Hello all,

Ok so, Im sitting here slightly bored, and with no games for us until Tuesday and now the deadline has gone..........not much to talk about.

So, wanted to see what kind of ballers we have on here and for some reason what kind of injuries you may have had? (perhaps want to feel about how my "career" was ended).............Im really interested to hear you guys strories and experiences..........so Ill start tootin my own horn now and ramble on about my stuff for awhile.

Hope you all join in.

Me, well.........

Career: I was representing my county of Surrey (that would be representing your state in US terms) and playing for 4 other teams from the ages of 15 to 19 (having played for just my high school team before that)............those other teams being the district of Merton, a club/area team called Crystal Palace, involved with another club team called Brixton Topcats (who Luol Deng played for) and also on the books for the London Towers (who were the champions of the top English league at that time).

I also won Sportsman of the Year for my final year of High School (especially good as the trophy is for overall contribution to all sports in school............but I won it just for my contribution to basketball! which was nice. ) My high school team won 3 straight Surrey league championships and 2 Surrey cups over my time, as well as reaching the semi-finals of the national championships.

Overall, I was a SF/PF, good outside shooter, surprising quick release 3, good rebounding instincts and D, crafty lefty finisher (although Im a righty) and a decent passer as well.

Guys who I played with you may know: I played with a guy named Andrew Sullivan, who went to Villanova and should have been drafted as a defensive specialist (he used to shut my ass down!) but went around the world abit, most notably with Spanish ACB club Joventut Badalona and now in Belgium.

I also knew John Amaechi and guy who played a little for the Lakers in the early nineties, Steve Bucknall.

Injuries: Well this is where it gets tough for me...........early on, I severely sprained my ankle, had to have crutches for 2 weeks but still spot up shot off one leg the whole time! .........and the usual plethora of stubbed fingers and slight sprains.

Then.............whilst playing in a Surrey league game, I grabbed a rebound in traffic and came down, landing directly on my heels........the shock of my whole weight concentrating on the hells of my feet made me jar my body and it didnt feel good..........oddly, I went down the other end and scored but my coach and I knew something was up, so I was off.

Over the next two weeks, with various sports "specialists" trying to diagnose me (one of whom said I had a disloacated hip and proceeded to slam my leg into me to "fix" it)...........I ended up in a big London hospital, having isotopes injected into me then an x-ray.............unfortunately, it showed two fractures to two vertebrae at the base of my spine............and Im given the option of surgery to pin it and have crippling arthritis when Im older, or leave it and be pretty much incapacitated for the next 4 plus months.

Well, I took the latter..........sacrificing my present for hopefully a future without being crippled by arthritis............obviously, this ended my career, and although I managed to get some games after 7 long months, I wasnt the same and had lost my game shape (as I couldnt do anything really for that time)............and with no structure to basketball here in England like in the US, I went to work.

This was all 9 years ago now, Ive played a small amount of streetbal since............the best being when I last came over to San Francisco, when I surprised myself and the guys I was playing against............so much so they asked if I had played "college ball".............which even as a question, I took to be quite an honour, especially after the fact that at that point I hadnt played a lick for 4 years!

Anyway, thats me.............sorry for rambling on so much and perhaps sounding a little self indulgent.............but with the lack of people in my country to talk basketball with, I just really wanted to tell you guys my full basketball story (Ive mentioned stuff before but not in this length) and hopefully hear all of yours!

Ps: Also, some of you may or may not have noticed that me and sfsfsfgiants have decided to proudly display our winning honours for last years annual awards (as it was agreed that all the winners would have something in their sigs but it all got lost in the works with the Migya/32 drama)...........so other winners = GSW United/O.G Broe/32/Pest/TMC (cant think of the others).........come on and join the party and celebrate being voted winners, in your respective catagories, by your fellow board members.............I want to share the glory with you all!

I played ball through high school. I played SG/SF and was the captain of the team. We were a mediocre team but we had a ton of fun since we all liked it each other.

The only major injuries I had were a bulging disc in my back from getting undercut my sophomore year and in my senior year I played the season with a torn PCL. I eventually got the surgery on the leg so I could keep playing brace-free.

