How do today’s NBA stars compare to legends of the past. What similarities exist between current and former players in terms of skills, impact, and achievements. Which historical players serve as the closest comparisons for modern NBA superstars.
Giannis Antetokounmpo: The Modern Kevin Garnett
Giannis Antetokounmpo has emerged as one of the most unique and dominant players in NBA history. His versatile skillset and physical tools make him difficult to categorize or compare to past players. However, an examination of his abilities and impact reveals intriguing parallels to Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett.
Like Garnett, Antetokounmpo possesses a rare combination of size, length, athleticism and skill that allows him to impact the game in numerous ways. Both players entered the league as skinny, raw prospects before developing into unstoppable forces on both ends of the court. Their competitive drive and intensity also mirror each other.
Can Antetokounmpo match or surpass Garnett’s decorated career? Garnett accumulated an MVP award, Defensive Player of the Year honors, and 15 All-Star selections over 21 seasons. Antetokounmpo is well on his way, having already secured an MVP and All-Defensive First Team selection. In fact, Antetokounmpo’s offensive peak has already eclipsed Garnett’s, suggesting he may ultimately achieve even greater heights.
Stephen Curry: A Modern Jerry West with Long-Range Flair
Finding an apt comparison for Stephen Curry proves challenging given his revolutionary impact on the game. His unparalleled shooting range and volume have redefined offensive possibilities in the NBA. However, when considering overall impact and career achievements, “The Logo” Jerry West emerges as a fitting parallel.
Why does Jerry West serve as an appropriate comparison for Curry? Both players stand around 6’2″-6’3″ and found ways to dominate the game despite lacking prototypical size for NBA superstars. They share elite shooting touch, playmaking ability, and a clutch gene that allowed them to excel in big moments.
While their eras and specific skillsets differ, West and Curry achieved similar levels of individual and team success. Both players won multiple MVP awards and led dynastic teams to championships. Their confidence and ability to demoralize opponents with seemingly impossible shots also aligns.
When adjusting for pace and era, their per-36 minute stats show remarkable similarity:
- West: 24.8 points, 6.1 assists, 5.0 rebounds
- Curry: 25.9 points, 6.9 assists, 4.9 rebounds
LeBron James: A More Physical Magic Johnson
LeBron James has long drawn comparisons to all-time greats like Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson. While elements of Jordan’s game are present in James’ repertoire, his overall playing style and impact more closely resemble that of Magic Johnson – with some key differences.
How does LeBron James compare to Magic Johnson? Both players revolutionized the point forward position, using their size, court vision, and basketball IQ to dominate games as passers and scorers. Their ability to elevate teammates and control the pace of play is nearly unmatched in NBA history.
The key distinction lies in James’ superior athleticism and scoring prowess. While Magic was an adept scorer, James’ combination of strength, speed, and skill allowed him to be a more dominant individual offensive force. This is reflected in their career scoring averages:
- Magic Johnson: 19.5 points per game
- LeBron James: 27.1 points per game
Defensively, James also holds an edge due to his ability to guard multiple positions at an elite level. However, both players’ greatest strength lies in their basketball intelligence and ability to make everyone around them better.
Kevin Durant: A More Versatile George Gervin
Kevin Durant’s unique combination of size, shooting touch, and scoring ability make him one of the most unstoppable offensive forces in NBA history. While no perfect comparison exists, Hall of Famer George Gervin offers an intriguing parallel when considering playing style and impact.
Gervin, known as “The Iceman,” was a prolific scorer with a silky-smooth game built around his mid-range jumper and ability to score from anywhere on the court. Durant has taken this archetype and expanded it, adding three-point range and superior playmaking to become an even more complete offensive weapon.
How do their scoring numbers compare? Both players led the league in scoring multiple times:
- Gervin: 4 scoring titles, career average of 26.2 points per game
- Durant: 4 scoring titles, career average of 27.0 points per game
While their raw numbers are similar, Durant’s efficiency from long range and ability to impact the game as a passer and defender give him the edge as an overall player. However, Gervin’s scoring prowess and graceful style make him a fitting prototype for Durant’s offensive brilliance.
James Harden: A More Prolific Pete Maravich
James Harden’s combination of scoring, playmaking, and on-ball creativity make him one of the most unique offensive talents in NBA history. While no perfect comparison exists, “Pistol” Pete Maravich offers an intriguing parallel when considering style of play and impact on the game.
How does James Harden’s game resemble Pete Maravich’s? Both players possess elite ball-handling skills, creative passing ability, and a flair for the dramatic. Their ability to break down defenders off the dribble and score from anywhere on the court made them nearly unguardable in their primes.
The key differences lie in Harden’s superior three-point shooting and ability to draw fouls at an unprecedented rate. While Maravich played before the implementation of the three-point line, Harden has used it to become one of the most efficient volume scorers in NBA history.
Some key statistical comparisons:
- Maravich’s best scoring season: 31.1 points per game (1976-77)
- Harden’s best scoring season: 36.1 points per game (2018-19)
- Maravich career assists per game: 5.4
- Harden career assists per game: 6.5
While Harden’s numbers surpass Maravich’s, it’s important to consider era and pace when making these comparisons. Both players pushed the boundaries of what was possible for a guard in their respective eras.
Kawhi Leonard: A More Offensively Gifted Scottie Pippen
Kawhi Leonard’s two-way dominance and quiet demeanor have drawn comparisons to various NBA legends. However, when considering playing style, physical tools, and overall impact, Scottie Pippen emerges as a fitting parallel – with some key distinctions.
How does Kawhi Leonard compare to Scottie Pippen? Both players built their reputations on suffocating perimeter defense, using their length, strength, and basketball IQ to shut down opposing stars. They also possess well-rounded offensive games, able to score efficiently and create for others when needed.
The primary difference lies in Leonard’s superior scoring ability and development into a true offensive focal point. While Pippen was an excellent complementary scorer, Leonard has shown the ability to be the primary option on championship-level teams.
Comparing their peak seasons:
- Pippen’s best scoring season: 22.0 points per game (1991-92)
- Leonard’s best scoring season: 27.1 points per game (2019-20)
Both players earned multiple All-Defensive Team selections and developed into efficient three-point shooters as their careers progressed. Leonard’s two Finals MVP awards give him an edge in individual hardware, but Pippen’s role in the Bulls dynasty ensures his place among the all-time greats.
Anthony Davis: A More Skilled David Robinson
Anthony Davis represents the evolution of the modern big man, combining traditional post skills with perimeter shooting and ball-handling ability. While unique in many ways, his overall impact and skillset draw comparisons to Hall of Famer David Robinson.
How do Anthony Davis and David Robinson compare as players? Both big men possess rare combinations of size, athleticism, and skill. They impact the game on both ends of the floor, serving as defensive anchors while also providing elite scoring and rebounding.
The key distinction lies in Davis’ superior perimeter skills. While Robinson was an excellent mid-range shooter, Davis has extended his range to the three-point line and shown the ability to handle the ball in transition. This versatility makes Davis even more difficult to defend in the modern NBA.
Comparing their defensive impact:
- Robinson: 1 Defensive Player of the Year award, 8 All-Defensive Team selections
- Davis: 4 All-Defensive Team selections (as of 2023)
Both players entered the league as No. 1 overall draft picks with immense expectations. While Robinson had a more decorated individual career, Davis has already achieved team success by winning an NBA championship with the Lakers. As his career progresses, Davis has the potential to match or surpass Robinson’s impressive legacy.
The Evolution of NBA Archetypes
These comparisons between current NBA stars and legends of the past highlight the evolution of player archetypes over time. While no two players are ever truly identical, examining these parallels allows us to better understand the development of the game and the unique skills that define greatness across eras.
Modern players often build upon the foundations laid by their predecessors, adding new elements to their games to adapt to changing styles of play and rules. This constant evolution ensures that the NBA remains dynamic and exciting, with each generation of stars pushing the boundaries of what’s possible on the basketball court.
The Challenges of Cross-Era Comparisons
While comparing players across different eras can provide valuable insights, it’s important to acknowledge the challenges inherent in these analyses. Factors such as rule changes, advancements in training and nutrition, and shifts in playing style all impact how we evaluate players from different time periods.
When making these comparisons, it’s crucial to consider:
- Changes in pace and scoring trends
- The introduction and increased emphasis on three-point shooting
- Evolving defensive rules and strategies
- Advancements in sports science and player development
By taking these factors into account, we can develop a more nuanced understanding of how today’s stars compare to the legends of the past. This approach allows us to appreciate the unique contributions of players from all eras while recognizing the ongoing evolution of the game.
The Impact of Player Comparisons on Legacy and Perception
How do these comparisons between current and former NBA stars influence our perception of players and their legacies? Player comparisons serve several important functions in basketball discourse:
- Providing context for evaluating current players’ achievements
- Helping fans and analysts understand playing styles across different eras
- Fueling debates about all-time rankings and player hierarchies
- Inspiring young players to model their games after past and present stars
While these comparisons can be enlightening, it’s essential to remember that each player is unique and should ultimately be appreciated for their individual contributions to the game. The most legendary players often transcend simple comparisons, carving out their own distinct places in basketball history.
The Future of NBA Player Archetypes
As the NBA continues to evolve, how might future player archetypes build upon the foundations laid by current and former stars? Some potential trends to watch for include:
- Increased positional versatility, with more players able to play multiple roles
- Further emphasis on perimeter skills for big men
- The emergence of new hybrid positions that blend traditional roles
- Continued focus on three-point shooting across all positions
- Greater importance placed on defensive versatility and switchability
As these trends develop, we may see entirely new player archetypes emerge that challenge our current understanding of basketball positions and skills. This ongoing evolution ensures that the NBA will continue to surprise and excite fans for generations to come.
The Role of Analytics in Player Comparisons
How have advanced analytics changed the way we compare players across different eras? The rise of advanced statistical analysis has provided new tools for evaluating player performance and impact. These metrics allow for more nuanced comparisons that account for factors such as pace, efficiency, and contextual data.
Some key advanced metrics used in cross-era player comparisons include:
- Player Efficiency Rating (PER)
- Win Shares
- Box Plus/Minus (BPM)
- Value Over Replacement Player (VORP)
- True Shooting Percentage (TS%)
While these metrics provide valuable insights, it’s important to use them in conjunction with traditional statistics, film study, and contextual analysis to form a complete picture of a player’s impact and legacy.
The Importance of Appreciating Unique Talents
While player comparisons can be insightful and entertaining, it’s crucial to appreciate each NBA star for their unique contributions to the game. The players discussed in this article have all left indelible marks on basketball history, pushing the boundaries of what’s possible on the court and inspiring future generations of players.
As fans and analysts, we should strive to:
- Recognize the distinct skills and impact of each player
- Appreciate the evolution of the game across different eras
- Use comparisons as a tool for understanding, not diminishing individual achievements
- Celebrate the diversity of playing styles and approaches to the game
By taking this approach, we can gain a deeper appreciation for the rich history of the NBA and the incredible talents who have shaped the league into what it is today.
Closest Career Comparisons for NBA’s Best Players | Bleacher Report
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- Harry How/Getty Images
The game of basketball has been in a perpetual state of evolution since the late James Naismith had people tossing soccer balls into peach baskets.
But even if the modern, perimeter-based NBA can sometimes seem a different sport than the post-oriented style of yesteryear, there are footprints bridging one era to the next.
Even today’s most innovative hoopers at least partially reside in the shadows of past legends. Sometimes, the resemblance can be striking; the play style, the accomplishments, the stats all can have a deja vu feel among basketball junkies. For others, the similarities are more subtle. Maybe intangibles like creativity, dominance and impact can link two ballers who otherwise might be, at best, funhouse-mirror images of one another.
Cross-era comparisons are tricky, but they can help paint a fuller picture of where our current stars are at and where they might be headed.
So, we’re here to spotlight the closest career comparisons—based on projected trajectories—for the Association’s top players by analyzing everything from numbers and accolades to on-court approaches and aesthetics.
Some require more of a stretch than others, but if you look closely enough, you’ll spot the blueprint.
Javair Gillett, Director of Athletic Performance for the Houston Rockets, joins The Full 48 with Howard Beck to discuss how the Houston Rockets, as an organization, are working with players on training and nutrition during the NBA shutdown, his thoughts on what it will take to get players in game-shape once the season resumes, and some of the tips he’s providing to players.
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The NBA can’t quite get a grasp on what to call Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Basketball Reference designates him as a “power forward and point guard and small forward and shooting guard.
” His former Bucks coach, Jason Kidd, saw him as a blend of Magic Johnson and Kevin Garnett. When Antetokounmpo’s former teammate, Pau Gasol, went searching for a comparison, he mentioned everyone from Russell Westbrook and the late Kobe Bryant to himself, Garnett and a young Shaquille O’Neal.
Antetokounmpo, in other words, is tough to define. Back in the mid-’90s, the hoops world needed time to figure out KG, too. He actually broke in as a small forward, which seems impossible given how perfectly he later fit as an interior anchor. But he had a similarly unfair combo of size, length and skill that Antetokounmpo now uses to render defenders helpless. They’re cut from the same uber-competitive cloth, too.
Garnett collected both an MVP and a Defensive Player of the Year, and he made 15 All-Star trips over his 21 seasons. Antetokounmpo already has an MVP under his belt and earned All-Defensive First Team honors last season.
