Good reminder. You don't know how good the best really are. This is not just about sports.
The Scallenge: The Gap is Bigger than You Think
- Thread starter 615dawg
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Now flip the chart upside down and you'd get a good representation of the average WNBA player
A couple times at Sanderson in the early 2000s, I saw a few non-starters on the basketball team play pickup against some dudes that I would describe as maybe all-district-level as high schoolers. It was one of the more astounding and comical things I've ever seen on a sports court.
If you wanna see this with a gender wild card thrown in, find the Pros vs Joes episode where a retired Jenny Finch takes on some amateur fellas who are convinced they can go yard on her. Her game face is hotter than her body.
I played on an intramural team that played games against teams with Mackye White and Jeff Norwood in the mid to late 80's after those guys had exhausted their eligibility and were in graduate school. Our team had 7-8 really good public high school players maybe 2-3 of our guys could have been solid D2/Juco level guys. It was not even fair to play against SEC level competition.
I attended a MSU Bob Boyd Basketball Camp summer of 1982. There were probably 200 plus high school kids at the camp. 6-7 of them were potential recruits that were invited. They picked a 10-12 man camp all star team, split us up for a full scrimmage with officials & put a couple of MSU players on each team. I remember Jeff Malone, Butch Pierre, & Jeff Norwood played along with a couple of other MSU players. I was going into my junior year of high school and had played a lot as a sophomore the previous season. I thought I had a chance to play D2. I attempted to cover Jeff Malone for maybe 5 defensive trips. That may still be the most humbling experience of my life.
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I witnessed a lot of that. And yes, even the scrubs on the basketball team could beat the daylights out of everyone in there. We used to have our 5 that would play pickup games in the back gym at Sanderson and one of our 5 was a grad assistant. He was head and shoulders better than us.
Scalibrine is lucky I didn’t know about this competition. I pretty much dominated church league ball, including facing triangle and 2 defenses most of the time.
Claim to shame- I was dunked on by Marcus Campbell...multiple times. Just brutalized in a pickup game, I think summer '02?
There were other players who could have guarded him better on my team, but they called out who they had first...which left me with him.
Dude was taller than 7' because he had 7" on me at least, and probably 40#.
I could one step dunk back then and wanted to try to dunk on him, but I couldn't even get within 10' of the rim with him guarding me. He just moved me out over and over without even really trying.
Meanwhile, I got dunked on, dunked over, and dunked thru.
I got bitched at the entire time for being so worthless. Ha, it gets me to laugh even now.
I played a lot of basketball in the old cow barn then in the brand new Sanderson center. Can’t remember their names but played against some of the bench warmers on the MSU’s teams. As others have said it wasn’t even fair. Those guys played in another level that I wasn’t close to.
After MSU played a ton church league teams in the Jackson metro. Used to sneak into the Belhaven gym and play until we got run away by their coach or campo. After years of playing one pickup game I blew out my ankle again and wife made me quit.
After MSU played a ton church league teams in the Jackson metro. Used to sneak into the Belhaven gym and play until we got run away by their coach or campo. After years of playing one pickup game I blew out my ankle again and wife made me quit.
Played pickup in the back gym around 2000. I'm 6'4" and was in pretty good shape at the time. Had a rebound come my way early and wanted to show I could play, so I jumped as high as I could, stretched my hand up to grab the ball... and then my hand hit Michael Gholar's shoulder as he flew by.
I went to a game at the hump a couple of years ago and the halftime entertainment was the championship game of a fraternity challenge where the two best teams played head up for 15 minutes. I have no doubt the guys were studs on their high school team.
The difference between watching our first half of sec competition vs those guys was hilarious.
Like comparing fighter jets to paper airplanes. Both are flying but….
The difference between watching our first half of sec competition vs those guys was hilarious.
Like comparing fighter jets to paper airplanes. Both are flying but….
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There are several YouTube videos out showing similar in tennis. Like the D1 woman tennis player just crushing 4.5 men. I saw 1 where a couple of top 50 pros who were about 4 years retired playing vs a couple of 4.5 amateurs. The amateurs started every game up 40-0 & the pros only got 1 serve. The retired pros beat them without even trying. It was comical seeing the amateurs trying to return the pros 2nd serves. I think the actual points won & lost was something like 72-11 & it was obvious it could have been worse.
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That's why, for all of you that have kids that want to play a sport in college (and assuming they have some level of ability), they better be lifting heavy weights. Nothing else will better assist in closing that gap (assuming that they are regularly practicing their sport as well, that should be a given).
I had a similar experience, but not basketball. I played in a flag football league in Tupelo some years ago when I was in much better shape. I knew the guy that I (5'9" white boy) was attempting to cover looked familiar. After the third or fourth time he torched me I figured out it was Fred Hadley.
You can lift all the weights you want. It won’t matter.
I destroyed Eric Mould's girlfriend in badminton one time.
Depends on the comparison. But all I said was, it's the only thing that can reduce the gap.
There's a reason everybody does it. Not everybody does it correctly, but everybody knows it must be done.
So you’re around 6’5”….
And yeah, most Six Packers would outweigh you by around 40 pounds…
Marcus trained you for SPS… **
I think he posts on here but I will tell a story of facing Bart Hyche in high school.
We were a smaller school within driving distance of his school. We had no business playing them, but there was of a "gate game" during this period of high school football in Alabama. Smaller schools would play bigger schools because every other year you'd get that home game against a team a town or two over and make more $$ than playing district games against teams 100+ miles away.
