Speaking about ways to get away from the NBA All Star game… how about a three on three tourney between the All Stars? That would be cool, yet it would present the same opportunity for not trying hard… oh well. I’ll tell you what. These dudes from the NBA would learn a lot from watching kids play in a three on three tournament, like my son did on this President’s Day.
Is there anyone out there that still plays for the love of the game? Growing up, that’s what we did. We played because we had fun. Running three on threes, two on twos, one on one, or full court games… it didn’t matter. We just wanted to play. It didn’t matter if we played 6 back to back games either. Sure, we weren’t getting paid millions of dollars either; maybe that’s the problem? Not here to solve that, but just recalling the memories of being on the court, playing ball. I still get a little taste of that, with my son. I still love playing basketball, whether it’s on our nerf hoop in the basement, our roll out basket in the alley, or in some gym. I enjoy it; he does too. The thing I love even more than playing right now though? Watching my son play. They were signed up for a tournament at a local high school on Monday; game on!
It wasn’t the same team as before. One of the kids from my son’s team ended up playing up on a 7th grade team, so… we ended up grabbing a 5th grader to play up with my son, and another kid from his team. They played their butts off. Nothing against the kid that didn’t play with the team; he is a great player. However, these three kids that were on the court together (no subs), really play well together. What if I told you they went undefeated and won the tournament, just like my son’s 5th grade team, just like my son’s 6th grade team… would you believe it? Well, believe it! They did it again, and walked away champs, again; that doesn’t get old!
My son doesn’t have my 6’2″ height yet. With my wife at 5’9″, I feel it’s only a matter of time, but that’s out of our control. What is in his control, is the way he plays the game. Different from a full court 5 on 5, you have to be a lot more aggressive. Now I love to see my son shooting and knocking down outside shots, which he does, which he did on this day, but when he goes to the hole… One of the smallest kids on the court taking it to the hole with reckless abandon, dropping in layups, getting contact, going to the line to complete an “and 1″… love it, love it, love it! It doesn’t matter your size I told him; you go hard… and although there’s always room for improvement, always (something else I always preach), he showed he could do it effectively in this game; he wasn’t the only one. Both of his teammates kicked ass too, as they took turns taking it to the opposition. It was really fun to watch.
So yeah, another good day in the office for my son and his teammates. What’s next? Some more swim meets, and then baseball, maybe track, but… we will sprinkle in some basketball, always. I grew up loving to play this game; I can see my son loves it too… and he’s pretty good at it. Congrats my boy!
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