If there’s a flaw with this comparison, it’s that Antetokounmpo could ascend even higher.
His current offensive level has already surpassed Garnett’s peak, and Antetokounmpo’s top two seasons in defensive box plus/minus (4.1 each) cleared Garnett’s best (3.5).
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- Jesse D. Garrabrant/Getty Images
Comparisons for Stephen Curry don’t exist. He is, in the words of two-time MVP Steve Nash, “the ultimate one-off…the evolution of basketball,” per ESPN’s Brian Windhorst. Curry normalized the 30-foot pull-up and became the first player to splash 300-plus triples in a season—by dropping 402.
History shows a few fuzzy recollections—Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf had the pull-up triples, Mark Price had the rapid release and efficiency—but none that approached Curry’s peak. Pete Maravich, who had a similar mix of style, handles, range and scoring, came closer, but even he had only a single top-10 finish in MVP voting over his career. Nash matched Curry’s two MVPs but lacked the scoring punch.
With impact and accolades in the mix, then “The Logo” Jerry West looks like the answer.
Maybe that’s why the basketball gods brought them together when West served as a consultant for Curry’s Warriors for six seasons.
It’s not a perfect comparison—Curry was a better dribbler, West a superior stopper who played without the three-point line (added in 1979-80)—but the 6’3″ Curry and 6’2″ West found their spots on the game’s all-time hierarchy in similar ways.
They could score, shoot and create for themselves or their teammates. They oozed confidence. West once said, “I’m surprised when the ball doesn’t go in the hoop.” Curry couldn’t have trademarked his off-the-dribble-from-anywhere shots without the same kind of self-belief. West is the league’s only player to win Finals MVP on a losing team; Curry is its only unanimous MVP.
West has a volume advantage on the stat sheet, but when scaled to per-36-minutes production, there’s little difference: 24.8 points, 6.1 assists and 5.3 rebounds for West; 24.6, 6.9 and 4.7, respectively, for Curry. West’s career player efficiency rating landed at 22.
9; Curry’s sits at 23.8.
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- Andy Hayt/Getty Images
It all started with a growth spurt—for Anthony Davis and David Robinson. Each entered high school as a guard and exited as a blossoming big man. They would later marry their backcourt foundations with their new frontcourt length to become unstoppable forces.
One look at Davis is enough to spot all of Robinson’s footprints: unfair size/athleticism combo, explosive first step, prolific face-up game, reliable jumper, elite defense, intimidating aerial attacks. Like Robinson, Davis is a nightmare in the open court and a brutal matchup on isolations. He’s an effortless scorer and that might not even be his best end of the floor.
The stat sheet sees the resemblance, too. Over his last six seasons (age 21 and on), Davis has averaged 26.3 points, 10.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.4 blocks in 35.4 minutes. During Robinson’s first six campaigns (starting at age 24), his numbers were 25.7, 11.7, 3.
1 and 3.7 in 38.3. Davis had the edge in player efficiency rating (28.4 to 27.6), and Robinson held it in box plus/minus (8.7 to 7.1).
Davis is playing catch-up in terms of team success (Robinson won two titles with the San Antonio Spurs), but his jump to the Los Angeles Lakers should help. Of course, that scenery change muddles this comparison a bit, as Robinson spent his entire career with the Spurs and wishes more players would do the same.
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The scouting reports guiding defenders on how to handle Kevin Durant and Larry Bird might’ve read the same: hope for the best.
Sure, Bird wasn’t the best athlete and Durant needed time to fill out his frame, but there’s only so much you can do against a player with size to play in the post and the handles and shooting touch to play on the perimeter.
Bird, who broke in as a power forward, changed perceptions on how “big men” could play. He dribbled, he created, he launched from the perimeter (fourth-most threes over his career), and he still handled the more traditional duties of posting up and glass-cleaning.
Durant can’t become what he is now (basically, a 7-foot shooting guard) without Bird forcing the game to think outside the box.
“He allowed players like myself to kind of dream big and think big at that position and do things that traditional small forwards or big men weren’t doing,” Durant told reporters.
Durant and Bird both reside in the vaunted 50/40/90 sniper’s club. They comprise half of the four-player group with career marks of 24 points, seven rebounds, four assists and 49 percent shooting. Bird won three rings and two Finals MVPs; Durant has two of each. They didn’t play identical games, but the offensive brilliance was all the same.
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Joel Embiid’s fluidity and footwork look like they were inherited directly from Hakeem Olajuwon. That’s because in some ways, they were. When the late-blooming Embiid, who hails from Cameroon, started his crash course in basketball, he repeatedly viewed a DVD of Olajuwon, a native of neighboring Nigeria, “every single day for three years.
“
Maybe that’s why when Olajuwon goes looking for a model center in today’s game, he keeps coming back to a familiar face.
“What a center should be is what Embiid is doing,” Olajuwon told The Athletic’s Michael Lee. “You’ve got the low post. You’ve got the outside. … Embiid…you have no answer for him.”
Embiid’s post work is like a portal into basketball’s past life. His perimeter skills are a reminder that in 2020, everyone should have handles and a jumper—even 7-foot, 250-pounders. But Olajuwon was multidimensional, too. His Dream Shake might be his lasting gift to the game, but he had the handles to break down defenders, the vision to spot open teammates and the touch to pull up from the mid-range.
Careerwise, Embiid must cover a ton of ground to catch Olajuwon, but you can see the 26-year-old following the breadcrumbs. Olajuwon’s highest single-season scoring average was 27.8; Embiid has already supplied 27.5. Olajuwon’s nightly career contributions included 11.
1 rebounds, 3.1 blocks and 2.5 assists; for Embiid, the line is 11.5, 1.8 and 3.1.
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Isolation offense isn’t always the easiest on the eyes, but when James Harden is stepping back into an on-target triple or Allen Iverson was crossing over to glide his 6’0″ frame around the tall trees in the paint, it’s hard not to appreciate the artistry.
There will always be rough patches when quantity holds near-equal footing with quality, but the final results are all that matters. Harden engineered a scoring average for the ages last season (36.1 points per game) while also rewriting the record books on three-point attempts. Iverson had the second-highest career field-goal attempts per game of the three-point era, but he also owns a top-10 career scoring average.
Iverson rode his relentless one-on-one attacks to four scoring titles. Harden, who is on more isolation plays than any other team runs, is en route to his third straight.
They are the only players not named Kobe Bryant to average 30-plus points at least three times in the 2000s.
Like Iverson, Harden is a capable creator for others (6.3 career assists to Iverson’s 6.2) but most comfortable hunting his own shots. He also gambles too much on defense and is prone to indifferent spells, just like his on-court clone.
But they kept the scoreboard spinning enough to each earn MVP honors. Iverson was a seven-time All-NBA selection; Harden has six already. Iverson was an All-Star regular for more than a decade; Harden has booked eight straight trips.
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LeBron James is arguably the greatest player this league has ever seen. When it comes to impact, influence and dominance, he’s neck-and-neck with Michael Jordan in every sensible GOAT discussion.
But Jordan was a ruthless scorer at heart, and James is most natural (and most effective) as a jumbo playmaker. In that sense, he relates closest to Magic Johnson, who, by the way, shouldn’t be lost in the GOAT talks as a five-time champion, three-time MVP and three-time Finals MVP.
“LeBron is the closest thing to Earvin that we’ve ever seen because of his size, his speed, his acceleration, his vision,” Miami Heat president Pat Riley said in 2017, three years after James left the franchise to return to the Cleveland Cavaliers. “… The way that LeBron plays the game now—coast to coast, handles the ball, runs the offense—it’s just like Earvin. I mean, same mold. Same DNA.”
Johnson had higher assist numbers (11.2 career per game to 7.4) and James fared better in scoring (27.1 to 19.5), but you wonder how much of that was related to role. These are two of the most versatile hoopers the sport has ever seen.
Johnson was an all-time great point guard, but if you needed him to fill an at center and drop 42 points—as a rookie, in the Finals—he could do that. James opened his career by skyrocketing up the small forward ranks, helped usher in the small-ball era by shining as an unstoppable power forward, and he’s now been repurposed—at 35 years old—as a supersized point guard.
And he should win his first assists title.
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- Ronald Cortes/Getty Images
When Doc Rivers looks at Kawhi Leonard, he sees Michael Jordan—if not the same player, then at least a similar one in style, two-way execution and physical tools. By extension, that means the Clippers skipper sees the late, great Kobe Bryant, too, since the Mamba was almost a replica of MJ.
The same links between Leonard and Jordan are there with Leonard and Bryant: length, explosiveness, dominant defense, competitive fire, unstoppable in-between game. Like Bryant at his best, Leonard is never hurried but somehow also a step ahead of everyone else. The power in the post is there, and the fadeaway is just as unguardable.
Bryant played a louder, flashier game, but they were both genius-level students of the game and legendary workers. Bryant needed a minute to find his footing after his preps-to-pros leap, and he was an All-Star in his second season and a champion by his fourth.
Leonard found his way through the shadows of the Alamo City’s elite, but he secured a ring and a Finals MVP in his third go-round.
Before Bryant’s tragic passing in January, he had mentored Leonard. And when Leonard won his second championship last season, Bryant was one of the first people he called—to deliver a message only an equally ferocious competitor could appreciate.
“When we won last year, we FaceTimed him, and Kawhi just kept joking with him, ‘I’m better than you,'” Lakers assistant coach Phil Handy told The Undefeated’s Marc J. Spears.
The 28-year-old has a lot of years and a slew of accolades standing between him and Bryant, who played until he was 37, but his path is heading in the right direction. Leonard has Bryant matched in Finals MVPs (two), and while he doesn’t have a regular-season MVP (yet), he does have a pair of Defensive Player of the Year awards. Leonard also fittingly became the first-ever recipient of the Kobe Bryant All-Star MVP Award in February.
All stats, unless otherwise noted, courtesy of NBA.com and Basketball Reference.
Zach Buckley covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter, @ZachBuckleyNBA.
9 NFL players who also excelled on the basketball court
Soon, we’ll be approaching the convergence of football season and basketball season – every diehard sports fans’ favorite time of year – and there have been numerous current and former players who have doubled up on the two sports.
Here are current and former NFL players who also excelled on the basketball court.
A common thread you’ll notice is that many former college basketball forwards who are between 6-4 and 6-7 have been able to make the transition to playing tight end based on their physical profile and catching ability. There have also been multiple players who played football in their final year of eligibility after playing college basketball for four seasons and they made the most of their final fall on a college campus before jumping to the NFL.
Antonio Gates
NFL position: Tight end
NFL team: San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers
Antonio Gates is one of the poster children for college basketball players who have successfully made the transition to the NFL. If you’ve watched the NFL at any point in the last 15 years, there’s a good chance you’ve heard a broadcaster say something along the lines of “Did you know that Antonio Gates played basketball in college?”
After leading Kent State to the Elite Eight in 2002 and averaging 20 points per game a season after that, Gates quickly became the NFL’s premier tight end, earning First Team All-Pro honors in his second, third and fourth seasons in the league.
You can watch Gates and the Golden Flashes play Indiana for a chance to go to the Final Four in the full game replay below.
youtube.com/embed/GCtvb-S-OvE”/>
Gates actually attended four colleges – Michigan State (where he hoped to also play football for some guy named Nick Saban, ever heard of him?), Eastern Michigan, College of the Sequoias and then Kent State.
| season | School | points/g | rebounds/g | assists/g | steals/g | FG% | 3P% | FT% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999-00 | Eastern Michigan | 10.2 | 7.4 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 51.8 | 16.7 | 58.2 |
| 2001-02 | Kent State | 16.0 | 8.1 | 2.7 | 1.2 | 51.8 | 25.0 | 70.6 |
| 2002-03 | Kent State | 20. 6 | 7.7 | 4.1 | 1.5 | 47.8 | 34.9 | 70.9 |
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Jimmy Graham
NFL position: Tight end
NFL teams: New Orleans Saints, Seattle Seahawks, Green Bay Packers
Jimmy Graham appeared in 120 games for Miami (FL) and he started one-third of them as a big-bodied forward.
The ‘Canes made the NCAA tournament during Graham’s junior season as a No. 7 seed. Graham had nine points and seven rebounds in Miami’s first-round win over St. Mary’s before the team lost to Texas in the second round.
After his college basketball eligibility was exhausted, he played football for the Hurricanes during the 2009 season, catching 17 passes for 213 yards and five touchdowns.
The New Orleans Saints drafted him in the third round of the 2010 draft.
Graham is a five-time Pro Bowl selection and former First Team All-Pro tight end.
| Season | Points/g | rebounds/g | blocks/g | FG% | FT% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005-06 | 1.8 | 2.2 | 0.4 | 44.4 | 45.2 |
| 2006-07 | 5.6 | 4.0 | 0.7 | 53.8 | 50.0 |
| 2007-08 | 6.0 | 4.9 | 1.2 | 52.6 | 58.1 |
| 2008-09 | 4.0 | 5.9 | 1.2 | 48.6 | 40.0 |
MORE: Every Final Four Most Outstanding Player from 1939 to present
Julius Peppers
NFL position: Defensive end/outside linebacker
NFL teams: Carolina Panthers, Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers
In addition to being a unanimous All-American on the gridiron for North Carolina, Julius Peppers walked-on for the two basketball coaches – Bill Guthridge and Matt Doherty – who bridged the gap between UNC coaching legends Dean Smith and Roy Williams, but he still played for a pair of successful Tar Heel teams.
