My Life's Journey - The "art" of shooting the basketball and what basketball truly means to me? Love&Basketball 🏀❤️
Basketball Is Art
I truly believe there are many forms of art in this world. Some people create art with brush strokes, clay, mud, dancing, singing, food, and I create art with my hands and feet. Because for me basketball is art in its own special way. Similar to dancing. But, you are dancing against the opponent on the court, countering their "dance" moves. Synchronized feet and arms movements to create "music" with basketball. It takes hours and hours of practice to get it right. But, once you do, everytime you shoot the ball and finds the bottom of the net you create "art". To explain let me show you some of the highlights from my last game and how I danced around my opponents watching their feet movement and countering their basketball "dance" moves.
The Art of Shooting The Basketball
I am going to show you 5 clips from my last game and why basketball is art and a game played with your mind. Plus explain to you how I countered my opponents on the court.
Fadeaway Jumper
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I just want to pay attention to the way I move. The first thing you will notice as soon as I received the ball I looked on the opposite side to see if any other defenders are coming to help him defend. After, I saw it was just me and him "dancing" against each other. I gave him the first shoulder bump to get closer to the basket, notice there is still no help coming. I gave him the second bump to get him on his heels. Once he is on his heels he has no power and can't react fast enough to stop me. I spin back and fade away and the only thing left to do is to find the bottom of the net. My opponent can only watch me do it and do nothing about it.
Coming Of Screens Fadeaway Jumper.
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You see basketball is all about creating space and taking advantage of that space. Especially if you are a shooter like me. I only need a bit of a space from my opponent to get my shoot off. I mean guys basketball is literally a game of split seconds. Like in this clip. My opponent was maybe 1 sec late and it was too late. I set my feet squared to the basket, faded away, creating even more space so he can't get to me, and the result is the sound of the bottom of the net. Great feeling. Music to my ears.
Transition 3 Point
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Just like I said before basketball is all about creating space. Here I simply created space by running faster than my defender. My teammate passed me a perfect pass. I took an extra second to set my feet and did what I been training for all my life and that is finding the bottom of the net.
Creating Space Of The Pick Game
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Basketball is all about reading the situations in front of you. Basketball is a mind game, and you need to anticipate the opponent player's position and anticipate their moves. Again, I received the ball coming off the screen, but this time defender was not late so I could not get my shot off right away. I needed to create space. I noticed the defender from my teammate is too far from him and playing against a player who can shoot this is a mistake. So I knew what I had to do. First I gave my defender a jab to the right to create space. I spun back left, and my teammate set a great screen. And, because of his defender was not close enough to help I created enough space to get my shot off. Faded away again and found the bottom of the net again.
Do you realize now how much basketball is a mind game? I anticipated 4 things in advance. I saw the defender was sagging of screen right away, lured my defender to the left to give me space with the jab, then I spun to the left to counter his movement, and anticipated my teammate's defender will be late to help which will give me enough space to get my shoot off. Basketball is all about anticipating and counteracting others players movements. Seeing and doing things before they actually happen. The "art" of movement, anticipation, and counteracting.
Hand Down - Man Down
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Hand down-mand down is one the most known quotes in basketball. Basically, if you are playing against a good player who knows how to use space to his advantage if you lower your hand just for a split second it will give him enough space to shoot the ball. This clip is a perfect example of it.
As you can see the smaller defender switched aggressively on me. He knows if he gives me space I will shoot the ball. I also knew I had a height advantage and that I should never lower the ball below the chest area. Because he is smaller and there is a chance he can steal it. Why give him a chance?
So now it is all about CREATING SPACE and dancing with him. As you can see first I gave him a little pump fake. He didn't take the bait. And then I gave him the most underrated move in basketball to create space THE JAB. The jab is simplest and the most effective way to create space for yourself. I jabbed to the left he backed away thinking I am going for the layup. He lowered his hands for a split second and it was more than enough for me to shoot over him as he is smaller than me. Basketball is all about knowing what are your advantages and using them to the best of your ability. And, this is a perfect example of "HAND DOWN-MAN DOWN" quote.
