Warm-Up Players

I can walk into a gym and pick out the best players fairly quickly. All it takes is a peek at warm-ups. Actually, I'd take a bet that I could pick out the best players if they were just standing in a line in front of me. Good basketball players just have a look.

Sitting through warm-ups of tonights game I not only picked out the best players, but I picked out the players that basically the coach felt bad cutting. Every team has one or two of them. The ones that work hard and are good guys, but will never see a minute of action. Tonight there were two of these guys on the opposing team. I named them Arsenio Hall and the Commish.

I'll start with the Commish. I was sure this was a guy they let warm-up with them, who maybe, possibly, wasn't even on the team. Just a kind gesture. An lengthy 5'9'', a thin 240, and a head more sparkly than Mr. Clean. Literally, the spitting image of Tony Scali.

Then there was Arsenio. No doubt Arsenio had some athletic ability. But, probably nothing further than an average player in pick-up ball. He was straight from the 80 from his 1984 throw back Nike Flights, to his flat top with the lines shaved into the sides. Maybe Arsenio would see some playing time, but I projected him to get out there, try to be too fancy with it, and get pulled right back out again.

My predictions, for both of these the Commish and Arsenio were slightly off. When I say slightly, I mean more than one could have ever imagined! As if the coach could read my mind, both players were out on the court for the opening tip. Okay, maybe the game plan is to come out with a stink-ass team and make the opponent think they are in for an easy ride, then sub in your real players. I've never seen it done before, but there has to be a first for everything!

The game went on, and so did their playing time. In fact, they were both quite talented. Arsenio was ridiculous. That apparent athletic ability I was talking about, led to one of the most impressive dunks I've ever seen. The crowd rightfully went nuts to what oddly enough sounded to me like "whoop, whoop, whoop."

The Commish was tough and scrappy; like a bulldozer really. Although not at the same level as Arsenio, the Commish proved himself worthy of being on the court and certainly benefited his team.

The two of them put on an impressive show. They did lose, so really, not all that impressive. Just much better than I was expecting. I guess I will have to rethink my talent classification abilities!