UNC went 22-14 in 2000, peaking at No. 2 in the AP Top 25 poll before making the Final Four as a No. 8 seed. In the following season, the Tar Heels were 26-7, climbing to the top spot in the poll and earning a No. 2 seed.
As a sophomore, Peppers was North Carolina’s fifth-leading scorer and rebounder.
As a football player in 2001, he won the Chuck Bednarik Award and Vince Lombardi Award, which honor the best defensive player in the country and the best lineman/linebacker, respectively.
| Season | Points/G | rebounds/G | FG% |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999-00 | 4.5 | 3.5 | 57.1 |
| 2000-01 | 7.1 | 4.0 | 64. 3 |
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Darren Fells
NFL position: Tight end
NFL teams: Arizona Cardinals, Detroit Lions, Cleveland Browns
As a senior at UC Irvine, Darren Fells was among the premier basketball players in the Big West, ranking first in field goal percentage, third in rebounds per game and ninth in points per game. The Anteaters finished second in the conference during his sophomore season and they lost in the Big West conference championship game when he was a senior in 2008.
Following his graduation, Fells played professional basketball overseas in Argentina, Belgium, Finland, France and Mexico, before starting his NFL career in the spring of 2013. He started 12 games for the Cardinals in 2015 and 13 games for the Lions last season. His best statistical season came in ’15 with Arizona, when he had 21 catches for 311 yards and three touchdowns.
Listed at 6-7 and 270 pounds, Fells has great size, even by NFL tight end standards.
| season | points/g | rebounds/g | assists/g | FG% | 3P% | FT% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004-05 | 5.9 | 4.9 | 0.9 | 49.6 | 0.0 | 68.3 |
| 2005-06 | 9.8 | 7.1 | 1.8 | 49.3 | 16.7 | 72.0 |
| 2006-07 | 10.2 | 6.1 | 2.0 | 53.5 | 42.9 | 62.6 |
| 2007-08 | 14.4 | 7.2 | 2.1 | 56.9 | 61.5 | 74.2 |
Julius Thomas
NFL position: Tight end
NFL teams: Denver Broncos, Jacksonville Jaguars, Miami Dolphins
Julius Thomas played in two NCAA tournaments with Portland State after the Vikings won the Big Sky’s automatic bid in 2008 and 2009.
Thomas was an incredibly efficient offensive player, having taken only one three-pointer in his college career, and he made roughly two-thirds of his career field goal attempts.
He set school records for career games played (121), career wins (78) and career field goal percentage (.663). Thomas was named to the Big Sky All-Tournament Team twice and his game-winning dunk in the final seconds of the 2009 Big Sky Championship game sealed a conference title and NCAA tournament appearance for the Vikings.
Thomas joined the Portland State football team as a walk-on in 2010, recording 29 receptions for 453 yards and two touchdowns. The Broncos selected him in the fourth round of the 2011 NFL Draft.
| Season | points/g | rebounds/g | steals/g | FG% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006-07 | 5.1 | 2.8 | 0.7 | 63.9 |
| 2007-08 | 4.0 | 3.1 | 0.4 | 71.4 |
| 2008-09 | 6.9 | 5.2 | 1.0 | 64.3 |
| 2009-10 | 10.8 | 5.9 | 1.5 | 67.5 |
Tony Gonzalez
NFL position: Tight end
NFL teams: Kansas City Chiefs, Atlanta Falcons
Before he cemented himself as one of the greatest receivers in NFL history, Tony Gonzalez was a two-sport athlete at Cal, where he was an All-American tight end and a forward on Cal’s basketball team. As a junior, he caught 44 passes for 699 yards and five touchdowns, then averaged nearly seven points and five rebounds for the Bears on the hardwood.
After the Chiefs drafted him with the 13th overall pick in the 1997 NFL Draft, Gonzalez was a First Team All-Pro tight end in three different decades as he earned the honor six times in his career, along with 14 Pro Bowl nominations. He ranks second in NFL history in career receptions (1,325) and sixth in career receiving yards (15,127) and career receiving touchdowns (115).
| Season | points/g | rebounds/g | FG% |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994-95 | 7.1 | 3.9 | 64.0 |
| 1995-96 | 5.3 | 4.6 | 46.6 |
| 1996-97 | 6.8 | 4.5 | 44.9 |
Quinten Rollins
NFL position: Cornerback
NFL teams: Green Bay Packers
Former Miami (OH) basketball player Quinten Rollins had one of the more unlikely transitions to becoming a professional athlete. Like Gates, Rollins competed on the hardwood in the MAC, but after four seasons playing basketball for the Redhawks, he joined the school’s football team for one season, earning MAC Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2014.
The Green Bay Packers drafted him in the second round of the 2015 NFL Draft and he played for the Packers for three seasons, including the 2016 season when he started 10 games. Rollins, who is currently a free agent, recorded 85 tackles, three interceptions and one sack in the NFL.
| Season | Points/g | rebounds/g | assists/g | steals/g | FG% | 3P% | FT% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010-11 | 5.5 | 2.5 | 2.1 | 1.5 | 44.0 | 29.2 | 83.7 |
| 2011-12 | 7.7 | 2.8 | 3.2 | 1.6 | 46.4 | 20.5 | 63.2 |
| 2012-13 | 5.2 | 3.0 | 3.9 | 1.9 | 42.8 | 26.7 | 42.7 |
| 2013-14 | 6.9 | 3.9 | 3.9 | 2.4 | 42.0 | 25.0 | 65.3 |
Rico Gathers
NFL position: Tight end
NFL team: Dallas Cowboys
Rico Gathers was an All-American forward at Baylor who set the school’s single-game, single-season and career rebounding records, in addition to tying the program record with 141 career games played and ranking second all-time with 31 double-doubles. He once had a 25-point, 28-rebound game. In short, he was an incredible force in the paint at 6-8, 280 pounds.
Gathers entered the 2016 NFL Draft and he was selected in the sixth round by the Dallas Cowboys. On Sunday, Gathers made his first career catch in the NFL – a 32-yard reception against the Texans.
| Season | points/g | rebounds/g | FG% |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012-13 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 52.5 |
| 2013-14 | 6.4 | 6.4 | 47.3 |
| 2014-15 | 11.6 | 11.6 | 45.9 |
| 2015-16 | 11.2 | 9.0 | 51.2 |
Mo Alie-Cox
NFL position: Tight end
NFL team: Indianapolis Colts
Former VCU starting forward Mo Alie-Cox played 142 games for the Rams, competed in four NCAA tournaments and he helped them win the 2015 A-10 tournament and a share of the 2016 A-10 regular season title.
He is VCU’s all-time leader in career shooting percentage (57.4%) and he’s second in career blocks (255).
After his college basketball career was over, Alie-Cox signed with the Indianapolis Colts as an undrafted free agent and his professional status has since moved between being on the team’s active roster, its practice squad and being a free agent. He recorded his first reception of his NFL career against Houston.
| season | points/g | rebounds/g | blocks/g | FG% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013-14 | 3.3 | 3.6 | 1.4 | 51.9 |
| 2014-15 | 7.4 | 5.7 | 1.9 | 59.4 |
| 2015-16 | 10.4 | 5.1 | 1.9 | 61.2 |
| 2016-17 | 9.5 | 4.2 | 2.0 | 54.3 |
Other notable players who played college basketball: New York Giants LB/DE Connor Barwin (Cincinnati), former QB Donovan McNabb (Syracuse), former WR Terrell Owens (Chattanooga), former WR Vincent Jackson (Northern Colorado), former TE Martellus Bennett (Texas A&M), former WR Antwaan Randle El (Indiana), former QB Jerrod Johnson (Texas A&M)
Unpopular Opinion: There’s more for basketball players than just the NBA, it’s okay to play overseas
All this week, LGHL writers will be bring you articles with their most unpopular opinions. Check out all of our Unpopular Opinions throughout the week HERE. Whether you disagree, let us know what you think in the comments below and on Twitter @Landgrant33.
There is a recurring theme this time of year when college basketball athletes start deciding whether or not they are keeping their names in the NBA Draft or if they will be returning to their respective schools. We just saw it as Ohio State fans reacted to Duane Washington Jr.’s decision not to come back to Columbus. The theme is that guys will announce they are staying in the NBA Draft to follow their dreams and foregoing the rest of their collegiate careers, and the reaction that inevitably comes next is that with guys who are projected to go in the second round or especially undrafted in the NBA Draft, fans will question their decision and ridicule their futures.
The common response is this, “Have fun playing overseas;” sometimes it is worded differently, but the sentiment is the same.
As someone who has followed all aspects of basketball, including overseas hoops, this has always fascinated me.
First of all, a quick PSA: If you like hoops and don’t follow overseas basketball, you are doing a disservice to yourself. It is so much fun. Okay that is out of the way.
Second of all, this is often meant to be an insult. Of course, it is not always meant that way, but for the premise of this article, I am referring to the people that dismiss the prospects of playing professionally anywhere other than the NBA.
It is also implies that overseas basketball is a basically a JV league to the NBA’s varsity, or that guys who end up overseas aren’t very good and up playing their because they just aren’t talented enough to play in the NBA.
Here’s the thing: This is not the insult that you may think it is.
“Ha! Have fun making millions of dollars playing basketball while getting to live in an incredible foreign country!”
Sounds a little strange when you think about it like that, doesn’t it?
Currently in the NBA, there are 30 teams and roughly 15 players on each roster. That is approximately 450 players in the league. Adding in the G League and you have 27 more teams and about 400 more players.
As of 2019 (we won’t count 2020 because COVID altered those numbers), there were roughly 4,600 D1 basketball players. But that is 4,600 players per season in college basketball. There are 450 NBA player’s total. And of those 4,600 players, those are just Division One players. As we know there are plenty of other guys that have NBA talent.
This past season, there were 363 early entries into the NBA Draft, not including the seniors who chose not to exercise their extra year of eligibility. Currently, the NBA Draft only has two rounds and 60 total picks.
Break it down like this, there were almost as many early entrants this season only as there are total players in the NBA; again, that’s excluding seniors.
Suffice to say, no matter how good you are, the odds of making the NBA are very, very small. And there are some benefits as to why guys might want to play overseas rather than in the NBA. And yes, some actually choose too.
The NBA is an extremely specific league. Some players, no matter how talented they are, don’t fit the game the way it is played in the NBA. That isn’t a slight on them as a player, it is just the way it is. The game overseas is more focused on player movement and involvement, and not the isolation we see in the league here.
During the NBA lockout in 2011, some NBA players went overseas to get in some time on the court and many struggled to adapt to the different style and system that is played in Europe.
For Ohio State, guys like Jon Diebler, David Lighty, William Buford and Deshaun Thomas have all succeeded overseas for just this reason. Their games are much more predicated on movement and team play, rather than just taking the ball and going to get a bucket like a James Harden or Kevin Durant. Just last month, Lighty won his second French League finals MVP award and fourth league championship.
Guys like Buford, Lightly and others could have continued to grind in order to find a place on an NBA roster, they just decided to go overseas and have long careers there instead of fighting for every minute on the floor in the NBA, where they likely would end up making less money anyway. Just last month, Lighty won his second French League finals MVP award and fourth league championship.
Speaking of money, overseas players make anywhere from $400,000 to $4 million per year. However, over 70% of players make in the middle to upper tier of money in the European leagues.
So while the top pay in the NBA is definitely more lucrative, there is still a very happy living to be made overseas for guys who are never likely to get big contracts in the NBA anyway. And there are a lot of great leagues outside of Europe as well, there is great basketball played in Israel, China, Australia, Korea, and more. This spring, Jared Sullinger was named the MVP of the Korean Basketball League Finals.
Jared Sullinger was selected as the MVP of the 2020-21 KBL Finals!!
Nicknamed ‘Professor Sullinger,’ Jared Sullinger finished his last class yesterday, leading KGC to win the title. Sullinger went OFF, recording 42 points and 15 rebounds@Jared_Sully0 pic.twitter.com/6hHxIaJai2
— East Asia Super League (@EASLofficial) May 10, 2021
Then, you have to consider that the normal shelf life of an NBA player is 4.5 years. Players like LeBron James, Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony are the outliers, not the majority. Most NBA players are looking for a new career path at ages 26-28.
However, overseas players tend to last longer because there are more options and the leagues are not as cutthroat as the NBA.
Another benefit are international agents. In international basketball, you don’t pay your agent, your team does. So that is more money in the players’ pockets. Also, agents work more bonuses into players contracts overseas, so again, more money for the players. Some bonuses are as simple as an amount of money per basket made. You won’t see that in the NBA.
Put all of these together — and add in the fact that some of these leagues are in truly incredible countries — and it makes sense that guys are making the leap early from college. It isn’t because guys are getting bad advice or are delusional about who they are, it is because even if they don’t make it in the NBA, overseas basketball is not a bad way to earn a living. And it certainly is not worthy of an insult.
Regular People Keep Challenging N.B.A. and W.N.B.A. Players
Of the millions of people around the world who play basketball, fewer than 500 are in the N.B.A. at any given time. Fewer than 150 are in the W.N.B.A. Before retiring in 2012, Brian Scalabrine spent 11 seasons in the N.B.A., far more than the majority of players who have made it to that level. He won a championship as a reserve for the Boston Celtics in 2008. He is 6-foot-9 and roughly 250 pounds.
