Basketball shooting legend - Oscar Schmidt

I came across this article on Bounce Magazine and had to give it love by sharing it here.

Oscar Schmidt made our list of the top ten all-time greatest shooters but wouldn't be known by that many people, especially the younger readers. Read (click on the title below to read the full story), learn and make sure to watch the video clips. The man was a legend ...

The Semi-Automatic: Oscar Schmidt | Streetball, Sneakers, Bobbito, Nike Air Force, Jordans

Basketball, broken down to its simplest compound, is about scoring more buckets than the team you’re playing against. The Semi-Automatic refers to players who leave bodies in their wake with their innate ability to get buckets. And few players can truly say that they are, or ever were, on the same level as the man known as “Mao Santa”, aka “The Holy Hand.”

Who is the greatest player to never wear an NBA uniform? Valid arguments could be made for asphalt legends like Joe Hammond aka “The Destroyer” aka “Dirty Hand Joe”, Oakland’s Hook Mitchell, Pee Wee Kirkland, Earl Manigault aka “The Goat” and others of similar stature. But don’t forget about Oscar.

“Who is that?”, you might be asking yourself. Oscar Schmidt is simply a legend among legends from Brazil. Outside of America, along with those enligtened souls within the USA who understand the man’s place in the game’s pantheon, he’s considered one of the greatest basketball players to ever grace God’s green earth.

Bounce Magazine

I often mention and read Dime Magazine every day but I sometimes forget or only check their offshoot Bounce Magazine weekly, if that.

Catching up on their stuff today tho they had some true GOLD.

First they preview an underground, low-budget basketball movie Streetballers.

Next they had what looks to be a European, almost artistic basketball commercial.

And last but not least they have an in depth look at Cheryl & Reggie Miller. Reggie is one of my favourite shooters and I thoroughly enjoyed his book "I love being the enemy" (until my mum threw out a box of my stuff). If you've never heard the catch-cry "Its Miller time!!" or if you never saw Reggie play ... watch and learn from the below. He was much more than this game but it encapsulates all he was as a player.

New free-throw shooting record

After my post last week about free-throw shooting, I came across this story on the Bounce Magazine website about a new record for most free-throws in two minutes.

Click on the story below to read the full story.

Justin Kittredge Breaks World Basketball Record | Streetball, Sneakers, Bobbito, Nike Air Force, Jordans

Justin Kittredge of South Boston is the new world record holder for “The Most Unassisted Free Throws Made in Two Minutes” after hitting 64 FTs in 120 seconds at Reebok International Headquarters in Canton, Massachusetts on May 14, 2009.

The Playground Gave Us Isiah (college years)

On the day that our friends at Dime ran a story about how the NBA's LA Clippers must be out of their minds talking to Isiah Thomas about a front office position, I came across a tribute to Isiah (the player) by Bounce Magazine for his college years. Being one of the greatest short point guards to playing in the NBA, Isiah definitely ticks the boxes of what I like in a player.

My favourite Isiah memory is from his playing days in Detroit, game 6 of the 1988 Finals Series against the Lakers. Although he had severely sprained his ankle late in the game, Thomas continued to play. While hobbling and in obvious pain, Isiah scored 25 points in a single quarter of the contest, an NBA finals record. And from the commentator (about Thomas) after he hits yet another bucket, the immortal line, "He owns the night!"

Click on the title below to read (and watch) all about Isiah in his college years.

The Playground Gave Us Isiah - The March Madness Edition | Streetball, Sneakers, Bobbito, Nike Air Force, Jordans

In March of ‘81, Isiah Thomas became a college basketball legend. He was the one indispensable member of coach Bob Knight’s Indiana Hoosier squad that captured the Big 10 Championship en route to March Madness.

The team leader in scoring, steals and assists was not only the best pure guard in the country, he was the best the college game had seen since North Carolina’s amazing Phil Ford.

The irascible and stubborn coach Knight took unprecedented steps in revamping the Hoosier’s offensive sets in order to take full advantage of Isiah’s floor game, speed, spontaneous creativity and explosive, one-on-one proficiency.

In order to understand how much Isiah meant to the team, and an entire basketball crazed state, consider this. When word leaked out prior to the ‘81 NCAA Tourney that he was considering declaring hardship to make that pro money, the Ways and Means Committee of the Indiana House of Representatives suddenly stopped its meeting and called the university. Provided assurances that Isiah was staying in school, the relieved legislators went back about their political business.