Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with basketball

Does this exist for iPhone? If not, port it plskthxbye

nevercalm — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 09:17:53 -0800

Is this game made for the iPhone? I swear I saw it in an Apple ad.

Kicking butt and taking names - is my kid's coach a jerk?

Sweetie Darling — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 18:50:31 -0800

Help this mom understand the difference, in coaching youth sports, between being competitive and being an asshole. The littlest Darling is turning nine on Wednesday and playing basketball in a U10 rec league at the Y. This is his fourth year at the Y and his second year in U10, but it's our first experience with a pair of coaches whose style really rubs me the wrong way.

Being neither a dude nor particularly competitive, I'd appreciate some perspective from those of you who have been through this before - so I can figure out if I should suck it up or request a new team placement, stat.

Both coaches yell, a lot - pretty much constantly through the whole practice. Practices are for 90 minutes, rather than the 60 suggested by the Y. The pace seems frenzied to me, and they blow their whistles constantly, and there's a lot of "No, no, no - didn't you hear what I just said?" The boys don't look like they're having much fun. I'm certainly not having fun watching.

I had a brief conversation with another mom last week, who said that the main coach also coaches two other teams. She said, "Coaching basketball is his thing, and he's kind of obsessed with winning." The guy isn't abusive towards the boys, but he's very tough - "like the Army, I guess," in the words of my son.

The last two coaches he had ran (what I thought were) disciplined and active practices, but they focused on teaching the boys skills and encouraging sportsmanship. They took a much more positive (dare I say nurturing?) approach.

The way I see it, my son's got the rest of his life to be yelled at by some jerk. For now, he's nine and it's the Y, for goodness' sake, and I'm paying (not a huge amount, but still), so do I go with my gut and ask that he be reassigned? Or am I overreacting/projecting? I'm still feeling my way through this boy parenting and team sports thing.

What characteristics do good coaches have? And what defines a bad coach? How much focus on competition and winning is appropriate for third graders?

Thanks in advance for the advice, and apologies for the tome.

How to teach first-graders bball?

qldaddy — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:40:03 -0800

Resources for coaching first-graders basketball? My friend has asked me to help him coach a basketball team of first-graders (meaning 6 and 7 year olds). There have been previous askmes about coaching 11 year olds, but there is a big difference b/w a first grader and a fifth grader, so I am wondering if anyone has any advice for teaching younger kids.

If it's of any help in thinking about your answer, both my friend and I were fairly serious street-ballers back in the day (which was many, many days ago), but neither of us played any real organized ball.

Thanks for your help.

How can I improve my in game basketball shooting?

ben5757 — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 04:46:14 -0800

How can I improve my in game basketball shooting? I have a pretty good shot when I'm just shooting around, but it drastically falls off in in-game situations. How can I practice in-game shooting when I mostly practice by myself?

For generations, my puny planet has lived in peace with the Globetrotter homeworld. But now, for no reason, they've challenged me to defend my honor on the fantasy basketball court.

synecdoche — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 13:45:32 -0800

I've been invited to join my first fantasy basketball league. The draft's in a couple of weeks, but I have no idea what I'm doing. I've signed up for a fantasy basketball league with a few friends, and am looking for advice on how to approach this game. I just finished my first fantasy baseball season and finished in an unremarkable second-to-last place, and I'd like to at least improve on that. The trouble is that I haven't followed basketball in maybe ten years.

We're playing in a Yahoo rotisserie league. The stats that are being counted are: FG%, FT%, 3PTM, 3PT%, PTS, OREB, DREB, AST, ST, and BLK.

I'm playing with a few guys who really know the game and even if I can't beat them, I'd like to make a decent showing. What do I do? How do I prep for draft day? How do I know when to trade an under-performer? Heck, how do I IDENTIFY an under-performer?

How does basketball work?

aparrish — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 05:45:33 -0800

Basketball season is nearly upon us, and I'd like to educate myself a bit better on how the game works. What are some good resources for learning about basketball strategy and tactics? I've been a fan of the NBA since I was a kid, so I know the rules, the stats, and the personalities. But I never played basketball (at least after elementary school-level rec leagues), so I never learned about offensive and defensive strategies. I can spot and appreciate a good pick-and-roll, but beyond that (strong side? weak side? triangle offense? zone defense?) I'm mystified.