Yet strangers cannot seem to stop challenging Scalabrine to one-on-one games. Last month, a video that went viral showed Scalabrine being challenged at a gym by an overeager high schooler in Taunton, Mass. Scalabrine, playing the teenager for a pair of sneakers, beat him 11-0.
Scalabrine, who averaged 3.1 points per game for his career, said this happens to him regularly, and conversations with other unheralded former players revealed that it’s the same for them. By his own account, Scalabrine, 43, looked “pudgy on television compared to some of the best athletes in the world” and wasn’t known as much of a rebounder or scorer.
Even so, Scalabrine survived in the league by developing a reputation for rarely making mistakes, being versatile on defense and shooting the 3.
“Being a white N.B.A. player from the suburbs, I have to level up,” said Scalabrine, who is from Long Beach, Calif., and was often referred to as the White Mamba, a play on Kobe Bryant’s Black Mamba nickname.
“People don’t understand how a little bit nuts you have to be to sustain an N.B.A. career,” Scalabrine said. “Especially when you’re not that talented. You have to be ready. You have to be up for the fight. You have to be like that every day. And if you’re not, you lose your livelihood.”
Scalabrine has, to some degree, invited the ongoing challenges. Shortly after retiring, he took part in a Boston radio station’s “Scallenges” promotion in which top local players played him one on one. Scalabrine won every game by a large margin.
Of course, even the top players in the N.B.A. get challenged, often at youth camps they run. Those clips go viral as well, with the stars gleefully blocking shots of children and teenagers several feet shorter than them. Rarely, the challenger will win, as in 2003, when John Rogers, who was then the 45-year-old chief executive of an investment firm, beat the recently retired Michael Jordan in a game of one on one at Jordan’s camp after Jordan had beaten 20 other people in a row.
But for players who aren’t, or weren’t, the face of a franchise, they get challenged in a different way, as Michael Sweetney can attest. The former Knick, who played in the N.B.A. for four seasons from 2003 to 2007, said in an interview that he was challenged “all the time.” In fact, Sweetney, 38, said it happened just a few weeks ago by two former high school basketball players who happened to be at a gym in Florida where he was working out with children at a basketball camp.
“I guess they were thinking that since I was far removed and retired that, ‘Hey, I can probably challenge him,’” said Sweetney, who averaged 6.5 points a game in 233 games. “It was funny because they tried to catch me off guard.”
Sweetney added: “I was like: ‘I’m just letting you know, I’m not going to take it easy. You challenge me, it’s going to be competitive.’ It ended up being a situation like Scalabrine. I beat one like 11-2 and the other one was like 11-1.”
The two challengers were surprised, said Sweetney, who is now an assistant coach at Yeshiva University. It was another reminder: When a player makes the N.B.A., no matter for how long, he is, in that moment, one of the 500 best basketball players in the world.
“Yes, I’m removed,” Sweetney said. “I’m probably not in N.B.A. shape. But you still have talent and people just think if you’re not a superstar, they might have a chance against you.
“They don’t know that even the 15th guy on the bench is better than the average person walking down the street.”
Scalabrine, who is a television analyst for the Celtics, has taken pleasure in reminding the public of that. End-of-the-bench N.B.A. players may even have to work harder than stars to stay in the league because one missed assignment could be the difference between having a job or not.
“I can go into any gym right now and I can find some of the best players going through the motions sometimes,” Scalabrine said. “Can you imagine 15 straight years? Maybe even more like 17, 18 straight years of never going through the motions?”
He said professional athletes, even retired ones, have an extra gear that an average person cannot tap into. He referred to it as the “dark place.”
“I would always say things, like in a game, ‘If I miss this next shot, my kids are going to die,’” Scalabrine said. “I would say that to myself, just to get through, just to put the pressure so I can lock in and make the shot.”
Many W.N.B.A. teams bring in nonprofessional men to play against in practice, which Cheyenne Parker, a 28-year-old forward for the Atlanta Dream entering her seventh season, diplomatically described as “great competition” because “they are strong and fast.”
She added, with a laugh: “But skillwise? Yeah.”
Parker said she was challenged often — “especially being a tall woman.” She was playing pickup last month in Chicago, where she lives, when a cocky man started trash-talking her.
“We start the game and I get my first chance to touch the ball. I like to work on my moves during pickup so I do this nice little Kyrie move. I juked him real bad,” Parker said, referring to Kyrie Irving, the Nets star known for his ball-handling skills. “I scored it in his face. Everybody went, ‘Ohhh!’ It was funny.”
When asked why amateurs were so willing to challenge journeymen basketball players, Parker said: “The same reason why a guy that I would never, ever give a chance to, still has that confidence to come and approach me and ask for my number. You know? It’s the same type of confidence that these people have to even think that they can beat a professional.”
Adonal Foyle, who played in the N.B.A. from 1997 to 2009, mostly as a reserve for Golden State, said he has faced similar challenges in retirement when he goes home to the Caribbean. Basketball players are more likely to be challenged than other athletes, Foyle said, because they are more visible. They don’t wear masks while playing, and fans can sit courtside. But there’s also a misconception among amateurs that athleticism keeps players in the league, he said.
“Basketball players at the end of their career are like Chinese movies,” Foyle, 46, said. “You have this Silver Fox. He walks in and he looks like he’s the one from the grave. And then he starts doing karate. And you’re like: ‘Oh my goodness. I didn’t know he could do all that.’”
What Scalabrine referred to as “the dark place,” Foyle calls “the stupid gene” — the switch that professional athletes have when their competitiveness is tested.
“You go to the gym. You try to play with regular folks. You’re having a good time,” Foyle said. “Somebody tries to dunk over you. Immediately, you flip that switch of, ‘OK, you’re going down.’ To me, what I always worry about is not beating the other person. It is how much my body can take of this stupid gene.”
Foyle said he hasn’t played pickup basketball in seven years. Instead, he prefers racquetball, where he “gets beat by 75-year-olds who see themselves as geniuses.”
“Part of the reason for doing it is because I got hurt almost every time I went out and played pickup ball because of that stupid gene,” Foyle said. “You think you can do the things you did 15, 20 years ago and you can’t. You don’t get to turn that person off that has defined your life. I thought it was best not to enter the field.”
For Scalabrine, the reason he gets his skills continually questioned goes beyond the confidence of the challengers.
“Joakim Noah said it best,” Scalabrine said, referring to his former teammate on the Chicago Bulls. “He said, ‘Scal, you look like you suck, but you don’t suck.’”
The Secret Life of a Professional Basketball Player: Work Hard, Play Harder
Photo: pikist.com
You have the evening off, so as usual, you find a nice position on the couch, get some snacks ready, put your feet up and turn on the game. It has become a ritual for millions of people around the world and there is more than one reason why! For many, basketball is the perfect combination of athleticism, tactics and theatre, for others, it is the perfect way to unwind after a long week or to socialise with friends. The point is, there are thousands of alternative ways to be interested in the sport, and every last one of them is fine with us!
On occasion, you can even forget the game is on and experience the sudden rush of excitement that fills your body as soon as you remember. And when its all done, you simply turn it off and get back to your life as if nothing had happened. It has become an incredible outlet for fans from every continent, guaranteed exhilaration without anymore commitment than four quarters of twelve minutes.
However, this is far from the case for the players on the court. Sure, the games we all sit down to watch might be the pinnacle of their weeks, but the rest of their time is spent in meticulous preparation, making sure that every fibre is fastened, and stone turned in order to be in optimal condition, both mentally and physically, come game time. So, if you have ever wondered how professional basketball players do this, and also how they unwind without interfering with their preparation, you have come to the right place…
The Unwind
Basketball involves using a full range of motion, so players need to work on both their cardiovascular strength and their muscular strength in order to condition themselves for a season. The fact that players need to be in peak condition on the court means that they need to manage what they do off the court. This means watching what they eat, how they sleep and even how they unwind. But before we get into the physical side, how exactly do players unwind without interfering with their fitness?
Well, perhaps unsurprisingly, like the rest of us, streaming services are all the rage. In fact, when players have the time, binge watching a series is one of the easiest forms of entertainment that involves no physical engagement. While players are paid handsomely for their work, it does mean that they are unable to have a night on the tiles as often as they may like. It is for this reason that many choose to bring all the thrills of a night out to them. There are now numerous options to choose from, including websites like comeon online casino, that allow you to virtually step on to a casino floor. It allows players to play their favourite casino games and have a night out, and all without the need to make the journey to a physical location.
The Grind
Firstly, let’s establish this, the NBA season is a nine to ten month tour de force, and that’s if you don’t make the play-offs. Sure, the basketball court is small in size compared to the majority of team sports, however, players still run, on average, over four kilometres per game. Furthermore, each team play a minimum of 82 games in a typical NBA season. Some fans have even complained about game fatigue due to the large number of games and they are only watching from the comfort of their homes!
On top of the aforementioned game time, these players train, and they train a lot, and hard! Basketball is slightly unique in that every player needs to be a specialist when it comes to endurance. No matter your position or speciality, you need to be able to run up and down the court at high speed, be light on your feet and remain composed enough to handle the ball all game, every game.
The End Game
So, the next time you pick up the remote to tune in to a live game, remember that the athletes in front of you have done everything in their power to make sure that they are on the top of their game. There is a reason why professional basketball is so damn good after all!
The Truth About Playing Division 1 College Basketball
Do you think you have what it takes to play Division 1 College Basketball?
Growing up, I remember turning on ESPN and tuning into Duke v. North Carolina or Kentucky v. Louisville or UConn v. Syracuse or UCLA v. Arizona and thinking, “now, that’s what I want to do and where I want to be.”
And I’m sure this is the same experience that many kids around the nation are still having today as well. They see the bright lights, masses of fans, sweet uniforms and shoes, all the publicity, and everything else that goes along with big time D1 college basketball, and think they want that.
However, the truth is, 99.99% of players will not reach this level, and even if they do, it’s not all bright lights and amazingness as seen on TV. No matter what level of D1 college basketball, whether low-major, mid-major, or high-major, there are certain truths that many players and parents typically don’t know.
I was lucky enough to have played D1 at Davidson College from 2002-06 (pre-Steph Curry FYI), and although I felt prepared to play there, if I had known the real truth about playing D1 college basketball, I would have been even better prepared.
With that said, recently, we’ve written about the truth about playing D2 and D3 college basketball, so now it’s time to write about the TRUTH about playing D1 college basketball.
As already established, many players and parents think they are “too good” to play at the D2 and/or D3 levels, which in most instances is not the truth.
Division 2 and Division 3 college basketball is actually played a very high level and is a great fit for many aspiring college basketball players, but you can read more about it in those previous blog posts if you want.
Previous Articles:
However, many kids refuse to give D2 and D3 a chance because they want to play D1 college basketball. And to be clear, “want” is the key word here.
Just because a player wants to play D1…
A) Does not necessarily mean the player is actually good enough
AND
B) Does not mean the player knows and/or understands what it takes to get to the D1 level and what is required once at that level. In fact, most players and parents don’t know the truth about D1 basketball.
Well, as a former division 1 college basketball player, I’m here to open some eyes. In my opinion, there are 4 main truths that players and parents should know about playing D1 college basketball.
1. It Teaches the
True Meaning of Hard Work
Most high school players think they play or work hard. I know I did, but it wasn’t until I got to Davidson that I found out that the intensity with which players must work is on a whole other level.
Coaches require 100% effort all the time, and if a player is not giving MAX effort, he or she will quickly be corrected (a.k.a. yelled at).
You cannot hide or coast at this level!
Players are too good, so you’ll be exposed if you try. This is the #1 thing I learned my first day on campus, and this is the number one thing I hear from former and current D1 players…the work is some of the most intense they’ve ever done.
Nothing can truly prepare you for the work at the D1 level, but you can put in work with us anywhere, anytime with our Virtual Membership Package. It includes College Prep workouts and showcases designed specifically to get you ready.
2. It’s a Full-Time Job
This sort of ties into number one, but this has to do specifically with the amount of work required at the Division 1 level. It’s like having a full-time job.
In the off-season, players might have class, individual/small group workouts, weights, conditioning, and pick up all in one day! Trust me, those days are awful!
Add onto that, point number one about the ultra-high intensity required every practice or workout or game, and this makes the workload even more difficult. In fact, every year, there are freshman who don’t even make it through the fall preseason because the work required is so much and too intense.
Moreover, it’s year-round.
Want a Thanksgiving Break, Christmas Break, Spring Break, and Summer Break?
Nope, sorry, there’s usually workouts, practices, and/or games. Players might get 2-3 days for Thanksgiving and 3-5 days for Christmas if they’re lucky.
If players get a Spring Break that means the team didn’t make the NCAA tournament most likely, and most programs make players at least attend some summer school that takes up most or all of Summer Break.
3. It’s Pressure Packed
College basketball is a multi-hundred-million dollar business. In order for schools to maximize these revenues, they NEED to WIN. If they don’t win, they fire the coach, so all of this adds up to D1 college coaches having a tremendous amount of pressure on them to win games.
Because of this, coaches are going to play and recruit the guys that give them the best chance to win, which means bringing in really good freshman every year, taking really good junior college transfers, and/or already established graduate transfers. You better perform, or you ain’t playin’!
