Dostoevsky

Ok, here we go...

Possible, yes.....Extremely difficult, yes. If you are a professional caliber player, then there is a team out there that would be willing to hire you. The problem is that without having played high-school and especially college ball, you haven't been able to make a name for yourself or get yourself noticed. Professional teams in America do hold open tryouts from what I understand. If you are serious about this I would begin to contact minor league teams, CBA, ABA and see if you can get one.

The other thing you can do that would be very helpful is to find an agent, which is difficult if you don't have a name. I'm not sure how you would go about doing this because I came up the orthodox way, high school, D-1 scholarship and success, accolades, graduation and agent signing. It's a lot harder to get to the top coming from the streets. I would suggest tying to get a minor league tryout. If you live near a major city than you might try to play with the professionals during the summer when they have open runs to stay in shape. Find out where they play and try to get in on the runs.

Dude, you have to find some more competitive games to play in. There is no way you should be in the post at 6-2. If you are serious about playing professionally, you are going to be a 2 guard, possibly a 3 man if you are a tremendous athlete. You have to work on your perimeter skills CONSTANTLY. You should never play in the post again, I can't stress this enough.

Developing your overall game will take lots of hard work by yourself in the gym working on your perimeter skills like shooting and dribbling as well as finding better games to play in. Try to get involved in a really competitive men's league or something like that. Good competition will make you a better player.

Ahhh, not really. I mean training programs can be helpful with giving you ideas and drills for what to work on I guess, but I think you'd be better served by finding competitive games and getting involved. If you see a player in those games who looks like he knows what he's doing, talk to him. Tell him that you noticed this or that and that you'd like to know how he does it and how he practiced it. Just strike up a conversation with another player, basketball players are normally more than happy to share experiences and ideas. That's the best way to learn to me. After you learn something new, practice, practice, practice. Just seeing something won't help you master it. You must beat it into your muscle memory through lots of repition work.

Absolutely.....Work on both skills in the same workout. You have to be able to do both of these things at any given point in a game. For example, if you defender plays too close to you, you must be able to drive by him. If he gives you too much room, you shoot. One dimensional players are very easy to guard, so make yourself a threat to drive or shoot.

Take the ball on the perimeter and alternate between pump-faking and driving and shooting. Get comfortable out there. It's not easy, but it feels great when you have all your skills working at once. Also, playing lots of 1-1 against a good player will help you tremendously with this problem.

If by 'wide open' you mean keeping your fingers spread out, then yes, I agree that this is optimal because it gives you more control of the ball. Also, the ball shouldn't be touching your palm, only your fingertips when you dribble. No hazards to speak of, this is definitely the way to go. The ball shouldn't be in your palm when you shoot either for that matter.

Well, this is the thing you have to understand. NBA players often times get annoyed when approached by adults seeking autographs because lots of these people are professionals who turn around and sell the autographed merchandise, and that's kind of shitty. I mean basically, lots of people don't give a shit about the athletes and aren't even legitimately fans, they are just trying to turn an easy dollar by getting an NBA player to sign something, then turning around and selling it to real fans. Yes, I think these types of people are assholes and I can understand why players tell them to fuck off.

Athletes don't mind signing for 'real fans' most of the time. When a kid comes up and asks you for an autograph with a big smile on his face, you know that signing his hat or shirt is going to make his day and it makes you feel great. He'll wear that until it gets destroyed, not turn around and try to make $20 bucks off of your hard earned name. That's why kids always come first.

Your Andre Miller story kind of highlights my point. You sent the man 3 cards and a nice letter offering to let him keep two, which cleary signified that you weren't trying to turn a buck on him. As a token of his appreciation of your true 'fanship,' he not only sent all 3 back, but paid the fare as well. NBA guys aren't assholes, they just don't like getting played.

The Amare Stoudamire incident is another story altogether. Like you said, the man was out there to have knee surgery and you saw him in a restaurant. He was probably hungry, had shit on his mind and didn't want to be bothered at the moment. You gotta keep in mind, you're not the only person asking guys for autographs, they get this shit every day, everywhere they go. Sometimes dudes just want to be left alone. To his credit, it sounds like he was cool about it though.

Well I hope this post was thorough enough for you.... I'm off to lunch, holla.

__________________
Pride is the recognition of the fact that you are your own highest value and, like all of man’s values, it has to be earned.


It is not advisable, James, to venture unsolicited opinions. You should spare yourself the embarrassing discovery of their exact value to your listener.

Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged