Training Hard or Hardly Training?

Over the first 4 PCTI’s, there has always been the balancing act of partying versus hooping. Granted we have never had a participant not play because they partied too hard (even though we did have one leave because of a long drive?). We have had plenty of people play hungover and some possibly still intoxicated.  Now, I happen to be one of the biggest culprits when it comes to going out, having a good time and playing with a hangover. To be honest, I like going out with the QuadPod and various members of PCTI as much as I do playing basketball with them.

I also am very competitive and hate losing, especially in basketball. So my question was how do I party and still help my team on the floor? Then I remember a podcast (remember those? AH the memories!) where BC talked about why the FT and overall shooting percentage was low when many of the players are considered “good shooters.” He then went on to talk about how in high school being tired did not affect us as much because we were always practicing tired. Then it hit me! I have to practice like I play.

Sometime last winter I got included in a game at Brentwood high school (sucks) with a group that on average was a little older. It reminds me a lot of Sabin’s game except not ran as well. They play on Saturday morning as well as occasionally on Sunday morning. Because this was the first regular game I had been involved in that I did not have to put together, I thought this is my time to really practice for PCTI. So every Friday I would get nice and toasty w a bottle of bourbon (4 Roses single barrel or Woodford is my taste of choice). Sometimes I would go out, while others I would stay home and watch Shark Tank. Regardless of what I did, I still made sure I was intoxicated (I know you are all thinking how lucky Carrie is at this point).

The real training really started when I got my jobless friend, Benji Wilsan, involved. He craves a competitive basketball game just as I do, but he also enjoys going out on the town. With Osama Bin in town, I knew I could rage with a friend and then get up and hoop hungover. This was just like PCTI minus the stat keepers, refs, and Deuce filming. Ben also loved that we were training hard for both the basketball and social aspects of PCTI.

My play is definitely affected by me going out. Even though I am very competitive and want to win, I also view PCTI as a chance to hang out with guys I enjoy and don’t see much and is also a vacation. My feeling is that the 70-85% of my playing potential I am hitting because I am hungover is not going affect the series to the point of a win or loss. Maybe someone who has more of a scoring burden would cause a bigger affect or maybe I’m just making an excuse to claim I’m still competitive and care about winning. In the end, I have had some of the best times at PCTI and whether I helped win or not, I have a respectable overall record of 3-1. Until one of those changes, I will continue to train the same way I intend to play at PCTI, happily hungover.