Old School Basketball Slang

[EarlJam]

Share your hoops lexicon from back in the day, be it used nationwide or only in your backyard. Also, is the slang still used today? Obsolete? Can it be brought back?

Discuss.

Three that immediately come to mind for me are:

1. "Face!" or "In your FACE!" - Often said by the shooter to the defender as the ball is in mid-air after the shot. This term should only be said when the shooter is absolutely certain the ball is going in the hoop.

2. "Gun" (e.g., "Don't pick Steve. He's a f**kin' gun!) - Guns. They don't play defense and don't really understand the game at all. What they DO understand is shooting the ball, although they are often very poor at it. If a gun touches a ball 15 times in a game, he will shoot it probably 14 times. "Passing" is not part of thier vocabulary. They are also uncoachable. No matter how many times you might exclaim, "Steve! PASS the f***in' BALL," they will simply not do it. All they hear is, "Blah! BLAH the blah blah! And SHOOT IT!"

3. "Swish!" - A less offensive form of "Face!" Only, it is most often said after the ball goes through the hoop, touching no rim.

-EarlJam

[EarlJam]

"Get Some!" - Personnaly, I never used this. But when playing on a rec team years ago, one of our youngest players (he was about 15 years old) would shout that every time he made a shot. That was okay during the games because he would only make a basket or two, but during warm-ups, if he got on a streak, all you would hear over and over again is "Get Some!......Get Some!......Get Some!"

God I was praying for the opposing team to commit the most hideous flagrant foul on him. "Get Som.....ARRRRRGHGHGH!" THWACK!!

-EarlJam

[Rolvix]

My friends and I use "FACE!" and "Swish"...

You have to call "Bank" for a bankshot to count (depending on who you are playing with).

"Change"

[captmojo]

A)The 'Muff'.
A blocked shot that doesn't leave the shooter's hand. Now interpreted to be a 'Held Ball'. Resulting in posession according to 'Arrow Direction'
In a sentence..."He got 'muffed'."
B)'Arrow Diection'.
Formerly known as 'Jump Ball'.
Make up your own damn sentence.
C)'Gym Shorts'.
These were things we used to wear to allow for ease of movement of the legs when involved in a highly athletic activity such as basketball. Now, players wear some sort of very loose fitting pantaloons that hem somewhere halfway between the knee and ankle...oh bloody Hell. Why bother.
In a sentence..."Check out the baby birds peeking out from under Tommy's gym shorts." Again-

[EarlJam]

C)'Gym Shorts'.
These were things we used to wear to allow for ease of movement of the legs when involved in a highly athletic activity such as basketball. Now, players wear some sort of very loose fitting pantaloons that hem somewhere halfway between the knee and ankle...oh bloody Hell. Why bother.
In a sentence..."Check out the baby birds peeking out from under Tommy's gym shorts." Again-

Awesome.

And so true.

-EarlJam

[Lavabe]

My friends and I use "FACE!" and "Swish"...

You have to call "Bank" for a bankshot to count (depending on who you are playing with).

"Change"

Hayward didn't call BANK before he shot it. ;)

[cl15876]

Was going to comment on the shorts also, but the Capt did a great job!

Still thinking, but dunkadelic comes to mind, but you hit on some key ones. Ball Hog and show boat are others.

[cl15876]

Was going to comment on the shorts also, but the Capt did a great job!

Still thinking, but dunkadelic comes to mind, but you hit on some key ones. Ball Hog and show boat are others.

I am also glad to see that from Roledex's post that some words survive the ages! I think I also remember "H" O R S E!!!! Funny, you are bringing back soo many memories... I remember as youngster my first year, I was so clumsy and I think I made 4 points in the last game (primarily because I was mr. clutz and the team basically screened me in a circle to hit those two baskets.... OOOO WHAT A FEELING!!!! I was like a baby moose or a white tail fawn trying to take his first steps and I spent the entire next summer working on my ball handling and shooting at a piece of plywood I found and an old cheap rim that I found and nailed them both to a tree as high up as I could handle everything and finally wore the dirt floor out to make a court and the following year and years after that on the court were totally different than the first year. Good thread!!!! I'm sure I'll remember more terms as time passes!

