I Got Next - NY Pickup BasketBall Article

I found this to be a nice read about one baller's pickup basketball experience in New York.

The city’s busy, congested courts have influenced the style of play that takes place on them. For instance, I haven’t run across many pure shooters, but I have encountered a lot of athletes with wicked ball-handling skills. My theory is that because the courts here are so packed with players, there is not enough time or space to practice jump shots.
That is why so many shooters, I suspect, are cornfed boys from the Midwest and prep schoolers from the suburbs: the country and sprawl quarantine them, and they have nothing to do but practice fundamentals by their lonesome.
...
I decided to try Tillary again, this time with a chip on my shoulder. I went early one Saturday morning and managed to coerce my way onto a team. Things were going well in the game. I was scoring and defending and more than holding my own.
It was at that moment of contentment that I was officially inaugurated into New York basketball. I was dunked on. The spectators in the bleachers howled.
...
The best baller at Raymond Bush approached the game with an oddly endearing mix of indifference and grace. He had a wicked crossover and tripped me up a few times, much to my chagrin. Before the game he had his hands down his white trousers for an inordinate amount of time. But I didn’t let my phobia of germs get the better of me.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/12/sport ... ref=sports

Really good read, thanks for the heads up. Sounds like a really cool experience, a good insight into the whole scene.

The city’s busy, congested courts have influenced the style of play that takes place on them. For instance, I haven’t run across many pure shooters, but I have encountered a lot of athletes with wicked ball-handling skills. My theory is that because the courts here are so packed with players, there is not enough time or space to practice jump shots.

That is why so many shooters, I suspect, are cornfed boys from the Midwest and prep schoolers from the suburbs: the country and sprawl quarantine them, and they have nothing to do but practice fundamentals by their lonesome.

Reminds me a little of some old Slam Magazine articles, where various streetball legends would make claims such as "if (they )had a jumpshot, no one would be talking about Michael Jordan".