Pickup basketball incident....
 

My friends and I were playing basketball today at a public court in the area. I am a student and live in Montreal so this is the first day I have had a chance to play ball outside, as university just finished. Now keep in mind 2 out of the 6 kids with us don’t really play basketball often and they are kinda terrible.

Halfway through the second game a kid comes up to us and asked if his team can have next game. As I was about to accept the challenge I looked around and saw that all 3 other hoops were empty so I said sorry man but we just want to play each other right now. The look he gave me was like a dear in the head lights, he could not believe what I just said. The following conversation goes like this.

Him “Wtf man haven’t you ever played street ball! This is a public court”

Me “yeah dude but we brought 6 kids for 3 on 3 and there are plenty of free hoops”

Him (looking at his friends) “this kid wont let us play what an a**hole!”

Me “Look , if the place was packed I would say sure but, I didn’t come here to not play and neither did my friend!”

Him “this kid is ……( I didn’t hear) sucking everyones D**K!”

Me “ I don’t need to explain myself to you dude, NO!”

Him “whatever man f**k you”


We keep playing… he talks on his cell phone and then leaves. Is it my obligation to accept every challenge even when other hoops are free? I kinda felt bad that this kid didn’t have anyone to play with but is not having friends my fault? OOT am I way off here? He was just so surprised it made me feel like maybe I was wrong.

Re: Pickup basketball incident....
 

I think you already know the answer here.

Re: Pickup basketball incident....
 

You've been served.

Re: Pickup basketball incident....
 

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I think you already know the answer here.

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I dont know what this mean, I dont think I was wrong.

Re: Pickup basketball incident....
 

this thread kind of makes me want to watch white men can't jump.

Re: Pickup basketball incident....
 

[ QUOTE ]
this thread kind of makes me want to put my books down and go play pickup basketball

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When i was in college I probably played 15 hours of ball per week when it was nice out.

Re: Pickup basketball incident....
 

I guess I'll give the first answer that isn't just some vague snide remark.

I think it's totally fine to decline if, and only if, there are open hoops. I also don't play very often if that affects my credibility.

Re: Pickup basketball incident....
 

This thread also makes me miss being in a country where it was easy to get pick up games.

Fwiw I think you should have let them play, atleast until me more people turned up or something.

Re: Pickup basketball incident....
 

[ QUOTE ]
You've been served.

[/ QUOTE ]

Re: Pickup basketball incident....
 

I would usually try to help a brotha out but he was just such a dick i didnt feel bad. Plus he was all serious with a jersey and headbands, while half the people I was playing with couldnt even dribble.

Re: Pickup basketball incident....
 

If you're playing at a public court, you need to accept this challenge. Sounds like you guys could have played full court 4 on 4. The reason you play at a public park is to play against and meet new people. At least that's always been my opinion.

Re: Pickup basketball incident....
 

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[ QUOTE ]
You've been served.

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How did I just get served? He left and didn’t get to play I continued my day as if he never existed.

PS – getting served is kind of a weak expression in my book. I mean the sarcasm is initially funny (mocking a crappy movie) until you find yourself saying you got served more than once a day and then its just lame.

Re: Pickup basketball incident....
 

[ QUOTE ]
If you're playing at a public court, you need to accept this challenge. Sounds like you guys could have played full court 4 on 4. The reason you play at a public park is to play against and meet new people. At least that's always been my opinion.

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The reason I play on public courts is because I dont own a basketball court.

Re: Pickup basketball incident....
 

You basically ruined everyones fun. Full court 5v5/4v4 >>>>>>>>>>>>&g t; half court 3v3. Nice job, [censored].

Re: Pickup basketball incident....
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
You've been served.

[/ QUOTE ]

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How did I just get served? He left and didn’t get to play I continued my day as if he never existed.

PS – getting served is kind of a weak expression in my book. I mean the sarcasm is initially funny (mocking a crappy movie) until you find yourself saying you got served more than once a day and then its just lame.

[/ QUOTE ]


You sound like a fun guy.


not.

Re: Pickup basketball incident....
 

You don't have to accept his challenge. If the guys you are playing with suck, how fun is it going to be if they get slaughtered? If you guys are just messing around it's perfectly acceptable to just keep playing 3 on 3 if there are other courts open. The guy was a [censored], you should have just ignored him once he proved this

Re: Pickup basketball incident....
 

[ QUOTE ]
You don't have to accept his challenge. If the guys you are playing with suck, how fun is it going to be if they get slaughtered? If you guys are just messing around it's perfectly acceptable to just keep playing 3 on 3 if there are other courts open. The guy was a [censored], you should have just ignored him once he proved this

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its fun playing with a couple people who suck cause you dont have to pass them the ball lolz

Re: Pickup basketball incident....
 

[ QUOTE ]
You basically ruined everyones fun. Full court 5v5/4v4 >>>>>>>>>>>>&g t; half court 3v3. Nice job, [censored].

[/ QUOTE ]

Re: Pickup basketball incident....
 

I think they overreacted quite a bit. If there are open courts and you guys don't feel like playing a bigger game, then they should [censored] off and play on the empty courts. If the courts were full, of course you should let them play next.

Re: Pickup basketball incident....
 

I can kind of see where you are coming from because they were all of your friends. It's not like you got next game from someone else and refused to get off the court

Re: Pickup basketball incident....
 

You definitely don't have to accept the challenge. The only thing you could have done differently was offer to move to another court.

Re: Pickup basketball incident....
 

1. WTF at the people advocating 5 on 5. Any playground baller knows that 3 on 3 is optimal.

2. If it was 1-2 people, such that they couldn't really have a game otherwise, I'd let em play. Or if they didn't have a ball or you had the only good hoop.

3. Otherwise, tell that kid to [censored] off.

Re: Pickup basketball incident....
 

Just tell him you're playing up to 100, or best of 7 or something and you'll play him after, then never do.

Re: Pickup basketball incident....
 

[ QUOTE ]
1. WTF at the people advocating 5 on 5. Any playground baller knows that 3 on 3 is optimal.



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Only for half court.

If there were an even number of them I probably would have just wanted to play full court but if there were 3 of them I would have waited for more to show up to either play full or just let them play somewhere else. He was a bigger [censored] than you, you weren't really wrong here.

Re: Pickup basketball incident....
 

[ QUOTE ]
1. WTF at the people advocating 5 on 5. Any playground baller knows that 3 on 3 is optimal.

2. If it was 1-2 people, such that they couldn't really have a game otherwise, I'd let em play. Or if they didn't have a ball or you had the only good hoop.

3. Otherwise, tell that kid to [censored] off.

[/ QUOTE ]


If theres a full court, 5v5 > 3v3, obv 5v5 is too crowded for half court play.

Re: Pickup basketball incident....
 

This kid overrated for sure...you have no obligation to play this kid.

Re: Pickup basketball incident....
 

[ QUOTE ]
1. WTF at the people advocating 5 on 5. Any playground baller knows that 3 on 3 is optimal.

2. If it was 1-2 people, such that they couldn't really have a game otherwise, I'd let em play. Or if they didn't have a ball or you had the only good hoop.

3. Otherwise, tell that kid to [censored] off.

[/ QUOTE ]

Idiot, 4 v. 4 is we're it's at now. We're still not in the Gus Macker Era.

Re: Pickup basketball incident....
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
1. WTF at the people advocating 5 on 5. Any playground baller knows that 3 on 3 is optimal.

2. If it was 1-2 people, such that they couldn't really have a game otherwise, I'd let em play. Or if they didn't have a ball or you had the only good hoop.

3. Otherwise, tell that kid to [censored] off.

[/ QUOTE ]


If theres a full court, 5v5 > 3v3, obv 5v5 is too crowded for half court play.

[/ QUOTE ]

Guess I'm lazy cause 3v3 halfcourt >>5v5 full court.

Re: Pickup basketball incident....
 

2v2 is the new 3v3.

6v6 on a giant 180 foot long court with 12 goot high baskets is the new 4v4 regular full-court.

Re: Pickup basketball incident....
 

A very important question that hasn't been raised yet, are the other 3 hoops in as good a shape as the 1 you and your friends were using or were they all basically the same? If the other hoops were in bad condition then you actually do have to accept that they are playing next game (playground rules obv)and you need to tell your 2 crappy friends that they are now spectators.

Also, according to playground rules, once this clown starts talking trash you either have to either:
A) respond in kind
B) smack him upside the head
C) demolish his team/challenge him to a 1 on 1 game where the winner holds court and the loser can GTFO

Re: Pickup basketball incident....
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
1. WTF at the people advocating 5 on 5. Any playground baller knows that 3 on 3 is optimal.

