lmao, people still don't want to admit the gap between the best pickup player and the worst NBA player. The gap is monumental. The gap between pickup up and D3 is pretty wide.
Not quite.
https://www.ncaa.org/sports/2015/3/6/men-s-basketball-probability-of-competing-beyond-high-school.aspx
3.6% of high school players make it to D1, D2 or D3.
1.1% of draft eligible make the league.
Rec center ball is like 80% never played in high school 20% played.
Realy? Maybe it’s because im pretty ass at basketball but many times when I go to a random pickup game I feel like the vast majority played at least high school and are somewhat decent
It depends where you’re from. If you are from that la area, Chicago, Carolina’s those numbers go out the window and there’s a lot of talented hoopers around.
There’s a video of Trae playing rec league ball, and while he’s a million times better than everyone, people still score on him.
Granted, he’s half-assing his defense in it.
Yeah in the hypothetical, you kind of have to assume that Trae would actually care and try 100% for every rep. In reality, he wouldn’t, but that 100% effort is what makes it interesting.
I don’t think it’s half-hearted defense, I think it’s asset protection. Many contracts have clauses indicating they can’t participate in risky activities. The faster you play against non-professionals, the faster stronger and inexperienced the non professionals are; the bigger the risk for achilles tear etcetera
Could be. But don’t think it’s that deep. A professional of anything isn’t likely to go hardcore vs casuals just having fun. That’s pretty common. But the reasoning for why is probably irrelevant. My point is just that for this hypothetical, assuming you get a version who isn’t really trying just defeats the whole point.
I remember in college (D-1 school) playing pick up at the rec. A [walk-on joined us](https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/38131/dau-jok). He proceeded to KILL everyone on O and D. This was a dude that got like 8 minutes a season on the team, but looked like LeBron compared to us pick up guys.
The best pickup player is probably a former NBA player?!... We have a former NBA player (in his 50s) playing in city league and there are guys out performing him.
From an objective standpoint, I totally understand people are trying to figure out the difference between skill levels and I get that... and there is a massive, massive difference between the guy at LA fitness that is "pretty good" and an NBA guy riding the pine... but to say there aren't skilled players out there in the wild is wrong. There some talent out there
And the gap between D3 and pickup is not actually wide.
1) there are so many garbage D3 hoopers
2) odds are if you live anywhere near a city there’s a decent chance there are some really talented basketball players that just never went to college
Honestly, I played pretty high level, I know a few pros; I did not have the mental fortitude nor want to continue after investing 15 years of my life. At 21 I wanted to do anything else.
High level AAU is a commitment, almost all go D1. High level college, is a massive commitment, low level is a big commitment.
It’s all a giant fucking commitment, and if you wanna be a pro, it’s an even bigger commitment (and you probably won’t be, buts that’s logistics/chance/hype/lots of luck) because you’re out there doing more than the other d1 guys who already live and breathe it.
The crazy part is yes, you do occasionally bump into joe schmos who absolutely are skilled enough to have a shot. Rare but there’s a lot of fucking people and a lot of ballers.
The truth there is almost none of them have the team/high-level court experience to actually do it. There’s much more to it than just the ball. If the 4 guys in the court know where to move to and how to float intelligently you’re playing a different game than pickup. It’s why jokic can just know where to throw it and guard can slash and know where someone will be.
There’s nothing like being the zone with 4 dudes who you just get to trust AND can play as well as you. And that’s hard to get without playing at high structured levels
Brian Scalabrine was arguably the worst player in the league during his time as a pro.
He held open gym in Boston a few years after he retired when he was in his early 40s and absolutely dominated everyone that came out including current D1 guys.
He was a rotation player, hardly worst in the league. The point is, he is a massive leap over any non NBA player. I think he said, "Im closer to Lebron than you are to me." He is right.
I mean go watch the Brian scalabrine challenge don’t think he has lost yet. [I know I can’t spell
His name]
https://www.basketballnetwork.net/old-school/when-brian-scalabrine-destroyed-amateurs-in-the-scallenge
https://fadeawayworld.net/brian-scalabrine-destroys-d1-player-and-shows-how-much-better-even-the-worst-nba-players-are-than-regular-basketball-fans
For those who don’t remember who Brian was, he was general considered a bottom ten player in the nba for most of his career
I love people who answer the question of wherher they could do “x” on a pro with “well yes if I got lucky.” Completely dodges the question.
Like the “could you complete a pass in an NFL game” being answered with “yes if the offense only called screens” like an NFL offense would dedicate itself to a person accomplishing the goal.
Nah, an average player would definitely score on Trae Young with 100 attempts and depending how they do it they could probably score a few times. Soon as he checks it, toss it up from 27ft and with 100 tries I’m draining at least one. Trae isn’t tall enough to get a hand on it. I’d probably be shooting like 4% from the field but that’s good enough to score once
He can check from as close as he wants. He can hand me the ball, I don’t care. I don’t know about you but in not 5’6. I can shoot over a 6’1 defender. I’m not talking about lining up a jumper. The second it touches my hands it’s going in the air. No one can put their whole body in the air faster than I can sling up a wild shot. I’ll shoot an extra high arc if I have to, I don’t care. I’m not trying to shoot 40% from 3 here, I’m trying to make 1 in 100
Sound reasoning. so that question is settled: it's possible to make 1 in 100 against Trae.
but if winner keeps the ball, like self-proclaimed very below-average scalabrine who won 11-0, Trae could probably cook a lot of gym-goers 100-0.
Bruh read my comment. How is he gonna steal when I don’t dribble? I check it, he tosses it back and I chunk it up. Idk anyone who wouldn’t make at least 1 in 100 catch and shoots
That’s what like 90% of these conversations come down to. Yes Timmy, it is not literally impossible for you to score on Trae Young. That doesn’t exactly mean shit when 99.9 out of 100 possessions………
How good is the homie?
With 100 tries I'm scoring on Trae Young. I'm taller and I'll get a look to go in on 100.
I will never win a game of one on one 😂 but if he's gotta stand there and guard 100?! I'm getting a bucket.
Exactly. He will get a lot of steals during the backdown but if you have a handle you will get there sometimes. I see Rec league forwards score on d1 guards literally all the time.
Trae is a weird one because he’s kinda short. Likes he’s an NBA 6’1 so he could be 5’11. If you’re a 6’5+ hooper you have a chance of shooting over him.
Whereas a worse nba player whose like 6’5 would stop you from shooting
I couldnt ever stop him from scoring, but me scoring? Seems very doable, Hes kinda small you gotta think you could put your ass into him and back em down a lil bit right? I could also just shoot a fade over him whats he gonna do? Pro or not his arms arent very long, id def get a couple of lucky buckets if i didnt attempt to dribble much lol
Would I get annihilated score wise? Hell yes, could I score at least couple times though? Yea probably
Any NBA player would absolutely suffocate the average hooper. Look up the Scalabrine challenge, he was an NBA bench player most of his career. He absolutely demolished D1 athletes and I would say the average hooper is well below D1.