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

Hot dog... need I say more? Often applied to players from certain teams, guys who were very self absorbed, inordinate celebrating, drawing attention to themselves, playing to the gallery.

The shorts have changed today, but the hot dog lives on.

[EarlJam]

Was going to comment on the shorts also, but the Capt did a great job!

Still thinking, but dunkadelic comes to mind, but you hit on some key ones. Ball Hog and show boat are others.

Ball Hog is a good one!!

-EarlJam

[Very Duke Blue]

Snake bit. When a player who usually shoots well can't hit anything.

[DukeUsul]

You guys just reminded me of one of the classic scenes in Coming to America.

"Yes! Yes! In the face!"

http://www.flickr.com/photos/matthewsim/2631810064/

[Turk]

"Splash that" - meaning "you're wide open so shoot the ball, you dummy" - perhaps an encouragement to a normally good shooter who might be snake-bit...

"grill" (noun) meaning "face": "I could see the guy was good; when he had the ball I needed to get all up in his grill on D"

"rack" (noun) meaning the rim: "take it hard to the rack" (I know Billy Raftery loves "the tin" but I never once heard it in real life on a court)...

"gum it" - to pin a shot against the backboard as if trying to make it stick there: "he tried this weak baseline move, but I saw it coming and gummed it on the glass"

And I also liked how one matched up with unfamiliar opponents who had no distinguishing traits. They came in three sizes: Shorty, Slim, and Big Slim. "I'll take the Adidas, you take Spike Lee." "OK, I'll take Shorty over here." "I guess that leaves me with Big Slim".

[Johnboy]

Old School:
"a little help?" - a request for assistance because the ball has rolled or bounced off the court and near another person (usually on an adjacent court) who is in a position to throw it back to the person requesting it. Used humorously in one of the first scenes of the movie Stripes.

"rock" = the ball
"dime" = assist

Antediluvian School:
"cager" = basketball player "The cagers from Duke University captured the National Collegiate Athletic Association Men's Basketball crown for the fourth time as they defeated the cagers from Butler University."

[bjornolf]

2. "Gun" (e.g., "Don't pick Steve. He's a f**kin' gun!) - Guns. They don't play defense and don't really understand the game at all. What they DO understand is shooting the ball, although they are often very poor at it. If a gun touches a ball 15 times in a game, he will shoot it probably 14 times. "Passing" is not part of thier vocabulary. They are also uncoachable. No matter how many times you might exclaim, "Steve! PASS the f***in' BALL," they will simply not do it. All they hear is, "Blah! BLAH the blah blah! And SHOOT IT!"

-EarlJam

That's funny. When I played, "Gun" was a compliment, like "Man, that guys a gun, you gotta get a hand in his face when he shoots or he's gonna kill us."

[CameronBornAndBred]

That's funny. When I played, "Gun" was a compliment, like "Man, that guys a gun, you gotta get a hand in his face when he shoots or he's gonna kill us."

I'm assuming it depends on which side of the ball you are on.

[windsor]

Old School:
"a little help?" - a request for assistance because the ball has rolled or bounced off the court and near another person (usually on an adjacent court) who is in a position to throw it back to the person requesting it. Used humorously in one of the first scenes of the movie Stripes.

"rock" = the ball
"dime" = assist

Antediluvian School:
"cager" = basketball player "The cagers from Duke University captured the National Collegiate Athletic Association Men's Basketball crown for the fourth time as they defeated the cagers from Butler University."

wow...haven't heard 'cagers' in ages...and antediluvian is my favorite word...I love the way it sounds. Not easy to work in to day to day conversations.

[Jesus_hurley]

'Hows it taste?' - when a shot is blocked