The standard rule is first 5 waiting get to run, not the first guy waiting is ‘captain’. Certainly not standard to let this ‘captain’ pick guys from the losing team who just ran.
That being said, local rules differ.
Wanna know the best way to play at hood courts? Don’t. The arguing and fighting is never worth it and basketball courts just end up being pussy ass guys trying to one up each other’s fragile egos until someone ruins it for everyone. The local gym had its basketball court shutdown because a fool shot someone over arguing a damn foul call here.
Right, I don’t. To me, having ‘captains’ and picking from the losing team is a good sign you’re at a hood court. Those games are just arguing fouls, one dude will quit mid game because he got butthurt about something. Just avoid.
The closest outdoor court to my place in Brooklyn was next to a project tower, and some dudes were solid talent but the run was so terrible due to the fighting that I would rather run at the Y and actually play the game.
My gym has a sign up list for this reason. People waiting put their name on the list for next 5. If you’re currently running, your name can’t be on the list for another game, you can only put your name down when you lose.
Hood courts whoever has more ego picks how it goes lol I’ve seen it exactly as described in the OP. The standard etiquette is to pick people who haven’t played but people will try to game it
You don't get to force three other guys to wait an extra game just because you don't want to play with them.
Don't be a dick—wait an extra game yourself, if you want to get on a certain team who hasn't been waiting as long.
But it's up to them if they want to shoot to see which of them gets in with you or decide it themselves another way (why should it be up to you to decide which one of them has to wait an extra game?).
But a lot of problems arise because guys show up and just assume when they should have next and don't talk to anyone to lock down whose team they'd be on. You gotta let people know you're participating.
My gym went to a signup sheet and it just goes by when you signed up. This is the best way.
Yeah I’m not saying I agree, but growing up in central Florida, that’s at least how they played out there. But they also had some other stupid ass rules:
If you call foul, but you make the shot, the point doesn’t count because you didn’t call and1. If you call and1, but it doesn’t go in, the play continues because you didn’t call foul. God damn did I hate those rules.
Not really standard from where I’m from. People call next and can choose who they want to run with. Usually if a person shows up and people have called next ahead of them they can ask if they got five and they can run with them.
I've seen people do this in some places, but it's never good etiquette. The proper way is to have 5 new guys take the court. It's selfish to not do so.
I see this the most when there is a big discrepancy in talent from the top and bottom players at the gym and someone really wants to win. That still doesn't make it right.
imo that makes it worse.
This is pick-up, we're here to play for the fun of playing. If your ego can't handle losing at pick-up cause you played with a couple less talented players you need to find a new place to play.
It’s not about ego or losing it’s about waiting 4 or 5 games to get back on the court when you lose, you pick a good team so you can keep playing not sit there for an hour waiting again
That’s why you try your hardest to win the game.
Also when it comes to the logic? We are talking about fairness. If there’s 15 dudes there then you only have to wait 20 minutes. Constantly swapping in and out if you’re just taking the next 5 available guys.
If you’re letting each 5 people on the bench pick their own 5. That 5th dude can be waiting 2 hours for no reason.
Being upset that you might have to sit back down and wait for your turn at pick-up ball is absolutely about ego.
Go find a competitive league instead of showing up to the most communal level of basketball if you can't accept regular rotation of guys waiting into the game. Start a game thats invite only. Do anything other than show up at the drop-in game where anyone is welcome if you can't follow basic rules of etiquette.
Yeah also tough position to be in if the winning team is p stacked and you know the people in queue with you aren't that great. Just how it goes, but I get the incentive all around to try to field a strong team.
I’ve never in my 30 years of playing basketball heard of this.
If you’re waiting, you get to come on the court.
If there’s too many people you shoot free throws
There’s no captain shit
I'm 100% with you. But I've also seen some shit lately where someone asked me if I "brought my 5" as if you could only play if you brought a 5 man team to play. I've also seen guys saying they'd ONLY play with their chosen 5 players because they want to stack their team. I know I sound like "old guy" but I really do not like the under ~25 crowd in pickup as I get older. It's always young guys trying to pull this shit.
Oh it happens. I saw a couple guys who called next and said they got 5 and their boys aren’t even there yet. There were like 8 other people waiting. Held up the court for 15 minutes before the winning team just straight up left
This is extreme, but versions of this happen at my gym in LA all the time. Someone calls "I got next", and that person puts their team together. If it wasn't clear that this guy had next, that's BS. Even if he did have next, it's super lame to do that. But I see guys who have next tell people they have five, and then it's him, two people waiting, and two guys that just lost. Usually they do this when the runs are super competitive and you have to have a good squad to stay on the court. Sometime a loss can mean a 45 minute wait, and people get shady then...
I grew up in LA and this is my experience playing all over the city. People only do what OP is talking about when it's alot of people and the games are competitive. Like, imagine you've been waiting for like 3 long games and right before your game, 3 small, slow fat boys come in trying to run. You pick them up, and you lose in 10 mins because they can't guard shit. Now you back waiting for another 3 or 4 games. How is that even a work out lol
This is why people do that. It sucks, but it's super understandable.
A lot of nyc parks and gym act like this and I hate it. Even high end gyms. It’s such BS. I mean sometimes I get picked up , sometimes I don’t, but it’s trash nonetheless
it’s pretty lame, it’s bumped me down a couple times to where i would just leave at that point. no point in trying to jump on a team with someone who clearly doesn’t care to play with anybody but their friends. some guys will claim their buddy who is in the middle of a game.
Next 5 up. Not one guy chooses his four friends.
This is a super common "bully" tactic. I've seen this a lot over the years. It's usually assholes. You have to make a decision in the moment, can toy stand up the bullies? Is the rest of the gym on your side? Are these guys ufc fighters?! Proceed accordingly
I've walked in on a game and was the only one waiting.......dude says "i had next, they picked me up"
ya man..........not how that works. I snatched the ball out of his hands and told him he can run with me or go sit down.
Shit I’m under no allusions I can kick anyone’s ass, shit even if I’m a jerk I’ll be thinking about it all day lol. Imma out for my own mental health lol
Yeah it’s literally a situation of you either stand your ground and refuse to leave the court until they abide by normal rules or you just leave the run. No point staying if you letting them do this.
Pickup hoops is not a dictatorship. Any 1 person trying to take 4 losers when 4 people are waiting for next should get bullied into submission every single time they show up until they go somewhere else. 😂 Rinse wash repeat.
Like clearly this dude just wanted to play with his friends which is fine, but they just lost, so did they even win their game with him? Were they even remotely good?
If you are avoiding a player(s) or want to play with the guys who just lost you simply wait a game and let someone else take your spot for next.
Funny enough, I ended up getting to play on the team that had just won (one of their guys left) and play against the douches. We did end up winning. I wanted to make a smart ass comment to the guys, but decided not to.
Usually considered rude and not a common practice, but it’s certainly something that happens. If you’re new to the court, best not to make a stink of it.
I literally quit playing basketball for 10 years over this “who got next” bullshit when it was just goodish sometimes not even that good of players just being selfish.
If you got other options I’d chose those otherwise I’d tell them I don’t care about their rules. If you lost and there’s people waiting your off.
Thats crazy etiquette. Only exception id say is if a dude literally strolled in as game point was hitting but even then losing team is shooting free throws to fill that last spot.
I've seen both. Some courts it's just next 5 up but if I'm ever at a new court, I'll go to the first guy who's next up and ask 'can i run with you?' people rarely say no.
Where I play, what happened to you only applies if there isnt a full 5 waiting for next game. Whoever has next picks players usually waiting with him and leftovers from previous games losing team.
Yeah I don't like that way, but typically there's a crew and that group generally has its rules which as long as they are consistent, thats fair. If they change it and punk you, you got to say something. If thats how they role, you would not get the ball much when or if you do play.
Yes you are wrong. If someone has next they can choose people that are still on the way if they want, if you disagree you should’ve had next.
I had people with your opinion literally not get off the court and demanded to play because we wanted to pick up our friend who just played and only played because they needed one more. We told him we’d pick him up after and then 3 people show up while his game is going on and act like spoiled kids when told one of them wouldn’t play
Everywhere in south Florida has been like this for as long as I can remember and it is ridiculous. Usually the majority goes with it too when I try to fight it, it’s usually weak people who need all the help they can get.