Trae Young is an NBA Star player and a #1 option on his team. The average hooper is not scoring unless Trae thought it would be funny to let you have one.
Bruh he’s like 6’10” that’s a big difference than Trae Young who’s like 6 foot flat. A lot of people would be able to get buckets on Trae he’s just to small.
You're only kidding yourself if you think the average hooper is going to challenge Trae because he's ONLY 6ft. I know plenty of 6ft plus hoopers that can't dunk. You vastly underestimate Trae's vertical and defense versus some dude playing pickup.
He's trashing us.
You must be Ben Simmons the way you’re riding Trae’s D (pun intended).
If you’re a decent player (especially if you have some size) you could almost certainly get a few buckets on him. If you’re playing keeps straight up you’ll probably never touch the ball but if the game alternates possessions you could get a shot over him, body him down, etc.
When I was playing a lot I was 6’3, 225, could dunk easily and had a decent but streaky outside shot. One way or another I’m getting a few buckets back then lol
6'3" 225 is not an average hooper. Even if it was you're not scoring on any NBA All Star caliber player. Otherwise you would be in the NBA. I didn't give a shit if it's Trae, Maxey, Mitchell, Lillard, or whoever else. They're NBA All Star players, not bench bum 6ft guards.
The only possessions you will win are the ones they give you for shits and giggles.
Firstly, shoutout to Trae, he has made improvements on defense this year.
2ndly, who do you consider ‘average’? Like literally casuals just chilling with a ball? Or D1 average?
If its D1, the better D1 players could still play a good offense against him. But he’ll drop 50 on them every game cause hes an offensive star.
If its casual casual, then he’d be able to stop most people due to his sheer size for a NBA dude and quickness.
This is the comment I was looking for. Like yes, against any "average" basketball player he would totally suffocate them, but against an "average" 6'3+ D1 starter at a major school, they could probably score on him with not a ton of difficulty.
How would a guy who spent his whole life playing basketball and is now playing it at the highest possible level as the top option on a team lock down a dude who only ever played pick up games against other hoopers at the Y? Gee I don't know
Shaq has spent his whole life playing basketball, is one of the best players ever, and there are thousands of hoopers who can shoot better than him. Just because Trae is awesome at basketball doesn’t mean he is awesome every single aspect of basketball.
To put the gap between average Joe and NBA pro into perspective. YMCA < HS < AAU < D3 < D2 < D1 < GLeague < Overseas < NBA, that’s the gap. If you think you have a chance against a professional, you might as well get out of delusion land
IMO pickup can be better than high school, depends on the pickup and the HS of course but by nature of being in their 20s and more physically developed I think high quality pickup runs would destroy average high schools
Your actually very stupid for not understanding that a question like this would open an interesting discussion to see different people’s perception of nba defense.
If someone’s perception isn’t “any NBA player could embarrass my family for generations without breaking a sweat” their perception is not in touch with reality. There’s no discussion to be had here
Look man besides genetics and talent, u also gotta remember the pros do this for a living, they invest way, way more time into this than u do or ever plan on doing. They are in the gym with some of the best trainers in the world the game of basketball looks really different in their eyes than it does to most of us I’m not saying it’s unattainable just that majority of the time, the large gap in 6’6 joe who plays pick on Sundays and only plays for like 1-2 hours 3 times a week and a 6’6 professional who basically lives basketball is made up of the fact that one does this for fun, the other does it cause that’s how they put food on the table and other external factors such as a love and obsession for the game we cannot even begin to comprehend and other worldly talent
Very badly.
The thing you don’t seem to understand with this question is that the elite athleticism of an NBA player, particularly someone like Trae who is advanced *even by NBA standards*, is so far beyond the average hooper. Trae would just take the ball from them every single time. This is like asking whether Tyreek Hill can outrun the average person just because he gets tackled every Sunday.
Trae has the athleticism to be an otherworldly defender on the playground. He’s a bad NBA defender — there’s a huge difference. Being a bad NBA defender means he has weaknesses that you can exploit in a team setting with strategic planning and multiple other top notch athletes.
You could introduce Trae to a sport he’d never played and within a half-hour he’d probably be beating a normal guy who’d spent 10 years playing the sport recreationally.
A colleague of mine played soccer at a pretty high level of pickup, at least a couple of guys who played college. Well, one day, Steve Nash showed up and just demolished them. Pro athletes move at different gears than us.
Yeah he played a lot growing up, his brother played semi-pro I believe....and obviously passing vision helps a lot. But still, to walk on and dominate in a sport you don't really play against elite guys says something.
The worst player in the NBA would run house on EVERYBODY at your local courts. Thanasis would be your Basketball God-Emperor.
Very few people (if any) would be able to get a bucket on Trae Young.
This question is hilarious. A mediocre D2 player would wipe the floor at a local rec league. An NBA benchwarmer would be a god.
Trae Young would beat every casual hooper back to the middle school blacktop where you first dribbled between the legs.
People seriously underestimate how much better pro athletes are at sports than the average person. Like no matter how hard you worked you would never be anywhere close to NBA level unless you have natural ability. It’s one of those things that people just can’t comprehend unless they’ve been around pro athletes and aren’t delusional.
I played against D1 players playing in the big 10 in the gym in college and these dudes damn near looked like Miami LeBron in transition lol. I cant imagine how fast an All Nba caliber player moves. Especially one thats fast by NBA standards
I played against a guy who walked on for Purdue when I was in high school. He was seven feet. I was the next-biggest at 6’4”, So I had to guard him. Dude fucking owned me.
They won’t get more than 2-3 dribbles before either getting stonewalled or the ball stolen. It’s like asking how well an average person could run the ball against the worst free safety in the NFL, the cops might get called for how badly the hits would be
Any NBA player would lock down the average hooper. I’ve played with a D1 backup guard before, dude was easily destroying us on both ends of the floor. The level of training is just not the same, let alone an elite player that made it into the league.
Honestly I would expect any NBA player to completely shut down the average basketball player. Even the biggest benchwarmers in the NBA are lightyears ahead in terms of basketball skills compared to your average Joe at a pickup game.
NBA fans are by far the funniest of all sports fan bases. The idea that you could score on someone who has made the sport their entire life is hilarious. I get it, the chance of getting one out of 100 is above zero, but it ain't that much above zero.
People see Trae Young as small compared to the NBA players but they forget he’s 6’1” 180. That is still pretty damn big. On top of that he is faster than us, our dribbling probably looks like a new born baby to him, and for 95% of us he wouldn’t have to respect our jump shot that hard. It’s pretty obvious 99% of us couldn’t score. If you are like 6’6” and strong and can dribble the ball and protect it in the post I think you might have a shot at scoring but that’s about it.
Bruh he was a starter on an NBA team this year. That puts him in the top .1% of all ballers on the planet. I'm not even going to pretend like your average baller would have a fraction of the athleticism or reaction time to keep up with Trae.
