What I absolutely love about basketball is that it's ubiquitous across cultures. We all watch the NBA and I see people of all cultures wearing the jerseys of their favorites: BRYANT, WADE, JAMES, ALLEN, PIERCE, ANTHONY(Carmelo), RONDO ( ♥ ), and yes (isn't it obvious?), LIN.
Hard to say which jerseys I see the most often, but I think the Miami Heat, the Boston Celtics, and the Los Angeles Lakers (just Kobe) are the most represented. Sometimes I see New York Knicks jerseys (especially for Carmelo, Stoudemire, and J.Lin). I wish I saw more Dwight HOWARDs but maybe I'll see that after this year's NBA regular season starts. No Rockets yet. Not even a Yao Ming...
The rules of pick-up
Most people start arriving at the seafront court at around 8pm, with pulsating flow every hour (lol, Chemical Engineering thinking...). Lights go off at 10pm. I like to arrive a few minutes before 8 so I can start shooting on the court and then force my way into a game when one starts. Otherwise, I have to do that awkward task of asking to play. When that happens, people are sometimes hesitant to let me play. I guess as long as I wear my jersey, my presence is tolerated.
Half-court games are the standard and people shy away from playing full-court unless there are exactly 10 people present and someone REALLY pushes for a full-court game. There's always one person who says they'll be too tired, haha.
Forming teams can happen in one of three ways:
1. Bao Dap (Cantonese for stone and paper): Stand in a circle and use the rock and paper (from rock paper scissors) until teams are divided evenly.
2. Spin the Basketball: Stand in a circle and one person uses a basketball and spins it around. The hole used for pumping air indicates the person that should step out of the circle. The first half of people who step out are one team and the remaining are the opposing team.
3. Imaginary Line (quick teams): Someone uses their finger and draws an imaginary line between everyone. It's usually friends playing together or people standing on one side versus people standing on the other.
Obviously, there are differences between pick-up culture of mainland students and local students. If you go out to play, you should be aware of some differences. "Taking it back" past the 3-point line is the most important. I still get confused. When I played in the states, if the ball didn't touch the rim on a shot, then there was no need to take it back if there was a change in possession. However, in most games I've played, a change in possession off a shot means you should take it back no matter what.
Different cultures, different people
At HKUST, there are three primary groups of individuals that play pick-up, listed from largest proportion to smallest:
1. mainlanders subgrouped between (a) PG students and (b) UG students
2. locals, and
3. non-locals (inclusive of locals who have studied at international schools in Hong Kong).
Mainlanders are likely to play at the seafront court because they live on campus and there's simply no other place to play (well, there is a court on LG5 next to the parking lot, but for some reason no one really goes there...). In group number 1, you have the extremely competitive guys that play rough, take a lot of shots (in many cases, with good accuracy), and rarely pass to weaker players. You also have the not-so-competitive ones that come regularly with their friends. They play for fun and are usually not exclusive. Getting to know some of them has helped me play more games. A lot of them are very strong individual players. The Mainland Student and Scholar Society (MSSSUG) has their own team which plays against mainland student societies in other universities so I often see their captain at the courts.
Local students have active undergraduate hall lives. Usually, they play for their UG Hall (I through V) or for the departmental team (e.g., CBME, ECE, etc.). Most of them are friendly and, if you ask, they are very willing to let you play. I don't think they come to play as often because department events and UG hall events are pretty frequent. They have a lot of opportunities to play by booking the sports hall for society events or intramural sports. They hold regular practices together so sometimes there's no need for pick-up games. For example, ECE recently had a 3v3 tournament and there is an inter-hall competition every March/April.
Contrary to what one may think, there's almost like a great divide between local and mainland basketball groups. They play pick-up together just fine, but one would think that there would be more mainland students playing in departmental or student hall teams. It's simply not the case. The divide is true in more ways than just basketball, though (e.g. classrooms, social groups, etc.). The primary reason is language but, inherently, I think it's a culture thing. On the surface, it'll be more likely for you to play "together" with society teams if you could have rapid communication with everyone else. But if that was true, then how would I explain Cantonese-speaking mainlanders from the Guangdong province who still draw closer to their fellow mainlanders? A strange phenomenon, indeed.
International students are sometimes anomalies. But those that make friends with non-locals and locals are well-recognized and welcomed (i.e. - token "black" guys from various departments or European caucasians from the School of Business). Most Asians have a preconception that non-Asians are physically stronger (and taller). Thus, while Asians depend on finesse and shooting ability, it's difficult to overpower their caucasian counterparts. The conception is true in some cases but I feel that abilites are, for the most part, very even. Oh yeah, the vocal frequency of non-locals feels very different from groups 1 and 2. Maybe because I am a native English speaker, I feel that internationals are lot more vocal?
My personal experience
Over the summer, I saw one other girl with her boyfriend and mainland friends come to play. That group of friends was pretty light-hearted and fun. But since I have such a small female sample size, I can only speak for myself. There are compliments involved when shooting, passing well, and driving fancy. It's all very flattering but I think it's very normal. I feel like if a guy did that, it would be so normal. I honestly like the attention but let me save some face here by saying I started playing a lot at seafront so I could get better. Playing on the HKUST women's team taught me that there are a lot of girls in HK that can hoop so I'm definitely not a great female basketball player but at least I'm athletic enough to keep up with guys. So far, the only thing that's really improved is my passing and my tendency to fake a pass or shot. Also... confidence.
I've never experienced or seen any antagonizing behavior. One time when I was playing pick-up in the states, I witnessed one of those stereotypical street-talking name-calling almost-brawls. "Man fights" I like to call them. It also depends on where you play I guess. Maybe somewhere out there on a Hong Kong public court, pick-up basketball is a lot different. And possibly a lot scarier. And I would not be welcomed.
I'm happy to report that basketball culture at HKUST is pretty awesome. Making new friends is very cool. I've had my problems before but again, I have to emphasize that basketball culture is so ubiquitous cross-culturally. On the weekends, I see the three groups play together all the time. And it makes me so happy to see it work despite our many differences.
We speak not only in English but in the language of basketball.
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