Some of my friends get constantly mad because I “pass at the feet” but I’m confused because I’m usually aiming for a bounce pass, though I do admit there are times where it’s just going to like they’re legs. I only really use a chest pass if they’re wide, near, or I feel like it won’t get intercepted. I did notice my friends usually do fumble the ball when I pass that way but I’m confused because I thought it was normal to send low/bounce passes?

My bounces are pretty low since I prioritize the speed rather than the bounce on it but I’m confused because I make sure they’re looking at me before passing and most players already bend over pretty low so I thought it would be easy to catch a pass that goes low.

It’s a habit of mine and it always gets past the other team which is why I frequent it, but my teammates seem to be struggling with it. If I’m mistaken about my point of view or I should change something, please tell me. Another concern, I practiced the reverse layup a lot since childhood and it’s like my go-to move the same way most guards have floaters or jumpers.

Both strangers and friends always seem to think I’m showing off and even when they do get to know me, they have a problem with it. It’s known pretty well by both friends and acquaintances i play with that I can’t really shoot which is why I use it a lot since the reverse is the only thing I really mastered which is why I use it a lot since it’s the only move I actually improved in while practicing.

I thought it would be regarded as a “normal” shot like a floater and others wouldn’t be so pissed if it missed, but it doesn’t seem to be that way. To others trying to attempt it is like not taking the game seriously or holding back which I don’t understand, and even friends who i thought would understand still can’t seem to wrap their head around it.

Is the reverse layup really such a hard and showy move to master, because it seems that way where trying to attempt it means you’re not really “focusing.”All of the times I’ve done it is in casual/pickup games as well which is why I find it weird why they get so pissed, is there something I’m missing?

The NBA has undergone a lot of structural changes this decade. It added a Play-In Tournament, dramatically altered its team-building rules with a second apron system and, several months ago, passed through a draft lottery reform that offered the most sweeping changes in a generation to how teams obtain its draft picks.

Teams have had to adjust to each new modification, and each tweak has had its own ripple effects. The Play-In Tournament has increased the pool of possible playoff teams each season. The second apron has picked apart title teams, which likely led to greater parity across the league — while also drawing the ire of the players union.

The impact of the draft lottery reform is yet to be seen. It was instituted before this past offseason, and teams have had just one transaction cycle under the new world order, which rejiggered how ping-pong balls are given for the NBA’s draft lottery. Now, there is an incentive for teams to avoid being among the three very worst in the league, lest they get one fewer ball in the lottery than the teams that own the fourth- through 10th-worst records.

Over the last week, top decision-makers around the league have taken to microphones across the country during their team’s media days, and while the NBA waits to see how these rules play out in reality and not just on paper, general managers and team presidents seem to think the new lottery rules will have a significant impact on this upcoming season.

“I think it’ll be the most competitive league we’ve seen, maybe ever,” Minnesota Timberwolves team president Tim Connelly said. “From top to bottom, there’s no one who is incentivized to lose, which is great for the NBA.”

The league instituted its new draft lottery rules as a panacea to the perpetual tanking that peaked over the last few seasons. The worst NBA teams were no longer just bad —some were not competitive. Tanking efforts that began by sitting out top performers turned into teams sitting out rotation players. Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle caused a kerfuffle last season over the reason why Aaron Nesmith missed a game that winter. The Utah Jazz sat starters during the fourth quarter of a still-undecided game. During the last month of the season, the Brooklyn Nets’ roster would have turned John Hollinger into Charles Barkley during a segment of “Who He Play For?”

The conversation that followed with The Athletic was 11 years in the making. From the moment he arrived in Minnesota as the No. 1 pick in 2015, Towns had spoken about what winning a championship would mean to him and his family. He endured slander and accrued scars along the way. That only made the triumph more satisfying.

“The ability to celebrate and rejoice and have that joy of a kid without being judged,” Towns told The Athletic. “And also just the freedom of being able to really talk your s— for real, like being able to say you’re the champion and no one being like, well, this or that, whatever.

“It was a much more freeing experience now being an adult and being in that situation than I think I would have ever realized when I was young.”

That smile has always been used against him, branded as a sign of weakness for a player deemed too soft to win. Now it is a badge of honor, a message to the masses that he never let his critics steal the joy that his mother instilled in him before she said goodbye.

Towns has been tested throughout his career. Through the loss-filled early days with the Minnesota Timberwolves, through the heartbreak of losing Flip Saunders, the man who drafted him, and his mother, Jacqueline, the woman who lit up his world. Through his toxic partnership with Butler, a litany of injuries and the early uncertainty of his fit in New York, which had him peeking at real estate listings in Milwaukee last February.

All of that pain, loss and criticism was buried under a blizzard of confetti and streamers that poured down on his head during the parade in what became the Summer of KAT. He gave an acceptance speech at the ESPYs, choke-slammed professional wrestlers on Saturday Night’s Main Event and sat for prestigious interviews and podcasts. It culminated with his wedding to Jordyn Woods this fall.

As the Knicks open training camp and prepare to defend their title, the reality of reaching the pinnacle feels different for Towns from the image he had in his mind while he chased it.

