Where the ballers go...

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irvinehomeowner

irvinehomeowner

Well-known member
So because Homer_Simpson asked...

I really like Irvine because it's one of the few cities were you can find relatively "safe" basketball pick-up games almost every day/night of the week. I've played in places like LA where fights break out constantly... and even in Orange County (Miles Square Park)... and although there may be one or two skirmishes in Irvine, most players are relatively sane and won't pull a gun on you (although, I have to admit to at least 2 incidents in Irvine where a gun may have been brandished... but that was years ago).

Most weeknights, you can find games at the following places (all are lighted and have at least 2 courts):

Outside Crawford Hall Courts at UCI (Haven't played there in ages but that's where I used to play all the time)
Heritage Park Irvine off of Walnut and Yale (Wed/Fri)
Orchard Park off of Trabuco and Yale (don't know this for sure anymore, but used to play there a lot)
Woodbury Park (not sure anymore)
Settler's Park in Orchard Hills (off of Portola and Culver) (Mon/Wed)
Beckman High School (back of the school in the gated area) (Fridays are popular)
Woodbridge Community Center (Barranca and Lake) (Tue/Thur)
Tustin Ranch Sports Park (off of Jamboree)
Quail Hill Community Park (Wed)

And there are probably others... but those are the ones I have been to.

On the weekends, if you're looking for morning games, the only places I know of are:

Heritage Park Irvine (I think only Saturday mornings)
A few pocket parks with only 1 court in Woodbridge, Westpark, Deerfield and other areas but they are a regular group so you have to have 2 things... skills and thick skin.

They are probably playing at other parks but Heritage is the only one I know that always gets a consistent crowd and is open to anyone.

If you know of others, please let me know... and maybe I'll take my Jordan-esque game over there (and by "Jordan-esque" I mean old, retired, slow and filming Fruit Of The Loom commercials).
 
irvinehomeowner said:
I have to admit to at least 2 incidents in Irvine where a gun may have been brandished... but that was years ago).
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If you're admitting, does that mean it was you packing the heat? There might be an inference there.
 
how is the rotation?  i hate waiting an hour to play for 15 minutes and then wait another hour to play again if the team i am on loses.  thats my experience at all the 24h gyms..
 
rkp said:
how is the rotation?  i hate waiting an hour to play for 15 minutes and then wait another hour to play again if the team i am on loses.  thats my experience at all the 24h gyms..
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It varies but most are as you describe... you need to win to stay in. I prefer courts where you play with whose waiting instead of ones where teams are cherry picked for the best players.

Most of the ones with two courts have a wait for either court, the one at Heritage usually uses a challenge court system where you have win on Court  B in order to play the winners on Court A.

The wait isn't that long for any place that has more than one court... or you can just win and never have to get off.

(One court in Deerfield has a 2-game system.... after the 1st game, you play 2 games and then are off... kind of nice as people keep rotating but if you're playing that 2nd game, you kind of not play as hard and try to do weird stuff like shooting 3 pointers with your left hand since you know you are done anyways... not that *I* would do something like that).

@socal:

The admission is that even Irvine is not totally safe from idiots. Although it wasn't me.... I know the guilty parties because I've played with them often... but they are no longer playing (at least in Irvine).
 
Beckman is where I play.  It's usually really good on Wednesdays/Thursdays after 7:30PM. 

North Park Square has one court and that's usually pretty good on Wednesday nights as well. 

Another great place to play but is only half court and you'll have to manuever around cars trying to pull into their garages.  ( My motorcourt )  :P
 
Lately I've played at the gated WB court every Wednesday nights after 8pm.  Although they may be taking a break so not sure what the future holds.  I may have to take a look at these other places now.
 
I generally play at 24 hour.  its nice to just workout right before or after if you happen to get on a bad team...or you are the reason for the bad team...


I have played Settlers Park sometimes with friends but haven't really ever seen enough people there for random pick up games.  I'm guessing I just go at the wrong time.
 
26inirvine said:
I have played Settlers Park sometimes with friends but haven't really ever seen enough people there for random pick up games.  I'm guessing I just go at the wrong time.
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I think Mon/Wed are the days a group of guys I've seen show up... but that may have changed.

We should try to have a TI ballers night/morning sometime... but I think most of you guys are half my age and twice my speed (although that doesn't stop me from playing... I just foul more).
 
you might be twice my age but i havent touched a court in over a year.  expect some sloppy ball but i am in
 
Is that during the week too?

I've been thinking about starting to play mid-week again... although my knees and my kids homework would disagree.
 
Yeah, I played last night there and ask about the other nights and a lot of them said it's been really busy.  I think I'll go out again tonight if I can get off work earlier.
 
Must be nice to be young and in-shape... my knees usually can't handle back-to-backs.

I think I need to lose 100 lbs... when are the next sign-ups for The Biggest Loser?
 
Just a warning if you play at Heritage Park in Irvine.

Someone told me there have been a few incidents where some guys are taking car keys and either stealing your car or taking stuff out of them... so please watch your stuff when your playing.

See... Irvine isn't perfect.
 
I just wanted to bump this thread for an update on where everyone is playing.

I play every Thursday with a group of friends, but would like to play other days during the week.
 
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