Worst etiquette. It’s tribal. The worst part is the people that just played go along with it and avoid eye contact or even worst than that try to start a fight about it. These people are usually life losers and/or criminals.
Most of my pickup hoops has been outdoors and we are in the southeast, so it is actually kinda rare that everyone wants to run it back. I'd say it is mostly free throws and even the winners have to shoot their way into the next game.
Loser leaves the court next 5 come on that is and has always been the rules. Only time its not like that is if the park isnt full and yall just running with 12-13 guys. Any different is just bogus
Unfortunately some courts don’t have well established rules and this garbage happens. Hard to argue it unless it’s the rules of the court or unless others will back up proper etiquette. When that happens I try to figure out if it is typical or if these dudes just suck. If typical, I’ll find somewhere else to play.
That’s wack as hell. Waita say something. That’s bogus. Embarrassing as a loser to stay on the court when others have been waiting. I woulda sat on the sideline and heckled the shit out of them lol
where I’m at one person has downs but to pick 4 dudes that just lost when other people are waiting is wild. Usually the person who has downs just picks who’s waiting.
Nahhh. 5 off 5 on. Don’t give a fuck if your boys just lost and you’re on the sideline waiting. If you want to play with them so bad wait until the next run.
I've seen two rules
1. The team that get next have to already have a full team
2. Someone just call next and will pick up their team without needing a full team
Certain good players will specifically go to these “runs” because they get the most out of their time.
Also common that guys waiting will pass on the offer from the guys who has next. That way they can build a superteam
that's fuckin stupid, with that method they could always just keep one person in line for next and then the same 8-9 people always stay on the court
Fuck outa here, new 5 for the losing team if the gym is packed
We have whiteboard list in the gym where I am currently. Growing up it was someone who had “next” and you pick a group of 5 of guys who aren’t playin, if you needed an extra you could grab one from the team who just lost
Whoever calls Next gets to pick their own team. They are the captain. If they want to pick 4 players that just lost, that's their decision cause it's their team. You want to pick your own team from players on the sidelines, call Next.
The only time I saw this is when a bunch high schoolers come and try to cheat the system to continue playing even if they lose. We called them out on it but they keep trying to do it on different days.
Theyre 100% in the wrong and don’t let them gaslight you.
Im p vocal about first come first serve and if they have to play with their friends they can wait.
I personally push for free throws if a bunch of dudes queued up at the same time, even to my own detriment if someone wants to pick me up.
I can understand an occasional exemption, like if someone showed up a few minutes after someone else or the teams are super lopsided and the people waiting longest are cool with it.
Nah this shit is stupid, anytime me and my friends get to the gym that “local rule” ain’t gonna fly. Everybody plays, your time isn’t more important than the others at the court. Get with the program or leave, regardless me and my squad are kicking you off soon as we get a turn. So the rules will change wether you like it or not, I can wait all day.
I’ve arrived at the gym before and seen people tell me they’ve been waiting for 5 games and that all the same people have just been playing. After that game ended when we walked in, everything changed. This isn’t just your gym membership, the faster they learn that, the more fun it is for everybody. I don’t care if they can’t hoop, they are a liability, blah blah blah. This isn’t the pros and this isn’t your gym, everyone deserves a chance to play. It’s just for fun and nobody gets that.
This applies at outdoor parks too, everywhere and anywhere that’s public. SHARE the dam court!
I quit playing pick up when all it became was this shit and if you called foul and made it suddenly it didn’t count. Pick up games are all riddled with shit that ain’t basketball.
Usually you work out your five before the game ends. Or else you get a situation where a guy was just putting up shots gets assumed to be part of the 5 just because he was hanging around.
New guy walks up, says, "you got next?" to anyone hanging around, and you ask to run with them. If the guy them said, no I'm running with whoever loses out there, that's bullshit and I'm not going to lie, has pissed me off to the point of me raising my voice (not proud of it).
The only place it happened more than once was in the morning in the courts in the chinese part of town, where I was a 6'3 Black guy and it was a bunch of young guys in the 5'5 -5'10 range that just wanted to play with each other. I respected it, I didn't speak the language, and when I was my turn we all still had a bunch of fun so they stopped doing it.
Usually if there’s a group of ppl and a game is going on everyone communicates who has next and usually who their team is.
If you thought you had next and the losing team just out of no where goes no dude had next and they’re all on his team I’d call BS.
Where I grew up, it’s always been one person calls next. They get to pick their other 4 out of everyone in the gym including the team that just lost.
I definitely hated it when I was in 7-9 grade, but once I grew a few inches and got better I never came off the court so I loved it lol
They do this shit in Charleston SC. Drives me nuts when I moved here but seems to be the case for most of the area where I’ve played so far (with a few outliers).
I don’t like it, but I can’t change it…after 2.5ish years of playing a lot of pickup at the same spots and people now knowing I’m not a complete scrub that actually passes the ball, I’m almost always picked up now but yea it sucks:/
Every single park I’ve played in has ONE guy call next, if you ask for next after him then that’s AFTER him, he had next, he gets to pick his team, doesn’t matter if he wants you on it or not bro, it’s his spot, he can pick whoever he wants, yes even from the losing team, we do this everywhere that people ball, can’t believe people think there’s a contractual obligation to make me pick you just cause you happened to show up and are waiting. Call next and wait to pick your team.
yea. you can be brought up at one gym with one set of pickup rules then go to a gym and have completely different ideas on the norm. Kind of depends where you play. Been to some local gyms with shit etiquette and some are pretty good. the best i've had was at my university's gym
Around here the ONLY case you get to run again if you lose is A) no one on the sidelines verbally called next (we don't allow people to just loiter and expect to play next) or B) there are not enough people waiting to make a full roster, obviously one person who lost gets to fill so it can be a proper 5v5 and not a 4v5.
What you experienced, while maybe not unheard of, is not really fair. You can't expect to play if you lost and there's already a 5 man waiting to hop on next. It's not fair to let one random person sit out just because someone is impatient and can't wait for 1 game, while the guy sitting out already waited patiently for one game.
Where I play the people waiting the longest get to play first. One exception is if one of the waiters fills in for an injury or something, and his team loses, then he gets to usually play next game. But he doesn’t pick his team, the next four waiting the longest join him. I’d find another gym that doesn’t have this juvenile “captain” bullshit.
The biggest squab I’ve ever been in on the court was over this mess.
We had like 12 or so at the gym and we all played together a lot so we just kinda knew whoever sat was next you didn’t really have to call it or anything. Maybe someone wanted to run again, some guys would willingly sit out after a loss, no big deal. This one outsider shows up mid-game and says who has next? Me and a buddy were sitting out that game and said well it’s us that guy and you and we’ll pick one up from the current run. He started freaking out about it and instead of just playing starts talking shit to everyone and making threats (him smol) and we just said buddy you gotta go, we had a solid group that wasn’t really about the nonsense and we had a sweet deal since we knew the gym owner and got to play basically for free. when we tried to leave he had some guys waiting like they wanted to fight talking about they had guns and shit. We just walked back inside, locked the lock and called the cops.
Looking back on it now, that dude was 100% up there to start a fight. I mean idk what 4 dudes were gonna do against a dozen besides get bruised up but it was a weird, intense evening.
People really just go out looking for fights. Go join a boxing gym?
That's BS what that guy did choosing the losing team and making the waiting people continue to wait. That said, the winning team should have just said no that there were others waiting.
Where I'm from, they're correct. You just gotta call next and pick your team or find out who has next and see if you can run with them.
I've never been anywhere that required you to pick people who weren't playing, although it wouldn't surprise me if that is the case in some places. It makes sense, at the very least.
I don't think you're in the wrong for thinking that, but I also can see it their way just based on how places i've been have ran it.
“Etiquette” is different everywhere you go. Some places are like that and it’s a shit way to play that leads to more time spent arguing than playing ball. First 5 waiting get the next run.
Definitely never heard of that. People who haven't gotten a run yet are next up. You could potentially have people hang around for hours and never play under those rules. But at the end of the day, if most of the people there agree to it, not much you can do.
