(Continuing on from Part 1: Finding the Passion for Basketball)
My first ever organized basketball game came to me in the eighth grade, a year after playing and developing my skills on the outdoor courts prior to the building of our school gym. I could now dribble the ball efficiently and score at free will. Basketball was awesome during my seventh grade year, I mean, I was actually starting to become one of the best ball players in the school, it was incredible how one year and one whole summer could make such a difference.
I spent plenty of time on those courts with my small group of friends; when lunch time came, we would all cram our lunches down our stomachs and hustle over to get the best courts. Our "team" was good and dedicated a lot of time to get together and play whenever we possibly could. We loved to play and it was an active hobby that got us excited everyday. It was only logical for us to try out the following year for the Rosemead city recreational team for our school, Temple Intermediate, and so we did.
What we did not know was the type of physicality and talent there were all around us. There were so many ball players with amazing scoring capabilities, it was astonishing how there were even any cuts that were made. Obviously as a 5'2'' Asian (yes, I have only grown about 2 inches), I knew that I had to prove my worth with my speed and ability to sufficiently lay-in the ball against any defender. My shot was on and off but I really had a knack for attacking the basket and scoring off of unorthodox hook and scoop shots. However, it always seems to come down to height and mine just did not cut it. On top of that, any one who has gone through middle school and high school knows that coaches have a sort of attraction to football players because of their natural athleticism and physical presences. During these days, if you were a football player, you almost had a guaranteed shot to make it onto the team, regardless of your lack of coordination on the court. Because I did not naturally have any of these attributes, I made it to the Temple "A" team which may seem like a good thing at first thought but ironically the Temple "A" team was really the "B" team, the team with the second-hand players that were slightly above par and a bit too good to be simply cut. Nevertheless, I was happy and glad to be part of an actual team. It was great to finally get a jersey and play with coaches and referees just like the pros. Boy, did it all turn out to be quite a different experience that I was going for.
First and foremost, I do have to say that I really do not regret trying out and joining the team at all. It was a blast and a huge opportunity to experience something that I have never done before and for that I am grateful. However, the season was quite a disaster. We had a coach that really did not care about the team, but who could blame him, it was a rec team playing in a rec league if anything it was our fault for looking into the NBA and expecting too much. When reality hits, it actually does hurt. Players in an amateur level do not care about the team, they all play individual in hopes of either getting themselves ready for the next level or really just garner the attention. I think that as young athletes, many are just naturally inclined to be a bit more selfish and really, there is no one to truly blame in these situations. This playing style, the infamous "iso" was something that I was accustomed to experiencing on the outdoor courts but I was really hoping for more out of organized basketball so in this sort of aspect, it was sort of sad. If rec ball was going to be exactly the same as street ball, then what was the point of having an organized league anyway? It was strange but I was already used it and simply let it go. In addition, the new gym had barely opened and it was very nice to play in. Any kid was fortunate enough to even get just a few minutes in it so we were all excited to have an opportunity to practice in it for two whole hours everyday.
After the first week, I rolled with it and I knew that I had to go out there and just play. I reminded myself that basketball has always been something I simply enjoyed to do and if I was not going to enjoy it, why would I keep playing it. So I worked and worked hard, I listened to the coach and by chance, I got a starting spot simply because I knew how to run the press break.
On the day of our first game, it was all a wreck. We were to play Duarte at home and it was not looking good. We were all individuals and we simply could not work together; other than a few guys that I had already played with before (including some of my close friends), most of our team really consists of people that we had not taken the time to really get to know at all. So what about that week we had together to get into shape and work on our game? Well, most of the guys used that week to try to impress the coach with their own athletic scoring abilities and no one cared to remember any of the fundamentals that we were being taught, including a simple press break. So, as I said before, with the chance of actually knowing how to run the break, I got to start.
The first game of the season was really the blueprint of our entire season: awkward. It was awkward because of the flow of the game and the sort of pace that we were playing. On the offensive, no one knew anyone's sweet spots or where we could do the most damage to score; passes were sloppy and half-hearted (if anyone even passed at all) and boxing out was out of the question. On the defensive, players would switch without telling one another and two of our guys would end up guarding the same guy. It was horrible.
Now I am not wronging the team and saying that I did not have any flaws because I did and I felt bad about them too. I actually fouled out of the game in the early third quarter, three of which I had picked up in the first half. Organized basketball is way more fast-paced than street ball so I happened to reach in during my attempts to stop guys, and I did it a lot. After being blown out by Duarte, I actually think that the loss did more good than bad. A lot of us decided that we may have been taking things a bit too seriously so we all just started to play to play. Ironically, with this new mindset of knowing that the season was a bust from the start, we all started to bond much more as a unit and we actually managed to pick up a single victory over the course of the season, a victory that we cherished and held onto.
At first, I was very frustrated in my experience playing rec ball but I realized that my frustrations would not do anything to help my team and myself. So I began to understand that these guys are going to want the ball so why not give it to them? I found joy on my own by not necessarily scoring the basket all the time but finding myself playing the assist guy or the pick and pop guy or the fast break guy at times. What I am trying to say is that I found certain ways to score when I felt that I had the best opportunity, I decided to enjoy playing for the sake of playing with others and being more social; if they wanted the ball they could have it and that was fine with me. Once I realized that I was taking the whole thing too seriously and lightened up a bit, I mean the whole experience was a lot better.
To conclude this segment-so to speak- I think that this early experience I shared with others was really the first time that I got to feel and understand the importance of getting everyone on the right page and understanding others. When I was very serious about the game, I mean that did not do anything because I really could not relate to my teammates and this actually took us apart more than it brought us together. They played for fun and played to score and I could not stand that, but at the same time I had to recognize it and understand it; once I did, the whole experience approached me from another angle.
To take from this, I think that it is pretty clear why I really dislike the idea that one man can drive everyone to a championship in the NBA. Those guys on our team who always wanted the ball and always wanted to score looked up to these players and they probably thought that they could do the same. The problem is, when you have five guys getting the same ideas, no one would ever pass the ball. Hence this sort of marketed stardom brews wrong ideas in the heads of players within a team sport on all levels. Do not get me wrong, watching these superstars score offers plenty of entertainment but not everyone can play like this and no one really sees the hard work that these players have to go through on their own before they can actually play to that degree. I did not buy into it because I got into basketball sort of later than most players would (as I have mentioned in part one) and already saw the game from a different angle. This is why I appreciate those who play for their teams and score when they can, when they are the best option on a play.
With all that I learned from watching basketball and playing on an organized team for the first season, I would go on to take all that I learned forward to high school, which was a completely different animal that was interesting, to say the least.
To Be Continued...
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