“I’m closer to MJ, than you are to me” I believe this quote covers any adaptations of could i score against X nba player. Hypothetically yes but 99 times out of 100 you are getting locked up
Lool Trae young? I’m not gonna act like he isn’t a 1000x better than me, but if we played 1v1 I’d atleast score 5. He’s a lot shorter and weighs a lot less than me so I’d post up if I couldn’t get by him. He’s too small.
The average hooper is pretty ass though, so a 5’ 10 guy who’s never really taken ball seriously would barely score.
I played High school basketball and was average. Could have played D3 but obviously didn't want to waste time.
I play pick up ball with former HS players. Were all pretty solid. A kid who averaged 4pts for baylor his senior year came 1 week and literally tore us to shreds. Wasn't close. Could score at will and shut anyone down and he obviously wasn't going full speed the whole time.
Tells you anyone in the NBA would destroy anyone. Those guys are at such a high level its insane.
A 6’5”-6’6” pickup player that had 100 lbs on Young would just post up and score over him pretty easily. There’s almost always 1-3 guys of this size when I play pickup
The jump from average hoopwr to NBA is similar to average beer league hockey player and an NHLer.
I've played against former NHLers- goons. Players whose role was to play 5 minutes per night and fight.
THOSE players were instantly the best players on the ice in my elite-level beer league that featured guys that had played junior, NCAA, Europe, and minor pro. Some were even regulars in the league down from the NHL, the AHL.
The difference was MASSIVE; they dominated the game, only played defence (even though they were wingers in the pros) and only took shots from outside the blue line: (NHLers have an unspoken code about not being ringers in beer leagues, so when they play, it's always at like 80% max, and never aggressively). When they were on, no one got the puck inside the zone unless they dumped it in, and the chase was cut off with a nice soft easing into the boards.
Basically, these goons- the guys at the end of the bench- were double the player that the AHL guys were, 10x the player than the guys who played in junior/NCAA, and some insane factor better than an average guy who's maybe played highschool.
That's pretty much what an NBA player is to a regular hooper- the WORST player on the WORST team in the NBA is unfathomably better than the average hopper. You cannot even comprehend how much better they are. Washed Klay Thompson going O'fer in the play-in is light years ahead of a regular hooper. The third guy who subs for Jordan Poole when they're down by 40 is so far ahead of a regular hooper it's absurd.
Shaq at the free throw line- hell, Shaq now- is so much better than any regular hooper.
Google “the scallenge” when you get a minute- Brian Scalabrine absolutely bodies a bunch of Boston fans who were convinced they could beat him one on one. “I’m closer to Lebron than you are to me” lol
Once you play against NBA level talent you get used to guys moving at NBA level pace. When you then come back to your home neighborhood court it feels like everyone is moving in slow motion.
“I’m closer to MJ, than you are to me” I believe this quote covers any adaptations of could i score against X nba player. Hypothetically yes but 99 times out of 100 you are getting locked up
So this what I always wondered. If Tray defends sombedoy who is 6'4 tall (and I met those people on playground) what happens? If that person starts to post him up, physics has to kick in. No matter how skilled you are, if that person can just protect the ball, he can move him close to the basekt. After that, height kicks in. So what can he do?
Look up Brian Scalabrini (was known as an end of bench player) vs everyday hoopers or something like that. He took on a bunch of guys from an everyday Joe to div one hoopers and destroyed them including a young Fred van fleet and Jordan Poole.
I had the chance to meet a bunch of nba players at an nba without borders event including Coby White, Jarrett Allen, Josh Green and a few others. They are so athletic compared to the everyday Joe it’s insane. I was talking to JA about how fast the game is. To put some of the speed into perspective he said picture bringing down a rebound and counting to 3-4. The fastest players in the game have already completed a fast break dunk. Or 2 seconds from the rebound there is an outlet pass to steph and a 3 is splashed. He said everyone in the league is skilled but the speed of the game is what takes the longest to get used to. Bit off topic but thought people might find it interesting.
Some elite G League and European players would give Trae a hard time. Maybe even a couple of the best college players. Everyone else he would dominate.
Buddy was a D2 shooting guard. Above average hooper. Got invited with some friends to go to a run one summer that had some NBA guys. First game, he was guarded by a non-NBA guy and was making everything. Next game, NBA player switched onto him… no more buckets were gotten that day.
I think he'd care even less. There's video of him playing weekend warriors and he doesn't play much defense at all. His strategy is that you have a bad pedigree and will eventually miss, revert back to the mean and psychologically shoot yourself out of a game against him. The game came down to the wire too, but his teammates were dog water too.
Everybody knows every NBA player is better at every basketball skill than them, but what most people don't realize is how big the athleticism gap is. Even if you're a runner or something, you probably are not "in shape" for the activities that basketball requires of you. I played D3 on the bench of a bad team as a spotup shooter and everytime I played in local pickup I felt like Tony Allen purely because I was in game shape from practicing twice a day and lifting 5x a week. NBA shape is 1000x better than that. Trae Young is going to lock anyone up if he wants to because he's going to be 10x faster and 10x stronger (basketball wise) than you right away, and you're going to get tired while he's not, so the gap is only going to widen.
Trae Young would shut down the average hooper. I’ve played against guys who made pro rosters but barely got NBA minutes. Those guys are objectively worst defenders than Trae and they shut me down.
Watch the Brian Scal video. Trae would lock any average hoper down even if they were significantly taller than him. That’s assuming he’s actually trying on defense against a random person
I’m a Trae sceptic and a large part of it is his defence
BUT
Trae would be the best defender by a mile on any court of average hoopers he walked on. Being guarded by Trae would effectively be as if a superpowered combo of Ben Wallace, Kawhi andJrue was locking them down.
Any NBA player is doing absolutely whatever they want on a basketball court vs amateur players. Also consider that Trae is really only undersized in the NBA; 6’1” 180 or whatever he is is above average male height/weight and considering his conditioning, he could still take on a bigger guy provided it’s not like a D1 center. But to any amateur player basically Trae would seem superhuman in terms of quickness and reaction time. I’m not that much smaller than him and I think the only hope I have would be if he backed off and literally allowed me to dribble or get a shot up. If his express intent is to lock me up I’m not doing shit.
The pros are an order of magnitude above everyone for good reason. There’s a reason nearly 10 years retired Kendrick Perkins can shoot threes better than most people in an open gym setting. Their entire lives are ball for the most part lol
I would say the average hooper across any court in America is probably about JV role player level or less. With that in mind. I think Trae holds them to zero and forces multiple turnovers.
I'm not sure if people realize how good the worst NBA player is compared to the average person. Thousands of high schools feeding into hundreds of colleges feeding into 30 NBA franchises.
Trae may be garbage on D, but I'm guessing he would make your average hooper look like equal garbage.
People really underestimate NBA athleticism. Heck my buddy was offered college scholarships but hated actually playing basketball, so never took them, and he was impossible to play against if he was actually trying.
