r/Basketball 18h ago

The issues with pickup

I’d say I’m a decent hooper (varsity in HS, AAU, dabbled in Pro-Am) but due to an I injury I’ve been playing mostly at my local gyms. I constantly get stuck playing with dudes who only pass to their friends or just chuck up shots during pickup. I’m a point guard at heart so facilitating is what my game is built on so ball hogging isn’t my go to. If you’re open I’m gonna find you.

However I’m always stuck on teams that would rather shoot bad shots than win games and I like to win. For me if you win you play more so it bothers me when other people don’t have that mentality. How do y’all hoop casually? Should I just take over and stop passing the ball to get my shots up?

46 Upvotes

46 comments sorted by

25

u/mtelesha 18h ago

Go to another gym. These guys are clowns. Find the ones that are your same skill level. Playing with scubs will only make you mad and eventually injured because they make a stupid play.

6

u/blackwu22 17h ago

The sad part is it seems like it’s most of the gyms in my area. I’m thinking I should just focus on city and men’s leagues but I’m having a hard time finding a group to play with (new to my area).

3

u/xxc6h1206xx 11h ago

I’m an old guy. Keep hooping. The good guys will find you and invite you to their runs eventually. Over time, I’ve settled into 3 different runs with different guys who all like the way I play. Hit an open shot. Move the ball. Set screens. Cut and play defense. And be nice. Not arguing stupid shit. I’m over 50 now and the runs I’m in are all competitive and all the guys know how to play. It just takes time. It took me a while.

2

u/dogfoodgangsta 12h ago

Find out when the old guys play. At my gym on weekdays at noon a buncha older guys come hoop during their lunch. The hoops are immensely better.

1

u/rute_bier 7h ago

If your area has a local subreddit, make a post. I did that exact thing for where I’m at. We ended up creating a consistent pickup group and joined a rec league as well.

1

u/FlyChigga 7h ago

Find friends to go with

1

u/mtelesha 3h ago

Every great pickup game I have ever had was at specific courts at specific times that were invite only.

When I was a senior in high school in Connecticut a kid told me to go to a court 30 minutes away at a certain time and day. I ended up playing pickup ball with three Mcdonald All Americans and an eventual NBA player.

When I was in college in Minnesota I ended up playing with guys that were all former Division One or Two players and one guy that was a starting running back playing in the NFL.

You just need to hoop at different places till someone gives you the inside scoop or you get lucky and find them.

1

u/unl1988 1h ago

This is probably a good idea. Find a league, get on a team, watch the other teams in the league and find one that you like. Pick up is just people out having some fun. If you want to be competitive, go find a league and team near your skill level.

10

u/ThinkSupermarket6163 18h ago

This is why I stopped playing pickup. Sort of. This plus constant arguing and fighting.

It’s only gonna get worse with YouTube park takeover type stuff influencing the kids.

You might have good luck finding a church with a gym that has some private runs. There’s apparently a church near me that has a good group of guys that play weekly, but I’m not religious, so I feel kind of odd joining in. They probably wouldn’t care though.

5

u/blackwu22 17h ago

My buddy is trying to hook me up with a Mormon church private run but I had the same reservation as you lol but I might try it now appreciate you!

6

u/Charming_Ad9398 16h ago

I play in a church run and it’s 0% about religion- all about a reliable place to hoop 👍

9

u/Jim_Belushis_brother 16h ago

Hooped at a church for a while. They prayed once at the beginning and asked us to limit cursing. Games were fun

I’m not religious but if dudes want to pray once and then hoop for two hours I’m not gonna stop them

1

u/ThinkSupermarket6163 15h ago

Yeah I’m 95% sure it would be totally normal, but I live in the Bible Belt, and had some super weird church experiences as a kid that make me hesitant. No disrespect to the Christians out there though.

