Basketball is a team game. "Five pistons, firing together," in the words of one Norman Dale. But there is a different game. A game about individuals, firing without heed. A game played on the streets, on city playgrounds. Especially on New York City playgrounds. That's where Smush Parker and Adrian Walton learned to play.

One grew up at Rucker. One grew up at West 4th. But you can't get to the League from there. You've gotta go D1. This isn't a team story -- it’s about individuals. Two individuals. Trying to regain their glory.Trying to go where they've always wanted to go. And a coach who can help them get there. A coach who wants to get back there himself.

***

William "Smush" Parker knows no home more familiar than the legendary concrete at West 4th Street in downtown Manhattan. "That's my whole life. I was born on that basketball court," he says. As a child, he watched his father put on a show on that court. As a teenager, he was the show -- featured in a Sports Illustrated article on playground heroes.

But life outside that small, rectangular universe was not as easy. Because of academic difficulties, Parker played just one year of high school ball, at Newton HS in Queens. He left the Big Apple for a year, spending a season at Southern Idaho JC. Soon after, he was ready to come back to New York.

Adrian Walton made his name at famous Rucker Park, uptown in Harlem. In the summer of ‘99, he hit a game-winning shot in a summer league playoff game against a team led by another NYC schoolyard hero, Stephon Marbury. A year later, he did something even more special.

For virtually all of us, the only way we're going to outscore Vince Carter is with a PlayStation controller in our hands. Walton did it the hard way, when VC made a surprise appearance in a Rucker League game. "It was just one of those great days," Walton remembers. "I had it goin', he had it goin'. I was better from downtown, but he had some ridiculous plays too."

Final score? Adrian Walton 33 -- Vince Carter 31.

But Walton had his setbacks too. He lost his father several years ago, to lung cancer and kidney problems. He also bounced around from school to school, playing at Milford Academy in Connecticut his junior year before transferring to Bronx Regional HS, where he averaged 26 points and 10 assists his senior season.

Both had their minds set on the NBA. But they knew college ball came first. And they wanted to play in the city. The city was home.

***

Fordham University, located in the Bronx, is still adjusting to its move into the Atlantic-10 conference in 1995, after several years in the non-scholarship Patriot League. Rose Hill Gymnasium, seating only 3,470, is the oldest arena still in use in Division 1 (since 1925); and the Rams have struggled to reel in prime time recruits.

Three years ago, Fordham landed Bob Hill -- a coach with seven seasons of NBA head coaching experience with the Knicks, Pacers and Spurs. In 1994-95, Hill led San Antonio to the best record in the NBA (62-20). Looking to throw his hat back into the coaching ring, he agreed to come aboard and spearhead this rebuilding project.

The task has been a difficult one. Hill's record with the Rams is 34-48 (8-16 this year). His Fordham teams are yet to win more than four conference games in a season. Overall, Fordham is 0-15 in Philadelphia against Atlantic-10 opponents (Temple, St. Joseph's and LaSalle), and the Rams have yet to win a game in the A-10 Tournament.

But Bob Hill is the other reason the Rams now feature one of the nation’s most talented backcourts. He's been in the League. He’s made it no secret he wants to get back there himself. He knows what it takes.

It hasn’t been easy for either player. Parker had to sit out a year after transferring -- he’s listed as a sophomore. Walton, a freshman, quit the team for a game earlier this season, frustrated with coming off the bench and a lack of minutes. "My whole life could have changed from there," says Walton.

Maybe it did. Because Hill gave him another chance. Hill gave them both a chance.

***

The two backcourt mates may share "playground legend" status, but they certainly do not share many physical characteristics. Parker is a skinny 6'4", with legs as thick as toothpicks and the impish smile of a child. Walton is a stocky 6'0", but hard as a rock, outweighing his taller teammate by 20 pounds, with a face that betrays only firm intensity.

Their games are equally opposite. Parker is the pure shooter, Walton the wiz driving to the goal. While both have great handles, Smush is the flashier passer, to a fault -- he's second in the NCAA in turnovers (4.8 per game). He dazzles the crowd with his dishes, but the recipients are often not ready to receive them. "I've had this problem all my life," Parker says. Somehow, it’s never a problem on the playground.

Parker leads the team in points (17.7 per game) and assists (4.7), but it was Walton who ignited Fordham to four wins in five games in January -- after finally being inserted into the starting lineup -- with his hard-nosed defense and point guard play. He’s scoring 14 per game since becoming a starter. "It was hard to deal with, knowing the type of player I was coming in from my experiences in the summer leagues," Walton says about his reserve role earlier this season. "But I've become a better player by dealing with my adversity."

But Hill’s team has not won a game since January 26, having lost six straight heading into a February 23 matchup at UMass. Still, when Parker makes an acrobatic attempt at the rim, or Walton throws a nifty bounce pass on the break, the fans at Rose Hill can't believe their eyes. Because they’re not used to seeing this kind of talent. At least not off the playground.

***

They’re off the playground now, these two street-side stars chasing success. There’s just so much to deal with off the court -- from academic demands to hangers-on from the hood, hustling for some hand-me-downs. But at least they have each other, right?

"We're from different places," Walton says. "Smush listens to Michael Jackson. I listen to Cam'ron and Fat Joe." It goes beyond that. They were even uncomfortable rooming together on an early-season road trip. Maybe those two courts on opposite ends of the island are farther away than one might think.

Or maybe they’re too close.

On the court, they're learning, together, to play the team game -- a game very different than the one they were brought up on.

"The underlying problem with them being streetball players is, it's more important to them initially how they play versus how the team plays," says Hill. "We have to bring them into the team concept, reinforce the value of teamwork, all those old sayings."

Like "five pistons, firing together."

Two would be a start.

Kieran Darcy is an assistant editor at ESPNMag.com. E-mail him at kieran.d.darcy@espnmag.com.