Basketball Stories/Reporters

Is it just me or is this most difficult sport of the "big ones" to write about.

Gamers, I have no problems with. I played in college, so I have working knowledge of the game when it comes to strategy and formulating post-game questions in respect to what happened, who fouled out, play calling, etc.

Features and advances, I stink.

I draw blanks on what or who (whom? - I'll look later!) to write about every time.

The season is nearing and I'm avoiding the team as football winds down.

I can't come up with anything.

I mean, I have a feature-ish piece coming up on where the scoring will come from (the team lost its top three scorers), but after that I'm stumped.

Funny thing is, I love the sport. It just seems the ideas come more easily with baseball and football.

It seems in hoops the stories come easier AFTER games, rather than before.

Any thoughts, insight, help?

 

P_I,

If you're talking college basketball, I've found that almost every college bball player I've covered has an intriguing background.

There was the kid who lived in So. Central LA and was on the corner of Normandy and Crenshaw when the riots broke out in 92 .
There was the kid whose older brother was shot and killed at 15, and he played bball because of him
There was the kid whose parents were both deaf, but he could hear.

Lot of stories with bball athletes.
Now, in terms of Xs and Os shit, yeah it's probably the toughest. Look for any anomalies with stats t o start...

 

Yeah, you can go 100 different ways with features prior to the games starting. Just read through the media guide; you usually can pick up some interesting tidbits to focus in on, and sometimes you'll wind up getting a pretty good story.

Then, once the games start, you can take advantage of what they present you.

 

Everyone has a story to tell. It's your job to go out and find it. Talk with the SID or the coach, depending on what level you're covering. Chances are, they'll give you a good lead because they want more and more coverage.

 

I hear ya. I think the problem with basketball stems from the fact there is such a small sample to choose from. With football, you've got 100 kids, 12 coaches, offense, defense, running game, passing game, etc.

Basketball, you've got 12 kids and 3-4 coaches, plus, transition offense just isn't that meaty of a topic.

I tend to stay away from Xs and Os with basketball altogether.

Try asking stuff like this:

1. Where did you play this summer? Who did you work out with? What'd you work on?

2. Which player on the team has surprised you the most early on?


Then, if that fails, you can ask differenct kinds of questions like this:

1. What drill do you just hate?

2. What drill does coach run that he knows you hate?

3. Which game last season, do you still think about?

4. Which player in the conference are you looking forward to playing the most?

5. What does coach always tell you to work on?

6. Do you still talk with your high school coach? AAU coach/teammates? What do you say?

This isn't earth-shattering stuff, but you should get some interesting answers because the questions are open-ended and a little more personal.