What Time is it? Game Time!

It's been nearly a month since I last posted here, and nearly a month longer since I last posted regularly. But now summer is gone, the pre-season nearly over, and another year of roundball is about to begin. I've been back playing pick-up for a couple of weeks now...still trying to work it in regularly with the rest of my schedule, which is always hectic this time of year anyway. First few nights back were pretty ratty: missed one jump shot so badly (flat, no rotation, WAY wide to the left) that I wanted to crawl under the floor and hide, and had another humbling experience of making a surprisingly quick baseline move to my left, then trying to elevate for the lay-in and lifting up off the floor about an inch and a half....

But Wednesday night I finally started to find a little rhythm. 12 points on two good catch-and-shoot threes, a driving lay-up down the center of the lane, a little 8 foot "J" from the left baseline (after a terrific pump fake!) and a slashing cut to the basket after my defender went to double-team, which left me with a wide-open one-handed two foot leaner. Of course, I also missed a second lay-up when I took off a little too early and ended up just a WEE bit short of the rim, and another fantastic back-door opportunity where I simply got nervous, shot the ball too quickly and missed. I'm just not accustomed to being that deep in the paint these days. I prefer to live out in "the 'burbs," where the buckets are all worth 50% more and there's a lot less chance of getting mugged.

Also made two very impressive steals out on the open floor, hauled in my usual share of defensive rebounds, and made half-a-dozen assists...including a textbook pick-and-roll play which was truly a thing of beauty, and under normal circumstances would have made my whole evening feel worthwhile all by itself. But this time of year is always tricky. None of us are really in "game shape" yet (although there are a few hardy souls who have been playing all summer long, and thus are a little ahead of the rest of us). And I've heard rumors that there have also already been two serious injuries in the Over 45 game I used to play in regularly last year on Sunday evenings, which I simply haven't been able to get to yet. One is just a sprained ankle, which should have him back in a month or so. The other is a torn Achilles tendon, which is a season (and probably a "career") -ending injury. A cautionary tale for us old guys who insist on banging our bodies around every week like we were still in our twenties. But as you well know if you share that insanity, once you've been bitten it's hard to give it up.....