Basketball Is My Passion
I truly hope I have brought you little closer to understanding why basketball is such a big part of my life for more than 20 years now. It is a physical sport, but most of all it is a sport played with your mind. Have you ever wondered why isn't there many Michael Jordans in the world? It is because there are many people with his athletic ability, but there are not many who had his mentality and understanding of basketball. That is why I love basketball. I am not the most athletic guys out there, but I play basketball with my mind. Knowing what my advantages are and how to use them. Basketball is all about the creating SPACE and "DANCING" against my opponents. It is a beautiful art of synchronized body movements, and motions.
Just think about how many processes in our body happen just to shoot the ball? Imagine how great our brain is when it can measure the how strong should we shoot the ball in order to make a 3 point shot? Plus the right timing, the correct position of the arms and legs, shoulders, hips, hands, plus synchronizing them all together in one motion to perform a shot. Not to mention the correct release from your palm through the fingertips. Our brain calculates all of that in a split second. If one of those things is not in sync you will miss the shot. It is amazing what our brains can do. Amazing, my friends. :)
And, basketball, is way more than just bouncing the basketball on the court. It has given me so much more. It has enabled me to travel the world. Meeting new cultures, creating some amazing friendships, seeing the world, and teaching me about discipline, respect for others and me. It grows me as a person and taught me how to get up when I fall down. It made me stronger. Basketball taught me what LIFE is, and how to LIVE IT.And, I am thankful every day for my parents putting that ball in my hands as a kid. Because I still feel like that kid over 20 years ago when I step on that court. I don't know many more years I have to play this amazing sport, but I am thankful for each day I get to play this amazing game called BASKETBALL. :)
Love&Basketball 🏀❤️
Thank you for reading, have an amazing day all, much love,
dbjegovic
@awakentolife ,
when you spoke about dancing with your opponent, this reminded me about dancing with wolves movie and also how martial arts experts dances with their opponent during competition and war.
I guess that's what they call "war dance".
It is great that you gave us botg visual aid amd explanation. It brings the explanation clearer.
In a Chinese quote,
It perfectly to your training description.
We are all dancing through life, my friend. In different situations through life, but it all about dancing, enjoying it, and getting better every day. :)
I love basketball and I just wanted to bring you with me to find out why? It is a mind game. And, I hope my explanation brought you little closer to understanding what kind of decisions you have to make in a matter of seconds while "dancing" against your opponents. :)
Thank you always for such an amazing comments. Have an amazing day. :)
I loved this post! wondering if you'll eventually pick up Dirk Nowitzki's fadeaway like how Durant did. I think for our age we idolized Kobe's fadeaway jumper. is it true in your case? I know you love Spurs but transition 3 is GSW right? ;) hand down man down is what I always hear from the commentors. I think if you're playing in Italy they use Italian? what about the plays? is it influenced by the culture?
more on Spurs though. just heard Kawai Leonard is injured indefinitely again :( last season he was still in the MVP talk. of course Harden and Westbrook blew the competition away. Kerr has played and worked for Greg Popovich so I think he took a page or two from his playbook. basketball is a team sport so I love it when I see teamwork happening. that's why I'm quite against iso play :/
seriously I can't believe I'm now friends with a professional basketballer! and you shoot the ball really well. I read one of your earlier posts saying that you lead the team in points, rebounds and assists. meaning you're like the Finals Lebron James. hahaha! like I said I don't really like Westbrook so I'll never use him as an example ;) he's a stats padder :p
keep writing about your basketball life as well! previously I watch BBall Breakdown and Coach Daniel on YouTube. but ever since Steemit I don't even watch my NBA subscription! totally missed out of GSW vs Cavaliers few days ago :/
Well, for me, to pick up Dirk's and Durants fadeaway I would have to be 7ft or 6'10. lol They are incredible players. I especially love Dirk. His shot is a masterpiece. :)
I really have not idolized NBA players. My favorite player was European player named Dejan Bodiroga. He was such a smart player. Played with his "head". Loved watching him play. :)
I don't like Westbrook either as a person really. Too egoistic. He had Harden, and Durant, with Ibaka, and Adams and his egoism destroyed that team. They should off won at least 2 rings in my opinion.
Yes, I am sad to hear about Leonard.. In my opinion players like Pachulia which intentionally set his foot under his feet to get injured should be suspended way longer than he was. This guy is having problems because of him for almost a year. I hope he does not turn into new Derrick Rose with injuries.