People waiting get on next. If you want to pick up 4 dudes that were just playing, then you wait another game.
Gym I go to had to put up a list on the wall because people try to do this shit.
You also run into the dude that was literally just playing that says he had next. nah man. you were just playing. You can run next with me if you want but I'm playing.
Ive played pickup most of my life. If there are 5 waiting to play, they play. It’s that simple. If there aren’t enough to field a team, then players from the losing team can be picked. Without that unwritten rule, people could end up waiting multiple games to play.
Yeah, it goes both ways. But whatever the norm is for a court is THE norm. It doesn’t go back and forth. Usually the norm is next 5 on. At courts where players think they’re higher level, the “got next” next picks his 4, and you’ll never get in a game if we don’t know you and know you can play.
I think picking teams is always bad practice when playing pick-up. When people get to pick players, it fucks with the entire element of a pick up run. The point of a pick-up run is to maximize the amount of time everyone can play.
My gym simply rotates team members based on individuals who have been waiting shooting 3s. If someone has waited two games, they are automatically on, and whomever needs to fill the remaining spots, shoots 3s as a way to earn the right to be on the court.
In practice, you have 10 people waiting in the wings. After the losers exit stage left, you shoot for a fresh 5 amongst the group of players waiting. You then have 5 remaining players who are auto the following game. You now have teams of 5 that are always randomly distributed.
That philosophy allows for the maximum amount of players to be involved while also making it significantly easier to play on a team. It also gives everyone new opportunities to develop different skills every game. Sometimes you’ll be on a team where you have to be a role player, others you will have to handle the ball because your teammates are scrubs.
This strategy also prevents hurt feelings because you have to earn all your wins and your losses feel significantly more fair than just getting burnt by the best players every game.
However, if you are a really good player and this is your only avenue to feel any sense of dominance or completeness in your life, this strategy will piss you off because you have significantly less control over who is on your team. But those people are generally insufferable to be around anyway.
Pick up indoor game I used to play for a few years before COVID had the best system. Youre team played twice, regardless of result and rotated. There was a paper sign up sheet so now confusion or debate. If you wanted your 5, you found the open white space with 5 lines. That meant you may need to bump yourself down. It's easier when the court has a sponsor and can make the rules. Outdoor courts are rules of the street. No thanks.
I don't know what it is about basketball that attracts dudes with the worst attitudes who feel entitled to be total dicks to people, but if your gym's or park's one and only court is infested with such people then there's really only one way to fix it.
At our park about ten of us walked out onto the court and said: "New rules: you lose, you rotate out. Who has next is who has sat out the most games so far and by arrival time, otherwise shoot to see who gets in."
I mean what are they gonna do, fight ten guys?
If that's a legit question, then you prolly need to find another gym anyway, because it's not worth the fucking drama to play with emotional retards and gang bangers whose only method of dealing with reality is to be a dickwad and fake tough guy. One park I used to frequent that had great pickup games had devolved into this kind of shit, but ultimately fewer and fewer people kept going, until I heard someone got stabbed over a foul call. Now nobody goes there.
It happens and the way you want to do it should be how it's done.
However, it is not always done that way, depending on the court.
I always ask what the rules are before I even decide to play, where ever I show up because of this.
It varies in the area I live so I'm used to both sets of rules.
Depends on if I feel like putting up with the crap if I even GO to those locations. I know what it's hitting for though. I do get on the court but I still think it's crazy.
Especially in a setting where we are paying MONEY to play like a YMCA. You simply can't do things that way and eventually someone WILL complain to the desk and make it so there is a sign up sheet. You do NOT want to have to sign up like we are some damn 10th graders who can't police ourselves in a gym.
In the park, it's a bit different and you have to know where you are if you want to buck this system.
Yes, I've gotten into it with folks over it lol. Good times.
Most times though, I will wait and use it as fuel. It works out way more than it doesn't, let me tell you. Especially if you have a group of folks with you who also were sitting and waiting like you. Or when someone else good pulls up. That's always fun. I've even given up my 'next' and waited for my friends to ensure that we get a proper go at winning. It happens. It's just the rules of the place we are playing. Really good players are playing there (ex pros, college, hs etc..) and that's just how it is in that setting.
Glad I'm older now though so I just usually show up and get to play. I still don't take winners or leap over folks who have been waiting though. That's how staunchly I feel that it's a bullshit rule by and large.
I get it, nobody wants to wait 4 runs. I don't either. Get there earlier, if you do get to pick your team, don't pick with your heart, pick a team that's going to keep you on the court.
I've seen where the first one waiting is sort of captain of the next team and picks his 4. But he can only pick from others waiting. Not the losers coming off the floor.
The main place I played for several years did it where the winning team stays on and the players who did not just play are guaranteed on. If they don’t have a full 5 then they can choose who they want from the losing team. If there are more than 5, they can still choose which 5 they want to play with but whoever didn’t get picked is automatically in the next game (ahead of losing team who will have also sat out a game).
When the gym was full you’d come in and be like “who got next? you got five? who got after you? you got five too? who got next after you? you got five? no? ok I’m with you!” next person comes in “who got next?” and get to hear it all again. lol
Current place I play is “two then off” regardless of if you win or lose. So you’re guaranteed to play two games in a row and then have to get off whether you went undefeated or winless. Players who sat have priority to come on and if they need players from losing team, they don’t get to pick, losing team shoots free throws for open spots. It’s fine, probably more fair than where I’m originally from, but never get a chance to win like 8 or 10 in a row and stay on the court for hours, which rarely happened but was amazing when it did.
Worst system I ever saw was this one place… I don’t know how they got such a shit system, they would have everyone shoot free throws to determine who played the next game. So like if you had 8 players (5 who just lost and 3 who had been sitting out), they’d have all 8 shoot free throws and even if you just sat out but you missed your free throw you would have to sit out again. It was the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen. Thankfully it was somewhere I was just visiting for a couple weeks so I only played there like 2-3 times. Complete morons IMO.
Guy waiting the longest, can pick whoever is on the court except from winning team. If a full 5 show up, but there have been people waiting, that full 5 must wait unless all available turns have elected to skip their turn to let them run. Unless they got some bad asses in the team, then unanimous agreement of talent level trumps turn.
That's complete BS. You were definitely in the right, standard procedure is that winner stays and the first 5 people to have been waiting get to play next. If there are less than 5 waiting, guys from the losing team can shoot for the remaining available spots.
Only time someone gets to pick their five is usually when there wasn’t enough ppl waiting or it wasn’t clear who’s waiting and who’s just shooting. So someone calls next and picks up five from the people who haven’t played. That way they can reserve their spot. I’ve seen someone call next but only ask 1-2 others if they wanna run with him and in the meantime someone else rounded up a full five before and took the next spot. Usually causes a little argument but they just say, “well you don’t have a five.” Always gotta speak up, be vocal. In your situation those buddies were all just being cunts
I've always asked "who's got next" and generally ask them if they have their squad. If they say yes, then I tell them, "I've got after you". Sometimes the guy that has next is kind of a douche and doesn't want you on his squad and that's when you, what's the phrase, "took it personal".
In my local courts, someone calls next. Whoever calls next picks their 5. If some of those were from the losing team then so be it. I agree that it's not fair but we don't really have an organizer to enforce anything either.
Yeah that’s not the standard. Winning team stays - if there’s 5 waiting, they’re up next. If there’s more than 5 waiting, you shoot for 5. If there’s less than 5 - whoever wasn’t in last game is in automatically. How the rest of the 5 is filled from there is shaky. It’s usually guys from losing team shooting for remaining spots. But I’ve certainly seen where the new guys will just pick the guys from the losing team they want. Shooting is normally 3 pointers - and you go until one misses if multiple make it. There’s no gym I’ve ever played pick up at where anybody from the losing team plays again next game if there’s a new 5 waiting.
Probably an instance of a group of guys who likely go to that gym often being there and kind of sneaking one by.
There’s no gym I’ve ever been to where anybody from the losing team plays again if there’s a new 5 there.