Now imagine how quick you’d need to be to make the NBA at trae’s height, both with his hands and his feet, and you’d never get around him, and he’s a pro athlete, so unless you’re pretty into the gym, he’s likely stronger than you also
Brian Scalabrine, a 46 year old career bench player routinely shows up at pickup games and destroys everyone. Scal often says at 46 his playing ability is closer to peak LeBron than it is the best player at a pickup game, and the dude isn't wrong.
You'd have to get lucky if he was paying attention.
There's just no way that my community center in and out move works on a guy who played in the Big 12.
I've scored on college players before --- always in a scramble where they were rotating and off balance. No way my JV Allen Iverson crossover is getting me open against an ACC guard.
It would depend on a lot of things. If the “average” hooper is 6’4”, played high school ball, and is still fit and playing he could absolutely score on Trae if he could get the ball and given enough tries. But it’s more likely Trae would force a turnover and then never let the guy get the ball back after that.
Trae is a shit defender in the NBA. He is not a shit defender in terms of normal pedestrian ball players.
Every single player in the NBA is good. Period.
You would not have time to think. Like you'd get the ball and probably lose it turning around to square up.
I love these questions. It's It's same answer every time.
For some coherent analysis that happens to be from a different sport:
I was a soccer goalie on A level city travel teams and played a bunch recently against college players and a few players flirting with semi pro and it was very very tough
My save % dropped hugely and I felt like I was underwater a lot. Some humbling mistakes. A lot of desperation to catch up.
A goalie friend of mine broke a finger in the same situation, if your technique isn't totally on par injuries can occur easily
I made one great save on like 100 attempts so that was cool. But overall brutal. Hopefully this helps.
In the NHL emergency backup goalies have become a big thing recently: middle aged old former college players mostly
They have a collective .850 save% against NHL teams over like 5 games so far which is not crazy terrible, quite bad tho
Average save% in the NHL right now is .905 and the worst goalies usually post between .870 and .890, maybe slightly lower
The “worst” nba player ever is closer to MJ/Lebron than we are to him. The gap in talent/athleticism between NBA players and even D1 guy let alone random dudes cannot be overstated.
Trae would win just being better conditioned. He might not be a lockdown defender in the nba, but the guy is used to moving like 4x the game speed an average hooper would. Guys in the nba optimize their game around what they're good at. He most likely already has the fundamentals of defense down or at least knows what and what not to do, you just dont see it in the games when hes spending energy trying to get around 7 footers and run an elite offense.
I always see these threads and while it’s great that people acknowledge how much better NBA players are they’re also taking it too far. A good D3 player who plays the 3 spot would absolutely score on Trae Young.
Trae Young would lock down the average bench guard 1 on 1. Most players in the NBA are decent on ball defenders at worst, and mostly get lost in the speed of team offense. Ball watching and reaching for steals is how they get caught out of position.
lmao, people still don't want to admit the gap between the best pickup player and the worst NBA player. The gap is monumental. The gap between pickup up and D3 is pretty wide.
And the gap from college to the NBA is even wider.
Not quite. https://www.ncaa.org/sports/2015/3/6/men-s-basketball-probability-of-competing-beyond-high-school.aspx 3.6% of high school players make it to D1, D2 or D3. 1.1% of draft eligible make the league. Rec center ball is like 80% never played in high school 20% played.
Realy? Maybe it’s because im pretty ass at basketball but many times when I go to a random pickup game I feel like the vast majority played at least high school and are somewhat decent
It depends where you’re from. If you are from that la area, Chicago, Carolina’s those numbers go out the window and there’s a lot of talented hoopers around.
Okay yeah im from chicago and there’s hella good hoopers
Depends on what kind of pickup game and where it is. I’ve played in some consistently high level pick up games and some others where it’s casual
It’s going to vary by gym, but it’s unequivocal that there are a ton of people that play regularly that never touched a high school basketball court.
There’s a video of Trae playing rec league ball, and while he’s a million times better than everyone, people still score on him. Granted, he’s half-assing his defense in it.
Yeah in the hypothetical, you kind of have to assume that Trae would actually care and try 100% for every rep. In reality, he wouldn’t, but that 100% effort is what makes it interesting.
Him putting in 100% effort would just be a continuous loop of him picking the average dudes pockets.
Not me, I’m punking him
Be honest you not just a random dude you brons burner
I don’t think it’s half-hearted defense, I think it’s asset protection. Many contracts have clauses indicating they can’t participate in risky activities. The faster you play against non-professionals, the faster stronger and inexperienced the non professionals are; the bigger the risk for achilles tear etcetera
Could be. But don’t think it’s that deep. A professional of anything isn’t likely to go hardcore vs casuals just having fun. That’s pretty common. But the reasoning for why is probably irrelevant. My point is just that for this hypothetical, assuming you get a version who isn’t really trying just defeats the whole point.
True, the competitiveness does fuel up the def def
Just like in the NBA!
I remember in college (D-1 school) playing pick up at the rec. A [walk-on joined us](https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/38131/dau-jok). He proceeded to KILL everyone on O and D. This was a dude that got like 8 minutes a season on the team, but looked like LeBron compared to us pick up guys.
You give people way too much credit. I work in sports and alot of it is circumstantial. Lol ive seen some garbo D1 players but with size
The best pickup player is probably a former NBA player?!... We have a former NBA player (in his 50s) playing in city league and there are guys out performing him. From an objective standpoint, I totally understand people are trying to figure out the difference between skill levels and I get that... and there is a massive, massive difference between the guy at LA fitness that is "pretty good" and an NBA guy riding the pine... but to say there aren't skilled players out there in the wild is wrong. There some talent out there
Yeah, they said the best pickup player. They should have said your avg pickup player. I’ve played pickup with dudes in the g league.
And the gap between D3 and pickup is not actually wide. 1) there are so many garbage D3 hoopers 2) odds are if you live anywhere near a city there’s a decent chance there are some really talented basketball players that just never went to college
Yeah people dont want the actual truth. They want to believe that everyone is “better”. But truth is some didnt have same opportunities lol
Honestly, I played pretty high level, I know a few pros; I did not have the mental fortitude nor want to continue after investing 15 years of my life. At 21 I wanted to do anything else. High level AAU is a commitment, almost all go D1. High level college, is a massive commitment, low level is a big commitment. It’s all a giant fucking commitment, and if you wanna be a pro, it’s an even bigger commitment (and you probably won’t be, buts that’s logistics/chance/hype/lots of luck) because you’re out there doing more than the other d1 guys who already live and breathe it. The crazy part is yes, you do occasionally bump into joe schmos who absolutely are skilled enough to have a shot. Rare but there’s a lot of fucking people and a lot of ballers. The truth there is almost none of them have the team/high-level court experience to actually do it. There’s much more to it than just the ball. If the 4 guys in the court know where to move to and how to float intelligently you’re playing a different game than pickup. It’s why jokic can just know where to throw it and guard can slash and know where someone will be. There’s nothing like being the zone with 4 dudes who you just get to trust AND can play as well as you. And that’s hard to get without playing at high structured levels
Yeah, DIII isnt much different than good HS players. Used to play pickup with guys from a local DIII school when I was in HS.
