1984 NBA Draft - Some things you may not have known

Everybody knows that the 1984 NBA Draft class is considered one of the best ever featuring such names as Jordan, Hakeem, Barkley and Stockton.

But did you know, back in '84 the draft had not two but TEN rounds of picks?!

With the 131st pick in the sixth round, the New Jersey Nets selected Brazilian and Olympic legend Oscar Schmidt.  However, Schmidt turned down the offers to play in the NBA and stayed to play in Italy and later in Brazil. He played in five Olympics and was the top scorer in three of them. He finished his career with 49,703 points with various clubs and the Brazilian national team, more than the NBA's career scoring leader, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who scored 38,387 points in his NBA career.

BUT ... the funniest fact that I think I knew but forgot, was ... with the 208th pick in the tenth round, the Chicago Bulls select ... University of Houston track and field athlete Carl Lewis! Despite never having played college basketball the Chicago Bulls picked the soon to be Olympic legend. Not surprisingly, Lewis stayed with his athletics career and went on to win nine Olympic gold medals and eight World Championship gold medals.

One HD ... I love you

Aussie NBA fans were in heaven on Friday night when One HD showed the first of its NBA: Hall of Fame Tribute games. They started with Chicago Bulls vs Utah Jazz in game 5 of the '97 NBA Finals Series ... better known as "the flu" game. FaceBook was full of comments from my basketball friends who were loving Michael Jordan's heroics.

Having been starved of NBA action over the last couple of years I am so looking forward to One HD showing at least three NBA games per week. The classic NBA games are a great way to get fans warmed up for the upcoming season.

If you don't know or somehow don't remember this game, check the footage below.

On a side note, I stumbled across a fashion article earlier. Could this be the only time the phrase "Jordan-esque" has ever been used in derogatory way?

"There were some truly hideous fashion faux pas. Silver sequinned 'pasties', for example, belong in a lap dancing club unless you subscribe to a Jordan-esque dress code."

Thankfully I know they are referring to the British model Jordan (Katie Price), rather than the G.O.A.T, otherwise it would be sacrilegious!

Michael Jordan/Gatorade street art photos

Tux sent an e-mail through to me earlier with an interview by the team at Ball Don't Lie with Scottie Pippen. From that article came the story about Gatorade's tribute to Michael Jordan's impending induction in to the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Click on the title below to read the full story and the interview with Chicago Bulls legend Scottie Pippen.

Michael Jordan/Gatorade street art photos - Ball Don't Lie - NBA - Yahoo! Sports

A street art tribute to Michael Jordan made out of 19,000 Gatorade bottles, including the new Gatorade Limited Edition Jordan Series, glows on a basketball court Monday on Chicago's South Side. Local Jordan fans and longtime Jordan teammate Scottie Pippen helped construct the mosaic, which Gatorade organized as a way to celebrate Jordan's Hall of Fame career.

Yes, its a pretty slow time for NBA news, but again, thanks to the crew at Ball Don't Lie, the guys at The Basketball Jones teach you how to keep basketball in your life. Pretty funny stuff for those of us who LOVE the game.

Ray Allen, Ray Allen, Ray Allen

Yes, I'm a little late in posting this, but you knew it was coming eventually. In game 6 of their series against the Chicago Bulls, Boston Celtic's shooting guard Ray Allen exploded for a career playoff high 51 points. Here's his stat line from the night:

Boston

Starters

Min

FG

3Pt

FT

+/-

Off

Reb

Ast

TO

Stl

BS

BA

PF

Pts

R. Allen

G

58:44

18-32

9-18

6-7

+1

2

5

3

3

3

0

0

1

51

I mentioned when we gave him the Shooter of the Month award that Ray is a perfectionist and this was clearly evident in the post-game press conference. I was in the gym that afternoon so caught it on SportsCenter. Despite his fantastic performance, after his team lost, Ray was only thinking about the shots that he missed and the ones that got away.

Ray Allen brilliant in defeat - BostonHerald.com
But laments points lost in razor-thin showdown

By Steve Bulpett / Celtics Beat
Friday, May 1, 2009

CHICAGO - Ray Allen scored 51 points in 59 minutes of a 68-minute game. There are few words that can adequately describe how brilliant his performance was, how he found ways at the most critical times to beat a defense bent on stopping him.

Were basketball an individual game, he would have been smiling as he walked down the United Center hallway in his fine suit. But the numbers that truly matter - 128 for the Bulls, 127 for the Celtics - eclipsed Ray’s ray of sunshine.

After scoring his career playoff high, Allen was left to think about the ones that got away.

“After the game, I was thinking about the plays I missed,” he said. “When you are on the losing end, that’s what you remember.”

Allen came out firing, with nine points in the first quarter and 20 in the second. The strategy looked more than sound. If Ben Gordon was going to be suffering through a hamstring problem, then make him really suffer by going right at him.

Basketball Shooting

Why do you want to become a great shooter? What will come of all that time in the gym? The lonely hours spent perfecting your form, honing your craft. The great ones have put in the work so that come game time, when their team needs them most, they're ready, they deliver.

Last night was yet another example of what separates the truly great shooters from the good. Our favourite NBA shooter, Ray Allen coming through for the Boston Celtics when they need him most.

Game 1, Ray shot just 1 of 12 from the field. The truly great shooters know that everyone has bad days and they have the confidence to bounce back and keep shooting. They don't shy away from the spotlight, they revel in it and they want to show the world that an off-night won't stop them.

So we get to game 2, 10 seconds left, scores tied:



For the record, here's Ray's line from the night:

Boston Celtics (1-1)

			Field Goals				Rebounds
	pos	min	fgm-a	3pm-a	ftm-a	+/-	off	def	tot	ast	pf	st	to	bs	ba	pts
P.Pierce	F	43:55	8-19	0-1	2-3	+5	0	8	8	3	2	1	4	0	4	18
G.Davis	F	41:17	12-21	0-0	2-3	+20	4	5	9	0	3	1	1	1	1	26
K.Perkins	C	32:19	7-9	0-0	2-5	+12	7	5	12	0	3	1	3	2	2	16
R.Allen	G	38:47	9-18	6-10	6-6	+5	0	3	3	5	4	0	0	0	1	30
R.Rondo	G	40:03	7-18	0-1	5-8	+17	7	5	12	16	1	5	2	0	5	19

With Ray Allen's heroics, what will get slightly less talk than it deserves is the shooting performance of young gun, Ben Gordon from the Chicago Bulls. Gordon has had a great season (coincidentally in a contract year) and this was one of his best.

Chicago Bulls (1-1)

			Field Goals				Rebounds
	pos	min	fgm-a	3pm-a	ftm-a	+/-	off	def	tot	ast	pf	st	to	bs	ba	pts
J.Salmons	F	39:24	6-17	1-5	4-5	-7	1	1	2	2	1	1	2	1	3	17
T.Thomas	F	20:25	2-7	0-1	2-2	-21	0	4	4	0	2	0	1	6	1	6
J.Noah	C	38:50	6-9	0-0	1-1	-4	3	5	8	3	4	2	1	4	0	13
B.Gordon	G	43:31	14-24	6-11	8-9	-1	0	1	1	0	2	1	0	0	0	42
D.Rose	G	34:25	5-11	0-0	0-0	+1	2	4	6	7	2	0	2	2	0	10