Hoops

The life of being a BIG

How can you say bigs are sooks when theres plenty of guards who have never enter the key and take a hard knock. I personally know a kid who plays SEABL and all he does is stand on the baseline corner three waiting for the ball to be thrown his way.

As a big I don't mind the no calls as much as some of you guys do though because being physical makes the game fun for the bigs. Who doesn't like a bit of push and shove or an elbow here ant there while being beaten up in the key!

To other Bigs, if you know you are going to get the foul called...... FOUL HARD, make it so that the little guards don't want to come into the paint again because they should be scared of you. Take your size and use it to make your presence felt even more!

Seems like it just depends on your personal bias , my kid plays on the big every week and is really only a swingman and picks up plenty of fouls on d but gets belted around offensively and gets nothing !! Doesn't take much effort for someone 10 to 20 kg heavier to clear a path without registering the contact !

Basketball certainly has a Darwinian approach to the development of bigs/talls. 'If you are tough enough to put up with the crap all the way through juniors, then we will value you at a later date. If not, find another sport where you will be looked after.'

Having followed my tall daughter through juniors and seen innumerable photo's, it never ceases to amaze me how every photo of a guard is basically unencumbered, while every photo of a big sees them dealing with contact all the time. I have often tried to tell refs that it is their job to make the game FAIR, not even. In that case, a foul is a foul, regardless of size, or scoreline for that matter.

We certainly don't do anything (as a sport) to nurture the tall athletes who will ultimately be our stars, but we are very quick to damn any player with height who tends to drift to the perimeter as 'soft'.

Yes - talls need to learn to play with contact, that is their lot, but I had an interesting conversation with a couple of friends the other day, both of whom have played extensively in the NBL and WNBL (respectively of course) as shooting guards, but who as Masters athletes are now talls.

Their view now is 'why would a big play - all they do is rebound the guards' shitty shots and get ignored when they have battled to get position inside'. They are amazed that none of their big contemporaries still want to play Masters ball.

Surely as a sport we want to encourage ALL players to develop their skill levels and the best way to do that is to allow them to execute their skills without people hanging all over them (the niggling, 'tagging-type' foul is the last resort of the player who is outmatched on a skill level and unfortunately the first resort of many poor coaches). Why does it seem impossibel to create this environment for all players?

Used to call my son the 'Clothes Line' in junior basketball. Every time he went for a shot there would be a couple of kids hanging off each arm.
A much wiser head than mine fixed it for a while by getting him to use the elbows to make some space. Worked well till the Garden Gnome Refs started targeting him with fouls for having his elbows out. He is used to it now and does not sook but still gets frustrated occasionally when he comes back from Nationals or a tour of Vic. where he can enjoy a more physical game, to be put down by refs who think it is physically imposisble for a tall player to make a clean block on a guard. Has developed an impressive standing dunk that they have trouble picking on, so they have resorted to Tech fouls if he hangs onto the ring.

I know your frustration, mate. I get sick of one set of rules for the little guys and one for the bigs.

As for those anons who reckon you're being a sook, I reckon they'd be spraying the refs pretty quickly if they got elbowed in the guts and the nuts a few times by shorter players trying to make a statement.

Basically photographs of random US Pro Sports jerseys being rocked in public (note to self: burn Steve Nash Mavs Jersey!!!)...

Just fun to see the randomness of the jerseys - it's like a box of chocolates (who wears a Manute Bol jersey... click and find out... the Bobby Hurley jersey is a good one too!!!).

http://straightcashhomey.net/

@anonymous, yeah when I think about it I have seen a lot of plays where a player makes a sound and gets the foul. It's irritating that the game has got to that point though. And @2nd anonymous I know that's the world of basketball but shortly the refs can work to make the game more equal?