Basketball has always been a part of my life. I cannot recall a single instance wherein I did not get the urge to play even by just hearing the ball bounce or seeing friends gearing up with fancy hoops jerseys. Others may call it ridiculously insane to associate oneself to something this mundane, but I guess it's what we feel and do whenever we engage in something we totally dedicate ourselves to. This is something that I totally have innate passion to pursue and be good at, if not better than your average cager. I've never considered myself a great ball player though, but I have utmost confidence on my skills (besides, the fulfillment in self-gratification only ruins the essence of compliments)
I pride myself in being more of a two-way team player, one who's happy and content racking up assists or going for steals so that his teammates can gain the opportunity to bask in the glory of scoring points, rather than someone who focuses only on a single aspect of the game, specifically offense. Harking back to my younger days, my father used to tell me that I should be a point guard given my pint-sized frame. He stressed the value of ball handling (otherwise known today as having "sick handles"), finding the open man, setting up the offense, issuing up assists, and being a vocal leader on the floor. However, regardless of being stereotyped for that matter, he also stressed that I must learn and take into heart the fundamentals of boxing out, an essential aspect of positioning for rebounds; as well as the timely use of crossovers and pivotal footwork to find my way to the hole.
He's not an advocate of hoisting jumpers yet he made me practice the correct form. The biggest lesson he gave though was to “play to win”; to give it your all at all times regardless if you’re playing under the grandiloquence of the league championship, or just engaged in a prosaic pick-up game. This is the competitive spirit that I somehow integrated to anything that I engaged at in life.
It is in this light that I thought of the state of today's players, especially those who we knew so much about. Basketball is a team sport the last time I checked, yet nowadays you'll see some players hoisting more shots compared to others as if that was the only thing they were tasked to do. Others concentrate only in pulling down rebounds, setting screens, or much worse, using up their fouls to foil whatever attempts are being made by the other team's best player. It has reached the point wherein certain players are being stereotyped to work on a couple, or with bigger disappointment, only on a single aspect of the game.
I'd be hypocritical and highly idealistic if I'll say that all five players should have proficiency in most if not all aspects of the game. This is where the cliché "complementing one another" comes in. Others will really excel at one aspect specially in scoring points (for who doesn't want to be labeled a scorer and gain instantaneous fame along the way), or pull more rebounds given their height. In stark contrast though, does this competence give them the excuse not to exert as much effort in getting better in other aspects? Are scorers bound to be laced up in a stake if they box out and reach out for a rebound? Or are centers damned for life if they issue a nice, fundamental assist? How about a max-player sacrificing his body to draw a charge, or even dive for a loose ball?
Looking at today's players, it's sad that we can only pinpoint a select few who works on both ends of the court, while giving their entire effort to succeed night in and night out. Some of these players include the NBA’s CP3, DRose, TD, D12, old time greats like MJ, Stockton and Malone, Barkley, and even to my surprise, Kobe’s on my list(I’m literally not a big fan of this guy but I'm all praises to his work ethic and approach to the game). For those who personally know me, you’re probably looking for LeBron’s name in it right? Well, I couldn't tarnish this list by just being a solid LBJ fan. He's already a great player, and has the capability to be part of the list and even topbill it, but unless he shows consistency in doing so, he'll just be a sordid flash-in-the-pan, a nightly SportsCenter regular who will never receive the nod of pure basketball pundits. On the other hand, among our locals, I can only think of one player at the moment who fits this tag, and that's Arwind Santos.
To part with, it is my radical wish that every player and player-to-be (such as my two sons) be ingrained with the right fundamentals, and hopefully learn to exercise the burning desire not only to win games, but to continuously work on being a complete basketball player as well. I'd rather see a lot of jack-of-all-trades rather than a couple of “master-of-one” (I coined this term that’s why). It will bring out parity in the competition, and hopefully after a long time, make the game of basketball worth watching. In its purest essence, basketball is not only a sport; it is a way of life by itself.