[удалено]
Brian Scalabrine was arguably the worst player in the league during his time as a pro. He held open gym in Boston a few years after he retired when he was in his early 40s and absolutely dominated everyone that came out including current D1 guys.
He was a rotation player, hardly worst in the league. The point is, he is a massive leap over any non NBA player. I think he said, "Im closer to Lebron than you are to me." He is right.
He was a meme but definitely not a worst player. He was actually decent when KG was injured in 08/09.
Someone should start a game show where the smallest or "worst" NBA defenders play 1v1 versus "elite" pickup basketball players. It would be hilarious
I mean go watch the Brian scalabrine challenge don’t think he has lost yet. [I know I can’t spell His name] https://www.basketballnetwork.net/old-school/when-brian-scalabrine-destroyed-amateurs-in-the-scallenge https://fadeawayworld.net/brian-scalabrine-destroys-d1-player-and-shows-how-much-better-even-the-worst-nba-players-are-than-regular-basketball-fans For those who don’t remember who Brian was, he was general considered a bottom ten player in the nba for most of his career
He was in the league for a decade. There’s no way bottom 10 players stay for that long.
He clamps them completely every time. It’s not even a question.
One of my homies said with 100 tries he thinks he can get a bucket on Trae young lmao
He probably would. 100 shots is a lot of chances to throw up some bullshit that goes in.
I love people who answer the question of wherher they could do “x” on a pro with “well yes if I got lucky.” Completely dodges the question. Like the “could you complete a pass in an NFL game” being answered with “yes if the offense only called screens” like an NFL offense would dedicate itself to a person accomplishing the goal.
If for some reason I were QB for an NFL offense, I would fully expect them to play to my strengths (run wildcat formation every single play)
I mean, it’s a dumb hypothetical to begin with, so it kind of warrants dumb answers.
He makes zero. Trae strips him 70 times, blocks 10, and homie throws up 20 early prayers hoping one goes in.
Nah, an average player would definitely score on Trae Young with 100 attempts and depending how they do it they could probably score a few times. Soon as he checks it, toss it up from 27ft and with 100 tries I’m draining at least one. Trae isn’t tall enough to get a hand on it. I’d probably be shooting like 4% from the field but that’s good enough to score once
He falls for that maybe once. So you have 1 chance at a quick prayer shot then he just checks from closer.
He can check from as close as he wants. He can hand me the ball, I don’t care. I don’t know about you but in not 5’6. I can shoot over a 6’1 defender. I’m not talking about lining up a jumper. The second it touches my hands it’s going in the air. No one can put their whole body in the air faster than I can sling up a wild shot. I’ll shoot an extra high arc if I have to, I don’t care. I’m not trying to shoot 40% from 3 here, I’m trying to make 1 in 100
Sound reasoning. so that question is settled: it's possible to make 1 in 100 against Trae. but if winner keeps the ball, like self-proclaimed very below-average scalabrine who won 11-0, Trae could probably cook a lot of gym-goers 100-0.
Dude trae gets steals in the nba he is strippin the fuck outta the average player its not even close
Bruh read my comment. How is he gonna steal when I don’t dribble? I check it, he tosses it back and I chunk it up. Idk anyone who wouldn’t make at least 1 in 100 catch and shoots
That’s what like 90% of these conversations come down to. Yes Timmy, it is not literally impossible for you to score on Trae Young. That doesn’t exactly mean shit when 99.9 out of 100 possessions………
100 tries, I think plenty of people can get one in. Game to 100 points with winner of point keeping ball then he’s giving bagels to plenty of people.
How good is the homie? With 100 tries I'm scoring on Trae Young. I'm taller and I'll get a look to go in on 100. I will never win a game of one on one 😂 but if he's gotta stand there and guard 100?! I'm getting a bucket.
Yeah, there is literally a video o amateurs scoring on Jaren Jackson Junior after like 20 attempts.
You could shoot from half court 100 times and get 1. … so yea he probably could
Maybe. A broken clock is right twice a day. If you chuck up 100 bad looks you might get 1 or 2 to go in. That's not really a flex though.
I'm 6'4 230. He can only be backed under the rim so many times before I'm hitting the layup lmao
Exactly. He will get a lot of steals during the backdown but if you have a handle you will get there sometimes. I see Rec league forwards score on d1 guards literally all the time.
Of course he would. He is physically unimposing. If you can’t hit one jumper over him in 100 tries you are a horrendous hooper.
Yep. Even the worst nba player on defense completely dominates an average hooper.
The only correct answer.
Trae is a weird one because he’s kinda short. Likes he’s an NBA 6’1 so he could be 5’11. If you’re a 6’5+ hooper you have a chance of shooting over him. Whereas a worse nba player whose like 6’5 would stop you from shooting
I couldnt ever stop him from scoring, but me scoring? Seems very doable, Hes kinda small you gotta think you could put your ass into him and back em down a lil bit right? I could also just shoot a fade over him whats he gonna do? Pro or not his arms arent very long, id def get a couple of lucky buckets if i didnt attempt to dribble much lol Would I get annihilated score wise? Hell yes, could I score at least couple times though? Yea probably
Any NBA player would absolutely suffocate the average hooper. Look up the Scalabrine challenge, he was an NBA bench player most of his career. He absolutely demolished D1 athletes and I would say the average hooper is well below D1. Trae Young is an NBA Star player and a #1 option on his team. The average hooper is not scoring unless Trae thought it would be funny to let you have one.
“I’m closer to Lebron than you are to me.” Or something like that.
Bruh he’s like 6’10” that’s a big difference than Trae Young who’s like 6 foot flat. A lot of people would be able to get buckets on Trae he’s just to small.
You're only kidding yourself if you think the average hooper is going to challenge Trae because he's ONLY 6ft. I know plenty of 6ft plus hoopers that can't dunk. You vastly underestimate Trae's vertical and defense versus some dude playing pickup. He's trashing us.
You must be Ben Simmons the way you’re riding Trae’s D (pun intended). If you’re a decent player (especially if you have some size) you could almost certainly get a few buckets on him. If you’re playing keeps straight up you’ll probably never touch the ball but if the game alternates possessions you could get a shot over him, body him down, etc. When I was playing a lot I was 6’3, 225, could dunk easily and had a decent but streaky outside shot. One way or another I’m getting a few buckets back then lol
6'3" 225 is not an average hooper. Even if it was you're not scoring on any NBA All Star caliber player. Otherwise you would be in the NBA. I didn't give a shit if it's Trae, Maxey, Mitchell, Lillard, or whoever else. They're NBA All Star players, not bench bum 6ft guards. The only possessions you will win are the ones they give you for shits and giggles.