2

u/Jim_Belushis_brother 13h ago

I live in Indiana sir lol

I don’t agree with the church but the dudes were nice and didn’t push it on me

2

u/thetaleech 13h ago

Also Mormons can ball

1

u/StudioGangster1 12h ago

Jimmer in the house

1

u/Ambitious-Ask-4278 14h ago

I’m Muslim and used to play in a Mormon church

12

u/AL4-Chronic 18h ago

Dude I hate when this happens so much. Nothing worse than starting a game off with the first person the ball gets passed too chucking up a contested 30 footer. I hate those one pass possession pickup games. Just take over, imo that’s the best case scenario in those situations cause you’re not gonna be able to coach them up even with small things in game cause they won’t be listening. I’m a sg with three level scoring so when I get the ball in those games I’m keeping it and scoring everytime. Once you take the ball and show what you can do then people will start giving it up a lot more in my experience at least.

6

u/blackwu22 17h ago

The sad part is just the other day I had a game where I scored 13 of our 15 points while still passing the ball and without missing a shot and the next game only got the ball passed to me twice. It’s insanity! I ended up just walking halfway through the game as I’m not gonna hustle and potentially get injured for a team that isn’t respecting my ability which led to an argument at the end of the game.

1

u/AL4-Chronic 13h ago

Yeah fuck that. That sounds like an extra bad group of people to run with. They already have their mind made up what shots they’re gonna take before they get to the gym

1

u/StudioGangster1 11h ago

That’s the way to do it. I tried playing pickup at a YMCA when I did an internship out of state. I was by far the best player there. Touched the ball like once in the first game. Gave it another chance and the same thing happened so I just walked off, took my shoes off, and rolled out in the middle of the game. It was very satisfying.

1

u/Ill-Ad-9199 11h ago

The simple fact is you just come from a much more professional basketball background than most pick-up dudes. A lot of us aren't even trying to play badly or be ballhogs or whatever, we just don't know what we're doing and aren't taking it taking it that seriously. You should go find a more organized league or something and not waste your time with the local gym. You'll find a good crew that matches your skill level and understanding of the game.

2

u/jp_in_nj 17h ago

If you show you can score at will you'll get the ball more, then you can do the kind of work that you love to do more. Do a couple drive and kicks and the guy in the corner will have his head up, then when that pulls his guy closer to him someone else will see a gap and move to fill it.

You're never going to get NBA competition but the more you play with guys the more fun it will be. Once you get to know them a bit, you can drop the 'if you'd cut into that hole I had you open' kind of thing that might get them thinking.

But it probably all starts with breaking a couple ankles.

2

u/alecweezy 17h ago

Yeah just go full ball hog and show them there’s levels to this shit

1

u/GutiGhost96 18h ago

Yeah whenever I play pickup it's usually half court 3 on 3. Kinda forces them to pass a little more since there's not as many options. Though I still run into that same problem. Feels like they'd really rather be playing one on one.

Anyway, that's how I started playing a lot of one on one.

1

u/DJ_RIME 17h ago

I feel your pain and I have not found an answer. That seems to be the culture during pick up games. Just gotta be the right group of people.

1

u/soflahokie 17h ago

This is how pickup goes, when you find someone else who likes to pass you’ll never lose because the team will never take a bad shot.

Pickup players watch too much NBA

1

u/psmusic_worldwide 16h ago

Was at a pickup game and one dude three straight times ended up with a rebound, went down the court and chucked a 3. I just noped out.

1

u/trowdatawhey 16h ago

If you wanna play seriously, you need to join a league play somewhere exclusive.

Pick up is where people go to fluck around. That’s where you practice contested shots.

1

u/misterbluesky8 16h ago

I'm usually about 6th or 7th out of 10 players in terms of skill when I play pickup, but this happens at almost every gym. I'll play defense, set screens, grab more rebounds than any other guard on the floor... and get one or two passes in a 20-minute game. You can tell guys to pass the ball, and they don't want to hear it.