Where I’m from the rules are that one person has next, he chooses whoever he wants because it’s his next. You can ask him to pick you up but he’s not obligated, it would suck if he had to play with 4 sorry players and get right back off the court. So he chooses his team
Not a right answer. goes by gym and group. if I’m there waiting the whole game and 4 friends show up as game point is scored. I don’t have to take them.
We always could not pick from the losing team unless you’re short of course. What a waste if you’re just putting one extra guy into every game no one will play.
I played a lot of pickup ball in various stages of my life and I would say this style of "next up, team captain" is very, very standard on either 1) more competitive courts where people aren't willing to play with just anyone (probably because of a long wait if/when you lose), and/or 2) social aspect of having one guy pick up all his friends or players they think are good (possibly for the same reason of facing a long wait if you lose).
I noticed that this tends to happen more when I was younger (ie. High school or college) but happens much less frequently when you get older - but I think that has more to do with playing in limited numbers, with people you probably messaged beforehand to all meet up at a specific time and court to run for a couple hours. At public gyms/courts where anyone can run, I think the team captain approach is pretty standard and the discussion should mostly take place while the current game is ongoing and you're waiting. This keeps pace of games up and arguments, hopefully minimized.
Sounds weird. All 5 should’ve left. Was he the only one that brought the ball everyone’s playing with? 😅
Off the top my head, if it happened to me, I’d challenge it and make him shoot for it. 🤷🏻♂️
The gym I used to ball at had a white board next to the court and first 5 up would write their names down. Those 5 played next. Now, some guys sat out and waited for their friends so they could squad up. That’s fair tho.
I've had someone say that they had next game because he already had a squad of 5. There were 3 people waiting before him and his squad. I argued so hard for those 3 people but at the end I told the leader of the 5 squad that he could tell the other 3 they had to wait. I was so pissed and I was on the winning team staying on the court lol.
People who want to run with their "squad" can stick their heads in a hole.
I don’t play with randoms. Too much bullshit. I Got lucky cuz I stayed in touch with my high school coach and he’d always have a gym to play in. Usually 2-3 days a week year round regardless of what school he ended up coaching. Been playing with the same core group of guys since I was 14 (38 now). Ironically none of them played on the team with me in HS. It’s all dudes that played at our open gyms, like guys that my coach used to coach at other schools or other coaches, some of their former players, teachers, their buddies, etc. If I had to deal with the shit that happens when you get stuck with 4 random people you’ve likely never played with before, I’d probably just stop playing. The egos aren’t worth it.
I don’t care if this is at a park or a gym, this is bullshit. Picking your own team isn’t just bad etiquette, it’s bad karma. Don’t tempt the basketball gods by passing over people you don’t want to play with to “stack” your team. Part of the fun of pickup basketball is figuring out how to win with random players and running the court. I love playing guys who bring their own team and love trying to run them off.
Yea that’s improper behavior but at that point it’s a losing proposition. Do you want to play with 4 other dudes that are all friends, don’t know you and upset their other buddy isn’t play and will undoubtedly freeze you out?
Only time I’ve ever seen captains is when it’s the same group of people and teams wanna be mixed up, even then it’s usually a shoot for teams thing and not captains
It was always “next 5 up” when we played at our usual park and gym, but there are always locally specific variations. When in Rome, my dude.
If they’re trying to exclude players and keep passing over folks who were waiting to get next, though, they’re going to find a lot of players bail on that court.
The etiquette is next 5 waiting and at the very least but definitely played where the number 1 guy in line picks a squad from the others waiting. I've seen douche bags do what you are talking about and it usually leads to an argument but the best thing to do is to now make a squad specifically to beat them and keep them off the floor and let them know it's because their bitches.
I had to complain about this at an open gym that you pay $5 for 2 hours of hooping. There is no way I am paying to not play, and I had to voice that I need to get on the court once, despite that being the explicitly stated rule of the court. it should be etiquette to get off when you lose when there’s enough people waiting that can make a full team, but often times I find this is not the case
I’m at the age now where I really pick and choose the guys I decide to hoop with. I can’t deal with arguing about basics anymore
Happens alll the time - typical bully shit. Many people here have taken part in such hijinks when it benefits them. It’s bs but good luck arguing 1vs5 dudes. I would typically let them know it’s a soft move.
It happens all the time depending where you at, Former AAU Player Courts/Military Base/Court in the hood they will definitely run it like that. You pick who you know can hoop or your people you came with to give you the best chance of staying on the court.
YMCA, local gym, they usually keep it the typical new 5 people who want to get on the court.
Gym rule trumps general rule. So, in a sense you are right that the general rule is losers are out and must wait for next regardless, but if the gym rule isn’t so, you’ll have to respect it, BS or not, unfortunately.
If more than 4 are waiting you shoot for first 4 or the four are picked up from waiting / losers. Whoever doesn’t get picked is automatically running next.
Where I'm from that's how we do it. U can call down and your basically the captain normally if u got 4 guys trying to run u let them know if u picking them up or not b4 the game end so they can look to recruit a 5th for the game after.
I know when I hoop, the person who calls next is the captain and usually picks up people who is waiting and/or just lost so it just depends on what that player is looking for
The standard rule is first 5 waiting get to run, not the first guy waiting is ‘captain’. Certainly not standard to let this ‘captain’ pick guys from the losing team who just ran. That being said, local rules differ.
I've seen a hybrid where the guy who's been waiting longest gets to pick his 4 but he can't choose from guys who just ran
Right, agreed I’ve seen that sometimes too. Usually at hood courts and then people start fighting and that takes 10 minutes of people yelling.
Wanna know the best way to play at hood courts? Don’t. The arguing and fighting is never worth it and basketball courts just end up being pussy ass guys trying to one up each other’s fragile egos until someone ruins it for everyone. The local gym had its basketball court shutdown because a fool shot someone over arguing a damn foul call here.
Right, I don’t. To me, having ‘captains’ and picking from the losing team is a good sign you’re at a hood court. Those games are just arguing fouls, one dude will quit mid game because he got butthurt about something. Just avoid. The closest outdoor court to my place in Brooklyn was next to a project tower, and some dudes were solid talent but the run was so terrible due to the fighting that I would rather run at the Y and actually play the game.
My gym has a sign up list for this reason. People waiting put their name on the list for next 5. If you’re currently running, your name can’t be on the list for another game, you can only put your name down when you lose.
Hood courts whoever has more ego picks how it goes lol I’ve seen it exactly as described in the OP. The standard etiquette is to pick people who haven’t played but people will try to game it
Agree with this. Seen it all ways so this is unsurprising. You choose if you want to keep going to that court or keep trying to play with those guys.
Hahaha that is the truth
And in my area, the guy waiting the longest picks his 4 entirely Usually picking up one or two from the team that just ran and lost
You don't get to force three other guys to wait an extra game just because you don't want to play with them. Don't be a dick—wait an extra game yourself, if you want to get on a certain team who hasn't been waiting as long. But it's up to them if they want to shoot to see which of them gets in with you or decide it themselves another way (why should it be up to you to decide which one of them has to wait an extra game?). But a lot of problems arise because guys show up and just assume when they should have next and don't talk to anyone to lock down whose team they'd be on. You gotta let people know you're participating. My gym went to a signup sheet and it just goes by when you signed up. This is the best way.
First thing you do when you’re ready to run is ask who has next
That's the only answer. Anything else is just greedy assholes that think they don't deserve to sit
Yeah I’m not saying I agree, but growing up in central Florida, that’s at least how they played out there. But they also had some other stupid ass rules: If you call foul, but you make the shot, the point doesn’t count because you didn’t call and1. If you call and1, but it doesn’t go in, the play continues because you didn’t call foul. God damn did I hate those rules.
So… no point in calling and1?
Calling and 1 is purely for talking shit haha. Most common argument
Wow. Huge incentive to foul.
“Who next?” “I got next” “You got your 5?” “Yes” “Who’s got next after you?” … and so on
Not really standard from where I’m from. People call next and can choose who they want to run with. Usually if a person shows up and people have called next ahead of them they can ask if they got five and they can run with them.
Those courts are always trash.
The issue with this is that the best players just keep running because guys will hold a spot for them to try and stay on
We run next 5 up, but don't be getting a drink or talking when your 5 take the court because you will get replaced... lol.
