OK so this is what it was. I went all across town to play ball with my friend and his co-workers. There were six of us. We were supposed to get a game of three on three going, but his coworkers pussied out and said they wanted to just play 21 instead. So you got 4 guys crowding the paint whenever I have the ball, and my opponent guarding me. I cross him up and get to the paint to lay that shit in, and suddenly I've got two arms to the gut (obstructing my arms from moving at all), a slap to the right arm, and one or two legs tripping me. Occasionally one of them will actually get their hand on the ball, but that's only about 1 out of 12 occurrences.
So basically, if I'm in the paint, not only am I quadruple-teamed (which is understandable, it is 21 afterall), but none of them are actually going for the ball. So I basically have two options here:
1) When I take it in, take it in HARD.
2) Take outside shots.
So when I take it in hard, I'm basically just a train car with a basketball. I'll knock one, maybe two people to the ground, so I only have two people to contend with, which is a lot easier than four. Doing so actually helped my game, because it made me choose my shots wisely, and I had to pull some crazy Dwyane Wade shit just to get the ball in the hole (not that I'm saying I'm capable of playing as good as Dwyane Wade, I'm just saying that it wasn't just go up straight with a layup). My outside shots would've been a better alternative if my shot was up to par, but sadly it isn't. I can hit shots, but since I've been focusing mainly on my inside game and my handles for the past year, I've gotten a bit rusty with my shot.
Another counter-active measure I took was I started fouling them back. But even then, I can't bring myself to foul blatantly like they were doing. The only time I'll foul is if someone is being guarded by someone else and they get past their defender and close to the basket. I'm not just gonna let them score. Only I started to foul HARD. Pretty much doing what all four of them were doing, but singlehandedly. Although I must say I didn't try to trip anyone and I didn't hit anyone in the gut. But I did hack a few arms.
Of course since these hackers are little bitches, they decide to try and pick a fight with me instead of take their own medicine. Shit got loose, but in the end they didn't have the balls to actually do anything. I never throw the first punch unless I absolutely know I'm going to have to defend myself, and 9 times out of ten, bitches like these will just get in your face to look tough in front of their friends. But to my point: Even though these guys were just all-out hacks, they didn't even have the balls to accept the fact that they were gonna get hacked back. I didn't take shit personally; I just figured out ways to get around their diabolical ways. They, having no actual game whatsoever, decide to take it personally and try to pick a fight.
Yes, fouling is a part of the game. But when it's that blatant, it's just not basketball anymore. I hack, but I'm not A hack. These guys were hacks. I have no room in my heart for hacks.
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