2. If it was 1-2 people, such that they couldn't really have a game otherwise, I'd let em play. Or if they didn't have a ball or you had the only good hoop.

3. Otherwise, tell that kid to [censored] off.

[/ QUOTE ]


If theres a full court, 5v5 > 3v3, obv 5v5 is too crowded for half court play.

[/ QUOTE ]

Guess I'm lazy cause 3v3 halfcourt >>5v5 full court.

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I wouldn't say you're lazy. Usually 5 on 5 full court ends up with people who don't make it to both sides anyway. With people who actually know how to play basketball and actually play defense, set screens, etc, 3 on 3 half court is a much better workout. So, I don't think lazy is right.

To the OP, you didn't need to play against him if you don't want. I mean, different story if the other courts are taken, but they weren't.

Re: Pickup basketball incident....
 

[ QUOTE ]
1. WTF at the people advocating 5 on 5. Any playground baller knows that 3 on 3 is optimal.

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why? full court is so much more fun

Re: Pickup basketball incident....
 

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With people who actually know how to play basketball and actually play defense, set screens, etc, 3 on 3 half court is a much better workout

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uhh, no way. With people who know how to play ball, full court is the ONLY type of game. Half court is just what happens when full court won't work.

WRT to OP, of course you can play with whoever you want (provided the courts were open and in good condition), so yea, he was a douche. But I guess it depends what kind of court you went to. At some places it's just a given that anyone who is there is there to compete with other people (not to donk around with their friends).

Re: Pickup basketball incident....
 

lol, silly canadians

Re: Pickup basketball incident....
 

It seems like a LOT of respondents in this thread either don't play basketball or don't play it regularly.

The guy who said that half the players don't make it to the other end on 5-on-5 is correct; we play "short court" 4-on-4 at my gym (crosswise from the big court) and nobody, NOBODY wants to deal with the rigors of the full court, despite most players being fit, and many playing college ball.

Also, it appears that OP was having a "closed" game among friends. In case you're not aware, there are a ton of different levels of players, from the clueless/dangerous type who will undercut you without even realizing what they did, right up to the most skilled. It's really unlikely that OP's group and the random challengers were at the same level. I think it would be likely that guys that go out for "fun" game like this aren't very good and would get destroyed by a random group that showed up to challenge them.

A challenge like this should only be mandatory when there are no other courts open for them to play on. So you did fine, OP.

Also, once again doubLe a tom manages to come off like an incredible douche. Not sure how I didn't notice this before but he keeps wrecking threads in the Sports forum and managed to make a craptastic post or two in this thread.

Re: Pickup basketball incident....
 

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It seems like a LOT of respondents in this thread either don't play basketball or don't play it regularly.

The guy who said that half the players don't make it to the other end on 5-on-5 is correct; we play "short court" 4-on-4 at my gym (crosswise from the big court) and nobody, NOBODY wants to deal with the rigors of the full court, despite most players being fit, and many playing college ball.


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We're not talking about a full sized gym, we're talking about an outdoor court (I assume). That's pretty much one of your short court anyways.

Re: Pickup basketball incident....
 

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Also, once again doubLe a tom manages to come off like an incredible douche. Not sure how I didn't notice this before but he keeps wrecking threads in the Sports forum and managed to make a craptastic post or two in this thread.

[/ QUOTE ]

lol wtf?

Re: Pickup basketball incident....
 

sounds like you did nothing wrong.

and white men can't jump is an incredible film.

Re: Pickup basketball incident....
 

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and you need to tell your 2 crappy friends that they are now spectators.

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It depends on how many new players show up and how many will play.
Let's say you're playing 3x3 and three new guys show up. The winners stay on and they play the next three. Or the winners stay on, the three losers shoot for two open spots, and you play 4x4 with one sitting out.
If four showed up, you have enough for 5x5 and you can pick new teams.
It doesn't matter how crappy the players are. If they're on the winning team, they hold court.

Re: Pickup basketball incident....
 

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We're not talking about a full sized gym, we're talking about an outdoor court (I assume). That's pretty much one of your short court anyways.

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Could be. I haven't played on an outdoor court in >10 years. I know that our full size court is still shorter than NBA standards but not by too much. We're not exercise averse but play the game for the nuances, which the full size game tends to mitigate quite a bit.