Thank you for such an amazing comment. Enjoyed reading it. I will try to write more about basketball part of my life's journey in my next posts. :)
sadly Dirk is not the player he used to be. he's a liability on defense :( I guess European basketball might be more relatable to you. Derrick Rose's career has been seriously derailed by injuries. not just his body. his mental health and spirit. gone missing twice :/
looking to your next post! :)
Well, he was not an athletic player, to begin with, and age caught up with him. And, yes he was always a liability on defense.
Derrick Rose could off been one of the best ever. Unfortunately, injuries wear on you not only physically but mostly mentally. I had plenty of those so I know exactly how he feels. But, thank you God, not for the past years. :)
If I was going to idolize fadeaway it would be MJ's. Since Kobe copied all his moves and Kobe's as well. Unstoppable really. :=)
yes! I read somewhere that Kobe copied all his moves! LeBron just joined the elite 30k club. well. I know you don't really follow NBA. can't wait to read up more of your league! :)
There was a BBall Breakdown with the Harlem Globe Trotters recently that was fun to watch, but it is a shame to let your NBA subscription to go waste :p I didn't know that there were people writing about basketball seriously on Steemit (I have seen some competitions) but now I am going to follow a few more people here :)
ooo! nice to meet another NBA fan on this platform. I’ll check out that episode of BBall Breakdown. I still listen to a few podcasts like The Jump, The Starters, First Take, Colin Cowherd and a few others. I did manage the All Star weekend. I’m a GSW bandwagon fan and recently been updating myself with their news and highlights :p
Sadly I am a 'die-hard' Bulls fan, and since Derrick Rose there hasn't been much to cheer about. The Rockets are going nuts this year and it will be an epic Western Conference Final for sure!
Duro, is this you brate? I finally setup an account here on Steemit! Haha...thanks for the push! Love this post...you are a true champ! Love you, bro! :)
That is awesome, brate. I think you are going to love it here. There are many people from TSU here. Plus you I know you will have an amazing content which will draw some attention. If you need any help shoot me a text on facebook or instagram and I will help you out. :)
Great to have your here. This place just got even better. :)
this account name looks familiar. Was this thr same TSU account name? :)
On Tsu it was GetFitForLife. Here is a bit different. :)
Nice
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STOPI loved playin' ball when I was younger. The speed and coordination of the team. The focus, and drive. The friendships. I got into music and dropped a lot of my other stuff just from not enough hours in the week. I really need to pick up playing ball with friends from time to time, again. Great share, always a pleasure.
Well, we all have our priorities in life. Yours is music. But, from time to time catch up with your friends on the basketball court for a "friendly" game. hehe :)
Oh I need to. B-ball and soccer were my thing back in the day. I think tons of variety is my new priority, lol. I wanna dabble in lots of things.
Ahh... only now realize you are a lefty. You guys always make the game more beautiful and unique. I'm left handed, but funnily when it comes to sports, I use my right.
Props for the personalized GIF animations btw.
Yep, Manu Ginobili lefty style. hehe :P
My mom writes with her left hand but shoots with the right. lol Little bit strange isn't it? lol
Thank you for a great comment. Have an amazing day. :)
Didn't want to say it, but you did GINO-OO-BLI XD.. Definitely see some similarities in the niftiness.
I don't think its strange. For me for instance, it is a matter of strength. I use my left for finesse (writing, pool/snooker) and my right for power (basketball, volleybal, football). On a snowboard I'm also a lefty.
One of my favorite European players ever. So amazing to watch him play. And, he is left-handed. He took Euro Step to a whole another level and Harden copied the hell out of it. :)
Our bodies are certainly an interesting piece of work. I am so amazed when I think about how many functions we process and do each day. Incredible. :)
Manu is one of the all time greats. While Harden might put up better stats than Ginobli ever did, Ginobli really won it all. Both in the NBA and in Europe. Love the fact that he's one of your favorite European players ever, he's one of my favorite South American players, largely due to his Olympic reign in 2004. Who owns 3 continents like that?
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Sve si segmente pokrio!
Kao da znam nesto o kosarci? hehe :p Hvala, prijatelju. :)
Saw your entry on the iTalent contest and I like the fact that sport can be considered a performing arts as well because I remember someone saying that a referee should be like a conductor in music and creating the best flow and rhythm for the game! Very well written and I will be reading more of your posts :)