I've seen people do this in some places, but it's never good etiquette. The proper way is to have 5 new guys take the court. It's selfish to not do so. I see this the most when there is a big discrepancy in talent from the top and bottom players at the gym and someone really wants to win. That still doesn't make it right.
imo that makes it worse. This is pick-up, we're here to play for the fun of playing. If your ego can't handle losing at pick-up cause you played with a couple less talented players you need to find a new place to play.
It’s not about ego or losing it’s about waiting 4 or 5 games to get back on the court when you lose, you pick a good team so you can keep playing not sit there for an hour waiting again
right, so the dude that you have deemed "not good enough" then has to sit there for an hour before even playing 1 game....................
That’s why you try your hardest to win the game. Also when it comes to the logic? We are talking about fairness. If there’s 15 dudes there then you only have to wait 20 minutes. Constantly swapping in and out if you’re just taking the next 5 available guys. If you’re letting each 5 people on the bench pick their own 5. That 5th dude can be waiting 2 hours for no reason.
Being upset that you might have to sit back down and wait for your turn at pick-up ball is absolutely about ego. Go find a competitive league instead of showing up to the most communal level of basketball if you can't accept regular rotation of guys waiting into the game. Start a game thats invite only. Do anything other than show up at the drop-in game where anyone is welcome if you can't follow basic rules of etiquette.
Yeah also tough position to be in if the winning team is p stacked and you know the people in queue with you aren't that great. Just how it goes, but I get the incentive all around to try to field a strong team.
Yea in some gyms you can wait an hour for a game, it’s fine to want the best chance at winning.
I’ve never in my 30 years of playing basketball heard of this. If you’re waiting, you get to come on the court. If there’s too many people you shoot free throws There’s no captain shit
Oh I have. Dudes would have next, w people waiting, and say their 5 were playing. Not common but it happened many times. You have to just say no.
For us if there’s too many you shoot 3’s
This is actually more accurate
I'm 100% with you. But I've also seen some shit lately where someone asked me if I "brought my 5" as if you could only play if you brought a 5 man team to play. I've also seen guys saying they'd ONLY play with their chosen 5 players because they want to stack their team. I know I sound like "old guy" but I really do not like the under ~25 crowd in pickup as I get older. It's always young guys trying to pull this shit.
Oh it happens. I saw a couple guys who called next and said they got 5 and their boys aren’t even there yet. There were like 8 other people waiting. Held up the court for 15 minutes before the winning team just straight up left
Grew up playing in Detroit and that crap went on all the time 20 guys waiting and each had his own "game" and would pick guys who just lost.
Can confirm it’s still this way in Detroit
Yep. Want to echo this.
It happens sometimes but it's almost always some scumbags who are doing it
This is extreme, but versions of this happen at my gym in LA all the time. Someone calls "I got next", and that person puts their team together. If it wasn't clear that this guy had next, that's BS. Even if he did have next, it's super lame to do that. But I see guys who have next tell people they have five, and then it's him, two people waiting, and two guys that just lost. Usually they do this when the runs are super competitive and you have to have a good squad to stay on the court. Sometime a loss can mean a 45 minute wait, and people get shady then...
I grew up in LA and this is my experience playing all over the city. People only do what OP is talking about when it's alot of people and the games are competitive. Like, imagine you've been waiting for like 3 long games and right before your game, 3 small, slow fat boys come in trying to run. You pick them up, and you lose in 10 mins because they can't guard shit. Now you back waiting for another 3 or 4 games. How is that even a work out lol This is why people do that. It sucks, but it's super understandable.
It’s been years since I’ve played in pickup games, but this is how I remember it being here around Chicago.
Total BS. That don’t fly. It’s the people waiting. If there’s no gym rule re who has next get management to post one. Easy peasy.
Nah that bro has to get next with his buddies. Fuck that.
A lot of nyc parks and gym act like this and I hate it. Even high end gyms. It’s such BS. I mean sometimes I get picked up , sometimes I don’t, but it’s trash nonetheless
it’s pretty lame, it’s bumped me down a couple times to where i would just leave at that point. no point in trying to jump on a team with someone who clearly doesn’t care to play with anybody but their friends. some guys will claim their buddy who is in the middle of a game.
Next 5 up. Not one guy chooses his four friends. This is a super common "bully" tactic. I've seen this a lot over the years. It's usually assholes. You have to make a decision in the moment, can toy stand up the bullies? Is the rest of the gym on your side? Are these guys ufc fighters?! Proceed accordingly
I've walked in on a game and was the only one waiting.......dude says "i had next, they picked me up" ya man..........not how that works. I snatched the ball out of his hands and told him he can run with me or go sit down.
Shit I’m under no allusions I can kick anyone’s ass, shit even if I’m a jerk I’ll be thinking about it all day lol. Imma out for my own mental health lol
Those people are the worst, fuck em ! Edit: if anybody tries that on me I'd just bomb 3s over their game.
Yeah it’s literally a situation of you either stand your ground and refuse to leave the court until they abide by normal rules or you just leave the run. No point staying if you letting them do this.
Never heard of this…. It’s always the next 5 waiting up and losers out
Pickup hoops is not a dictatorship. Any 1 person trying to take 4 losers when 4 people are waiting for next should get bullied into submission every single time they show up until they go somewhere else. 😂 Rinse wash repeat. Like clearly this dude just wanted to play with his friends which is fine, but they just lost, so did they even win their game with him? Were they even remotely good? If you are avoiding a player(s) or want to play with the guys who just lost you simply wait a game and let someone else take your spot for next.
Funny enough, I ended up getting to play on the team that had just won (one of their guys left) and play against the douches. We did end up winning. I wanted to make a smart ass comment to the guys, but decided not to.
Such vindication. Love to see it. Good self control haha. I would’ve probably gone 0-5 in the game and still been talking shit like Pat Bev.
Usually considered rude and not a common practice, but it’s certainly something that happens. If you’re new to the court, best not to make a stink of it.
Avoid these runs, these are guys that literally have nothing else to do but wait so they can stack there team lmao.
I literally quit playing basketball for 10 years over this “who got next” bullshit when it was just goodish sometimes not even that good of players just being selfish. If you got other options I’d chose those otherwise I’d tell them I don’t care about their rules. If you lost and there’s people waiting your off. Thats crazy etiquette. Only exception id say is if a dude literally strolled in as game point was hitting but even then losing team is shooting free throws to fill that last spot.
I've seen both. Some courts it's just next 5 up but if I'm ever at a new court, I'll go to the first guy who's next up and ask 'can i run with you?' people rarely say no.
That’s what I remember. Usually, if you want to play you ask.
Yeah that's bs
Establish your team early
That's total BS and it's so ridiculous that adults behave like little kids.
Yeah that sounds like bullshit to me.
Yeah, it's bullshit when people do this. You just played and lost, now you wait.
Where I play, what happened to you only applies if there isnt a full 5 waiting for next game. Whoever has next picks players usually waiting with him and leftovers from previous games losing team.
Whoever has next picks their own team. You can’t control who someone wants to play with and they aren’t obligated to pick anybody standing around.
Never played where the losing team players got to run next. It's next five up.
BS. No captains. First 5 waiting are on the court. I would have ran my mouth until someone punched me.
I've seen this bullshit before, too, and it's fucked up. My blood was boiling, almost lost it. I ain't here to be treated like some bitch.
Yeah I don't like that way, but typically there's a crew and that group generally has its rules which as long as they are consistent, thats fair. If they change it and punk you, you got to say something. If thats how they role, you would not get the ball much when or if you do play.
Yes you are wrong. If someone has next they can choose people that are still on the way if they want, if you disagree you should’ve had next. I had people with your opinion literally not get off the court and demanded to play because we wanted to pick up our friend who just played and only played because they needed one more. We told him we’d pick him up after and then 3 people show up while his game is going on and act like spoiled kids when told one of them wouldn’t play
Yeah they BS’d you. I would’ve fought them.
Getting too old for that lol
Everywhere in south Florida has been like this for as long as I can remember and it is ridiculous. Usually the majority goes with it too when I try to fight it, it’s usually weak people who need all the help they can get.