Secondly, at the D1 level, players are in the spotlight, so the pressure from outside influences, such as fans, other students, alumni, the media, etc., can be extremely intense. And these voices are all magnified by social media, which can create an enormous amount of pressure on players if they pay too much attention to that stuff.
Add the pressure from inside the program together with the pressure from outside, and it can create an unbelievably intense atmosphere that many players simply don’t handle well or aren’t prepared to handle.
4. Playing Time is Not Guaranteed
This sort of ties into number three, but I’d like to take it a step further. Playing time is not guaranteed in college basketball, especially as an underclassman.
As we stated, you aren’t going to play if you can’t help the team win (a.k.a. help the coach keep his job). The coaches literally feed their families this way. This is not high school where he or she is making their money from teaching at the school and just doing basketball for fun.
First of all, freshman compete with upperclassmen who are more experienced, usually stronger and more skilled. Then there’s also other players typically in the same recruiting class competing for minutes. And we already mentioned Junior College transfers and graduate transfers on top of that.
To learn more about the landscape of College Recruiting check out this webinar with ESPN expert Paul Biancardi.
Think you’re going to come in and start right away as a freshman?
Shoot, you’ll be lucky just to get a few minutes a game (if that) in most cases!
CONCLUSION
So what do these 4 truths add up to?
It adds up to:
- 633 men’s basketball players transferred schools in 2016.
- Of those 633 transfers, only 46% transferred to another D1 school. Most of “the others typically left for Division II, NAIA or 2-year colleges.”
I don’t mean to be negative or the bearer of bad news, but players and parents need to know these truths about D1 college basketball. They’ll help parents and players make more informed decisions and be much more prepared if they’re good enough and lucky enough to play at that level.
I hope this information about playing Division 1 basketball was helpful, after reading it, do you still think you have what it takes to play Division 1 College Basketball? Are you willing to deal with the above truths?
We would love to hear your feedback!
Best Basketball Gifts: The Top 25 List
Best Basketball Gifts: Perfect for Giving or Receiving
Whether you are shopping for a loved one or want to help your family get you something other than an ugly sweater this year, this list of basketball gifts can really help you out during the holiday season or for a birthday.
The following is a list of our favorite gift ideas we think might be useful to you or a basketball player in your life. Having the right tools as a player or coach makes a huge difference. So that is why we compiled a list of some great gifts for all of the basketball fans out there.
Some of the offerings are specific to working on skills, while others are simply watching a great basketball movie. If you are shopping for a basketball fan, we have what you need!
Top 25 Basketball Gifts:
1. Nike Elites (link)
Recommended Gift For: Basketball Players
Gift Price: Varies
About Gift: These are the basketball socks that every player wants. Not only are they extremely comfortable, but they come in plenty of different colors as well. This will allow you to be able to pick the ones that best match a player’s uniform, shorts, or shirt. And, since these Nike Elite socks are so comfortable, they are also great for just wearing around as well.
2. Favorite Player’s Jersey (link)
Recommended Gift For: Basketball Players and Fans
Gift Price: Varies
About Gift: Kids look up to their favorite players like they are invincible superheroes. So why not get them their favorite player’s jersey? They can proudly display their love for them and will be the envy of all of their friends. And, depending on location, you may even consider pairing up this gift with a trip to a game.
3. Basketball Books
Here are four basketball books that are a must-read for any basketball fan. Grab one or all four for the basketball fan in your life, and they will ever be thankful for the gift! For even more great book options, check out our list of the best basketball books. Also, if you or the person you are thinking of enjoy listening to audiobooks, Amazon offers a Free Audible Trial. This will allow them to listen to some of these books for free.
“Wooden” Book by Seth Davis (link)
Recommended Gift For: Basketball Coaches
Gift Price: $17.48
About Gift: John Wooden is arguably one of the best coaches to have ever been a part of the game of basketball. His biography will detail his coaching style and valuable life lessons that he learned along the way. It is a great gift for players and coaches that are students of the game.
“Stuff Basketball Player Should Know” (link)
Recommended Gift For: Basketball Players
Gift Price: $48.96
About Gift: Stuff Basketball Players Should Know belongs on every player’s nightstand. It is going to break down the game into bite-sized nuggets that are easy to understand. This will allow players to apply better what they are reading, which is the ultimate goal. This book is a great gift for players that are hungry to get better.
“My Losing Season” by Pat Conroy (link)
Recommended Gift For: Basketball Coaches
Gift Price: $9.99
About Gift: Author of the Prince of Tides, Great Santini, and Lords of Discipline; Pat Conroy also played basketball at the Citadel and shares lessons that he learned while he was there. This is an excellent basketball coaching book that will be a favorite read among many coaches. So if you have a basketball coach in your life that enjoys reading, this would make an excellent gift.
“Practical Modern Basketball” by John Wooden (link)
Recommended Gift For: Basketball Coaches
Gift Price: $8.30
About Gift: Featuring a ton of details, philosophy, and skill development information that will help both coaches and players. Practical Modern Basketball is an excellent read for anyone that is interested in coaching basketball. Along with learning more basketball knowledge, this book is also going to teach coaches how to be more successful outside of the lines as well.
“The Last Shot” by Darcy Frey (link)
Recommended Gift For: Basketball Players, Coaches, of Fans
Gift Price: $4.85
About Gift: The Last Shot is an amazing story about an up and coming basketball player in NYC. The book gives readers a behind-the-scenes look at basketball in New York City. The NYC basketball scene has been fascinating basketball fans of all backgrounds for decades, and Darcy Frey is able to bring this one of a kind, unique scene to life like never before.
4. Basketball HQ Membership (link)
Recommended Gift For: Basketball Coaches or Players
Gift Price: $99 Per Year
About Gift: Know someone that is not yet a Basketball HQ Pro Member? Sign them up for a year Pro Membership and give them all the tools and resources they need. With resources for both basketball coaches and players, this makes an excellent gift for anyone that is serious about basketball skill development.
5. Dribble Stick (Link)
Recommended Gift For: Basketball Players
Gift Price: $99.99
About Gift: The dribble stick is a great gift for a player that is trying to improve their ball handling. It is a great tool because it can be set up pretty much anywhere there is a flat hard surface. This tool is going to help with developing a tight, quick handle and will also help to work on ball control. So if you have a basketball junkie that loves dribbling, this would make a great gift.
6. Air Relax Leg Recovery System (link)
Recommended Gift For: Players
Gift Price: $545
About Gift: A big part of training and playing sports at a high level is recovery. The better and quicker a player’s body is able to recover, the harder they are going to be able to train. The Air Relax Leg Recovery System is going to use air compression to help reduce soreness and prevent muscle soreness.
7. Speed Rope (link)
Recommended Gift For: Basketball Players or Coaches
Gift Price: $29.99
About Gift: One of the best ways to improve quickness, footwork, and athleticism is a speed rope (jump rope). The jump rope is something that every serious basketball player should own. And, with the durability of a good jump rope like this one, this will be a gift that will continue to give for years to come.
8. Ball Return Net (link)
Recommended Gift For: Basketball Players
Gift Price: $99.99
About Gift: Great basketball shooters are built through proper shooting form and repetition. If you have a hoop in the driveway or backyard, the ball return net is a great gift. It will allow a player to get shot after shot while not having to move because the net will help return the ball each time. This makes an excellent gift for youth to high school basketball players.
9. Dribbling Goggles (link)
Recommended Gift For: Basketball Players or Coaches
Gift Price: $6.99
About Gift: This is a great gift for a player that is interested in improving their ball handling. The goggles help to keep the player from being able to look down while dribbling. Most younger kids have this bad habit of constantly looking down, so it is essential to fix it as early as possible. This is a great training tool for youth basketball players.
10. Ball Hog Gloves (link)
Recommended Gift For: Basketball Players
Gift Price: $30
About Gift: Having the right tools makes all the difference, and with these gloves, it is no different. These training gloves will help a player improve their ball handling by making it harder for them to dribble the basketball. That way, when they get into a game and don’t have the gloves on, it becomes that much easier. This is an excellent gift for any level of ball-handler.
11. Basketball Movies
Basketball movies make an excellent gift as they will inspire and can be watched over and over again. Here are four quality movies to choose from that any true basketball fan will love. They are both inspiring and entertaining and an excellent choice for pretty much any basketball fan.
Hoosiers (link)
Recommended Gift For: All Basketball Fans
Gift Price: $7.89
About Gift: Hoosiers is a classic movie that highlights the journey of a small high school team in Indiana. This journey is filled with ups and downs and challenges along the way. If you know a basketball fan that hasn’t seen this movie yet or loves it because it is one of the best basketball movies of all time, it would be a great gift.
Coach Carter (link)
Recommended Gift For: All Basketball Fans
Gift Price: $10.19
About Gift: Another basketball movie that is a must-see for anyone that calls themselves a basketball fan. Coach Carter is set in an inner-city school with a team that lacks discipline but has great potential. Not only is the movie going to focus on issues between the lines, but also helping the players be their best off of the court as well. This movie will inspire basketball coaches, players, and fans alike.
Hoop Dreams (link)
Recommended Gift For: All Basketball Fans
Gift Price: $29.99
About Gift: This is a documentary about inner-city basketball dreams and realities. It is from several years ago, but it is very eye-opening when it comes to the reality of basketball being a pathway for inner-city kids. This documentary will give you a look into inner-city high school basketball like never before.
Glory Road (link)
Recommended Gift For: All Basketball Fans
Gift Price: $5
About Gift: This is the fabulous story of UTEP basketball and how they overcame so much on and off the court. It is a must-watch for basketball fans, and it covers so much more than just the sport of basketball. If you enjoy a true underdog story, this is the basketball movie for you. And, best of all, it is based on a true story.
12. Basketball Coach Clipboard (link)
Recommended Gift For: Basketball Coaches
Gift Price: $15
About Gift: Perfect for drawing up buzzer-beater plays and getting a coaches team organized in timeouts. No coach is complete without a clipboard. So if you have a coach in your life, this would be the perfect gift for them. It is also a great gift because it will add value to a coach’s life for years to come as they will be able to continue to use it with their team each year.
13. Oversize Wall Sticker (link)
Recommended Gift For: All Basketball Fans
Gift Price: Varies
About Gift: This is the perfect decor for any hoop lover’s room or office. Fans of basketball will be able to show their love of the game uniquely and artistically. This is a great gift for all ages and something that will be sure to bring out a big smile.
14. Wilson-NCAA-Basketball-Leather-Folder (link)
Recommended Gift For: Basketball Coaches or Players
Gift Price: $26
About Gift: This basketball leather folder is a great gift to keep it classy at school or the office. Whether you have a young child who needs a notebook for school or a coach looking to store their notes, this would be a great gift. The material resembles the look of a basketball and also the feel of one, and the interior provides plenty of space to keep notes organized.
15. Wilson Evolution Basketball (link)
Recommended Gift For: Basketball Players
Gift Price: $53
About Gift: There are a lot of great basketballs out there, but we recommend the Wilson Evolution because of its quality, durability, and fair price. This basketball will provide hours and hours of fun and the ability for a player to work on their game and pursue their dreams. With several different ball sizes offered, make sure that you pick the right size for the person you are buying the ball for.
16. The Pink Evolution Basketball for Girls (link)
Recommended Gift For: Basketball Players
Gift Price: $30
About Gift: Have a girl in your life that loves basketball? This pink Evolution basketball is an awesome gift. Not only is it great quality, but it is colored pink and looks awesome! The girl that owns this basketball will be the envy of her teammates and friends.
17. Weighted Basketball Trainer (link)
Recommended Gift For: Basketball Coach or Players
Gift Price: $45
About Gift: This is a great training tool that helps players with their ball handling and finishing. It would be a great gift for middle school age players and up and coaches who would use this training tool with their team. So if you know a coach or player that is serious about skill development, get them the weighted basketball trainer as a gift.
18. Nike Hoops Elite Backpack (link)
Recommended Gift For: Basketball Players
Gift Price: Varies
About Gift: This backpack is sure to make teammates jealous. Along with that, though, it is also specifically for basketball players, so it fits shoes, clothes, and basketballs better than a standard nonsport specific bag. This basketball backpack is not only stylish but is also just as functional. And, being made of high-quality materials, it will last for years to come.
19. Signed John Wooden Pyramid of Success (link)
Recommended Gift For: Basketball Coaches
Gift Price: Varies
About Gift: This is an interesting piece of memorabilia that would be great for a coach’s office. It is a great reminder of what coaching is about and what it takes to be successful. The pyramid is going to focus on John Wooden and what he found to be important in coaching. So not only will this gift make an excellent decorative piece, but it also comes with tons of coaching wisdom as well.
20. The D Man (link)
Recommended Gift For: Basketball Coaches or Players
Gift Price: $69.99
About Gift: The D Man is an excellent training tool for both players and coaches to use with their team. This training tool will allow players to work on a number of different basketball drills when it comes to being able to shoot or finish over the outstretched hand of a defender. This will translate to a game and will allow players to feel more comfortable when shooting over an actual defender.
21. Quick Ladder (link)
Recommended Gift For: Basketball Players or Coaches
Gift Price: $19.99
About Gift: The agility ladder will help players improve their footwork and overall quickness. In basketball, footwork and quickness are essential for any player that wants to be successful. This is a great gift for players that are trying to improve their athleticism and a coach that trains players.