“When you are young, you’re looking at a championship as a sense of accomplishment,” Towns said. “I think for me, in that moment winning it, it felt very freeing because a lot of the questions I know people had on me were put to rest.”

This championship run was, first and foremost, a testament to the unifying power of sport. It was about covering the city that never sleeps in an orange-and-blue blanket of glory. It was about lifting the guilt off the shoulders of 50 years’ worth of Knicks stars who tried and failed to bring a title home. It was about connecting older fans who suffered through season after season of disappointment to a younger generation that was always told that it would all be worth it one day.

For the Towns family, it was also a full-throated rebuke of a three-word narrative that taunted them for too long.

Jimmy was right. 

As the clock ticked down in New York’s title-clinching Game 5 win over the San Antonio Spurs, Towns’ father, Karl, wanted to shout it from the rooftops.

“When there were eight seconds to go in the game, I started crying because my emotions caught up to me,” he said. “As a dad, you sit here and you hear all the rumors. ‘He can’t do it. He’s not tough. He’ll never win a championship.’

“I knew in the next eight seconds, life was going to change. All the haters, all the naysayers, everybody who doubted him have to shut their mouths and respect him now.”

The final score was New York 94, San Antonio 90. The final score was Knicks 4, Spurs 1. The final score was Karl-Anthony Towns 1, Jimmy Butler 0.

I define "perfect" = standard professional player form/not chuck from the hip. My kids are in elementary school and play competitively in leagues. They don't have "perfect" form. It could be weird jumping (feet flare out) or just incorrect shooting form (elbows crooked) or just anything. They do private training, and including me, we all try to correct their form, but we all know kids will be kids. Also, it's not like many kids their age have good form, so my kids aren't bad outliers or anything. I'm just wondering when it becomes a MAJOR concern

I’m pretty new to international basketball and want to follow along before the World Cup in Qatar.
I’ve been checking a few national federation websites and some are really confusing. It’s hard to find fixtures, results or rosters.
1. Where do you usually follow national teams and leagues?
2. Which federation websites or apps are actually good?
3. What do you look for first when you visit one?
Thanks!

Let me know wut guys think?

Every time I shoot the ball and it goes in something feels off like the pressure I put into it or something. It feels as if it shouldn't have gone in. Times when I do miss it feels like I had a great shot. Is this lack of reps what's hapenning? Not like when I try to miss i score of course, But shots that do go in, the only nets, feel weird like it shouldn't have gone in idk how to explain it, it's a perfect shot but just feels so weird the way it left my hands and the whole motion. Is there a solution to this?

Basketball is a beautiful connector. The game has given me more than I could've ever asked for. So I love hearing stories with people on how they grew to love the game.

Was there a moment or player that got you hooked?

I used to play basketball quite competitively my whole life until I stopped 3 years ago, I’ve been asked to play at a friendly league in a couple weeks for a team, I said yes but today I picked up a basketball for the first time in ages and it was like I’ve never touched one, what’s some drills I can do to help me get back up to speed asap

So the step-through move that's popular these days is that you can lift you pivot foot to step through with the other foot as long as you don't put the pivot foot back down.

If you were to do that exact same move, but without ever looking like you established a pivot foot, it would be called a travel?

My coach said I load too much and when recording myself, I do look awkward, but loading less it feels really weird. When I load to jump I typically get in just about a sitting position, my bottom almost lined up with my knees. No my bottom and knees aren’t lined up completely, I’d say if I lower about another 1 or 2 inches then my knees and bottom would be lined up. But If I keep farther up it feels really awkward and I feel like I can’t get enough power but again my coach said I’m loading way to much.

Looking for a few good, competitive/semi-competitive players to join our team for a men’s basketball league in near Chino or Ontario. Looking for guys who play consistently

Those who watch baseball, you see what are called Switch Hitters. Players that can bat left and right handed. Heck, we even have a player that can throw both left and right handed.

What about for basketball? How common are switch shooters? Players that can make a jump shot left handed and right handed effectively? Imagine Steph Curry can shoot left handed too.

Should I be keeping the ball in front of my face or on the right side of my body? It’s far more uncomfortable with the ball to the right of my body but I can see the rim better, and when i keep the ball to the front of my body it’s way more comfortable, but it’s harder to see the rim. I’m asking for tips for maybe finding what I like or maybe if it’s my release or set point when shooting that makes it harder to see? Also just general tips for maybe getting focus on the rim better even with the ball blocking my face for most of the shot.

Orlando Magic (43.5)

I didn’t love Orlando’s offseason. I don’t think the Franz Wagner-Paolo Banchero combination is workable in the long term for anything more than one-and-done playoff visits, and I worry that the Magic are fatally flawed offensively but too expensive and asset-deprived to do anything about it.

And yet … 43.5? Come on. Last season, about everything that could go wrong for Orlando did — and the Magic still won 45 games. I’ll grant that the lack of easy wins on the Eastern Conference schedule, between an improved conference and the lack of tanking incentive, will be a drag on the mid-tier teams in particular. But still.For starters, the Magic likely will be healthier. Orlando had a combined 83 missed games from the four-man core in which it has invested so heavily (Wagner, Banchero, Jalen Suggs and Desmond Bane), plus sixth man Anthony Black missed another 18.

