Rice can barely palm the ball. But that has not stopped him from raising his scoring average in each of his first three NBA seasons, and he is now one of the guns who can be counted on to produce 20 points every night.
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Grant Hill: A Five-Star Serenade, 1994
Grant Hill got his first taste of hoops on the tube. He said, “I can do that” and “that too” and also “that” and “that.” Then he went out and did it.
Darrell Griffith and Some Dirt Bowl Delight, 1975—1999
The Dirt Bowl may be the last refuge of the true neighborhood team—literally, a Bunch of Guys From the Block.
Zelmo Beaty: The Butler Did It, 1973
Writer Jim O’Brien described Beaty as a “player who moves about the court like a snobbish butler, but works like a laborer under the boards.”
K.C. Jones Talks Defense, 1973
What was Jones’ requisite for trying to defend opposing supers? “Learn as much as possible about their strengths and weaknesses and master the basic fundamentals of defense.”
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Busting Out the Goggles, 1974
Kareem got off the bench, and the boos began. He was booed every time he put an elbow near Gianelli’s throat in the pivot, did anything the fans didn’t like, and when he entered and left the game
Pro Basketball’s Fun at Fort Wayne, 1955
“You think I took a helluva gamble entrusting a team—and a franchise—to a man who had never coached college or pro ball and who was at the time a mere referee. It was no gamble to me.”
Spencer Haywood: No Knocking on ‘Wood,’ 1970
“I kept asking myself, ‘What am I getting out of all this?’ The school is making a lot of money, but why shouldn’t I be making some?’”
Detroit Pistons: Called for Travelling, 1982
Dawn is breaking over another airport runway. The Pistons, on their way back to Detroit, have been up since 5:30 a.m., and they straggle down the nearly deserted corridor leading to their gate, suit bags slung over their shoulders, a duffel bag in one hand and a newspaper in the other.
Kelly Tripucka: Two Crazy Nights in January 1983
“Hey, it has to come from the heart,” Tripucka said, poking himself in the chest. “If you can’t be excited about a game like this, if it doesn’t give you any kind of thrill, you’ve got absolutely no business in the game.”