22. Weighted Speed Vest (link)
Recommended Gift For: Basketball Players or Coaches
Gift Price: $90
About Gift: The weighted speed vest will help improve a player’s speed and explosiveness. The way it does this is by tricking the body into working harder than it typically would. That way, when the vest is removed, the body thinks it still needs to work as hard as it did before, making the player more explosive. This is a great gift for players that are in middle school or older or a coach to use with their team.
23. The Portable Basketball Hoop (link)
Recommended Gift For: Basketball Players
Gift Price: Varies
About Gift: What kid wouldn’t love their own basketball hoop in the driveway? This gift is a little bit more expensive than the other gifts on this list, but it is sure to provide countless hours of fun and practice for a basketball player. And, you never know, this could be the gift that starts a player on the course of following their dreams and becoming a professional basketball player.
24. The Lifetime Double Shot Indoor Hoops Game (link)
Recommended Gift For: All Basketball Fans
Gift Price: $210
About Gift: Have you ever wanted to bring the arcade home with you? Well, with this indoor hoops game, you can! It will provide fun for all ages of basketball fans and would go great with any man cave or play area. Also, if you get this gift for your kids, you will be able to have fun with it as well as you will be able to challenge them.
25. NBA 2K22 Basketball Video Game (link)
Recommended Gift For: All Basketball Fans
Gift Price: Varies
About Gift: While this gift doesn’t provide any basketball value as far as skill development, it is still really fun to play! This game has revolutionized the basketball gaming industry, and it is for more than just kids. So if you know someone who enjoys basketball and playing video games, this will be the perfect gift for them.
Bonus Basketball Gift Idea:
Mini Hoop from Sklz (link)
Recommended Gift For: All Basketball Fans
Gift Price: $29.99
About Gift: This is a great gift for a child’s room or an office. It can provide hours of fun and is easily put up and taken down. It also makes an excellent decorative piece for basketball fans as well. For a basketball gift that will cover the spectrum for pretty much any basketball fan, try getting them the Mini Hoop from Sklz.
Are you looking for another sports-related gift? Check out these lists of the Best Football Gifts, Best Soccer Gifts, and Best Baseball Gifts.
Basketball HQ is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
90,000
At what age can you play basketball?
At what age can you play basketball?
Basketball is both one of the most popular and one of the most democratic sports. There are many sports disciplines that impose strict restrictions on the place of training, equipment, age and training of athletes. And in order to play, you only need rings (sometimes one is enough), a hard surface and a ball.The elastic approach to the age of the players also contributes to the popularity – basketball is equally available for children, adolescents and even people of a very mature age.
When to start studying
Most basketball clubs accept children as young as 4-5 years old. However, this does not mean at all that the road to this sport is closed for older boys and girls. On the contrary, a teenager who has almost never picked up a ball can make a very successful career, starting at a critically late age for other sports (14-16 years).For example, one of the most titled Soviet basketball players, Anatoly Myshkin, made the final choice in favor of basketball only at the age of 15, after he greatly increased his growth in one summer. Sometimes there are incidents – parents who were categorically against the child’s playing basketball, after three years begin to beg the coach to take him back to the team.
How are classes
In the early years of school, children practically do not play basketball. Children are primarily taught to work with a small rubber or mini-basketball.The main thing at the initial stage is to teach children how to catch, dribble and throw the ball correctly. Well-formed skills are important not only for your future career. They must protect the future basketball player from injury to fingers and hands, which is a big trouble for players.
In a couple of years, children begin to play basketball on a special 15 x 8 meter playground with rings at a height of two meters. Of course, the fussing of kids on a half-size ground does not look like a real sport, but the game in this case is more a way of learning the rules and getting the first tactical skills.If children can be taught the correct dribbling or throwing during training, then the skills of non-contact wrestling, movement without the ball and team interaction are easiest to get in the game.
Andrey Kirilenko: getting the Russian men’s national basketball team to the Olympics will be a success – Sport
MOSCOW, 17 August. / Corr. TASS Andrey Kartashov /. The entry of the Russian men’s national basketball team to the 2016 Olympics will be good luck. This opinion was expressed in an interview with TASS by the candidate for the post of President of the Russian Basketball Federation (RBF) Andrei Kirilenko.
“If the Russian national team manages to make it to the Olympics, it will be a great success,” Kirilenko said.
Currently, the national team is preparing for the European Championship, which will be held from 5 to 20 September 2015 in Germany, Latvia, Croatia and France. The tournament is also a qualifier for the Olympic Games.
Kirilenko considers it wrong that the fans are not able to watch the matches of the national team during its preparation for the Eurobasket. “The Russian national team is obliged to play in the regions.I just don’t understand why our team is preparing somewhere else now. With all due respect to Serbia, Greece, Spain and Italy, where our basketball players are training camps. We have a month and a half a year – July and August – when we have a chance to see our national team, but we don’t even see it at this time. Why don’t we let the fans watch their national team play? Why aren’t we showing her matches on TV? In the end, even I don’t know who’s on the team. I hardly find out information about who is in the squad.It shouldn’t be that way, “Kirilenko said.
According to Kirileno, the RBF should focus on two main aspects – national teams and grassroots basketball. “We have leagues that can deal with professional clubs themselves,” the TASS interlocutor emphasized.
At the moment, Kirilenko is the only registered candidate for the presidency of the RFB. The desire to participate in the elections was previously voiced by the general manager of the Russian men’s national team Dmitry Domani.“I have no problems with Dmitry, – added Kirilenko. – I have normal relations with him. Another thing is that the team he is in, I just don’t believe in it. They may not believe either. Not believe in me or my program, please. This is a normal process. ”
The election conference of the RBF will be held on August 25.
Golden State Warriors Vietnam Syndrome
Steph Curry and company are stuck between the past and the future.
Golden State has probably the most telling naming in the NBA: capacious, versatile, extremely clear.In the context of sports: who else can you fight if not with an opponent? And yet, looking at Golden State’s offseason, one cannot leave the feeling that the team is fighting with itself.
There is no civil strife there; The coaching staff, led by the most likely contender for the US national team, Steve Kerr, general manager Bob Myers and owner Joe Lacob coexist in an atmosphere of mutual respect and trust. Internal conflict is more like a painful, painful process of self-identification that is inherent in every warrior who returns from war.
Their crippled consciousness reflects between the understanding of the need to live on and the animal desire to return to where, mad with adrenaline, they felt victors, even if winning meant losing and dying. This is how Lieutenant Dan of Forrest Gump felt, and that is how the current Golden State Warriors, whose passionate work in the draft coexists with hazy championship claims, make that impression.
Just a couple fans cheering on the @warriors at #NBASummer 🔥 pic.twitter.com/1m59ROyLDi
— NBA TV (@NBATV) August 12, 2021
For the second year in a row, the Californians chose the “big” in the draft: under the 7th pick, the 18-year-old center with Congolese roots, Jonathan Cuminga, was taken.A guy whose flattering reviews may well be his only achievement in the NBA. Here you have both a young age and the specifics of African players, who, as they develop, often get injured and the fact that for the last 5 years Cuminga lived in America alone, without proper involvement from his parents, given to the care of the coaches, first of the school team, and then of the national team. G-leagues.
All this may turn out to be nonsense and, probably, I will be among those who will admire his talent, but this will happen not earlier than in three years.This means that right here and now, the Warriors’ top pick will definitely not help the team in the race for the championship.
Officially official ✍️
The Warriors have signed @JonathanKuming6 and @mosesmoody to contracts pic.twitter.com/0XCMawAQhb
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) August 5, 2021
The situation is a little better with the attacking guard Moses Moody, selected at number 14: the back row players need less time to adapt (due to less physical contact, no immediate need to build muscle), and mentoring by Steph Curry should only speed up the process. So Moody will probably get his 15 minutes in the regular season, which, again, does not guarantee that he will be useful in the playoffs.
The 2016-17 Golden State Warriors were 67-15 in the regular season and went 16-1 in playoffs.
Greatest team ever? pic.twitter.com/urf0hJoDLx— Warriors Nation (@WarriorNationCP) January 8, 2021
Speaking of newcomers, it is worth remembering the playoffs, because the intention to become a serious contender is hinted not only by the words, but also by the actions of the Warriors. In the offseason, the Warriors predictably extended their contract with Curry (215 million for 4 years), took 37-year-old Andre Igudala back with open arms and signed Otto Porter with Nemanja Bjelica to the veteran minimum.
There are two reasons for such a “solid” increase.First, the Warriors are some of the league’s worst alimony. With the maximum allowable ceiling of salaries of 117 million, the payment of “warriors” is inflated to 187 million. Not surprisingly, this season alone, Curry, Thompson, Wiggins and Green will spend $ 139 million on salaries. You can’t forbid living beautifully, but you can complicate such a glamorous existence. It is for this reason that Golden State pays 41 million in luxury taxes to the NBA treasury.
And even with all the fabulous spending, the Warriors had a budget of $ 30 million for this summer, but the people they were targeting chose different career scenarios.And this is the second reason for the poor summer harvest. The Warriors were interested in Nicolas Batum, but the Frenchman chose to stay in Los Angeles. The club reached out to Patty Mills, but he chose Brooklyn. Everything else either did not suit the team, or did not fit the price / quality ratio (like Dennis Schroeder, for example).
The only things that can eventually break up this #Warriors dynasty: the luxury tax or boredom.
Read @KevinOConnorNBA on the NBPA decision that allowed Golden State to stack the deck: https://t.co/lswgbn6l53 pic.twitter.com/N7ttvEDgQb
— The Ringer (@ringer) July 3, 2018
And now it’s time to return to the Oakland flashbacks, the flashes from which lead to one simple insight: it is impossible to scour the market in search of experienced players, talking about the upcoming campaign for the championship and at the same time draft youth, hoping for its development.Even the most talented players are not weeds, they will not sprout on their own, they need to be dealt with. Therefore, before the Warriors draft, it was necessary to clearly define: either we are gradually changing the team’s course towards youth development, or we are starting to trade picks and trade veterans for the championship squad right now.
You can’t be both Houston, who had a model draft in terms of building a base for the future, and the Lakers, who signed every seasoned fighter except Steven Seagal. “Ozerniks”, no matter how mocked at them, know perfectly well what they are doing.And there are either rings on the fingers, or zilch. This clear positioning is the difference between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Golden State Warriors.
“Lakers are old”
What were MJ’s Bulls then? pic.twitter.com/eYwY5xyB4p
— 👑 Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson (@ScoopB) August 11, 2021
Golden State will kick off the regular with the unstable Wiggins, the traumatic Looney, the eternal wanderers Porter and Bjelitsa, a bunch of newbies and without Clay Thompson, who missed two years and is still recovering. Such a cooperative team will survive until January-February, when the Warriors will have the opportunity to find reinforcement under the playoffs.It’s hard to believe that Golden State will fish out something worthwhile in the winter transfer hole.
The Warriors are undoubtedly sympathetic, if only for the fact that, being in a difficult financial situation, the club is still trying to take some action, keeping the semblance of claims to the championship. Steph Curry’s last season, which could have earned a point guard the MVP title, gave hope to many. Now it only remains to figure out – the hope for what. A return to victorious traditions or hope for a new future with new leaders and Curry as the club’s leader and totem?
Everyone is on vacation! – Basketball
Everyone is on vacation!
Event of the week
“You won’t believe, Petrovich, I saw Putin!” – CSKA fans can boast.The prime minister attended the match against Real Madrid. As expected, ordinary mortals were detained at the entrance, and some had to vacate their seats for officials. The presenter deliberately “shone” the players of the Russian national team. Fortunately, there were opportunities: ours were scoring. In general, “everything is going according to plan”, except for the unexpected loss to CSKA.
Clubs presented their dear guest with a signature European dish – sticky basketball without quick breaks, a heap of wrestling in a three-second zone. Often such matches are won by the team that is more successful in attacking rebounds (10-2 in favor of the Spaniards) and has more leaders with iron nerves.Holden fired in the first half, while Reyes and Bullock fired in the second. Sergei Ivanov probably had to puzzle the prime minister with the obscure words “Smodis” and “Siskauskas” in order to explain the reasons for the defeat.
Topic of the week
“Exodus! Movement of jah people! ”- Bob Marley sang once. The singer glorified the moment when his fellow tribesmen would move from Jamaica to their homeland in Africa. But where will basketball players find shelter now, who cannot take root in Russia? The outcome of basketball players: on loan, to a former club, overseas – the main topic of the past week.Savrasenko fell out with Messina, Moiso returns to Hoventud, Krstic went to the NBA, there are rumors about Anderson’s departure, Gori is wooed in Estudiantes, the situation with Pargo is absolutely incomprehensible.
In a stressful situation, when salaries are delayed, and budgets are cut, when they really want to change something, many choose extreme measures. The most interesting thing is that some losses will be painless or even beneficial. The need has simply come, and the squad, overflowing in the off-season, is being cleaned up.
Quote of the week
With all the numerous interviews and speeches, the main statements of the week were Alexey Savrasenko’s curses. Unfortunately, it is unlikely that it will be possible to find out what phrases the outstanding coach and the center of the Russian national team characterized each other with. Let’s restrict ourselves to around the bush. Andrey Vatutin: “I would not separate the coach from the whole CSKA. Savrasenko’s disagreements are not with the mentor, but with the team. ” Ettore Messina: “It is very important for us that the basketball player is happy to play for our club …” Aleksey Savrasenko: “I have nothing to say yet.”