Most of the resources I've found through Google seem to be targeted toward coaching basketball to kids. Some of these are great, but seem a little abstract. (I'm not planning to coach basketball... at least not any time soon.) I would be more interested in a web page or book that simply describes how the game is played today, with an emphasis on how players and coaches design and execute plays, and not necessarily with a pedagogical slant. I'm looking for the pop sci book about basketball, not the high school textbook. Does such a thing exist?

As a secondary question, I'm interested to know if there is any writing out there explaining the moment-to-moment choices and techniques that basketball players use on the court. Ballhandling, footwook, setting screens and posting up: what decisions are players making as they do these things?

Double agent

chmmr — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 16:30:09 -0800

There was a player in the NBA who played in the same game for both teams, I think due to the final minutes needing to be replayed on a different date and a trade happening in the meantime. I can't think of the name of the player or teams, and my Google-fu doesn't seem up to the task. Can anybody help?

Whither Conan's "Roundball Rock" Segment

Cogito — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 12:39:20 -0800

Where can I find video of Conan's sketch about John Tesh's NBA theme music? When NBC lost their NBA contract a number of years back, Conan O'Brien did a segment lamenting the loss of John Tesh's theme music "Roundball Rock". In the segment, they paired the music with various other pieces of video (e.g., It's a Wonderful Life) to humorous effect. I've always wanted to see this bit again, but have never been able to find it online. Is it available anywhere?

POISON! Back to Zero, My Friend

NolanRyanHatesMatches — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 22:34:13 -0800

BasketballFilter: History of the games "21" and "Utah"? I grew up in Indiana, where we played 21 as THE playground basketball game-- basically every person for himself, free throws after making a shot (and, if three consecutive free throws are made, the scorer gets the ball at the top of the key), play until someone scores 21 points. I've played 21, with a variety of different rules (i.e. if you don't hit 21 exactly you go back to 14 on your next made basket; two-handed tips send the shooter back to 0, and a one-handed tip knocks him out of the game; etc.), all over the country.

But when I moved to NYC, everyone seemed to play Utah: every person for himself, three-pointers after making a shot (or free throws, but the ball can't touch the backboard, or else it's a live ball), play to 100, each basket worth 5 points.

I wondered if anyone knew some good books/links about the histories of 21, Utah, or any other every-player-for-himself playground basketball games (excluding HORSE, although I'd welcome any links about that, although I imagine they're easy to find). I'd imagine that there are tons of regional variations on 21, Utah being one of them, but it just now struck me that I totally don't know the game's lineage.

Any help?

Music that helps drain that game winning three.

nudar — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 02:03:20 -0800

Can anyone tell me the name of this piece of music? (Warning: Splicd/Youtube link of teh oldskool basketball) It appears on 'Larry Bird: A basketball legend', an NBA home video production from the early nineties (hence the link), though I think this is not the only NBA video I have heard it on from that era. I used to watch these videos religiously, I always loved this composition and would love to track down a recording for posterity.

College hoops in San Francisco?

Who_Am_I — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 11:41:24 -0800

Where can I watch NCAA basketball this weekend (Saturday) in San Francisco? I only really care about the second game, UNC vs. Villanova, which tips off ~6:00 PST. I'm staying in Hayes Valley Saturday night, so somewhere close to there would be ideal.

Upscale Sports Bars in NYC

jameslavelle3 — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 09:19:40 -0800

Looking for a nice place in Manhattan to watch the Duke/Villanova basketball (Sweet 16) game tonight, and maybe grab some dinner at the same time. I'm trying to avoid going to one of the many over-crowded sports bars for something a little bit more upscale, intimate, or at least quiet enough to be conversationally feasible. It looks like the conflicting Missouri game has the CBS TV slot, which makes viewing the game from a smaller venue more uncertain and leads me back to the undesirable raucous of an over-crowded sports bar. Any good idea from the hive? Preference for midtown or east side Manhattan, but anywhere on the island is fine. We are a group of 3 or 4 people, in case that matters

It's not even clear to me what channel (if any) the Duke game would be aired on, or if the only source is snippets from CBS during breaks of the Missouri game.

Math for the fantasy sports enthusiast

reenum — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 09:34:53 -0800

Looking for resources regarding math in sports. I'm an avid fantasy baseball player, and bought the Baseball Prospectus this year. The use of statistical analysis in that book is amazing.

