OZZY

From the editorials board:


Street Ball

It is a very interesting topic. Street Ball is a new fad in America today; it is probably the fastest growing sport in the country. The DVD’s of it are selling like hot cakes, and the TV show is a mainstay. But is this just another fad, and is that Street Ball TV show Street Hoops just another form or reality television? Are And 1 and the media just playing off of the rise in black entertainment or the popularity of hip-hop and the street? Are they just creating a world that is not real and making it seem real?

In about 2-5 years, I bet the Street Ballers on the TV show will be just as famous as the big boys in the NBA. And I raze the question, is that right? Should a Street performer be compared to a NBA player? On the show they talk about wanting to make it to the NBA and be a great player. But how can they really think they will make it big if they are practicing an entertainment art form that really doesn’t have much to do with Basketball? Are they just want-abbes who are too physically small to make the NBA? Although they do obviously have good basketball skills, and most of them have pretty good ups. The Street Ball game shown on TV is all about one-on-one play beating your man. During the show they rant and rave about who crossed whom over and what player got by the most defenders. Again they have great ability to handle the ball but all those hours working on their handle how much time did they work on their jump shot. They have great timing and really know how to make amazing plays but even during last nights show. They played a team that was an actually basketball team with big men and guards. They said that this team wants to get into a basketball game, it was not a “trick” type of game. And that is basically how they look at the game, they see it as a show, one person beating the other and making big plays. They all are competitors and I’m sure the work extremely hard at there craft. But it is like if Tiger Woods practiced hitting the golf ball with his chipper into the air and doing tricks more than he practiced putting or driving. Yeah it shows that he has a skill and knows how to handle a golf ball, which is very important in the game. But if he worked totally on that trick aspect of the game what would his golf game be like? Well I’ll tell you, it would suck! And I think that is what is happening with these Street Ballers and the millions of kids that follow them. The Street Ballers say they want to make it into the NBA, well if I could talk to them I would say why don’t you get out of this And 1 tour and join a NBDL, USBL, or got overseas? Because there they would be practicing basketball, and how it should be played. They could work on the all around game and not just their handle. Again they are very skilled players and some could make it in the NBA I think. But they have to use their skills to fit the NBA game. They must learn to play defense, learn the defensive and offensive systems of basketball. Most of there moves look good but they travel while doing some of them so in the game of basketball that is illegal.

I think all Street Ball is not like this though, when Stephon, Dajuan, Rod, etc. played Street Ball growing up, they played real hard core basketball. Sure they had some great moves but not to the extent they show now on the “Street Ball” tour. Many NBA players did come form the “Street” but they did not play that type of basketball were you throw the ball off your opponents head toss it under there legs. Some of that same creative ability is a very big part of basketball, but it has to have a limit to it. I admit some of the things they do on the And 1 tour are extraordinary plays. And there is a place for that in basketball sometimes. But there is more to the game than just making flashy plays. Most of the greats have that same Street creativity to their game but I think they might be taking it to far now. Street Ball is very similar to the NBA All Star game. But remember that players in the All Star game don’t play that way all the time. They know when and when not to be flashy. They realize that they need to play defense and make the smart pass but the All Star game is a show and they put on a show just like the Street Ball performers do. But it seems like the Street Ball game shown on so many TV shows is more of a “under the big top act” like in a circus. It is almost unrealistic, not saying it is fake, but just saying that it is made for the show. Yeah they play to win but the main objective is to show up someone with a crossover handle and finished with a lob pass.

So to those Street Ballers out there don’t talk that stuff like they would beat Kobe Bryant in a pickup game. Because if they really wanted to get into the NBA they would obviously have to give up the Street Ball tour and the Street Ball mentality. They talk about when will I get my chance, well you have to make your own chance. And I don’t think NBA teams would ever pick up a Street Baller and just sign him to a NBA contract. But if that is what they want to do in life, go right ahead, just don’t complain that they are not making it “big” in the NBA.

Another thing, Street Ball is a very, very entertaining to watch and is almost becoming a part of American culture. But I hope kids don’t just practice their handle because of what they see on TV. There are more things in basketball than just dribbling.


by Jeremy Osborne