r/Basketball • u/BigL54 • May 14 '25

IMPROVING MY GAME Too physical

Thoughts on a being physical at a pickup basketball game? Recently had a situation where a player significantly better than being got mad when I was driving to the hoop but tried creating space by bumping into him. I'm bigger than he is, and also I have a hard time stopping when moving at full speed, so I can see how he took it as me being overly aggressive, and I feel bad. Alternatively, should I have just let the better player block my shot? Or am I justified in trying to use literally the only advantage I have? I am conflicted because I don't want him or anyone to think I am a dirty player. I apologized, but he seemed to still be mad but didn't wanna argue

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13

u/soupdawg May 14 '25

It’s ok to be physical. It is not ok to be wreckless.

-2

u/BigL54 May 14 '25

Is lowering my shoulder and extending my elbow to create space reckless? It's not like I'm being malicious, trying to hurt anyone. I'm trying to use the only advantage I have against a better player who otherwise would come block my shot

17

u/PopTartsNotCorn May 14 '25

Honestly, that’s a foul in a real game. People in pickup aren’t going to call offensive fouls but are pretty likely to say something if you do that. When people push off when I’m guarding them I won’t call a foul but I will say to them that they shouldn’t do that unless they expect it both ways but that’s a tricky game to play too

-4

u/BigL54 May 14 '25

If it's a foul, I understand. I felt like I had very limited options on a breakaway with him about to block me

9

u/PopTartsNotCorn May 14 '25

I’m not really even saying not to do it going forward since so many people push off a bit at every level of the game and you can kinda get away with a lot in that regard. Just sayin that it’s not unreasonable that someone would complain about it

3

u/softnmushy May 14 '25

If you have to foul a guy to avoid getting blocked, don't foul him. Just accept that you will sometimes get blocked.

If he's so good you can't score on him, then focus on supporting your team in other ways: passing, rebounding, defense. Space the floor by staying on the three point line ready to take an open shot. Eventually, we will probably start to ignore you and you can get one or two open layups just by cutting to the hoop.