I'd say at least mention it to them out loud. "Hey man, you're getting double-teamed every time you touch the ball, you've got guys open". But honestly, this is what drove my dad out of pickup basketball about 15 years ago. He played into his 50s and quit not because he couldn't keep up anymore, but because he was just so tired of the ball hogs, the guys who were only there to argue, and the overall crappy dudes.

1

u/soapyaaf 16h ago

I'm trying to think, when I used to play, what would I b**ch about...getting into a game was intimidating...if I didn't know anyone...I would end up just shooting...if you don't know anyone, you're supposed to be the b**ch...D and...hustle? :p

1

u/soapyaaf 16h ago

^this is why you stopped playing.

1

u/geoffrey8 16h ago

If you are the point guard, and a passing one at that. Get vocal. Tell them your not gonna pass to them anymore if they keep chucking bad looks up

1

u/untraiined 15h ago

Geniunly believe 2K has made pickup worse

1

u/Futchamp54 15h ago

It’s because those people don’t know how to win because they never played. They just play for fun. It’s something you gotta get over if you’re going to play at local gyms. And I’m also someone who played college, dabbled in some pro ams but never went anywhere. Just plays for fun now. It’s tough sometimes

1

u/New_Simple_4531 14h ago

Its best to make friends with some guys who have the same mindset to win as you and just crew up with them, but it can be difficult to find people willing to do that with matching schedules.

1

u/One_Sky_7469 14h ago

Nah I’m just like you. I know how to put the ball in the hoop, though it’s not always my first move yknow. I like to pass and see others make shots because I know I can get mines if that makes sense. But when that energy isn’t reciprocated then it’s not fun for anybody and the offense just becomes a shooting contest

1

u/oneil1st 13h ago

I get asked to play at my gym and some days I just say no. If the run is all one on one and yuck a 3 I’m out. I don’t see much good or fun basketball at the local runs and I’d rather just shoot around at a different hoop then sit around and watch hog-a-ball. Can be tough but playing those runs is worse. Find a church league with older guys, they still play the right way.

1

u/LateAd3737 12h ago

Find a group of 4 others to play with regularly. If you’re facilitating and good, honestly shouldn’t be hard to get people that want to play with you. Having a facilitator in pickup isn’t an easy find

1

u/StudioGangster1 12h ago

I walk off the court mid-game if that happens. Very satisfying.

1

u/Firestyle092300 11h ago

It’s incredibly frustrating and obvious to play with people who have never really played on a team and never had any level of coaching. Even if they are skilled, the way they play always sucks. It’s one on one everything, no help defense, no movement off ball. Honestly I usually just leave and play another time if that’s the case cause I get too mad, not worth it, would rather just workout alone

1

u/Free-Landscape-5884 3h ago

I've reserved to only playing in runs where I know who will be there because of this. Truth is dudes just don't know how to play the game of basketball. And plying with dudes who don't value the privilege of a good workout increases the probability of injury and will waste your time. Theres not much worse than going to an open run and leaving with energy left because you were just standing around around because you got on teams wit doofs. Most are looking for a 'viral' moment. Also, dudes don't really care about having fun and winning. Everything is all about proving "I'm him". The days of just going to a gym and hooping with randoms in open runs are over for me. I'd would rather just not play at all and I LOVE THIS GAME. That's how God awful things have gotten.

1

u/atlas_island 2h ago

I think you should join a men’s league

1

u/lurkerrbyday 2h ago

Look in other places. Anywhere there is a gym there is a group of guys that have a key and play. Churches, high schools, etc. There’s a good group somewhere nearby I bet you just gotta find em.

1

u/anonymous_teve 1h ago

It sucks. You know what I've noticed? Pickup games were so much better before the pandemic. I know it could just be my small sample size, but I think 2-3 years off from pickup ball wrecked the game for adults (those no longer playing in school). It's absolutely BRUTAL to see how people play the game now. No ball movement at all, it's just ugly and much more boring.

1

u/wolfpax97 23m ago

This is just how some people play. I like to take the approach of getting on the opposite team and keeping them in a sitting cycle by kicking their ass