konwersatorium3/pjwstk: Part 3: Street ball

In my last but not least article I will present the other side of basketball – street ball. It’s surely more spectacular, on the other hand resulting in more injuries.

Part 3: Street ball

While the rules of street ball are generally non-existent,

street ball places a higher emphasis on the joy of handling the ball. Often the attacker will perform numerous flashy moves while attempting to dribble or "drive" to the basket, including crossovers, jab steps, and other fake-out tricks. Street ball often features spectacular dunks and alley oops, impressive ball handling, and trash talking.

In most versions of street ball carrying, travelling, or double dribble is an accepted part of the game and is encouraged to make it less challenging for offensive players to score and more showy for the crowds.

Rules vary widely from court to court. Almost invariably a ‘call your own foul’ rule is in effect, and a player who believes he has been fouled, simply needs to call out "Foul!" or "Ball!", and play will be stopped, with the ball awarded to the fouled player's team.

It goes without saying: calling fouls in street ball is disfavoured. The etiquette of what rightly constitutes a foul, as well as the permissible amount of protestation against such a call, are the products of individual groups, and of the seriousness of a particular game. Another common variation to the contest is the "skunk" rule. This merely means that if a player reaches a certain point without the other player scoring, the game is over.

Street ball is often generalized as a "pick-up game", where

players may or may not know one another, and is for the most part recreational. However, those who are interested in basketball may have heard about street ball crews like And1 or The Notic. Their so called ‘mix tapes’ (movies showing their street performances) had a great influence on street ball popularity not only in USA, but also in Europe. There is a number of street ball events organized annually, even in Warsaw.

Personally, I think that it had a bad impact on street ball, because now there are more selfish players who try their best at dribbling but end up losing the ball to the opponents. Also, there’s the whole dress code for a real ‘baller’ (short from street baller). Funnily looking boys with no skills are so pathetic ;)

I’m really keen on playing street ball from time to time with my mates. It really helps me unwind and relax. Having played basketball for about 5 years, I sometimes participate in events organised in Park Agrykola. I’ve never considered myself as a 100% IT guy, probably because (unlike my IT friends) I love sports ?

External sources

1st part of The Notic mix tape, one of my favourite. These guys have some serious skills in street balling: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLSRjH1CY9Q Some of them play in NBA now