OT: Best pickup games vs CBB/Pro athlete stories...

[DoctorBombay]

Picking up from the great stories in the Zion thread, I remember the two times I ran in Archbold vs Div 1 players.
Was playing full court back when i had a decent handle and quickness, when in walk Erich Santifer, Red Bruin, Ron Payton, and Rick Harmon (had to look him up). Luckily they played fair and put two on each squad, but i remember Santifer just wanting to run run run all game & Red Bruin just dunking relentlessly every time the ball was lobbed within 10 ft of the hoop. They literally ran full speed and NEVER got tired! Managed one game, faked an ankle injury & watched from the sidelines as my dream of an nba future was brutally exposed! lol
2nd time was when a tall “older” guy was in Archbold dominating games left & right. Nobody knew who he was, but I found out later it was Kevin King who played on the ‘75 Final Four team.
Needless to say, back then the athletic gap between a college scholarship athlete and “regular” schmoes like us, was like the Grand Canyon. Can’t imagine what it’d be like today!

 

[Brooky03]

Not a particularly interesting story, and not basketball related, but I played backyard football against Heisman Trophy candidate Riley Dixon when we were in elementary/middle school.

 

[Millhouse]

in my mind i outjumped jb reafsnyder and broke up an intramural fade pattern thrown to him.

in reality i felt hopeless the whole time because he was a foot taller than me and the only reason i broke it up because it was woefully underthrown by some other unathletic doofus like me and i just got in the way

i don't have very many sporting highlights past the age of 12 , i just got injured ha. there is an inverse relationship between acceptable alcohol consumption and my ability to play (bowling - excellent, golf - pretty good, sports with cardio fitness - not so much)

 

[JackBauer44]

2003. During the Mike Hart/OCS dynasty. OCS was up on us by 28 and Hart was still in the game in the 3rd quarter. He was returning a punt and I was filling my lane. Hart juked to the left to avoid a teammate, right into me fitting him up. Huge hit. I still remember the crowd gasping. Hart got up, tapped me on the helmet, ran to the sideline; and didn't play another snap in the game. I could tell a funny "bounty-gate story" from that game as well, but I'll keep quiet to avoid a fine.

Other story (not a pro-athlete) but another amusing OCS story. Played them in basketball the same year. Hart wore goggles so he would not hurt his vision. They had a player named Hodges Sneed. Unbelievable athlete. I tried to take a charge against him. Was absolutely posterized. Hakim's texas dunk on steroids. OCS gym went nuts. Was the low point of my basketball career.

 

[ebucklewis]

I remember playing against Ryan Blackwell and trying to guard him. To make a long story short - there was nothing I could do to even slow him down, he pretty much did whatever he wanted to.

 

[RF2044]

This thread is great!

 

[shandeezy7]

2003. During the Mike Hart/OCS dynasty. OCS was up on us by 28 and Hart was still in the game in the 3rd quarter. He was returning a punt and I was filling my lane. Hart juked to the left to avoid a teammate, right into me fitting him up. Huge hit. I still remember the crowd gasping. Hart got up, tapped me on the helmet, ran to the sideline; and didn't play another snap in the game. I could tell a funny "bounty-gate story" from that game as well, but I'll keep quiet to avoid a fine.

Other story (not a pro-athlete) but another amusing OCS story. Played them in basketball the same year. Hart wore goggles so he would not hurt his vision. They had a player named Hodges Sneed. Unbelievable athlete. I tried to take a charge against him. Was absolutely posterized. Hakim's texas dunk on steroids. OCS gym went nuts. Was the low point of my basketball career.

Ha! We had an intense basketball rivalry against that Mike Hart/Hodges Sneed OCS basketball team my senior year of high school. We beat them to advance to the sectional finals at Manley and it was awesome (I was unfortunately on the sidelines with a broken wrist, however).

 

[JackBauer44]

Ha! We had an intense basketball rivalry against that Mike Hart/Hodges Sneed OCS basketball team my senior year of high school. We beat them to advance to the sectional finals at Manley and it was awesome (I was unfortunately on the sidelines with a broken wrist, however).

Where did you play?

 

[Trueblue25]

Blocked Dajuan Coleman in my one year of aau basketball then proceeded to get put back dunked on by the mystery recruit himself.