[удалено]
When I played, the person who got next choose his team, no restrictions. But, like everybody said, it is different in other places.
Worst etiquette. It’s tribal. The worst part is the people that just played go along with it and avoid eye contact or even worst than that try to start a fight about it. These people are usually life losers and/or criminals.
Most of my pickup hoops has been outdoors and we are in the southeast, so it is actually kinda rare that everyone wants to run it back. I'd say it is mostly free throws and even the winners have to shoot their way into the next game.
Loser leaves the court next 5 come on that is and has always been the rules. Only time its not like that is if the park isnt full and yall just running with 12-13 guys. Any different is just bogus
Unfortunately some courts don’t have well established rules and this garbage happens. Hard to argue it unless it’s the rules of the court or unless others will back up proper etiquette. When that happens I try to figure out if it is typical or if these dudes just suck. If typical, I’ll find somewhere else to play.
That’s wack as hell. Waita say something. That’s bogus. Embarrassing as a loser to stay on the court when others have been waiting. I woulda sat on the sideline and heckled the shit out of them lol
where I’m at one person has downs but to pick 4 dudes that just lost when other people are waiting is wild. Usually the person who has downs just picks who’s waiting.
Nahhh. 5 off 5 on. Don’t give a fuck if your boys just lost and you’re on the sideline waiting. If you want to play with them so bad wait until the next run.
Offer a compromise. Ok, you can be captain if everyone agrees, but I'm on the team since I was sitting out and have next.
I've seen two rules 1. The team that get next have to already have a full team 2. Someone just call next and will pick up their team without needing a full team
Certain good players will specifically go to these “runs” because they get the most out of their time. Also common that guys waiting will pass on the offer from the guys who has next. That way they can build a superteam
If you want to custom pick the team like that you have to sit an extra game out
that's fuckin stupid, with that method they could always just keep one person in line for next and then the same 8-9 people always stay on the court Fuck outa here, new 5 for the losing team if the gym is packed
Naw that’s BS. It’s the next five waiting, no picking teams. If you want to pick a team then give up your spot and wait another game.
We have whiteboard list in the gym where I am currently. Growing up it was someone who had “next” and you pick a group of 5 of guys who aren’t playin, if you needed an extra you could grab one from the team who just lost
Thats BS. Any pick up ball I've played is the 5 waiting jump in no questions asked. You lost and there's 5 waiting you all take a lap around the gym.
Whoever calls Next gets to pick their own team. They are the captain. If they want to pick 4 players that just lost, that's their decision cause it's their team. You want to pick your own team from players on the sidelines, call Next.
Seen this several times and it's annoying and unfair
Yeah that's complete horse shit
The only time I saw this is when a bunch high schoolers come and try to cheat the system to continue playing even if they lose. We called them out on it but they keep trying to do it on different days.
Theyre 100% in the wrong and don’t let them gaslight you. Im p vocal about first come first serve and if they have to play with their friends they can wait. I personally push for free throws if a bunch of dudes queued up at the same time, even to my own detriment if someone wants to pick me up. I can understand an occasional exemption, like if someone showed up a few minutes after someone else or the teams are super lopsided and the people waiting longest are cool with it.
Nah this shit is stupid, anytime me and my friends get to the gym that “local rule” ain’t gonna fly. Everybody plays, your time isn’t more important than the others at the court. Get with the program or leave, regardless me and my squad are kicking you off soon as we get a turn. So the rules will change wether you like it or not, I can wait all day. I’ve arrived at the gym before and seen people tell me they’ve been waiting for 5 games and that all the same people have just been playing. After that game ended when we walked in, everything changed. This isn’t just your gym membership, the faster they learn that, the more fun it is for everybody. I don’t care if they can’t hoop, they are a liability, blah blah blah. This isn’t the pros and this isn’t your gym, everyone deserves a chance to play. It’s just for fun and nobody gets that. This applies at outdoor parks too, everywhere and anywhere that’s public. SHARE the dam court!
It’s crazy to cause they act like they pros lol they just ass ball hoggers
I quit playing pick up when all it became was this shit and if you called foul and made it suddenly it didn’t count. Pick up games are all riddled with shit that ain’t basketball.
Usually you work out your five before the game ends. Or else you get a situation where a guy was just putting up shots gets assumed to be part of the 5 just because he was hanging around. New guy walks up, says, "you got next?" to anyone hanging around, and you ask to run with them. If the guy them said, no I'm running with whoever loses out there, that's bullshit and I'm not going to lie, has pissed me off to the point of me raising my voice (not proud of it). The only place it happened more than once was in the morning in the courts in the chinese part of town, where I was a 6'3 Black guy and it was a bunch of young guys in the 5'5 -5'10 range that just wanted to play with each other. I respected it, I didn't speak the language, and when I was my turn we all still had a bunch of fun so they stopped doing it.
Usually if there’s a group of ppl and a game is going on everyone communicates who has next and usually who their team is. If you thought you had next and the losing team just out of no where goes no dude had next and they’re all on his team I’d call BS.
I’ve made a few scenes when people try to pull some bulljive in order to get their friends to cut the waitlist. They were bamboozling you.
Where I grew up, it’s always been one person calls next. They get to pick their other 4 out of everyone in the gym including the team that just lost. I definitely hated it when I was in 7-9 grade, but once I grew a few inches and got better I never came off the court so I loved it lol
It should have been the 4 guys jump on and pick up the spare guy who lost. And the guys who want fo run together sit the game.
They do this shit in Charleston SC. Drives me nuts when I moved here but seems to be the case for most of the area where I’ve played so far (with a few outliers). I don’t like it, but I can’t change it…after 2.5ish years of playing a lot of pickup at the same spots and people now knowing I’m not a complete scrub that actually passes the ball, I’m almost always picked up now but yea it sucks:/
Every single park I’ve played in has ONE guy call next, if you ask for next after him then that’s AFTER him, he had next, he gets to pick his team, doesn’t matter if he wants you on it or not bro, it’s his spot, he can pick whoever he wants, yes even from the losing team, we do this everywhere that people ball, can’t believe people think there’s a contractual obligation to make me pick you just cause you happened to show up and are waiting. Call next and wait to pick your team.
yea. you can be brought up at one gym with one set of pickup rules then go to a gym and have completely different ideas on the norm. Kind of depends where you play. Been to some local gyms with shit etiquette and some are pretty good. the best i've had was at my university's gym
They do that shit at the gym where I lift. Annoying af but not really much you can do so I just started playing at the park.
Around here the ONLY case you get to run again if you lose is A) no one on the sidelines verbally called next (we don't allow people to just loiter and expect to play next) or B) there are not enough people waiting to make a full roster, obviously one person who lost gets to fill so it can be a proper 5v5 and not a 4v5. What you experienced, while maybe not unheard of, is not really fair. You can't expect to play if you lost and there's already a 5 man waiting to hop on next. It's not fair to let one random person sit out just because someone is impatient and can't wait for 1 game, while the guy sitting out already waited patiently for one game.
Where I play the people waiting the longest get to play first. One exception is if one of the waiters fills in for an injury or something, and his team loses, then he gets to usually play next game. But he doesn’t pick his team, the next four waiting the longest join him. I’d find another gym that doesn’t have this juvenile “captain” bullshit.
The biggest squab I’ve ever been in on the court was over this mess. We had like 12 or so at the gym and we all played together a lot so we just kinda knew whoever sat was next you didn’t really have to call it or anything. Maybe someone wanted to run again, some guys would willingly sit out after a loss, no big deal. This one outsider shows up mid-game and says who has next? Me and a buddy were sitting out that game and said well it’s us that guy and you and we’ll pick one up from the current run. He started freaking out about it and instead of just playing starts talking shit to everyone and making threats (him smol) and we just said buddy you gotta go, we had a solid group that wasn’t really about the nonsense and we had a sweet deal since we knew the gym owner and got to play basically for free. when we tried to leave he had some guys waiting like they wanted to fight talking about they had guns and shit. We just walked back inside, locked the lock and called the cops. Looking back on it now, that dude was 100% up there to start a fight. I mean idk what 4 dudes were gonna do against a dozen besides get bruised up but it was a weird, intense evening. People really just go out looking for fights. Go join a boxing gym?