At the moment, the loss of the center, who attacked from the field with an indicator of 57% in the Euroleague, and 68% in the Russian championship, and cementing the three-second zone, looks tangible for CSKA. Savrasenko, whose contract with CSKA has not been terminated, will leave the best club in Europe, but he must find playing practice on loan: there are only a few experienced centers with a Russian passport.
Digits of the week
16 points was the average gap in matches between Russian and non-Russian clubs in the VTB Promo Cup.There was no intrigue, the Balts and Ukrainians did not particularly resist, and the Azovmash coach Rimas Girskis bluntly stated: “My task is to get out of the tournament with the least losses” … “I supported the reputation of the post-Soviet space”, if someone likes to think so, BC “, Watching out for Dynamo, tired of the fruitless struggle with the Khimki team.
959 spectators attended on average VTB Promo Cup matches according to RBF statistics. The organizers consider the pre-holiday weekend as the reasons for the low attendance of the Ice Hockey Cup in Moscow.
Young Player of the Week
Pleased with Sergio Scariolo. Achieving a confident lead from the starting five, the Italian willingly looks through all the players he has. Thus, after the matches with Azovmash and Besiktash, Russian fans knew Viktor Dubovitsky : the guy looked pretty confident for a beginner, visually no different from his star partners, threw two three-pointers to the Turks. Nikita Shabalkin was thrown into battle even against Dynamo, which was simply unthinkable under Kemzur, and once again proved that sitting on the bench does not lead to progress: ball, decision making – problems.
The brightest showed himself Timofey Mozgov . He is active, fast and jumpy with a height of 216 centimeters, fearless in the selection, not afraid to make mistakes, a rather soft brush – the impressions are extremely positive. For “garbage time”, to please fans with dunks and block shots, Timofey is already quite like it. Now I would like to learn how to optimize actions in difficult moments of the game and miss 4 fouls in 5 minutes, but only practice will help this. Will Mozgov get it after Lampe’s return is a question.
Debut of the week
Sergey Chika Chikalkin made his debut with UNICS Kazan in the 2008-09 season against Dynamo. Do not take seriously a few miserable minutes in matches with outsiders, for Chikalkin, who successfully bombed the Dream Team ring in 2000 in Sydney! Sergey used his first opportunity to prove himself just brilliantly – 6 three-pointers out of 8, 25 points, 3 assists!
“Chikalkin simply killed us,” Dynamo head coach David Blatt admitted at a press conference after the match.- Normally, UNICS is not a team with brilliant snipers. Therefore, our game plan was to push them out of the three-second zone, which we successfully did. But we could not expect that they would shoot from behind the arc with 50 percent … And Chikalkin … Before that, he had only been on the court for a couple of minutes. Although, of course, everyone knows that he is a sniper. But not that much! ” Here it is, a contribution to the debate about the role of personality in history: one basketball player destroyed an entire coaching concept.
Disappointment of the Week
It cannot be called anything other than sabotaging the actions of Giannero Pargo in the match with UNICS.The American handed the balls to his feet, then to touch, having made 7 losses, and sat down on a bench with his legs dangling. At the VTB Promo Cup, Giannero appeared in a well-chosen jacket: he, as you know, has a taste. The interest from the Suns and the Knicks, Gennady Drozdov’s denial, missing the squad – the situation is vague. It is a pity that this is happening with the potentially brightest player in the Russian championship.
Elephants and Gingerbread of the Week
The awarding ceremony “Golden baskets” from the RFE took place.The Federation has once again shown itself to be creative. Let others distribute awards at the end of the season, the RBF has a different path: the Federation awards at the end of two semi-seasons, for the fifth year in a row.
The obvious coach of the year – Ettore Messina. After pleasant hesitation, which of the Euroleague heroes is the most important, Trajan Langdon was awarded – he became the Legionnaire of the Year. The best club management – CSKA, also without a doubt, it is enough for clarity to compare the openness and information content of the site of CSKA and other clubs.Evgeny Gomelsky received the honorary prize for his contribution to the development of national basketball.
Disputes could arise as to who is the best Russian player – Kirilenko or Holden. For the national team, both leaders played about the same, for Holden – victories in the championship and the Euroleague, for Kirilenko – a pretty decent season for Utah. However, if we take into account the side issues, John’s nationality and Andrei’s most honorable role at the Olympics, there is no doubt about the federation’s decision – Andrei Kirilenko.
The awards, in which the Russian basketball school does not achieve success, are questionable.Yevgeny Pashutin was named the best Russian coach of the year for men’s teams at the bezrybe. His work as head coach so far looks rather ambiguous: Spartak is doing decently in the Russian championship, but has failed in the cups. I was not remembered for anything but a shameful fight in the Russian Cup, lost to unknown Romanians in Eurochallenge. Pashutin spent the first half of the season at the victorious CSKA Moscow, but not to appoint the best coach in Russia for his assistant work? I was surprised by the absence of Roman Dvinyaninov in the lists: he clearly bypassed Tikhonenko according to the results, and Eremin’s “achievements” are simply amazing, but the last two are nominees, but the creator of the main sensation of the playoffs is not.So … perhaps Evgeny Pashutin.
The best young player of the year – Alexey Shved. It seems that the RBF singled out those who participated in youth competitions under the auspices of FIBA, because the nominees Khvostov and Shved were practically not honored for clubs. Then the choice looks logical: Alexey Shved was the clear leader of the Russian youth team at the European Summer Championship, at least in throws, on average he attacked the ring 15.6 times per game. Hits were worse – 12 out of 26, 5 out of 18, 4 out of 15, 4 out of 13, 3 out of 11, 4 out of 11, 6 out of 21, and only in the last match, for 9th place – 6 out of 9.A comparison comes to mind with Kevin Durant, who was greenhoused at Seattle in his debut season. But if Durant’s team was losing the season, then the Russian team seemed to be fighting for high places. Dmitry Khvostov had an average youth championship: an average of 4.3 assists per game with 3.4 losses, 7.5 points with a hit percentage of 36.6. But the third nominee, Krivosheev, performed quite well – 6.9 rebounds, 10.8 points, the percentage of hits from the game 49 on average in 26.9 minutes. In addition, Maxim spent the winter and spring in 2008 very well in the Novosibirsk Lokomotiv, but … Well, let’s assume that Alexey Shved was awarded for his courage.
As for the media that best cover Russian basketball, the Sport TV channel is most likely named for the last time, and most fans will remember this fact with sadness. Slowly but surely, Russian basketball is migrating to NTV-Plus.
Expectations of the week
The season is interrupted, but not for long. In the Russian championship, only CSKA may not worry about their place, in European competitions the teams are neither shaky nor shaky, in general, next year is not without interest. It remains to wish the teams a good rest, get together in full rosters, throw off the winter blues – and play.
The daytime is coming to an end »Everything in the world of basketball
Following the Portland Trail Blazers performance this season has been incredibly exciting. This is where to start. Few people do not like the stories of “underdogs” who, despite injuries, illnesses, lack of protection, guaranteed victories from Charles Barkley and a general lack of resources, are free to literally snatch the game from opponents.
By the time all the teams took their places in the playoff grid, watching Damian Lillard’s confident interviews after another game with 50 points, it was easy to find a timid thought in your head: “What if ?.. “.
After an impressive victory in the first leg against the Lakers, the thought was not even that timid. Not for long, but it did. Although it’s actually not entirely correct to say that the Blazers won this match, it is more likely Los Angeles lost it. The score of the first match was 93-100, a rather low performance for both teams. I don’t want to belittle the merits of the Portland defense: on the contrary, in their own half, the team gave probably the best performance in a year. And this is when Collins is absent.
Overall, the Blazers still averaged 106.6 points per streak.For comparison, their average result in a bubble is 126 points.
By the fourth match, however, there was nothing left of hope at all. Around the time, in the third quarter, commentators got bored with discussing the game, and they began to discuss things that were much more exciting to them, like the struggle for social justice.
It is likely that if the playoffs were not in the bubble this year, the home court could have given the Blazers at least one more game. On the other hand, if not for the current situation, it is not a fact that Portland would have ended up in the playoffs.
Trail Blazers is a team that is very easy to sympathize with, and it is all the more difficult to understand that the future for the guys hardly has much bright in store.
But there are still positive aspects. First, the core of Lillard, McCollum and Nurkich is not going anywhere in the coming years. Damian has just had a phenomenal season and is essentially at his peak. Nurkich returned in much better shape than many expected. Although he looked extremely tired in the matches against the Lakers, this is more due to the abundance of big men from the LA team, as well as the fact that Terry Stotts ‘rotation was shorter than the Nets’ performance in this playoff.
McCollum is a little more controversial. In almost every match there is a moment when you look and do not understand why he is paid 27 million a year. And then at the right moment it connects and somehow you begin to understand. Still, he complements Lillard well and looks in Portland in its place.
Secondly, the team has a couple of good young players in the person of Zach Collins and Gary Trent Jr. (unfortunately, this is the case when “couple” really means two), which showed themselves well this summer.For Collins, however, this is not the first playoffs, and in general Stotts trusts him to play fairly long minutes. Zach is the kind of player that every coach would love to have. He does everything on the court that is asked of him, does not do too much, and always plays with great dedication. And the best thing is that after the expiration of his current contract, he is unlikely to qualify for something much more “fat”.
Trent Jr was generally the discovery of this renewal as an excellent 3&D player.Unfortunately, his offense was less impressive in the playoffs, but the defense remained in place. In any case, this is a good experience for a player who is only 20 years old.
In addition, the Blazers have 16 picks this year, a chance to pick another decent, if not stellar, rookie.
Carmelo Anthony went through an entire arc of redemption this season. He changed his approach and found himself the most suitable place in the league, becoming a mentor and so necessary third (if not fourth) option for Portland.Apparently, the long break helped Melo remind himself how much he loved the game, then to remind us why we loved him.
Anthony’s response to a controversial foul in favor of LeBron James evokes memories of a time when these players fought on equal terms.
From a practical point of view, Carmelo is a very profitable asset. He does not have to pay a lot, therefore the expectations and demand from him are low. So it turns out that no one hoped that the aged striker would play better in his own half, but in some places he gave out pretty good possessions, which, against the background of the generally not too protective Portland, generally look like feats.
Speaking of defense, Hassan Whiteside is now perhaps the main question mark for the club’s management. He was extremely useful against the Lakers, as it was a profitable matchup for him – LA are playing two big men. However, the league is rapidly moving towards smallball, and against such teams, Whiteside’s defense turns from premium to extremely budgetary. Hassan’s contract (worth 27 million a year, for a minute) has come to an end. It will be interesting to see what action Portland’s general management will take.It is only clear that the next check of the center will be much less.
The League was very active in promoting the Lakers-Blazers series, it was hard to miss. And all the analysts unanimously said that the Blazers are a very tricky 8th place, because the team could actually be much higher, and they play much better. However, one has only to look at the standings of the Western Conference to ask the question: “If Portland is not 8th place, then which one?”
Honestly, out of all the 7 teams above, none of them wants to move to put Damian Lillard there.There is simply no room. Moreover, the 8th place of the Blazers was in question.
Simple math: Of these 7 teams, none will get worse next season. There are no prerequisites for that. Most likely, the order in the table will change, but the faces will remain the same. Now let’s add the young Pelicans, Grizzlies and Sans to them, who will clearly qualify for next year’s post-season. San Antonio should never be discounted. And on top of that, the Golden State Warriors, who have their second pick in the current draft (can anyone believe that at all?) And whose backline will no longer be injured.
A total of 13 teams. As sad as it may sound, the Blazers line-up as it is is unlikely to be able to find a place in the playoffs with such math.
Obviously, there is only one solution for Portland fans: drag the city to the east coast.
choose a sport according to your zodiac sign
What exactly do the stars advise to representatives of different signs of the zodiac was told by Nadezhda Myzina, a famous Krasnodar astrologer.These tips can also be useful for parents of preschoolers who are still only dreaming of sports glory.
Each of us, depending on the date of birth, has a predisposition to engage in certain sports. If once the choice made coincides with the stellar recommendations, a person may well become, if not a champion, then definitely one of the best in his kind.
Element – fire (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius)
The representatives of these zodiac signs are characterized by increased energy, therefore they will be especially successful if they choose active sports.
Aries are natural leaders, purposeful and assertive, competition is important to them. The stars recommend that they go in for running (especially for short distances), auto racing, arm wrestling or mixed martial arts. Tennis, track and field athletics, wrestling, rowing, speed skating, fencing and shooting will also be successful. In team events, Aries often take the position of the attacker and are the leaders.
Leo needs a beautiful sport, where he could appear in front of spectators and judges in all its glory.After all, it is extremely important for them that everyone admires them. So dancing, figure skating, tennis and football are best suited for the representatives of this zodiac sign (there are always a lot of fans, applause). Leo can also excel in all kinds of game sports – basketball, handball, etc.
Sagittarius can try a lot of directions until they settle on something specific. It is noteworthy that for them the prestige of a sport can also be an important criterion when choosing.The stars advise to pay attention to orienteering, hiking, tourism, equestrian and luge sports.