 

[STEVEHOLT]

played with Donovan mcnabb at the chandler AZ lifetime fitness...he was retired from football by then...still could hoop...

but my best pickup story goes way back to undergrad at u of M. peak fab five era..center court at the ccrb...now you dont go on center court at ccrb unless you are up for some major ball.

but alas, the story doesnt involve any fab five players..it involves Mitch Albom of the Detroit Free Press.

he was on my team..and he was terrible...he was getting blown by so badly that i had to continually help and switch to his man since first rule is stop ball..of course this left my man wide open and his guy would pass to the guy I had left..and technically my guy would score...

after about the fourth time..he looks at me and says "hey, do you want to switch, your guy keep scoring"

at that point i realized, you can write about sports all you want..doesn't mean you have any understanding of what is actually going on in the games.

 

[shandeezy7]

Where did you play?

Bishop Grimes

 

[stuckinbig11]

Long ago, I played in a summer rec league in Jamestown, NY. I played head-to-head against 6'6" Donn Johnston and scored 16 to his 18. He then went to UNC and played for Dean Smith. The next summer, nobody could stay with him. A few years later, I played in a rec league in Syracuse. Our team was ok, but then we had a game against a team with Jimmy Lee and Kevin King. I don't even want to think about it.

 

[UnderHisOwnPower]

Picking up from the great stories in the Zion thread, I remember the two times I ran in Archbold vs Div 1 players.
Was playing full court back when i had a decent handle and quickness, when in walk Erich Santifer, Red Bruin, Ron Payton, and Rick Harmon (had to look him up). Luckily they played fair and put two on each squad, but i remember Santifer just wanting to run run run all game & Red Bruin just dunking relentlessly every time the ball was lobbed within 10 ft of the hoop. They literally ran full speed and NEVER got tired! Managed one game, faked an ankle injury & watched from the sidelines as my dream of an nba future was brutally exposed! lol
2nd time was when a tall “older” guy was in Archbold dominating games left & right. Nobody knew who he was, but I found out later it was Kevin King who played on the ‘75 Final Four team.
Needless to say, back then the athletic gap between a college scholarship athlete and “regular” schmoes like us, was like the Grand Canyon. Can’t imagine what it’d be like today!

Beat the pro, 155 yard par 3, Barton Creek Austin against Ben Crenshaw. I was the only one from my 4 some to keep it on the green, but at about 25 feet I was twice as far as Ben. He said nice swing on my follow through, and I draw inspiration from that on every par 3 I play to this day. That's all I got.

 

[Tom K.]

In my head: I absolutely rained 3s over Brandon Triche. You can't zone me Triche!

Reality: I was shooting around by myself on an open hoop one year at Le Moyne. He showed up and started shooting around at the other end of the court.

 

[Millhouse]

I remember playing against Ryan Blackwell and trying to guard him. To make a long story short - there was nothing I could do to even slow him down, he pretty much did whatever he wanted to.

i watched him play against my old high school while I was in college, when he transferred to SU, i told everyone that we were getting michael jordan. not knocking the guy but no one saw him vs UNC and thought "incredible athleticism" but when you see him against batavia high, you think he's engineered in superhero laboratory

 

[shandeezy7]

My story isn't overly interesting, but I remember about a week or two in college at Le Moyne when SU walk-on Ronneil Herron showed up to play a few pickup games. When you watch the walk-ons play junk minutes in games, you don't really formulate a high opinion of their abilities, so you kind of forget that these guys can ball. Ronneil was far and away the best player in the gym. I was shocked.

 

[shandeezy7]

In my head: I absolutely rained 3s over Brandon Triche. You can't zone me Triche!

Reality: I was shooting around by myself on an open hoop one year at Le Moyne. He showed up and started shooting around at the other end of the court.

Haha that just reminded me that when I was in high school and college, my friends and I used to play pick-up basketball at the outdoor courts at the JCC. Used to be a good number of local high school players that would show up and play, including Brandon's older brother, Mel. Brandon used to tag along with him, but would rarely play in the games against the older guys.

I remember one night, after games wrapped up and it was getting dark out, Brandon and a couple of his friends started shooting around. He was probably 13 or 14 at the time. Next thing I know, he goes up and throws down a windmill dunk and I think my jaw hit the ground. Unfortunately, games at the JCC pretty much died down after that point, and I never really played against him much (or maybe I should say, fortunately).