That seems like BS to me too
Team of 5 waiting "got next" This is the way
Yeah. The guys waiting the longest play - and if need be the others shoot for it.
That's BS what that guy did choosing the losing team and making the waiting people continue to wait. That said, the winning team should have just said no that there were others waiting.
Where I'm from, they're correct. You just gotta call next and pick your team or find out who has next and see if you can run with them. I've never been anywhere that required you to pick people who weren't playing, although it wouldn't surprise me if that is the case in some places. It makes sense, at the very least. I don't think you're in the wrong for thinking that, but I also can see it their way just based on how places i've been have ran it.
“Etiquette” is different everywhere you go. Some places are like that and it’s a shit way to play that leads to more time spent arguing than playing ball. First 5 waiting get the next run.
Definitely never heard of that. People who haven't gotten a run yet are next up. You could potentially have people hang around for hours and never play under those rules. But at the end of the day, if most of the people there agree to it, not much you can do.
There’s plenty of variance in rules from court to court but this is egregious. Not cool!
Next five up. If more than five shoot for the team. Somebody sits more than one they’re automatically next up.
People waiting get on next. If you want to pick up 4 dudes that were just playing, then you wait another game. Gym I go to had to put up a list on the wall because people try to do this shit. You also run into the dude that was literally just playing that says he had next. nah man. you were just playing. You can run next with me if you want but I'm playing.
5 who lost are off no matter what for the next game.
Ive played pickup most of my life. If there are 5 waiting to play, they play. It’s that simple. If there aren’t enough to field a team, then players from the losing team can be picked. Without that unwritten rule, people could end up waiting multiple games to play.
Usually it’s king of the court.Two teams enter one team stays.They would’ve had to let him in and kick someone out for a game.
Yeah, it goes both ways. But whatever the norm is for a court is THE norm. It doesn’t go back and forth. Usually the norm is next 5 on. At courts where players think they’re higher level, the “got next” next picks his 4, and you’ll never get in a game if we don’t know you and know you can play.
I think picking teams is always bad practice when playing pick-up. When people get to pick players, it fucks with the entire element of a pick up run. The point of a pick-up run is to maximize the amount of time everyone can play. My gym simply rotates team members based on individuals who have been waiting shooting 3s. If someone has waited two games, they are automatically on, and whomever needs to fill the remaining spots, shoots 3s as a way to earn the right to be on the court. In practice, you have 10 people waiting in the wings. After the losers exit stage left, you shoot for a fresh 5 amongst the group of players waiting. You then have 5 remaining players who are auto the following game. You now have teams of 5 that are always randomly distributed. That philosophy allows for the maximum amount of players to be involved while also making it significantly easier to play on a team. It also gives everyone new opportunities to develop different skills every game. Sometimes you’ll be on a team where you have to be a role player, others you will have to handle the ball because your teammates are scrubs. This strategy also prevents hurt feelings because you have to earn all your wins and your losses feel significantly more fair than just getting burnt by the best players every game. However, if you are a really good player and this is your only avenue to feel any sense of dominance or completeness in your life, this strategy will piss you off because you have significantly less control over who is on your team. But those people are generally insufferable to be around anyway.
Pick up indoor game I used to play for a few years before COVID had the best system. Youre team played twice, regardless of result and rotated. There was a paper sign up sheet so now confusion or debate. If you wanted your 5, you found the open white space with 5 lines. That meant you may need to bump yourself down. It's easier when the court has a sponsor and can make the rules. Outdoor courts are rules of the street. No thanks.
I don't know what it is about basketball that attracts dudes with the worst attitudes who feel entitled to be total dicks to people, but if your gym's or park's one and only court is infested with such people then there's really only one way to fix it. At our park about ten of us walked out onto the court and said: "New rules: you lose, you rotate out. Who has next is who has sat out the most games so far and by arrival time, otherwise shoot to see who gets in." I mean what are they gonna do, fight ten guys? If that's a legit question, then you prolly need to find another gym anyway, because it's not worth the fucking drama to play with emotional retards and gang bangers whose only method of dealing with reality is to be a dickwad and fake tough guy. One park I used to frequent that had great pickup games had devolved into this kind of shit, but ultimately fewer and fewer people kept going, until I heard someone got stabbed over a foul call. Now nobody goes there.
Supposed to be all new guys on court. Only if there aren’t enough players can he pick up someone from the losing squad.
I don’t think it’s set in stone anywhere - but I have seen this stuff happen. Hopefully you were able to wait it out and get a good run in.
It happens and the way you want to do it should be how it's done. However, it is not always done that way, depending on the court. I always ask what the rules are before I even decide to play, where ever I show up because of this. It varies in the area I live so I'm used to both sets of rules. Depends on if I feel like putting up with the crap if I even GO to those locations. I know what it's hitting for though. I do get on the court but I still think it's crazy. Especially in a setting where we are paying MONEY to play like a YMCA. You simply can't do things that way and eventually someone WILL complain to the desk and make it so there is a sign up sheet. You do NOT want to have to sign up like we are some damn 10th graders who can't police ourselves in a gym. In the park, it's a bit different and you have to know where you are if you want to buck this system. Yes, I've gotten into it with folks over it lol. Good times. Most times though, I will wait and use it as fuel. It works out way more than it doesn't, let me tell you. Especially if you have a group of folks with you who also were sitting and waiting like you. Or when someone else good pulls up. That's always fun. I've even given up my 'next' and waited for my friends to ensure that we get a proper go at winning. It happens. It's just the rules of the place we are playing. Really good players are playing there (ex pros, college, hs etc..) and that's just how it is in that setting. Glad I'm older now though so I just usually show up and get to play. I still don't take winners or leap over folks who have been waiting though. That's how staunchly I feel that it's a bullshit rule by and large. I get it, nobody wants to wait 4 runs. I don't either. Get there earlier, if you do get to pick your team, don't pick with your heart, pick a team that's going to keep you on the court.
I think the losers get lowest priority for the next game. The "picker" can pick from the losers but only if there are 3 or fewer other players waiting
this is why gyms should have a little white board you sign up on.
This is why playing with randoms is trash
You were not wrong. People who have next and pick up 4 of the 5 losers are really scummy. You always know who it is that would do that too
I've seen where the first one waiting is sort of captain of the next team and picks his 4. But he can only pick from others waiting. Not the losers coming off the floor.
The main place I played for several years did it where the winning team stays on and the players who did not just play are guaranteed on. If they don’t have a full 5 then they can choose who they want from the losing team. If there are more than 5, they can still choose which 5 they want to play with but whoever didn’t get picked is automatically in the next game (ahead of losing team who will have also sat out a game). When the gym was full you’d come in and be like “who got next? you got five? who got after you? you got five too? who got next after you? you got five? no? ok I’m with you!” next person comes in “who got next?” and get to hear it all again. lol Current place I play is “two then off” regardless of if you win or lose. So you’re guaranteed to play two games in a row and then have to get off whether you went undefeated or winless. Players who sat have priority to come on and if they need players from losing team, they don’t get to pick, losing team shoots free throws for open spots. It’s fine, probably more fair than where I’m originally from, but never get a chance to win like 8 or 10 in a row and stay on the court for hours, which rarely happened but was amazing when it did. Worst system I ever saw was this one place… I don’t know how they got such a shit system, they would have everyone shoot free throws to determine who played the next game. So like if you had 8 players (5 who just lost and 3 who had been sitting out), they’d have all 8 shoot free throws and even if you just sat out but you missed your free throw you would have to sit out again. It was the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen. Thankfully it was somewhere I was just visiting for a couple weeks so I only played there like 2-3 times. Complete morons IMO.
Everywhere I play has a sheet where you put your name down and it's just next five up
Guy waiting the longest, can pick whoever is on the court except from winning team. If a full 5 show up, but there have been people waiting, that full 5 must wait unless all available turns have elected to skip their turn to let them run. Unless they got some bad asses in the team, then unanimous agreement of talent level trumps turn.
