A month or so ago, one of those friends that I try to play with weekly, offered to set up a game of 1-on-1 with someone he knew that had played college ball very recently.

That person was 6’3″, 24 year old, Scott Spencer.  Scott played shooting guard at Concordia University of Ann Arbor, which is a Division II school.

This past Sunday, Scott and I played two games of 1-0n-1 to 15 points (win by 2), with three pointers counting as 2 points and everything else as 1 point.

Me vs. Scott Spencer – Former Shooting Guard at Concordia University (Division II) – Video

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWjcdZM8FQo

[If you are reading this via email or RSS, the video may not show up, so click here to watch video.]

Game Results

Game 1 began with a little back and forth before Scott took control with a series of turn around jumpers and won it handedly 15-6.  Basketball comes down to who makes the shots, and I definitely didn’t do much of that in Game 1.

In game 2 I got off to a much better start.  I found my shot for a minute and hit a series of jumpers to get up 14-9, before I lost it again.  Scott took advantage and pulled the game to 14 all tie.  A hustle play and another attacking the basket drive and I pulled out the 16-14 win.

Overall, Scott is very strong which made it more difficult to drive.  I’d estimate that he’s got 20-25 pounds on me, which makes a difference for sure, but is great preparation for me, as most everyone will big bigger than I am.  On the offensive end, he can really shoot the ball from any place on the court, so it kept me honest on defense.

Luckily for me, Scott now lives in the area so it will be nice to continue to play and get better and better.

What I Learned

• I’m getting better.  Not necessarily from a performance standpoint yet, but mentally I’m going into games feeling I should win.  It may take some time to get everything back from a skill standpoint, but I’m getting closer and having a blast!
• My shot is MIA.  For most of my life, all I’ve done is shoot the basketball well.  I’ve taken more of an attacking the basket approach lately, mostly for conditioning, but the strong suit is struggling.  After my performance on Sunday (I should have put together a video of all of the misses), I know I need to get some of my focus back on my shooting form.  My shot is as bad as it has ever been, but I know how to fix it.

While the games didn’t go exactly as I would have liked, I am very thankful for the experience.  The more people I play, the better I feel I am getting.  That is exciting!

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*If you’d like to help me prepare for my match-up with Michael Jordan and play me 1-on-1, go here and sign up!

**To see who else I’ve played, click here!

Special thanks to Shane Turk for setting the game up. Also big thanks to Scott for agreeing to play. Lastly, thanks to my bro for the great video!

This is Part 2 of a two part series this week on my match-up with Robert Brown, one of the top high school basketball players in the nation.  In Part 1, I shared the back story and how I got the game against such an elite player. Today, In Part 2 I will give an account of our match-up last Friday with results, as well as, share some of the 1-on-1 video.

I WON!  I Beat him 15-11!!

Then I woke up.

It was a little after 5am on Friday morning of last week.  The sun had yet to welcome in the new day, but I felt like a small child on Christmas and I had done all the sleeping I could do.

I was excited! I couldn’t wait to get on the court!

My one-on-one match-up with Robert Brown, one of the top High School basketball players in the entire country was just five hours away!

Pre-game

I arrived at the court around 9:20am to give myself plenty of time to stretch and warm-up for our 10am showdown.

I wanted to be at my best!

Right at 10am Robert showed up and after a couple of shots it was time to play.

Me vs. Robert Brown

Let me end all outside hope that I put on my cape and somehow beat Robert Brown, the 25th ranked shooting guard in the nation.

I didn’t.

Honestly, I couldn’t even get the 84th ranked player in the country to sweat!  Seriously.

We ended up playing two games of 1-on-1 to 15 points (3 pointers worth 2 points, everything else worth 1 point).

-Game 1

I quickly fell behind in game one.

He might have been up on me seven or eight to nothing before I made a weak lay-in to at least get on the board.

I was a little taken aback by his length and size as a defender.  Robert is probably the first 6’4” person I’ve ever played against that wasn’t a post player.

He was doing any and everything he wanted.  Shooting threes, taking me to the basket, making floaters, hooks, and runners.

As the ball came through the chain net on his 14th point of game one, I felt a little dizzy and quickly sucked in some air and collected myself.

I was spent.

After bending over and picking up the ball I looked up, hoping to see just a smidgen of fatigue on the face of this young man, but it was void of struggle.

Game 1 ended with a score of 15-5.

While I had hoped to give a more competitive game, at that point I was just happy that I actually scored!

I caught my breath, we took a picture, and I asked for some more!

-Game 2

Game two began with more of the same.

He opened up nailing two 3 pointers and got ahead on me quite a bit before I got a little hot.