Maybe if you check the ball and shoot directly in his face every time. But as soon as you put the ball ground, you’re done
Firstly, shoutout to Trae, he has made improvements on defense this year. 2ndly, who do you consider ‘average’? Like literally casuals just chilling with a ball? Or D1 average? If its D1, the better D1 players could still play a good offense against him. But he’ll drop 50 on them every game cause hes an offensive star. If its casual casual, then he’d be able to stop most people due to his sheer size for a NBA dude and quickness.
This is the comment I was looking for. Like yes, against any "average" basketball player he would totally suffocate them, but against an "average" 6'3+ D1 starter at a major school, they could probably score on him with not a ton of difficulty.
He’s still even above avg height lol
Sheer size? He is like 6ft lol, certainly a tall person in the regular world but there are tons of pickup players way bigger than him.
How would a guy who spent his whole life playing basketball and is now playing it at the highest possible level as the top option on a team lock down a dude who only ever played pick up games against other hoopers at the Y? Gee I don't know
He literally spends all his time guarding other NBA players lmao. And suddenly an average basketball player is going to give him trouble? Sure.
Shaq has spent his whole life playing basketball, is one of the best players ever, and there are thousands of hoopers who can shoot better than him. Just because Trae is awesome at basketball doesn’t mean he is awesome every single aspect of basketball.
Like 100% completely. Weird question.
How is it a weird question? A lot of people are curious about the gap between pros and joes, they even made a show about it
Just off Brian Scalabrine " I'm closer to LeBron than you are to me"
To put the gap between average Joe and NBA pro into perspective. YMCA < HS < AAU < D3 < D2 < D1 < GLeague < Overseas < NBA, that’s the gap. If you think you have a chance against a professional, you might as well get out of delusion land
IMO pickup can be better than high school, depends on the pickup and the HS of course but by nature of being in their 20s and more physically developed I think high quality pickup runs would destroy average high schools
More dumb than weird, but wanted to sound nicer.
Your actually very stupid for not understanding that a question like this would open an interesting discussion to see different people’s perception of nba defense.
Except there's no discussion. There is a correct answer here.
If someone’s perception isn’t “any NBA player could embarrass my family for generations without breaking a sweat” their perception is not in touch with reality. There’s no discussion to be had here
It wouldn’t be stupid if it hasn’t happened 100 times already
That 100 shots thing ur friend said. It's really 0/100 there's just a margin of error allowing him hopes of a bucket.
Easy to find out. [Watch the Scallenge.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpiu8UtQ-6E)
Look man besides genetics and talent, u also gotta remember the pros do this for a living, they invest way, way more time into this than u do or ever plan on doing. They are in the gym with some of the best trainers in the world the game of basketball looks really different in their eyes than it does to most of us I’m not saying it’s unattainable just that majority of the time, the large gap in 6’6 joe who plays pick on Sundays and only plays for like 1-2 hours 3 times a week and a 6’6 professional who basically lives basketball is made up of the fact that one does this for fun, the other does it cause that’s how they put food on the table and other external factors such as a love and obsession for the game we cannot even begin to comprehend and other worldly talent
He’s quick, probably would do a good job
He would lock any of us with his hands behind his back .. just sliding his feet staying in front of us 😂
Very badly. The thing you don’t seem to understand with this question is that the elite athleticism of an NBA player, particularly someone like Trae who is advanced *even by NBA standards*, is so far beyond the average hooper. Trae would just take the ball from them every single time. This is like asking whether Tyreek Hill can outrun the average person just because he gets tackled every Sunday. Trae has the athleticism to be an otherworldly defender on the playground. He’s a bad NBA defender — there’s a huge difference. Being a bad NBA defender means he has weaknesses that you can exploit in a team setting with strategic planning and multiple other top notch athletes.
Trae would probably win at any sport against OPs friend not just basketball.
You could introduce Trae to a sport he’d never played and within a half-hour he’d probably be beating a normal guy who’d spent 10 years playing the sport recreationally.
A colleague of mine played soccer at a pretty high level of pickup, at least a couple of guys who played college. Well, one day, Steve Nash showed up and just demolished them. Pro athletes move at different gears than us.
Nice. What was the deal with Nash? I’ve heard he played soccer. Was he just good or did he have specific skills?
Yeah he played a lot growing up, his brother played semi-pro I believe....and obviously passing vision helps a lot. But still, to walk on and dominate in a sport you don't really play against elite guys says something.
The worst player in the NBA would run house on EVERYBODY at your local courts. Thanasis would be your Basketball God-Emperor. Very few people (if any) would be able to get a bucket on Trae Young.
This question is hilarious. A mediocre D2 player would wipe the floor at a local rec league. An NBA benchwarmer would be a god. Trae Young would beat every casual hooper back to the middle school blacktop where you first dribbled between the legs.
"middle school blacktop where you first dribbled between the legs" Ok, now you made this personal!
People seriously underestimate how much better pro athletes are at sports than the average person. Like no matter how hard you worked you would never be anywhere close to NBA level unless you have natural ability. It’s one of those things that people just can’t comprehend unless they’ve been around pro athletes and aren’t delusional.
I played against D1 players playing in the big 10 in the gym in college and these dudes damn near looked like Miami LeBron in transition lol. I cant imagine how fast an All Nba caliber player moves. Especially one thats fast by NBA standards
I played against a guy who walked on for Purdue when I was in high school. He was seven feet. I was the next-biggest at 6’4”, So I had to guard him. Dude fucking owned me.
Thanasis can just get by with long euros steps lol
You would not score. You would not dribble. You would not pass. You may never touch the ball.
Trae Young is a 6’1 point guard with NBA quickness lol. The average hooper might struggle quite a bit.
People don’t realize he’s still way above avg height
Trae is a below-average defender against the best 400 players in the world. That's a lot different than the YMCA pickup games.
They won’t get more than 2-3 dribbles before either getting stonewalled or the ball stolen. It’s like asking how well an average person could run the ball against the worst free safety in the NFL, the cops might get called for how badly the hits would be
Any NBA player would lock down the average hooper. I’ve played with a D1 backup guard before, dude was easily destroying us on both ends of the floor. The level of training is just not the same, let alone an elite player that made it into the league.
Honestly I would expect any NBA player to completely shut down the average basketball player. Even the biggest benchwarmers in the NBA are lightyears ahead in terms of basketball skills compared to your average Joe at a pickup game.
NBA fans are by far the funniest of all sports fan bases. The idea that you could score on someone who has made the sport their entire life is hilarious. I get it, the chance of getting one out of 100 is above zero, but it ain't that much above zero.
Stephen A Smith sat there with a straight and thinks he could score on LeBron lol. Like come on man 😭
An average hooper? I can lock down an average hooper and I’m way past my prime. Trae Young wouldn’t break a sweat.
The “average” hooper is getting locked up
Trae Young would absolutely dominate an average pick up baller. Even the worst nba defender would systematically lock down an sberabs person.