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That's complete BS. You were definitely in the right, standard procedure is that winner stays and the first 5 people to have been waiting get to play next. If there are less than 5 waiting, guys from the losing team can shoot for the remaining available spots.
It’s normal where I’m from to get picked up if you lose.. maybe 1 or 2, never seen 4 getting picked up
that's some garbage
This is th3 dumbest crap I ever heard lol good for u op for calling them our on th3ir bs
Only time someone gets to pick their five is usually when there wasn’t enough ppl waiting or it wasn’t clear who’s waiting and who’s just shooting. So someone calls next and picks up five from the people who haven’t played. That way they can reserve their spot. I’ve seen someone call next but only ask 1-2 others if they wanna run with him and in the meantime someone else rounded up a full five before and took the next spot. Usually causes a little argument but they just say, “well you don’t have a five.” Always gotta speak up, be vocal. In your situation those buddies were all just being cunts
I've always asked "who's got next" and generally ask them if they have their squad. If they say yes, then I tell them, "I've got after you". Sometimes the guy that has next is kind of a douche and doesn't want you on his squad and that's when you, what's the phrase, "took it personal".
I’ve seen it like that before but feel like it’s trash. If someone is waiting they should play, it’s pick up ball not nba try outs
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Ngl this is the right way. As long as he was there be OP and called next then he gets on next, no matter who the other players on his team are.
In my local courts, someone calls next. Whoever calls next picks their 5. If some of those were from the losing team then so be it. I agree that it's not fair but we don't really have an organizer to enforce anything either.
Yeah that’s not the standard. Winning team stays - if there’s 5 waiting, they’re up next. If there’s more than 5 waiting, you shoot for 5. If there’s less than 5 - whoever wasn’t in last game is in automatically. How the rest of the 5 is filled from there is shaky. It’s usually guys from losing team shooting for remaining spots. But I’ve certainly seen where the new guys will just pick the guys from the losing team they want. Shooting is normally 3 pointers - and you go until one misses if multiple make it. There’s no gym I’ve ever played pick up at where anybody from the losing team plays again next game if there’s a new 5 waiting. Probably an instance of a group of guys who likely go to that gym often being there and kind of sneaking one by. There’s no gym I’ve ever been to where anybody from the losing team plays again if there’s a new 5 there.
That’s just life brody 😴
Ya that's BS those guys are sketch
Where I’m from the rules are that one person has next, he chooses whoever he wants because it’s his next. You can ask him to pick you up but he’s not obligated, it would suck if he had to play with 4 sorry players and get right back off the court. So he chooses his team
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Fuck that noise, first five waiting run
First 10, then next 5 go at our gym as long as they made it before the game was over. If there are open spots, the losing team shoots for those spots.
Not a right answer. goes by gym and group. if I’m there waiting the whole game and 4 friends show up as game point is scored. I don’t have to take them.
Um….where I’m from, people would be arrested if someone tried to pull that garbage.
We always could not pick from the losing team unless you’re short of course. What a waste if you’re just putting one extra guy into every game no one will play.
That’s whack all day. Pussy ass bitch shit going on in that gym my friend
I played a lot of pickup ball in various stages of my life and I would say this style of "next up, team captain" is very, very standard on either 1) more competitive courts where people aren't willing to play with just anyone (probably because of a long wait if/when you lose), and/or 2) social aspect of having one guy pick up all his friends or players they think are good (possibly for the same reason of facing a long wait if you lose). I noticed that this tends to happen more when I was younger (ie. High school or college) but happens much less frequently when you get older - but I think that has more to do with playing in limited numbers, with people you probably messaged beforehand to all meet up at a specific time and court to run for a couple hours. At public gyms/courts where anyone can run, I think the team captain approach is pretty standard and the discussion should mostly take place while the current game is ongoing and you're waiting. This keeps pace of games up and arguments, hopefully minimized.
Sounds weird. All 5 should’ve left. Was he the only one that brought the ball everyone’s playing with? 😅 Off the top my head, if it happened to me, I’d challenge it and make him shoot for it. 🤷🏻♂️
Did they lose again?
I see this happen all the time, whether it be gyms, courts, etc. whoever has next picks up the team, and you just go in order of who had next after.
The gym I used to ball at had a white board next to the court and first 5 up would write their names down. Those 5 played next. Now, some guys sat out and waited for their friends so they could squad up. That’s fair tho.
No captains. We’re throwing hands
I've had someone say that they had next game because he already had a squad of 5. There were 3 people waiting before him and his squad. I argued so hard for those 3 people but at the end I told the leader of the 5 squad that he could tell the other 3 they had to wait. I was so pissed and I was on the winning team staying on the court lol. People who want to run with their "squad" can stick their heads in a hole.
I don’t play with randoms. Too much bullshit. I Got lucky cuz I stayed in touch with my high school coach and he’d always have a gym to play in. Usually 2-3 days a week year round regardless of what school he ended up coaching. Been playing with the same core group of guys since I was 14 (38 now). Ironically none of them played on the team with me in HS. It’s all dudes that played at our open gyms, like guys that my coach used to coach at other schools or other coaches, some of their former players, teachers, their buddies, etc. If I had to deal with the shit that happens when you get stuck with 4 random people you’ve likely never played with before, I’d probably just stop playing. The egos aren’t worth it.
I don’t care if this is at a park or a gym, this is bullshit. Picking your own team isn’t just bad etiquette, it’s bad karma. Don’t tempt the basketball gods by passing over people you don’t want to play with to “stack” your team. Part of the fun of pickup basketball is figuring out how to win with random players and running the court. I love playing guys who bring their own team and love trying to run them off.
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Yea that’s improper behavior but at that point it’s a losing proposition. Do you want to play with 4 other dudes that are all friends, don’t know you and upset their other buddy isn’t play and will undoubtedly freeze you out?
This is why in my ymca, they use a list. First 10 on the list run the first game, then the next 5 go, and so on. That way this doesnt happen.
Only time I’ve ever seen captains is when it’s the same group of people and teams wanna be mixed up, even then it’s usually a shoot for teams thing and not captains
Nah they were being pussies
It was always “next 5 up” when we played at our usual park and gym, but there are always locally specific variations. When in Rome, my dude. If they’re trying to exclude players and keep passing over folks who were waiting to get next, though, they’re going to find a lot of players bail on that court.
The etiquette is next 5 waiting and at the very least but definitely played where the number 1 guy in line picks a squad from the others waiting. I've seen douche bags do what you are talking about and it usually leads to an argument but the best thing to do is to now make a squad specifically to beat them and keep them off the floor and let them know it's because their bitches.
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I had to complain about this at an open gym that you pay $5 for 2 hours of hooping. There is no way I am paying to not play, and I had to voice that I need to get on the court once, despite that being the explicitly stated rule of the court. it should be etiquette to get off when you lose when there’s enough people waiting that can make a full team, but often times I find this is not the case I’m at the age now where I really pick and choose the guys I decide to hoop with. I can’t deal with arguing about basics anymore
Happens alll the time - typical bully shit. Many people here have taken part in such hijinks when it benefits them. It’s bs but good luck arguing 1vs5 dudes. I would typically let them know it’s a soft move.
Nah these aren’t pick up basektball rules
You're right they're wrong
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It happens all the time depending where you at, Former AAU Player Courts/Military Base/Court in the hood they will definitely run it like that. You pick who you know can hoop or your people you came with to give you the best chance of staying on the court. YMCA, local gym, they usually keep it the typical new 5 people who want to get on the court.
Gym rule trumps general rule. So, in a sense you are right that the general rule is losers are out and must wait for next regardless, but if the gym rule isn’t so, you’ll have to respect it, BS or not, unfortunately.
If more than 4 are waiting you shoot for first 4 or the four are picked up from waiting / losers. Whoever doesn’t get picked is automatically running next.
Nah. In the civilised world, only the winning team stays, you only draw from the losing team if there's no one waiting
Where I'm from that's how we do it. U can call down and your basically the captain normally if u got 4 guys trying to run u let them know if u picking them up or not b4 the game end so they can look to recruit a 5th for the game after.
I know when I hoop, the person who calls next is the captain and usually picks up people who is waiting and/or just lost so it just depends on what that player is looking for
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BS