Element – Earth (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn)
These people are ideally suited for sports aimed at developing flexibility, muscle mass, and creating a body sculpture. That is, those where you need to act purposefully, being aware of each exercise, practicing each movement. These are gymnastics, athletics, fitness and wrestling.
Taurus are strong and resilient, they always have an image in their head that they strive for.Therefore, it is best for them to pay attention to sports such as gymnastics, dancing, strength endurance training, and walking. Persistent training and the desire to ultimately get a beautiful, strong body may well make them the best in their discipline.
Virgos are great strategists, they are used to calculating everything in advance. Therefore, they will achieve the greatest success where logic is needed, the ability to calculate the results of their actions: chess, football, basketball, etc. Yoga, Pilates and aikido can also captivate representatives of this sign, since they are spiritually rich natures, with all their external dryness and lack of initiative.
Capricorns are very stubborn and hardy, they always need a long-term goal in everything. In this regard, representatives of this zodiac sign have the most chances to become winners in marathon races, weightlifting, mountaineering, rock climbing (training at climbing walls) and in alpine skiing. Hockey and figure skating classes will also be successful.
Element – Air (Gemini, Libra, Aquarius)
For these athletes, sports that require good coordination and responsiveness are most suitable: running, cycling, football, tennis, volleyball, etc.The optimal conditions for sports are open-air grounds. However, individual representatives of the air element can literally pull upward: go in for parachuting or fly on a hang glider.
The twins will be successful in team sports: football, handball, hockey, volleyball and basketball, as well as tennis and dancing. Their advantage is that they have a good sense of teamwork and quickly play with their comrades.
They are shown literally all kinds of sports associated with the grace and beauty of movement: gymnastics, synchronized swimming, pair figure skating, acrobatics, body flex.To achieve serious results, these athletes need partners like air, with whom they will, as they say, “on the same wavelength.”
Aquarius athletes need a team. Therefore, “their” sports are mainly games: football, basketball, volleyball. Unusual activities like yachting or skydiving can also attract.
Element – Water (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces)
All water sports are suitable for them: swimming, water polo, etc.But do not forget about figure skating and hockey, because the game takes place on ice, and this is also water, albeit frozen. Interestingly, for Cancers and Pisces, calmer sports are shown, and Scorpio needs to constantly overcome himself.
Cancers need sports not only for physical development, but also to find psycho-emotional balance in exercises. They can achieve good results in swimming, surfing, sailing, water polo. Good results can be shown in Pilates, yoga and rhythmic gymnastics.
For Scorpios, the best sport is the one from which adrenaline is constantly playing in the blood. “Their” occupations are wrestling, karate, stunt exercises (for example, those where there is jumping from a height). Scorpios constantly check themselves what they are capable of, and are ready to endure the pain of injuries and bruises.
Pisces are interested in yoga, stretching, figure skating and curling. Such people are usually very plastic, they convey their emotions well through movements. Spartan conditions are absolutely not suitable for them.And the severity of the coach can even bring up many complexes in them.
The last of the Mohicans. Where is basketball being played now?
With great confidence, but without a claim to one hundred percent accuracy, it is possible to divide all current championships into two camps. In the first camp, perhaps, we are still talking about the nature and some kind of internal interest of the federations not to stop the championships no matter what. Boycotts of players, calls for the basketball community to stop everything, disinfection right on the court – all in vain.We play. Until yesterday, the championships of Australia, Great Britain and Turkey could be attributed to this group.
Australia finally surrendered – the management and players of the Sydney Kings club issued a statement, refusing to enter the fourth match of the final series against the Perth Wildcats. The players agreed on a similar decision with the management of the club, having received support from him. The Aussie League hasn’t really protested this scenario. Now “Perth”, leading in the series to three wins with a score of 2: 1, is likely to be declared the champion ahead of schedule.Note that here, at least, everything is logical with the fact that they tried to finish the championship. It’s the final episode after all.
In Europe, it turns out, there are only matches in the UK and Turkey. No, we have not forgotten about Superleague 1 and Superleague 2 of the Russian Basketball Championship! It’s just that yesterday the RBF issued an official statement, in which it is written in black and white that from March 20 to April 10, absolutely all matches are suspended. Consequently, some clubs have already canceled their games, and some will play out and go on a forced break, as has already been done by Lokomotiv-Kuban-TsOP.
Back to business! So, Great Britain is an island state with its own rules for the basketball game and the prevailing foundations. Despite the fact that the championship has not yet been suspended, one team no longer plays its matches. It’s about London Lions. Will the UK Basketball Federation follow the FIBA recommendations? Rather yes, but so far 90% of matches are played on schedule. The next meeting on this issue will take place tonight, so it is possible that when you read this review, you will already have additional information about the British.
A difficult situation in Turkey, which is still trying to stand alone and play absolutely all the matches of the championship. It is clear that without spectators. Neither Larkin’s appeals, who have not yet taken away Turkish citizenship for starting a wave of indignation, nor a full-fledged letter from Galatasaray, in which the team asks to stop the championship, nor vivid demarches of individual clubs (the legionnaires of Biyukcekmece simply did not go to the the next game, which the Turkish squad lost by 23 points) until they break through the federation.And the players themselves understand that little can be changed by a boycott. Did the same Galatasaray write the letter? Wrote. Has the Federation kicked them off? I turned it off. Only two legionnaires did not make it to the next match – one in principle, the other because of a cold. However, there is a serious possibility that the Turks will still suspend the championships. Why is it in plural? Because the first and second divisions of the Turkish championship are also still in play. As, by the way, and all football divisions! Unbelievable but true.
For now.It is quite possible that Turkey and Great Britain will very soon appear in the form of the conditional Chingachguk and his son Uncas, who will not be able to save Cora and, of course, will not die, as in the book, but will simply suspend their championships for a while.
The situation is much simpler in other countries, which we will refer to the second camp. There are a little more of them than will be indicated in the text, but we will not consider the African championships. We take a higher level, after all. Or some kind of irony.You yourself will understand!
Japan, for example, along with China, became one of the first countries to carry out massive work on the prevention and control of COVID-19. The Japanese championship went into quarantine on February 17, and now, almost a month later, it was decided to resume the matches.
What is happening in the fight against coronavirus in Barbados and Mexico? It’s hard to say, but they play. As it is written in the newspaper “Evening Acapulco”: “We continue to dunch, everyone is basketball.”
Let’s talk about these exotic countries a little lower in the text, and now about China! There is no longer a pandemic that smoothly spread to Europe, so the championship will resume from April 2.It will be very interesting to watch how this happens, because many players have left the country and are not eager to return there. But! Do you remember that money doesn’t smell? And here it is only about them. The Chinese Federation has threatened all players who do not return to the League that they will be disqualified for life in China, and agents will be banned for 2-3 years. This is a very serious blow to wallets, so most likely 90% of players will return. We are not talking about such tops as Jeremy Lin, Lance Stevenson, Donatas Moteeunas or Miroslav Radulica, who will easily find a new club.In addition to these guys, there are 71 other legionnaires in the CBA. And all these guys went there for the dollar, and not for the popularization of basketball in China. Therefore, we should expect an even resumption of the championship without any dire consequences for the League.
We continue to follow with great interest what is happening on these basketball courts, which are alien to the Russian people. But there is also something to see, who to root for, what to celebrate! To relieve sadness, longing and sadness for basketball, we suggest you choose a championship and a team about which we will tell you from time to time on our website, while VTB United League and Loko are not in business. Of course, there is only one team for which we root and it is called Lokomotiv-Kuban, but while basketball life continues, we will try to brighten up your sports leisure with interesting information! You can vote on our VKontakte. Let’s go!
Bulls v Cavaliers. The Warriors are in last place. Harsh Barbados
Caribbean Sea, mild warm climate, excellent beaches with golden and white sand, a favorite drink of pirates, a paradise for surfers … And basketball! That will give.At the beginning of the article, we noted that in Europe, among those countries that still play basketball – Great Britain. What’s the connection? Barbados is a former British colony, where traditions are very carefully honored and preserved. Maybe this is connected with the fact that this particular championship appeared in our eyes in this review!
Let’s say right away that you will not see big names here. Let’s have no names at all ?! Because about those five legionnaires who play in the Barbados championship, you will hardly ever hear in your life.Well, perhaps if you suddenly take a walk in the wilds of Bridgetown (the capital of Barbados) and slightly exceed the norm for a pirate drink.
But the teams here are just a delight for the ears of basketball connoisseurs! And fast food lovers, by the way. In first place are Burger King Bulls. We are much more accustomed to the “Chicago Bulls”, but oh well, bulls and bulls. Apparently a coincidence … Ha! No, everything is thought out to the details! The Cavaliers, the Lakers, the Celtics and even the Warriors. Now hold on – the wars are in a confident last place in the championship, as if copying their slightly stronger colleagues from the NBA this season.Miracles on the Barbados bends! On the second place, remembering fast food, “KFC Pinelands”.
Cleveland fought LAL last weekend and won 82:70! Oh, what are we dreaming about. It’s just that the Cavaliers played the Lakers in Barbados …
Mexican CIBACOPA
The name of the championship, of course, looks more like a nickname, but that is what it is. Seriously though, Circuito de Baloncesto de la Costa del Pacífico or CIBACOPA.
Everyone knows that people in Mexico know how to play basketball and that the country is famous for its good players. Let’s just remember about Gustavo Ayona, who recently came to the Basket Hall with Zenit. However, now we will not talk about the Mexican championship, but about the Northwestern Mexico championship. An analogue of the championship of the Festival District of Krasnodar or not is difficult to say, since there are no broadcasts in nature. The teams don’t sound like that, but the legionnaires are clearly stronger than in the Barbados championship.
There are huge doubts that anyone has ever heard of the three titles of “Hermosillo”, “Tijuana” or “Trigeiros” in this championship, but what if we find out that there are fans of this particular tournament among the local family ?!
Hint: We can suggest rooting for Tijuana because they have the strongest squad of nine Americans and an experienced coach, Henry Bibby, who has worked as an assistant at Philadelphia, Memphis and Detroit for about ten years.It is also the westernmost city in Latin America. By the way, when you fly to cheer for them, we implore you, do not walk along Avenida Revolucion at night. It is very dangerous! During the day, it is normal.
Japanese B League with Hendrix, McLean and Kwale
The Land of the Rising Sun was the first to withdraw from the basketball quarantine, which began in Japan on February 17. During this time, a gigantic work has been done and now, the holiday is back! True, so far without fans, but even then bread.The Japanese Championship is famous for a huge number of teams in three divisions, but we will only talk about the elite B League, where there are enough smart players and teams that are not bad by the standards of Asia.
Among the players who are not alien to VTB League fans, let us recall David Simon (played for Astana in the 2013/14 season) and Leo Lyons (played for Budivelnik, and then transited through Pinar to Nizhny Novgorod, where he played only five matches). Ukrainian center Vyacheslav Kravtsov spent several months with CSKA in the 2015/16 season, and after long performances in Spain now plays for San-en NP.Slava was not very lucky with the team: 5 wins in 41 matches.
In general, there are many good players in the Japanese championship. Remember Ryan Kelly, the NCAA champion with Duke, who then spent three seasons at the Lakers and played a little for Atlanta. Who knows, if not for the injuries, then perhaps Kelly would not be annealed in “Hitachi” now.
Now about the main thing. Of course, all Loko fans with experience remember those two and a half seasons from January 2013 to May 2015, when Richard Hendrix instilled fear in all the rivals of the Red-Greens in the three-second zone.Time has passed, but we remember and have great respect for this wonderful player. The American Macedonian (Rich received a Macedonian passport in 2014) reached the final of the French Cup with Le Mans last year, and this season he has shown an excellent performance in one of the leaders of the elite division of the Japanese championship, Osaka. 15.7 points + 10.6 rebounds in 24 minutes on average on the court – not bad numbers for a veteran. Double-double on average per game!
Center Brian Kwale, who played for Loko in the 2017/18 season and now represents Szymane, has even more impressive statistics.Kwale is also averaging a double-double of 19.6 points and 10.3 rebounds. True, things for Shimane are clearly worse than for the same Osaka – 11 wins in 41 matches. By the way, just a couple of days ago the teams played double matches – two wins for Hendrix and company.
This year, Jamel McLean also moved to Japan, who was unable to play in Italy. Jamel played for Loko in the 2018/19 season, and now defends the colors of the team from the city of Nagoya. 18.7 points + 11.2 rebounds per game on average.And again, double-double on average per match. A car!
London Goodbye, Istanbul in play.
Everyone knows about the championships of Great Britain and, especially, Turkey. They are not some kind of secret for the fan. Therefore, there is no point in delving too deeply into the story. Let’s just remind that our old acquaintances from Tofash are playing somewhere there, who, by the way, easily passed the second round of the Eurocup. There is also Efes, Fenerbahce, Darushsafaka, Besiktash and many more interesting clubs, which, quite possibly, some of you are a fan of personally.
The UK is a conservative country, but in terms of broadcasts, they are ahead of many of the top basketball powers. All BBL (Great Britain Championship) matches can be easily watched on YouTube, without wasting a second of your precious time searching for a broadcast.
We hope that you have a little satisfied the information hunger of the last days with the help of this background information. And now in our VK community you can vote about which of the above you will be interested in reading in this quarantine pause, which today is officially extended until April 10.
