a four-on-one break. I knew that the dribbler was going to try to look me off and finish himself, so I forced him to give the ball up to his left, and then spun quickly and rejected the baseline cutter's lay-up strong and clean. That sort of thing doesn't happen in this league very often. Was the play of the evening. Even brought all the guys who were sitting around waiting their turn to play to their feet.

Then last Wednesday I was the one who came up with a loose ball and was out leading the break. Pulled up a little beyond the arc to draw the defense and threw a cross-court, back-door ally-oop pass to the exact same spot and the exact same player whose shot I'd rejected the week before, which he gracefully finished without ever touching the ground. That sort of thing doesn't happen very often in this league either, and once again it turned out to be the play of the night.

And finally last night. Walking the ball up the court in a game where we had trailed badly, but battled back to get to game point, I noticed that my defender had dropped down below the foul line to crowd the passing lane into the post. So once again I pulled up just behind the three point line, and with the word "Respect!" rose up and drained the winning shot like I'd had the hot hand all month. People take those kinds of shots all the time in this league (and sometimes they even go in). But not me. At least not lately.

I'm sure there's a moral here somewhere, but I'm not going to try to spell it out. All I know is that I've probably played tens of thousands of pick-up basketball games in my lifetime, won some, lost some, and scored more points than I can count. But it's little plays like these that I remember for a long time afterwards. Win or Lose....