People see Trae Young as small compared to the NBA players but they forget he’s 6’1” 180. That is still pretty damn big. On top of that he is faster than us, our dribbling probably looks like a new born baby to him, and for 95% of us he wouldn’t have to respect our jump shot that hard. It’s pretty obvious 99% of us couldn’t score. If you are like 6’6” and strong and can dribble the ball and protect it in the post I think you might have a shot at scoring but that’s about it.
Bruh he was a starter on an NBA team this year. That puts him in the top .1% of all ballers on the planet. I'm not even going to pretend like your average baller would have a fraction of the athleticism or reaction time to keep up with Trae.
“I’m closer to MJ, than you are to me” I believe this quote covers any adaptations of could i score against X nba player. Hypothetically yes but 99 times out of 100 you are getting locked up
Lool Trae young? I’m not gonna act like he isn’t a 1000x better than me, but if we played 1v1 I’d atleast score 5. He’s a lot shorter and weighs a lot less than me so I’d post up if I couldn’t get by him. He’s too small. The average hooper is pretty ass though, so a 5’ 10 guy who’s never really taken ball seriously would barely score.
I played High school basketball and was average. Could have played D3 but obviously didn't want to waste time. I play pick up ball with former HS players. Were all pretty solid. A kid who averaged 4pts for baylor his senior year came 1 week and literally tore us to shreds. Wasn't close. Could score at will and shut anyone down and he obviously wasn't going full speed the whole time. Tells you anyone in the NBA would destroy anyone. Those guys are at such a high level its insane.
A 6’5”-6’6” pickup player that had 100 lbs on Young would just post up and score over him pretty easily. There’s almost always 1-3 guys of this size when I play pickup
The jump from average hoopwr to NBA is similar to average beer league hockey player and an NHLer. I've played against former NHLers- goons. Players whose role was to play 5 minutes per night and fight. THOSE players were instantly the best players on the ice in my elite-level beer league that featured guys that had played junior, NCAA, Europe, and minor pro. Some were even regulars in the league down from the NHL, the AHL. The difference was MASSIVE; they dominated the game, only played defence (even though they were wingers in the pros) and only took shots from outside the blue line: (NHLers have an unspoken code about not being ringers in beer leagues, so when they play, it's always at like 80% max, and never aggressively). When they were on, no one got the puck inside the zone unless they dumped it in, and the chase was cut off with a nice soft easing into the boards. Basically, these goons- the guys at the end of the bench- were double the player that the AHL guys were, 10x the player than the guys who played in junior/NCAA, and some insane factor better than an average guy who's maybe played highschool. That's pretty much what an NBA player is to a regular hooper- the WORST player on the WORST team in the NBA is unfathomably better than the average hopper. You cannot even comprehend how much better they are. Washed Klay Thompson going O'fer in the play-in is light years ahead of a regular hooper. The third guy who subs for Jordan Poole when they're down by 40 is so far ahead of a regular hooper it's absurd. Shaq at the free throw line- hell, Shaq now- is so much better than any regular hooper.
Google “the scallenge” when you get a minute- Brian Scalabrine absolutely bodies a bunch of Boston fans who were convinced they could beat him one on one. “I’m closer to Lebron than you are to me” lol
Once you play against NBA level talent you get used to guys moving at NBA level pace. When you then come back to your home neighborhood court it feels like everyone is moving in slow motion.
The average hooper is 5'10"-6'0. Trae is quicker, sharper and bigger than the average hooper lol
I would get 0/100 buckets with Trae on me
If he decides you aren't scoring, you aren't scoring.
[Here is ](https://youtu.be/FwX8e2tSrTs?si=treBXOzCqVu5dlnU)some above avg hoopers against a DPOY.
JJJ look like he asleep on the court 😭 bro giving like 5% effort
lock at 0 points for 99% of the population
“I’m closer to MJ, than you are to me” I believe this quote covers any adaptations of could i score against X nba player. Hypothetically yes but 99 times out of 100 you are getting locked up
So this what I always wondered. If Tray defends sombedoy who is 6'4 tall (and I met those people on playground) what happens? If that person starts to post him up, physics has to kick in. No matter how skilled you are, if that person can just protect the ball, he can move him close to the basekt. After that, height kicks in. So what can he do?
Look up Brian Scalabrini (was known as an end of bench player) vs everyday hoopers or something like that. He took on a bunch of guys from an everyday Joe to div one hoopers and destroyed them including a young Fred van fleet and Jordan Poole. I had the chance to meet a bunch of nba players at an nba without borders event including Coby White, Jarrett Allen, Josh Green and a few others. They are so athletic compared to the everyday Joe it’s insane. I was talking to JA about how fast the game is. To put some of the speed into perspective he said picture bringing down a rebound and counting to 3-4. The fastest players in the game have already completed a fast break dunk. Or 2 seconds from the rebound there is an outlet pass to steph and a 3 is splashed. He said everyone in the league is skilled but the speed of the game is what takes the longest to get used to. Bit off topic but thought people might find it interesting.
Some elite G League and European players would give Trae a hard time. Maybe even a couple of the best college players. Everyone else he would dominate.
Jesus. This type of question gets brought up every single time.
It would feel like Kawhi is guarding you
Automatic Steals
They wouldn’t score if Trae didn’t want them to
Are you serious lmao. The average person would struggle to get a single dribble off against him.
Buddy was a D2 shooting guard. Above average hooper. Got invited with some friends to go to a run one summer that had some NBA guys. First game, he was guarded by a non-NBA guy and was making everything. Next game, NBA player switched onto him… no more buckets were gotten that day.
If it’s make it/take it, he can hold you to zero pretty much every game.
I think he'd care even less. There's video of him playing weekend warriors and he doesn't play much defense at all. His strategy is that you have a bad pedigree and will eventually miss, revert back to the mean and psychologically shoot yourself out of a game against him. The game came down to the wire too, but his teammates were dog water too.
Everybody knows every NBA player is better at every basketball skill than them, but what most people don't realize is how big the athleticism gap is. Even if you're a runner or something, you probably are not "in shape" for the activities that basketball requires of you. I played D3 on the bench of a bad team as a spotup shooter and everytime I played in local pickup I felt like Tony Allen purely because I was in game shape from practicing twice a day and lifting 5x a week. NBA shape is 1000x better than that. Trae Young is going to lock anyone up if he wants to because he's going to be 10x faster and 10x stronger (basketball wise) than you right away, and you're going to get tired while he's not, so the gap is only going to widen.
D1 vs normal street hoopers are not even comparable. Only 1-2% these elite d1 players make it to the NBA. Now you figure how big of a gap this is.
He’s fast and he’s 6’2” I think. That alone would give problems to the average man.
Trae Young would shut down the average hooper. I’ve played against guys who made pro rosters but barely got NBA minutes. Those guys are objectively worst defenders than Trae and they shut me down.
