Darryl Middleton is probably the oldest professional player in the top European leagues. Just imagine, he has been drafted in 1988 by the Atlanta; a date when Ricky Rubio was not even born. Darryl is blogging for Solobasket.com (in Spanish) and I just checked out a bit what he is telling us.
The title of his post already sets the tone: Be cool o ser un ganador. I mean, even if you don’t understand Spanish, you understand what he is talking about. Be cool or be a winner.
I have seen many changes, for example the form of the shorts that are worn by players. In the beginning, they were very short, now the players even want to buy pretty slippers to wear while they play. Before, anything that mattered was to win. But today, it is strange for me to see young players trying to seem "cool" with the shorts hanging and the shoes not really tied. Some of them, especially the Point Guard are going for Crossovers, or other things that really do not help their game.
Thank you Darryl, you are totally right about the looks. I am also some kind of old-school fanatic preferring a nice give-and-go or pick-and-roll play than a crazy crossover ankle breaker. And yes, he continues to say some words that sound so nice to my ears.
I believe that the worst thing that can happen to the young guys is to watch And1 MixTape Videos. These type of things kill basketball because the young kids try to repeat what they see and then try to do the same on the court. I always say to the young guys to watch vintage games instead, with players that really played hard.
How right can you be. I must say that Darryl really speaks out what is my opinion too. I guess, with these words, he will find a lot of new friend throughout Europe where the "American way of basketball" is not considered as the only one by everybody.