 

[JackBauer44]

Bishop Grimes

Kenny freaking Gethers.

 

[JackBauer44]

Bishop Grimes

I played at PB.

 

[shandeezy7]

Kenny freaking Gethers.

Haha yup, he was a monster. He was a freshman when I was a senior. We matched up in practice every single day, so I think I was the only player in the league that could somewhat contain him defensively

 

[NC_Orange]

In my conference tournament in metro Atlanta we played against a team that had future NBA player Josh Powell on it. He had already gone off for 20ish points in the game yet we still had a slim lead toward the end of the game. With about 10 seconds left he had the ball with his team down somewhere between 2-5 points (can't remember exactly) with me standing between him and the rim. Here is where the "in my head" vs "reality" split happens:

In My Head: He drives baseline to the rim and I jump higher than I've ever jumped before and block him thus sealing our victory.

Reality: He drives baseline and manages to get his feet tangled with another player on my team and throws an awkward shot up at that basket while falling. I barely leave my feet and the ball lands directly in my hands. Pretty much game over right then and there.

Side note: The next night we play a team led by future Georgia Bulldog QB DJ Shockley and I get to experience the joys of getting posterized multiple, multiple times.

 

[shandeezy7]

I played at PB.

Nice! We had some solid games against you guys in basketball and baseball back in the day.

 

[OttoMets]

In my head: I absolutely rained 3s over Brandon Triche. You can't zone me Triche!

Reality: I was shooting around by myself on an open hoop one year at Le Moyne. He showed up and started shooting around at the other end of the court.

Actually, that jogs my memory. I went to high school with one of Brandon's older brothers and a couple times we were playing pick-up at the park and Brandon would show up to play. He is I think 7 years younger than I am. Maybe 8? So he was like an 11-year-old kid around this time. And this is basically a Charlie Murphy/Prince story: this little kid owned most of us. It was shameful. You'd have to see it to believe it, a sixth-grader who's dribbling circles around a bunch of high school seniors, but he did it. Kid was very talented from a young age.

 

[Dick_in_MI]

I have two stories. At SU my freshman year I was playing pickup and generally getting killed by short guys from Brooklyn. They grew up playing on playgrounds; I grew up playing against other suburban kids in my driveway. A kid about my height of 6 feet on the other team was really lighting it up from the outside. And by the “outside” I mean from the quad, from Manley, from Pittsburgh…. What I’m trying to say was he had what is known as “range.” After a while I realized he was Greg “Kid” Kohls, who ultimately became the greatest shooter in SU history.

GMac? Andy Rautins? Jim Lee?

No.

Anybody who ever saw The Kid knows that #33 was the greatest Orange shooter. End of story. His senior year he averaged somewhere between 25 and 27 ppg WITHOUT the 3 point arc. He would have easily been over 30 ppg had the three point line been in effect.

Fortunately I wasn’t the guy guarding him because who needs that humiliation?

Before that, in high school, my gym teacher was Larry Costello. Larry played in the NBA for years and started his coaching career at my high school. One day he had the class taking free throws. I can still hear him saying “no Richard, get your elbow higher!” Well crap, when you are shooting in front of one of the greatest free throw shooters in NBA history, it makes a guy a tad nervous. I’ll tell you what though; my son was visiting from Oregon last week and this old man beat him at HORSE. Thanks Larry!

Costello went back to the NBA briefly and then coached the Milwaukee Bucks. He eventually took them to the NBA Championship with Oscar Robertson and some guy named Alcindor. Wonder what ever happened to that Alcindor guy?

 

[OttoMets]

Haha that just reminded me that when I was in high school and college, my friends and I used to play pick-up basketball at the outdoor courts at the JCC. Used to be a good number of local high school players that would show up and play, including Brandon's older brother, Mel. Brandon used to tag along with him, but would rarely play in the games against the older guys.

I remember one night, after games wrapped up and it was getting dark out, Brandon and a couple of his friends started shooting around. He was probably 13 or 14 at the time. Next thing I know, he goes up and throws down a windmill dunk and I think my jaw hit the ground. Unfortunately, games at the JCC pretty much died down after that point, and I never really played against him much (or maybe I should say, fortunately).

Damn, you beat me to it. Mine happened maybe a couple years earlier before they moved to Genesee Hills, we'd play at Barry on the east side.