Europe

Typically, I am not the one to show off during warmups or shooting around or even during games because my game is rather fundamental and dull, but I had to make myself look good enough for people to pick me up, so I started doing some fancy moves and stuffs to hopefully catch an eye. I did seem to make a somewhat high percentage of my jump shots as well and held my follow through for lasting effects (I cringe just thinking about this now…)

I had high expectations for Milan, Italy because of my previous Italy experience from Rome, but Milan turned out to be somewhat of a disappointment. It may be my fault because I didn’t research well enough but I went to 4 different courts within the city of Milan and 2 of them were under construction or completely gone, 1 of them was reserved and the 4th court I was finally able to play...

Stereotypical fouled guy: every time this guy drove into the lane and went up for a shot, ‘FOUL’ was shouted out. It was apparent he did this and probably even knew he did that based on routine. There was this time he yelled out ‘FOUL’ when no one was near him and we all looked at each other with the ‘what? reaction’ and he immediately said ‘ok no foul’….and the opposing team received the ball...

With a group of 800 members, I had to be one of the first 18 to respond so this naturally became a game to me. I needed to plan accordingly and being somewhat of a stats nerd, I went through the past 12 posts by the guy, and inputted in excel the time he first posted, as well as the time when the last 18th player signed up...

I will admit that this was the first time playing pickup where I felt intimidated. When I arrived, there were 2 half court games going on, with a lot of people waiting for both. One could easily tell that one half was recreational while the other half was legit. I decided to suck it up and forced myself to try playing on the ‘A’ side for once...

It’s always fascinating finding out about pickup basketball games around the world. I found my Amsterdam pickup basketball through Meetup.com, Zurich pickup basketball through forums, Johannesburg pickup basketball through the hotel I stayed at and other cities through Google searches. Lisbon just adds to the list as they actually have a very well run Facebook group called ‘Campo Mártires da Pátria STREET BASKET’...

The first basketball court I stumbled upon featured 2 players shooting around with a deflated basketball that didn’t bounce, so I decided that it would be best for me to keep moving until I could find a court with more people playing and an inflated ball...

I was so desperate I started going to the 2nd and 3rd pages of google in hopes to finding a place to play...

I arrived in Amsterdam in the middle of the winter where it was below freezing. Outdoor basketball was not happening so I had to get creative on finding an indoor court. I googled online for pickup basketball in Amsterdam and was surprised to find a meetup group that just happened to be playing indoor basketball on the day that I was free. I had never done a meetup before so I was skeptical at first.....

When walking through the park it is impossible to miss. In fact, while I was walking towards it, I thought I was going to the Roman Coliseum. With its raised courts and the high rising pillars, you will feel like you are walking right into a gladiator match...