I played PF throughout my years in CYO, AAU, middle school, and high school years. I was like a Stephen Jackson in terms of always being the one with the most emotion over a call or what not. I had a decent three point shot, but my game was mainly in the low post. Average free throw shooter. I wasn't tall for a PF being only 6'0 throughout high school, but I managed because I had a lot of upper body strength.

Injuries? Sprained ankles. Bad right knee. Back spasms.

I stopped basketball after my high school career because of I saw a better opportunity at football.

nice thread Bigs

Career: started playing when i was 7 but didnt start organized ball till i was in fifth grade (about 10 yrs old). i was pretty tall and big compared to most people so i played PF/C. 6th grade led my CYO team in rebounds, points per game, and blocks and to an undefeated 10-0 regular season record only to be upset in the playoffs. went to the diocese tourney and lost in the first round. 7th grade led the team in the same categories and logged my first tripple double of 18pts 12rebs n 16blks. with a 9-2 record we were first in the league and came out champs. went to the diocese tourney again and lost in the second round. didnt play in 8th grade cuz i broke my ankle two days before the season started and it took me 3 weeks to get off the crutches and 1.5 months to run and move laterally.

high school i went through the first day of tryouts and thought i did pretty well. then at the end of the tryouts the freshman team coach came to me and said, "you know, i really want you on my team based on what i saw today...but you know the varsity and JV coach wont pick you. you're undersized for your position and they dont know you cuz you werent here for bball camp where they got to know all the players." i wasnt at bball camp because i had choir camp (yes i was in choir), which back then was required for the class. i was trying out for the PF position and at 5'11" i was undersized compared to the 6'3 and up guys (WHO HAD LESS SKILL).

i continued to play ball throughout high school, though it was mostly streetball and a year of NJB. i still play, but not as much as i used to/like to.

Injuries: well as i said, in 8th grade i broke my right ankle. happened to be my first sports injury and happened during recess. it really sucked. from then til now i've suffered so many ankle injuries you'd think i was jermaine o'neal. during my freshman year in college i broke my left ankle. didnt suck as bad since i dont drive with my left foot....was still uncomfy.

during high school i played volleyball. one practice we were running sprints in the gym, and at the end of one of the sprints i lost my footing while trying to stop myself from hitting the wall...i jammed my knee and limped for a couple days. doctor said it was a sprain and that id be out for 2-4 weeks. got back on the court after a week. knee still acts up every once in a while...but thats only after i run for over 3 hours.

style of play: id have to say i play like larry johnson with a better post game (in terms of relativity). decent handles, decent 3pt shot, koo in the midrange, ok on defense. lately ive been trying to add more defense to my game and be a lil more like hakeem with a decent 3pt shot. but at 6'1" id say im pretty much always gonna be an undersized big man unless im playing against other filipino's haha. most of the time im the bigger one on my team....im certainly the biggest of my friends. i have a decent verticle at 24".

Yep, nice thread.

I played PG during high school, always played PG for a single reason, and that's that I've never been able to shoot well. So I was like a (much) slower Jason Kidd, decent defender, helped in the boards, unselfish... but was only able to score on layups and rarely helped with anything else in that department. Always led the team in assists, but nothing else to talk about in the stats department.

As for injuries, I only had a serious one, that happened grabbing a board in traffic that ended in a bad fall... my back hurted for a month and I wasn't able to move from the bed in almost a week. Still hurts a bit with cold weather (no sh*t...). Other than that, I've been pretty injury free.

As for comparisons... Jason Kidd, Breving Knight... Look for any PG that can't shoot (and is aware of that) and that's a pretty accurate idea of the kind of player I was.

I stopped playing like... 7 years ago, when real life got in the way...

Cool guys, thanks for sharing............was worried that no-one would bother (as mine is abit long! )

But interesting stuff.............its funny to see some of the difference in organisation, I didnt start playing till I was 11 and after high school and then my injury, there was knowhere else to go apart from the pro team that I was with, certainly no guidance or encouragement in the same way that the US has serious high school and college people (bloody sh**ty England! I was born in the wrong country!)

Also, funny how some guys were out of position, I am 6'3, so I was always ok (especially over here in the UK) in terms of going inside...........I cant imagine playing C in the US at 5'11! damn, you need some serious stregth for that!

Anywho, I hope more guys come in with their strories..............maybe when/if we ever all meet up, we will have to organins a "GoldenStWarriors.com" tourney..........???