Anyway, we are playing them my junior year, his senior year. He's going to State to play basketball but he was a hell of a receiver. I think he caught 20 passes and scored 4 TDs that night. He laughed at me trying to cover him.
We were a smaller school within driving distance of his school. We had no business playing them, but there was of a "gate game" during this period of high school football in Alabama. Smaller schools would play bigger schools because every other year you'd get that home game against a team a town or two over and make more $$ than playing district games against teams 100+ miles away.
Anyway, we are playing them my junior year, his senior year. He's going to State to play basketball but he was a hell of a receiver. I think he caught 20 passes and scored 4 TDs that night. He laughed at me trying to cover him.
There was a white dude that played intramurals in maybe 03 that was insane. He dunked all over everyone in every game. I can’t remember his name but he was nuts. We met them in the first round of the playoffs and got smoked.
@mstateglfr
@dorndawg
Do y’all remember that guy? Probably 6’7. Could jump out of the gym.
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Had similar experience in the tin gym early-mid 90's. You would see scrubs and managers from the team, occasionally a starter would come in as well. They abused everyone they played without even breathing hard.
I hated those tin gym rubberized floors. Gave me the worst shin splints. I also saw some teams of ex-high school ballers who had high opinions of themselves and thought they could drive and score 1 v 5 every time and you could win a few games against "better" competition. I always enjoyed watching teams full of 5 individuals melt when they lost to us.
Well I was going to post a gif of a guy rollerblading, but since you are so confident it wasnt me, I guess I cant now.
I knew of a tall white guy who was a total leaper from Pillow Academy. I still remember that because I thought that was the funniest/dumbest name for a school. He was a year younger than me, so started in '00. I dont remember if he played intramural or not, but saw him a bunch at pickup games.
He was a damn springbok in both how he ran and jumped, but couldnt shoot to save his life.
Me and some buddies played a pickup game in the Sanderson against the WBB team with Tan White. She was bringing the ball up the floor and I am guarding her above the top of the key. She looks to her right and attempts a no-look pass to her left. Out of pure reflex I throw my right arm out and happened to block the pass, and did a behind the back bounce pass to a teammate to my left that went for an easy layup. her teammates were all giving her crap and laughing...the very next trip down the court she absolutely trucked me and drove in for a layup. That block was the last time I touched the basketball in the game.
Fred played on a city team I coached in the 80’s. You could tell he was a stud then. And he was funny as hell..
We used to have to pick him up at his house for practice because his parents didn’t take him , nor come to his games.
full circle in the 90’s he was a an independent trainer and worked with one of my boys in Tupelo.
I’ve told this story before. I was a scrub on a really good intramural basketball team. Like… most of the guys won the league the year before.
In the fall of ‘92 we played a team named “Prop 48”. They showed up with 4 dudes for 5 on 5 full court in the tin gym.
Beat us like an absolute rented mule.
It was Eric Moulds, Darryl Wilson and two basketball managers.
In the fall of ‘92 we played a team named “Prop 48”. They showed up with 4 dudes for 5 on 5 full court in the tin gym.
Beat us like an absolute rented mule.
It was Eric Moulds, Darryl Wilson and two basketball managers.
"You know somethin'? Michael Jordan came down to the beach one time. Took him to the hole, baby. You believe that? Took Air Michael Jordan to the hole. Yeah, that's right. I was here, Billy Ho, I saw the whole damn thing! Michael said to me, said, 'Hey, you should play summer pro league.' That's right. I said no! Hell no! Sht might mess up my game.
In your defense, it's hard to play basketball in rollerskates.
I'm pretty sure Smoke Burns played on Prop 48 too but it may have been a year or two before that. 17ing beast.
So was Moulds by the way. Crazy athletic.
I think they made the rule after that you can only have one varsity player from another non basketball sport on your roster. I know it was there when we played because we had one football player on our team.
There was this guy named Trey Johnson who used to just mow us all down at North Jackson Youth Baseball. I was convinced one year that if I swung really hard and connected, I’d go yard against him. Nope, struck out on three pitches. He disappeared around age 10. Maybe went to travel ball or something, I don’t know. He was a legend.
Anyway, I googled him 10 years ago just to see if he made it anywhere in baseball. He didn’t. Instead, he was in the NBA. I googled him again now, and he’s Jackson State’s head coach.
Anyway, I googled him 10 years ago just to see if he made it anywhere in baseball. He didn’t. Instead, he was in the NBA. I googled him again now, and he’s Jackson State’s head coach.
Played a flag football game against Greg Plump and Keith Hooper. 6'5 Hooper in the back of the end zone was unstoppable against a group of white boys.
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A few years ago I got to play golf against a 5-time winner on the PGA tour. He had just joined our club. I’m a zero at the club so they thought I’d enjoy playing with him and his 13-year old son for their first round at the club.
We played the tips and I played ok, but didn’t make any birdies so I shot 78. Couldn’t make a putt to save my life.
I lost by 17 shots. He birdied the first three holes and didn’t have to make a putt longer than 15 feet.
His son played the men’s tees and shot mid 70’s.
We played the tips and I played ok, but didn’t make any birdies so I shot 78. Couldn’t make a putt to save my life.
I lost by 17 shots. He birdied the first three holes and didn’t have to make a putt longer than 15 feet.
His son played the men’s tees and shot mid 70’s.
Watched the last 5 minutes or so of one of Mackye's games waiting on our game to start. We lost count, but I think he had 18 points. Played a good bit with football players. I thought I was quick. I am not.
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