Moses Malone

Moses Eugene Malone (born March 23, 1955 in Petersburg, Virginia) is a retired American National Basketball Association (NBA) basketball player who also played in the American Basketball Association (ABA), as well as on the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks, Houston Rockets, Milwaukee Bucks, Philadelphia 76ers, San Antonio Spurs and Washington Bullets. Malone played 19 seasons in the NBA and 2 in the defunct ABA. Before retiring from basketball, he was the last ABA participant to still be playing in the NBA. In 2001, he was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

High school and ABA

Right after graduating from Petersburg High School, Malone moved to the ABA, being drafted by the Utah Stars in 1974, after signing a letter of intent to play at the University of Maryland. He was the fifth basketball player to jump straight from high school into the professional leagues.

In two seasons in the ABA, Malone averaged 17.2 points and 12.9 rebounds per game. He played with the Utah Stars and the Spirits of St. Louis. Read more ->

What Did Florida Trip Reveal?

The Celtics completed their Florida trip with a sweep, first the Heat, then, last night, the Magic. In both games the outcame was predictable from the very beginning. As is well-known, both Miami and Orlando are to be reckoned with seriously come the plyoffs. Orlando, had just completed their trip to the West successfully, having beaten, among others, the Lakers on their own court. Yet, the Celtics dominated both games, and they did it with style. Here are the factors which were important for the trip and will continue being important through the rest of the season.

• Garnett contributes good plays consistently : scoring, rebounding, passing, deflections & blocks, energy, denials after the whistle. Kevin being Kevin is what makes this team so threatening.
• Either Paul or Ray have a good shooting night. If both of them struggle, the Celtics struggle. What also works is when Ray starts hot and Paul finishes the game hot.
• Rondo dictates the rhythm, with few turnovers, penetration to the paint, timely and accurate passing, and he scores 10 points or more. He keeps increasing confidence in his mid-range and his long-range shot.
• Perkins is healthy enough to play significant minutes. This is critical to solidify the defense in the paint and to free Garnett to roam around, harass the guards and shut down the forward.
• At least one of the bench players rises to the occasion. In the Heat game it was Eddie, last night it was Big Baby. It would make an excellent team great if one of the reserves would do it consistently (maybe there are traces of something good in Big Baby making several mid-range shots in a row) and somebody else contributes good plays every night they play. At this point I am also convinced in Scalabrini’s role on the team. His positioning on defense is excellent and him being in the game at times lifts the team if only because the opposing team won’t take him seriously.
• Doc Rivers remains open to change when things don’t work out. There is no need to force Eddie as a point guard when that doesn’t work; willingness to trust Gabe is important, as well as living through some of Big Baby’s mistakes to get his contribution later. We haven’t seen much of Bill Walker and I have a feeling he is eager to contribute and ready to jump aboard.

Of course, there will be bad games, but it is not a too far-fetched thought that Celtics can continue playing as outlined above, and – what should be a scary thought to other teams – even improve. It is imaginable, for example, that Gabe Pruitt will keep maturing as a player, that Eddie, Leon, and Glen will all have a good game the same night, that Tony Allen will return to his old self.

Miami Game

Orlando Game

Final Four for the Demon Deacons?

Wake Forest, the newly-appointed top team in college basketball, is undefeated through sixteen games and a seriously contender for the NCAA championship. Over the past two weeks, the Demon Deacons have knocked off North Carolina, once-undefeated Clemson, and Boston College, the team that beat UNC in Chapel Hill. Behind the impressive play of sophomore point guard Jeff Teague, Wake has opened eyes not only in North Carolina, but around the country.

Teague, who is averaging 21.4 PPG, 4 RPG, 4.1 APG, and 2.1 SPG, is arguably the best guard in the nation. Not only is he scoring, rebounding, and dishing out assists, he is doing it efficiently. The sophomore is shooting 53% from the field and 82% from the line, in addition to shooting 52% from downtown. These numbers are amazing considering that Teague shoots from behind the three-point line often (almost 3 attempts per game). However, perhaps Teague’s greatest asset is his defensive play. Not only does he rack up steals that turn into dunks in the open floor (he had four such dunks against BC), he moves his feet very quickly and does not allow his opponent to penetrate into the lane.

Take the game at Boston College, for instance. Tyrese Rice, BC’s primary guard, committed 8 turnovers to go along with only 4 assists. Teague, who forced the majority of those turnovers, turned them into highlight reel dunks on the other end. Teague forced Rice to play one-on-one basketball and not get his teammates involved, which shows in the fact that 7 of Rice’s 13 field goal attempts were from downtown. Since he could not get in the lane and dish out to open guys like Joe Trapani (who shot 3-8 from downtown; all of which were contested) on the perimeter, he settled for threes. This type of game did work for Rice and his stats, who shot 4-7 from three and had 20 points in total, but it resulted in a twenty-point loss in the end. Because of this style of play, Rakim Sanders, BC’s second scorer, scored only 4 points in the game and committed 5 turnovers. On the contrary, Jeff Teague finished the game with 29 points off of 10-17 shooting and a couple of steals.

In terms of the combination of outside shooting, ability to penetrate, and defense, Jeff Teague is the best guard in the nation. His explosiveness has Wake Forest at 16-0 for the season and poised for a trip to the Final Four in Detroit. Having already beaten teams like UNC and Clemson, the Demon Deacons have shown that they can not only hang with the best out there, but beat them.

Why Bad Shooting Days Happen to Good Shooters

I always try to match a video to the basketball drill, routine, or aspect of the game. For certain things, there is no adequate video. In Why Bad Shooting Days Happen to Good Shooters article Brian McCormick explains that bad shooting often has to do with poor body balance, not necessarily the shooting form itself.

Many missed shots occurred because players shot with poor balance.They rushed their shot or they worried too much about the defense and leaned backward or they never got to a zero-point before jumping for the shot when catching on the move.

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Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (born Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor, Jr.; April 16, 1947) is an American athlete and retired professional basketball player, widely considered one of the greatest NBA players of all time. During his 20 years in the NBA from 1969 to 1989, he scored 38,387 points – the highest total of any player in league history – in addition to winning a record six Most Valuable Player Awards. He was known for his “Skyhook” shot, which was famously difficult to block because it put his 7′ 2″ body between the basket and the ball. Abdul-Jabbar’s success began well before his professional career; in college, he played on three championship teams, and his high school team won 71 consecutive games.

Abdul-Jabbar (Alcindor at the time) grew up in the Inwood neighborhood in Manhattan, New York City, the son of Cora Lillian, a department store price checker, and Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor, Sr., a police officer and jazz musician. College took him to Los Angeles, and he returned there for 14 seasons in the NBA after six seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks. In 1971, several years after converting to Islam, he changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Arabic: Karim ‘Abd al-Jabar). Since retiring from basketball, he has been known as a successful coach and author, and a sometimes actor. Read more ->