After a string of 3 pointers of my own, I was actually up 12-11, before he shifted gears and beat me 15-12.

Extremely Impressed!

There is no doubt Robert Brown can play some basketball!   I was thoroughly impressed with the ease at which he seemed to do everything.

The guy is so smooth on the court.

What I Learned About My Game

I need to get in a lot better BASKETBALL shape.

While I may be in the best shape of my life overall, I found myself gasping for air trying to stay with the constant quick explosive movements needed in a 1-on-1 match-up.

Next Time!

Yes, there will be a next time!

Robert agreed to play me again when he comes back for holiday breaks from Hargrave Military Academy in Virginia, where he is playing his senior season.

My goal is to improve my conditioning so that the next time I can give him a better game.

I at least want to make him sweat…haha.

Overall Takeaway

Overall, this was such a cool experience for me.  It just doesn’t get better than matching-up with one of the nation’s elite young basketball players and laying it all on the line.

Sure I got my butt kicked.  Sure the games were easy like Sunday morning for him.

I left those games so motivated though!

I left the games feeling that I got a glimpse into how much I need to improve to play against the elite and actually compete.

It was definitely a wake-up call.   One that I am more than happy to do my very best to answer.

I may still be a long way from giving Mr. Jordan a decent game, but I’m getting better with each amazing experience!  I’m loving it!

Shout out to Robert Brown!

I can’t thank Robert enough for taking time from his holiday break and playing me.

Thank you for helping to make me better bro!

I’ll see ya at Christmas!  Oh and I will be better!

Me vs. Robert Brown 1-on-1 (Video):

Here is some video of our 1-on-1 match-up.  Enjoy!
httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REVBTUEXf_g

[If you’re reading this via e-mail or RSS the video might not show up, so click here to view it.]
UPDATE:  Read about my other two match-ups with Robert Brown, that followed this initial meeting!
–I’M BACK!!!! (Me vs. Virginia Tech signee Robert Brown – Round 2)
–The Best Don’t Get Tired (Me vs. Robert Brown-Round 3)

Special thanks to Jim Kerkvliet for shooting the video and taking the pictures!  Thanks Jim!

It’s Wednesday night in Sarasota.  I’ve made it through the first five sessions of my Impact Basketball training.  The first three days have been so much more than I ever could have expected!  I’m loving it!

My Impact Basketball Workout Schedule

For the last two days and for the remainder of my time with Impact Basketball (through Saturday), I begin each day with a morning workout session at 8am that usually lasts until 11:30am or so.  The morning session has consisted of court work and circuit training.

Following the morning workout, I head back to the hotel, eat, take a shower and sleep.  Yes, I’m that tired.

I then come back for an evening workout that begins at 5pm and usually runs till 6:30 or 7pm.

At this point, ever muscle in my body, including muscles I didn’t even know existed…ACHES!  I am extremely fatigued physically, but my spirit and mind are strong!  I am having the best time and trying to soak up every bit of it!

A TRUE Basketball Education!

I came into this experience thinking I knew quite a lot about the game of basketball.  Matt Hiller, who has been gracious enough to train me this week, is BLOWING my mind with his knowledge.  He is showing me things I never even thought of on the court and with enough practice, if implemented in my game, will make a HUGE difference!  I mean HUGE!

I’d give more details, but MJ might be reading…haha.

Me and Akeme

On Tuesday morning, Matt let me know that he’d bring in Akeme Smart to workout with me for my Wednesday morning session.  That turned in to me doing some one-on-one drills against Akeme and I was beyond excited!  All day Tuesday, anytime I would see Akeme or he would see me, one of us would say “Tomorrow!” as a call out to our upcoming battle.

Akeme is 7 foot 3 inches and 19 years old.  He’s gifted with endless potential and has been at Impact Basketball for around two months, working on his game.  On top of being a great player, he seems to be a great young man.

The Match-up (Me and Akeme)

What I thought would be a short session with Akeme, turned into around an hour or more of shooting drills and one-on-one drills.  This was beyond cool for me!

The guys at Impact were kind enough to bring in the cameras and record the session!

To my surprise, when I came back for my night session, the video had been edited and was ready to go!

Without further ado…here is a taste of what I’ve been doing at Impact Basketball!!!

Impact Basketball Training:  Me and Akeme Smart (video):

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Fd2rngCTOk

*Special thanks to Matt Hiller (Impact Basketball-Director of Player Development/My Trainer for the week) for setting this up and Akeme Smart for agreeing to workout with me.  Also, BIG thanks to Tom Carollo (Impact Basketball-GM/Academy Director) for shooting the video and doing such a great job editing this for me!! So thankful!!