One more thing: Orlando made a coaching change this offseason, and that could provide another boost. Sean Sweeney was arguably the league’s most highly regarded assistant coach, and maybe he can reimagine the offense so there are fewer one-action cringe isos and less your turn, my turn. Again, I’m not at all bullish on the playoff upside, but this regular-season win total seems like low-hanging fruit for a roster that seems almost intentionally designed to produce low-ceiling 47-win seasons.

Toronto Raptors (45.5)

The difference between what I’m projecting for the Raptors and where the Vegas consensus lies is the biggest discrepancy for any team.

Toronto won 46 games a season ago, traded for Kawhi Leonard in the offseason and has a preseason over/under of … 45.5 wins? Sorry, not buying that. I might have picked the over even without the Leonard trade, as good as younger players such as Scottie Barnes, Ja’Kobe Walter, Jamal Shead and Collin Murray-Boyles looked by the end of last season. This, to me, is the league’s most slept-on team and a potential monster defensively.

The cost of the Leonard trade was Brandon Ingram, a useful cog in the regular season who miraculously played 77 games a season ago before a disappointing series against the Cleveland Cavaliers that ended with him missing the final three games, and Gradey Dick, who was out of the playoff rotation.

The argument against Toronto is that Leonard almost certainly won’t play 77 games and may not get close, and whatever that per-minute quality he adds relative to Ingram will be offset by his lower availability. The Raptors also lost a very useful player in Sandro Mamukelashvili, and they’ll miss him on a roster whose “deep depth” is … shaky.

I would counter that, however, with the birth certificates: Barnes is 25 years old, Shead is 24, Murray-Boyles is 21, Walter is 22, RJ Barrett is 26 and Immanuel Quickley is 27. Rookie Allen Graves, 20, may be an immediate contributor with his old-man game, too. A team with a core as young as this usually has a pretty strong wind at its back.

The Leonard trade didn’t clean out their draft capital, so the Raptors can still make in-season upgrades if they wish. (They can still trade their swapped 2027 first and their 2029 first.) Combined with Barrett’s expiring deal, that could land another star-caliber player.

This time last year i suffered a leg break to my lateral plateau of the tibia. Season gone, played properly for the first time 5 months after. Fast forward to this summer and im scrimming with teams and playing better than i ever have.
But then it just crashed. I just didnt care, kept comparing myself to others and now i havent played in about 2 months. I tried for a team but was so out of organised play i hated it
Threw out my shoes. Started college and a few guys play, we conversed on if wed join the teams but i just feel nothing towards it anymore.
Im just still finding it hard to let go of kinda?? Anyone else feel this?

Please if you still love ball dont take it for granted.
You never know when itll stop

Robinson played 16 minutes that night, looking, by all measures, like a guy in the early stages of the career dip that befalls all NBA players. Once a starter, he was now a reserve. Once a plucky underdog story, he was now over 30 and dog-eared.

This story was never supposed to get this far in the first place. No one ever imagined Duncan playing beyond the unsung world of small-time New England college basketball. To this day, his old New Hampshire prep school coach, Jay Tilton, denies the polished narrative that young Duncan was overlooked. “He wasn’t that good,” Tilton says. “He was skinny, didn’t have core strength. Sloppy feet, like he was running in snowshoes. The only reason he kept advancing is because, internally, he’s always had to live up to something.”

So, yes, Duncan Robinson played Oct. 28, 2024.

Even if that day’s pregame shootaround was awkward. The prior afternoon, the Heat unveiled a statue of Dwyane Wade in a ceremony outside Kaseya Center in downtown Miami. Attendance was mandatory. Duncan was a no-show.

Robinson, in his seventh year with the Heat, heard all about it. Teammates busted him up. “Damn! You’re too big for D Wade?!” one cracked.

Duncan laughed it off. He never mentioned why he missed the ceremony. He never told anyone that night’s game felt like playing “in a silo.”

“It was the first time in my career I can remember being actively in a game, but my mind not exclusively being in the game,” Duncan says. “I remember someone being on the free-throw line and I was completely dazing out of the moment, thinking about my brother.”

Duncan missed Dwyane Wade’s statue ceremony because, when leaving his condo that afternoon, his mother called.

Elisabeth Robinson asked if Duncan was with Caroline, his then-girlfriend. She asked if he was sitting down. She paused, working out the words.

“Is Eli OK?” Duncan asked.

“He is alive,” Elisabeth said. “But he jumped.”

“Which bridge?”

🏀 Wednesday Night Pickup Basketball in Markham – $13 Drop-in

Hey everyone!

I’m looking for a few more people to join our weekly indoor basketball run in Markham.

📅 Every Wednesday
⏰ 8:15–10:15 PM
📍 Markham
💰 $13 per session
🏀 Recreational / intermediate level

It’s a casual group — just looking to get some good runs in, get some exercise, and have fun. No long-term commitment required; you can join whenever you’re available.

If you’re interested, send me a DM and I can provide the exact location and more details.

Looking for players who can play regularly or occasionally. 🏀