Dad Joins Pickup Basketball Game, Calls Most Fouls
Akron, Ohio – Area father of three, Michael Williams, 50, is the subject of some on-court controversy regarding pickup basketball participation at the YMCA. Several eye-witness reports indicate that during the first 15 minutes of recreational basketball play, Williams calls a foul on every possession he has on a consistent basis.
When asked about his affinity for self-policing games, Williams vehemently defended himself.
“A foul is a foul. Fair is fair,” Williams said. “I honestly don’t see what the fuss is about. They say call your own fouls, and I do just that. I’m a competitor and I’m going to do everything I can to win while also following the rules of the game.”
While the standard pickup basketball guidelines are to call your own fouls, there is much debate as to what constitutes a foul for the referee-less game. Williams is not a fan of the increasing physicality in basketball.
“A lot of the guys out there want to emulate the physicality that they see on TNT or ESPN,” Williams explained, donning a knee brace, shooting sleeve and New Balances. “Guys like LeBron, Westbrook, there is so much physical contact. It’s like if football and basketball decided to combine. There’s no more focus on fundamentals or strategy, it’s just muscle your way to the hoop and lay-up.”
Williams said he wishes the other players would focus more on shot selection and ball movement.
Listed at 5′ 10″ and 185 lbs, Williams is far from an intimidating physical presence on the court and is known best throughout the pickup scene for his 3-point shot attempts and underhand free-throw shooting percentage, in addition to his notoriously common foul calling. This month he is 4-25 from three-point range and hitting 84% of his free-throws on 52 attempts.
Terry Jefferson, 27, a fellow pickup player, finds the incessant foul calling rather obnoxious.
“This dude Mike is out here calling everything. He’s worse than Joey Crawford,” Jefferson said. “It’s not even just shooting fouls. Like I get if you’re roughed up pretty bad on a shot or elbowed in the paint, call something. But Mike is calling loose ball fouls, charging fouls, he even tried to give my boy Jeff a flagrant last week.”
“He said he wants better shot selection and ball movement? Wow, ok. Funny, because he calls for the ball every second, and once he gets it he shoots, then calls a foul,” Jefferson continued. “It’s like watching a shorter, overweight and far less talented James Harden.”
A spokesperson from the YMCA declined to an interview but did release a statement on the state of basketball competition:
“Due to the increasing number of complaints of Mr. Williams on increasingly physical play, coupled with the complaints of other recreational basketball players on over-officiating, the YMCA Competition Committee is investigating ways in which to improve the pace of play and further clarify guidelines for foul calling so that all YMCA members are able to enjoy pickup basketball at our facility. We want to clarify and we want to find a better solution if it is out there.”