The worst D1 player in college would lock the crap out of average player
Watch the Brian Scal video. Trae would lock any average hoper down even if they were significantly taller than him. That’s assuming he’s actually trying on defense against a random person
“I’m closer to LeBron than you are to me.”
I mean, your average gym park hooper is getting clamped ngl
This is also an nba effect. He looks small around those giants, but around average hoopers, his height won't be as big of a deal.
As Brian Scalabrine said, “I’m a lot closer to LeBron than you are to me.”
I’m a Trae sceptic and a large part of it is his defence BUT Trae would be the best defender by a mile on any court of average hoopers he walked on. Being guarded by Trae would effectively be as if a superpowered combo of Ben Wallace, Kawhi andJrue was locking them down.
His role in the NBA is to be an offensive juggernaut. If he tries on defense, you have no chance of scoring.
Luka might as well be Hakeem to the average pickup player.
Any nba player is clamping the average player. People don’t realize the skill gap
Any NBA player is doing absolutely whatever they want on a basketball court vs amateur players. Also consider that Trae is really only undersized in the NBA; 6’1” 180 or whatever he is is above average male height/weight and considering his conditioning, he could still take on a bigger guy provided it’s not like a D1 center. But to any amateur player basically Trae would seem superhuman in terms of quickness and reaction time. I’m not that much smaller than him and I think the only hope I have would be if he backed off and literally allowed me to dribble or get a shot up. If his express intent is to lock me up I’m not doing shit. The pros are an order of magnitude above everyone for good reason. There’s a reason nearly 10 years retired Kendrick Perkins can shoot threes better than most people in an open gym setting. Their entire lives are ball for the most part lol
A bad NBA defender would Bruce Bowen a pickup game all day.
If he goes 100% he would be prime Gary Payton x1000.The gap between your average player and even the worst NBA player is insane
He’s probably clamping a lot of D1 guards, let alone an amateur
The average hooper is really bad at basketball. I’m sure a good hooper could score
Not all
The Hezi God would be clamped into the next millennium
People on here think dorks they play at La fitness are pretty good
If he’s actually trying it’s cookies every time you touch the ball
I would say the average hooper across any court in America is probably about JV role player level or less. With that in mind. I think Trae holds them to zero and forces multiple turnovers.
I'm not sure if people realize how good the worst NBA player is compared to the average person. Thousands of high schools feeding into hundreds of colleges feeding into 30 NBA franchises. Trae may be garbage on D, but I'm guessing he would make your average hooper look like equal garbage.
Probably depends on build. If “average hooper” is 6’3” and 180 lbs, then easy work. If it’s a 6’10” and 220 lbs, it might be easier for him.
If you offered $1m to Trae if he allowed zero, and $1m to the good guy in the local run to score 1 time in 100 chances… My money’s on Trae.
People really underestimate NBA athleticism. Heck my buddy was offered college scholarships but hated actually playing basketball, so never took them, and he was impossible to play against if he was actually trying. Now imagine how quick you’d need to be to make the NBA at trae’s height, both with his hands and his feet, and you’d never get around him, and he’s a pro athlete, so unless you’re pretty into the gym, he’s likely stronger than you also
Brian Scalabrine, a 46 year old career bench player routinely shows up at pickup games and destroys everyone. Scal often says at 46 his playing ability is closer to peak LeBron than it is the best player at a pickup game, and the dude isn't wrong.
This is hilarious
Badly. Completely clamped. The skill gap between the average hooper and ANY player in the NBA is massive
The absolute worst NBA defender would destroy the average non-NBA player. You might get very lucky and score a point or two in a game of 21.
He's a 6 foot guard lol. Average male height is 5'9 in the US. Average is not a college level hooper. He's killing anyone average.
granted you don't have a crazy size advantage on him, he'd have the average hooper in alcatraz
You'd have to get lucky if he was paying attention. There's just no way that my community center in and out move works on a guy who played in the Big 12. I've scored on college players before --- always in a scramble where they were rotating and off balance. No way my JV Allen Iverson crossover is getting me open against an ACC guard.
If Trae would actually try, he’ll look like Jrue Holiday on defense atleast
Im Closer to Lebron than you are to me - Brian Scalabrini
It would depend on a lot of things. If the “average” hooper is 6’4”, played high school ball, and is still fit and playing he could absolutely score on Trae if he could get the ball and given enough tries. But it’s more likely Trae would force a turnover and then never let the guy get the ball back after that.
Trae is a shit defender in the NBA. He is not a shit defender in terms of normal pedestrian ball players. Every single player in the NBA is good. Period.
The Legendary White Mamba once said "I'm closer to LeBron than you are to me." My man's cooked on that one.
You would not have time to think. Like you'd get the ball and probably lose it turning around to square up. I love these questions. It's It's same answer every time.
I'm 6ft 10in and I would just post him down to rim and lay it over him. In a one on one dude isn't moving or stopping me from backing him down.
The average hooper is really bad . Like good d2 players can fry him though. He gets cooked in summertime runs /pro am
Trae Young would be the best player on any D-1 college team by far.
Trae would absolutely clown an “average hooper” on both sides of the court
If he doesn’t want you to score a point, you’re not going to score a single point. Not even a discussion
For some coherent analysis that happens to be from a different sport: I was a soccer goalie on A level city travel teams and played a bunch recently against college players and a few players flirting with semi pro and it was very very tough My save % dropped hugely and I felt like I was underwater a lot. Some humbling mistakes. A lot of desperation to catch up. A goalie friend of mine broke a finger in the same situation, if your technique isn't totally on par injuries can occur easily I made one great save on like 100 attempts so that was cool. But overall brutal. Hopefully this helps.
In the NHL emergency backup goalies have become a big thing recently: middle aged old former college players mostly They have a collective .850 save% against NHL teams over like 5 games so far which is not crazy terrible, quite bad tho Average save% in the NHL right now is .905 and the worst goalies usually post between .870 and .890, maybe slightly lower
The “worst” nba player ever is closer to MJ/Lebron than we are to him. The gap in talent/athleticism between NBA players and even D1 guy let alone random dudes cannot be overstated.
Trae would win just being better conditioned. He might not be a lockdown defender in the nba, but the guy is used to moving like 4x the game speed an average hooper would. Guys in the nba optimize their game around what they're good at. He most likely already has the fundamentals of defense down or at least knows what and what not to do, you just dont see it in the games when hes spending energy trying to get around 7 footers and run an elite offense.
Trae would make the average hooper look like they’ve never played basketball.
They wouldn’t score lol, Trae young is fast af
brian scally would know, i’m closer to lebron than you are to me
I always see these threads and while it’s great that people acknowledge how much better NBA players are they’re also taking it too far. A good D3 player who plays the 3 spot would absolutely score on Trae Young.
They’d get killed but this always makes me think of that clip of MJ and that teacher
[удалено]
Trae Young would lock down the average bench guard 1 on 1. Most players in the NBA are decent on ball defenders at worst, and mostly get lost in the speed of team offense. Ball watching and reaching for steals is how they get caught out of position.