San Francisco

As the tech hub of the world, there were plenty of apps and websites dedicated to pick up basketball. From the standard Meetup.com to Indoorhoops.com (what I used in NYC) to undiscovered ones like Squadz, there were plenty of people looking to play basketball. Unfortunately for me, none of them had any games for the Thursday and Friday night I was in San Francisco. I am sure there were other apps that had these dates, but I just didn’t find them.

Luckily, after some online message boards (reddit as always), I went old school and discovered the Betty Ong Rec Center in Chinatown. I believe this is the first public recreational center I’ve gone to during my worldballer career and it definitely won’t be the last. It was extremely easy to get into the gym (no one checked and it was free) and anybody could play. I walked straight in, met someone shooting around and joined his team for next next (this piece is key, you have to be the one to show initiative and ask for next, or else no one will just pick you up...see Rome). No complaints, buts, ifs or whats. It was that easy. But because it's a public gym, you do have to be careful with your belongings. During one of our games, this one dude ran off the court in the middle of play to chase some guy who stole his basketball (kudos for him for actually watching his stuff every time down the court). So make sure you watch your stuff. I played on a Thursday night between 6:30pm-8:00.

The gym

There was one large basketball court split into 2, meaning there were 2 games going on simultaneously within each half going the short way. Because of this, there were no 3 point lines and the games were played 4 on 4. The playing court was also squished but there were good out of bound lines so people knew where the boundary lines were. Other than that, standard indoor rec courts with good floor, rims, backboards and nets.

The players

Because this court was situated right in the middle of Chinatown, the demographics were about 75% Asian and the rest were either Middle Eastern or African American. Oddly enough, there was not a single white person there. As with any gym with multiple games going on, there is a distinct separation between the A court and the B court. Because there were more people waiting for the A court (and because I didn't have my normal basketball shoes...yeayeayea excuses excuses...), I found someone waiting for the B court and asked to join his team. Now asking to join a team isn’t usually an easy thing to do because they might be there with friends or don’t want you on their team, but this guy was nice and let me join his team immediately.

As for the players, the average height that I played on (B), was about 5’9 with the tallest being 6’1 and the shortest being 5’0. Court A average height was 5’11 with the tallest at 6’5 and shortest at 5’4. Average age of everyone was 29.

Everyone knew how to play, but I will say the playing level was pretty average to low. For me personally, it was fun because everyone was just bad enough to make me look good, but still good enough to be fun. I say that in the nicest way because I won in all 3 games I participated in despite playing the worst basketball I have ever played.

Case in point, I started game 1 by stealing the ball off my opponent and had a wide open layup but missed it badly. I got my own rebound, put it back up, missed it, got my rebound again, missed, rebounded a 3rd time and missed again. Now you think it would get better from there, but I again stole the ball two plays later with a wide-open layup and ended up missing that one well. This time I did not even attempt to get the rebound or attempt to get back on defense. Through 3 games I probably shot 10% or less.

There was really only 1 player that stood out and fortunately for me, he was on my team. He was 6’1 who could shoot and drive to the basketball. Most of the other players on the court were guards who had average shooting and ball-handling skills. There were 2 other ‘big’ men at 5’11 who got a lot of rebounds, defended well and put the ball up strong, but other than that, it was just a bunch of guards running around.

Overall, all players were extremely nice and they followed the ‘Next’ order so everyone got to play. I would say most people knew each other and were either friends or colleagues of some sort.

The games

Games were all 1’s to 12. I actually found that surprising because 12 is a very high number to get to by 1’s and some games were dddrrraaaawwwwnnn out if no one was hitting shots. Check ball at the top of the court on all fouls and out of bounds. Call your own fouls. The gameplay was primary guard dominated. I can't particularly remember any post moves besides some overly eager guards posting up shorter guards. There wasn’t really an opportunity for fast breaks because the courts were so squished so be ready for some slow breaks or half-court sets.

Conclusion

I actually ended up sustaining 2 minor injuries this day, a right groin strain and a heel bruise on my right foot (I blame the shoes...this is my PSA for everyone to play in proper basketball shoes). Overall, this is a perfect place for anybody of any skill level to go and play. Seemingly anybody could go in and play without having to wait too long or pay. I would recommend anybody on a budget to just check out the open gym schedule at Betty Ong Rec Center and play on your own terms. Even if you don’t want to play in a game, you can always shoot around on the hoops but just make sure you don’t get in the way of games. Also, watch your stuff!