To that end, I want to learn more about new statistics or metrics being used in sports and also how I can learn more about these methods (e.g. regression analysis), so I can better understand the rationale behind each formula. I am a math amateur in every regard.

Any books, websites, or other resources that can help me understand how these metrics are created, and perhaps that can give me enough of an understanding to try and do some independent research would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

Remember this text based college basketball game?

unceman — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 08:47:12 -0800

Back in the 80's I played a text based college basketball game on the PC. Anyone remember it? I played this game with the 1988 NCAA rosters. Not a lot to this game. Basically a score board, a status message and the rosters/stats/subs.

The game play was simply passing the ball around (by pressing the space bar) until you find a player that had a decent percentage shot. Both 2pt and 3pt percentages are given on every possession. Then you hit a key to take one of those shots. Based on player characteristics (ball handling, passing, etc) and defenses there were enough random events (turnovers) that made it interesting. I also remember that players would get tired as indicated by a "T", and if you did not put in a substitute, that player would go from tired to exhausted "E". Once exhausted, the player's abilities declined substantially.

Someone mentioned that it might have been called "Hoops", but I have no way of verifying.

And why are southern schools now in "The Big East"?

Zambrano — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 11:19:22 -0800

What is the point of these college basketball conference tournaments held just before the national "March Madness" tournament? A team's regular season record determines their fate in the national tournament. If a big school loses in a conference tournament it has no bearing on its place in the national tournament. So why have conference tournaments?

Who won the 2004 - 2008 NCAA March Madness three point shooting contests?

rexruff — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 14:52:45 -0800

During the NCAA Final Four Basketball finals, they always hold the Annual State Farm College Slam Dunk Championships and the Annual Three Point Shooting Contests. In 2004 Candace Parker won the Slam Dunk, and in the last few years, I know at least two women have won the three-point contest (women's champ beat the men's champ). One of those women was Katie Gearlds of Purdue. But I can't remember the others, and damned if I can find any of the results in one place on the web. I find mentions of individuals who competed, usually on their school site, but no comprehensive. collection of the results--not on ncaa.com, Wiki, or ESPN or anywhere else that I can tell. SO...does anyone remember who else won those contests for the last three years, and/or where to find these results? (p.s. these are college level contests, not the McDonalds H.S. contests)

I'd rather not have to wait for the ESPN Classic version.

clearly — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 21:18:17 -0800

Where can I watch an online replay of the North Carolina - Duke basketball game from this afternoon? The game was covered by CBS.

The Dean Dome is so very far away now

K.P. — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 05:40:03 -0800

Is there any way to watch UNC basketball in the UK? I'd like to be able to watch the rest of the season, the ACC tournament, and the NCAA tournament. But I'm going to be in England the whole time. I'll be somewhere with a very basic cable television service from Virgin (this one I think), so traditional TV doesn't seem to be an option. Is there any way to watch online?

I won't be in London, but might consider making the trip for the final tournament games if there is a pub showing them on a big screen.

Why have the NBA's western teams been better than its eastern teams in recent years?

ORthey — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 12:06:52 -0800

Is there a geographical reason the NBA's Western Conference has been so much better than the East? What's the deal? It does seem in the past couple years the East is catching up and, who knows, maybe is better this year, but that said - the West has been dominating (at least during the regular season) for some time now. I wonder if anyone knows of any articles that specifically address WHY and HOW this happened, rather than what I see all the time, which is more about PROVING the west's superiority, using stats and such.

Given that there are no rule differences (as in MLB with the DH, for example, which leads to totally different strategy), it doesn't make any intuitive sense that teams in one half of the country would generally be better than the other - other than migration of better players to the better conference.

Ideas, theories, and resources welcome!

Sports exceptions?

null terminated — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 00:02:15 -0800

Examples of sports situations where a player should do something he would normally never do? I can think of two:

1) In baseball a fielder may drop (or not attempt to catch) a deep foul ball that if caught would lead to a runner tagging up and scoring.

2) At the end of a basketball game players might not guard a shot worth one less than the different in the score (if guarding could result in a foul and a possible tie of the game).

