A more serious post

Kids at the clinic Marcus and I put on. We usually do about 2 clinics a week with about 100 or so kids each time. They are funny but drive me crazy! They are more interested in hearing us talk than teach then basketball.

Well, a thought came across me today so I thought I would share it with you. I knew that playing basketball would be much different now than it ever would before, mostly because of the relationships I had with my teammates. I mean Briggs, Hughie, Shives, Sheck, KJ, Kais, Mike, Gaff, and so on will always be my teammates. I look at them as if they are "my guys." Guys that I would do anything for anytime. Basketball was just something we had in common that brought us all together. Here, it is much different. I have Marcus, then 10 other guys who I have known for no more than 6 weeks. But something happened in the last game that made me realize why I love this game. All game long this opposing player was giving me shot after shot in the chest as I would cut or get ready to come off a screen. And he would do it almost perfectly so the refs couldnt see. Now usually I am a fairly level headed player and it takes a bit to fire me up, but this guy was none the less started to piss me off. With about 5 minutes to go he gave me another shot in the stomach and I lost my air...it just so happened to be a bad time to lose air as well because I was ready to call for a sub. I hit the ground with one knee and searched for any oxygen I could get back. Coach saw it and absolutely went off! Words were exchanged by the two of us which I wont include in the blog. They went something like "Gosh darnit buddy, now if you dont stop throwing those elbows I'm going to get really really upset." Ok it wasnt quite like that but you get the idea. Therefore, being a great sportsman and showing great character (not), the next play I went for a steal and "accidentally" ran through him in the process. (Parents please keep this message away from your children haha!) The ref obviously called a foul and before I could turn around the player was just about to swing at me. Bracing myself to have my first overseas rumble, I got ready to take a shot...but before I knew what happened one of my teammates came out of nowhere and placed this guy on the ground.

Players then circled up and some words where thrown around but no further damage was caused. My wing man then points at the guy and says, "If you touch my point guard again I'm gonna....." fill in the rest yourself. But after all this crap that happened, I remember sitting in the locker room and thinking wow. My teammates had my back. They were willing to put themselves into my "battle" in order to look out for me. The jersey that we were wearing was the same jersey, which put us on the same team. They have known me for less than two months but are willing to back me up. Although this was something stupid, it did make me realize how important this is. There is a level of respect one has for another teammate, and its great to know that I have theirs. So although they may not be "my guys" who I previously stated above, they are my teammates who I go to battle with. I think this is going to be a great season just because of that!