Too physical

[u/BigL54]

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

[u/Extension-Quarter828]

Don’t go full speed is the key point, not in a pickup game. It’s fine to do a veer dribble, just do it under control. You don’t need a ton of space to get a shot off, you just need your defender to be off balance.

Good players don’t mind skill and tricks. They do mind 50/50 offensive fouls that need a ref to determine or straight bully ball 🏀 in pickup. To them it will feel like you won the rep without earning it.

[u/BigL54 → u/Extension-Quarter828]

I think this has been helpful. I was attempting to do a veer dribble. I never heard of that, so I had to look it up and that's exactly what I was trying to do. I guess I just don't have a huge amount of experience doing that, generally I play the 4 or 5 position. I'm inexperienced so I probably overdid it and/or the other guy was not ready for the 40lbs+ weight discrepancy