(Very) Remedial Sports Lessons

fogster — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 14:39:10 -0800

Teach me about sports like I'm six. Specifically, American football and basketball. Or, where can I learn the basics? So I'm a male in his 20's. I was never much interested in sports as a kid, so, much to my dad's frustration, I never paid it much attention. I get baseball, but I don't grasp anything but the very basics of other sports. And now all of my peers talk about it day in and day out, and I respond, "Oh, it's football season?" I never found watching other people throw a ball around a field that interesting, and certainly don't wish to start playing these sports, but I'd like to achieve the same level of understanding of the sports as, as, say, my grandma.

In football, you want to get a ball into the other team's endzone. There are bonus kicks where you try to get the ball through the fork. That's about my knowledge. I'm not sure what lines of scrimmage are, or what all the numbers ("their own first and ten!") mean. Players have all sorts of different names, like wide receivers or tight-ends, but I just see a bunch of guys running around.

I'm also tall, so everyone assumes I'm big into basketball. I get that you have to dribble the ball, and that you want to get it into one of the baskets. (But not the other one! I learned that one in gym class the hard way.)

That pretty much sums up my knowledge of the two sports. I'm not sure how points are awarded in either case, nor do I have a clue about the finer points of either.

The problem is that this isn't something I can find easily online. There aren't really that many good primers to the sports, and the Wikipedia and HowStuffWorks pages seem more interested in discussing the exact composition of a football, and the history of their manufacture, than on how the sport is played. I've tried just watching, but when you have no clue what's going on, it's not that helpful.

I get the very, very basics, but if you pretend that I've just come to America from some obscure country, or that I'm five, what would you explain to me about the sport as I sat next to you watching a bunch of people throw a "an inflated, polyurethane bladder placed in cowhide covering and laced with gridcord material" [link] around the field? Remember, I'm totally clueless. In lieu of writing an epic novel attempting to explain sports, are there any good sites that cover these sports for an utter beginner? Remember, I don't want to play, or even become a big fan, but I'm sick of being embarrassed by how much more my grandmother knows about the sports than I do.

Maiden or Eagles shirt at the game...

theichibun — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 09:10:22 -0800

Journalistic ethics as it pertains to a student/school newspaper. I'm the sports photographer for my university newspaper. At home games I wear shirts with my team on it. Nobody has said anything, and I doubt they would because we're not in a major conference (on the lower end of mid-major if even that) and there usually aren't a lot of other people there.

Over the course of the next week or so (including today if that matters), we will traveling to schools in the ACC, SEC, and Southern Conference for men's basketball games.

I know that working for a newspaper normally I would need to stay away from affiliating myself with a team in any way. But does this change in any way in my situation considering that I am going as a staff member of the school newspaper?

I want to watch the Knicks from the UK.

i_cola — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 09:31:36 -0800

I want to watch the Knicks this season and beyond. The problem is that I live in the UK for most of the year so I'm looking for a way of getting to see more than just highlights. Despite the high interest in the NBA in the UK, all we get on TV is the weekly NBA 360 programme and the final series live. Meh. I can keep up with the highlights via ESPN.com & NBA.com and I'll be over to watch a four game home series at the Garden in February but I really want to be able to watch more games through the season.

The added problem is that the time difference (+5 hours from EST) means that I need to record most of the games to watch when I wake up so a Slingbox-type setup might not be ideal.

Some other possible solutions are:

Paying for an MSG TV subscription and an extra cable box on NYC-dwelling friends' account, hooking up an eye TV & Mac mini (or similar but I'd want a Mac solution) to record a game, control the thing remotely and copy the files across to my UK machine; or

Finding a NYC-based Knicks fan who can record and send games -- either a series on DVD or individual games as digital files.

I'm sure there are some potential legal issues with the above. Am I missing something really obvious or has anyone got some sage advice?

Shorty needs pants!

shew — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 17:15:15 -0800

I have short legs. I like basketball. It's cold in Denver. Where can I get warmup pants (real warmups, not yoga pants), designed for basketball in petite length for a woman. I've searched all major players. I'd prefer the kind that can be taken off (zippers or snaps up the sides) at the gym. I suspect this particular style would be difficult or akward to hem.

I don't care how much it costs.

What's the kitsch?

plexi — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 14:38:23 -0800

Is Jeff Koons a fraud? I am simply unable to take Koons, a former commodities trader, as anything more than a con. Am I not getting something?