blogsketball

If action movies have taught me anything, it’s that you should never underestimate your opponent. Even the guy who fought monkey-style in Bloodsport won a couple of fights before he ran into Chon-Li.

Playing pickup ball, it’s tough to not underestimate some of the people who make their way onto the court.

When you go from guarding a legit player one game to some guy who’s wearing jeans and is lucky if he’s 5-1, wearing a pair of Lacoste’s that look more like loafers than sneakers the next, it’s tough to approach him with the same intensity. Plus, if you do d him up and he does suck, then you look like the a-hole who has to go out and crush people who are just out to have some fun.

So yesterday I backed off on the little guy who looked so out of place in our game of three-on-three. He then took us all on by himself and kicked our asses.

The guy wasn’t a shooter. He did all of his damage off the dribble, driving to the basket. He’d get an inch on his defender at the three-point line, then the next thing you know, two dribbles later he’s at the hoop, going into a sea of arms that were way longer than his. It didn’t matter. One-on-three, he’d go into the air, double clutch, maneuver the ball around outstretched arms, slice through defenders and turn nothing into something. He came away with basically a one-on-three win and left the other five people on the court, his teammates included, shaking their heads.

After the game, the two of us talked. Out of respect for the assassin’s privacy and for the masterful performance he put forth, I can’t disclose the exact words exchanged. The conversation was very similar to this, though:

PS - this post was made awesome because of the following people:
- Phil Collins
- Bloodsport (JCVD, Chon-Li and the man who fought monkey-style)
- Bruce Lee
- The mysterious mini-me Filipino version of Earl Boykins.