CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Scott Cutler pulled into a handicapped spot in front of the Euclid Sports Plant on a crisp Sunday morning.

He limps badly, his left hand shakes from Parkinson's and his right arm hangs like Spanish Moss. He pulled from his trunk a black bag of braces and bandages, jerseys, basketballs and ...

A pair of black and white Air Jordans.

"Lot of miles on 'em," he said.

Just like the Oldies But Goodies.

NBA arenas are dark at least through November because of the lockout. But once a month or so, a team whose game is played well below the rim, on replacement knees and hips and other well-worn body parts, defies Father Time.

Just because.

"It's just a love of the game," said Cliff Hammeren, "and the fact that you get exercise."

Hammeren, of Berea, is 82 and a member of the Oldies But Goodies, a basketball team that, as its roster has aged, now competes in the men's 80-and-older division of the National Senior Games. These players take their game every bit as seriously as the NBA, minus the flashy dunks, fire-breathing scoreboards and hard bodies wrapped in elastic skin.

Cutler, of Euclid, the team's 83-year-old organizer and team captain, has had 21 surgeries -- five on his right knee until it was finally replaced, three shoulder replacements and a rebuilt left hand that was wrecked by arthritis.

Like the NBA, the Oldies But Goodies roster tends to turn over, but not for free agency, contract holdouts or off-court shenanigans.

"My left-hander, he's passing a kidney stone," Cutler said, "so he couldn't be here."

That would be Ron Harp, not to be confused with former Cleveland Cavalier high-flyer Ron Harper. Like the Cavs, the team also had a Bill Fitch, who had to drop out for health reasons.

"Guys get hurt, they get sick," Cutler said. "We kind of look like the walking wounded sometime on the court, but when the whistle blows ..."

The Oldies are prepping for the National Senior Games, which lands in Cleveland in 2013. Teams can play as many as three games a day for four straight days in a tournament.

A dozen 80-and-older basketball teams -- seven men's teams and five women's -- competed in the National Senior Games in Houston this summer. The Oldies weren't one of them, but since 1993, they have played in 17 states, including qualifiers in Utah, Texas, Florida and Maine, and in an international games in Bermuda in '96.

Cutler invests a ton of time recruiting, arranging practices and contacting players for meet-ups. He does that and still works six days a week as a nursing assistant -- a license he earned at 70.

"I take care of old folks," he said.

"Scott is the glue. He's the one that keeps everybody together," said Johnny Kline, who was known as "Jumpin" Johnny Kline when he played with the Harlem Globetrotters in the '50s. He'll be 80 in a few weeks.

"He can hardly move," Kline said, "but he has more passion for the game than anyone out there."

Cutler barely played during the team's recent scrimmage against a more active and accurate group of 60- and 70-year-olds at the Euclid YMCA. The pace was slow, picks were set gingerly.

Eddie Bradley, a 15-year-old Euclid High freshman, sat on the sidelines with two buddies, waiting for the old guys to be done so they could take the court. Their immediate reaction -- wide smiles and whispers -- read, "Check these geezers out. You're kidding, right?"

But as they watched, their expressions changed.

Hammeren drove the lane fearlessly, Lane moved energetically without the ball and Dilworth showed a sweet shooting touch.

"Ooohhh, that's nice," Bradley said when Dilworth swished an 18-footer.

Then, "Lookit, left-handed," he said after a smooth hook shot dropped in. "This is amazing."

Not NBA amazing, of course. With the lockout, it may be a while to witness that again.

This was different amazing. This was, "Please, Lord, let me slip on these Nikes for as long as I can" amazing.

"One day I'll quit," Cutler said. "When I'm 90."