basketball
The world of Basketball detailed by the voices of the unathletic. Discussing play, culture, and, of course, who's the best. Trust the Process.
5 Games That Defined Their Career: Kobe Bryant
It has been almost four months since the untimely passing of NBA Legend, one of the GOATs, and my childhood idol Kobe Bean Bryant , I've been trying to write this for weeks starting from the week after he passed but never got around to doing it until now.
By Sarah Lee6 years ago in Unbalanced
Karl Malone: 2 paternity cases you might not know.
Every basketball fan in the world has heard of who Karl Anthony 'The Mailman' Malone is? The second all-time leading scorer in the history of the league (for now), an essential part of the 1990s Utah Jazz team, along with John Stockton who is the all time leader in assists challenged Michael Jordan and the Bulls in the 1997 and 1998 NBA finals, despite losing both of them, he then went on to team with up Gary Payton, Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant as the 2003-2004 Los Angeles Lakers superteam but were disappointed when they were dominated in the 2004 Finals by the Detroit Pistons, losing 4-1.
By Sarah Lee6 years ago in Unbalanced
Who is Ian Lavalaye?
Every basketball player has his/her doubters. Whether it is a coach, a fan or a competitor, someone tells them that their dream is too big or impossible and that "It will never happen". But these words don't make athletes give up but it makes them work harder, all because of one reason...
By Dunkyard6 years ago in Unbalanced
NCAA basketball: ranking the top 20 jerseys in Division 1 basketball
Many programs use their jerseys as a way of expressing history and tradition. With the Kentucky blue and white and the UCLA gold, here's a list of the 25 best college basketball jerseys from the 2019-20 season.
By Yousef Babikian6 years ago in Unbalanced
The Toronto Raptors have taken the risk this season, found a rhythm and grown since winning the NBA.
The Toronto Raptors. 2018-2019 NBA Champions. Eastern Conference Champions. A first championship for the Raptors in the 2019 NBA Finals. A year ago, I may not have remembered this, but a year on and I do. And I love being a part of the Raptor family.
By Peter Mason6 years ago in Unbalanced
John Jay Wins Fox Lane Tip Off Tournament
After defeating Poughkeepsie in a tight back and forth game in the semifinals of the Fox Lane Tip Off Tournament on Thursday Night, Saturday afternoon’s start looked like it would be a cruise for the John Jay girls. But a 20-5 first quarter lead against Blind Brook turned into some pretty choppy water for Indians. “Our girls would go on a run, Blind Brook would battle back and then we would make big shots,” said John Jay Head Coach Matt Gallagher. Of course, somebody had to laugh last when all was said and done.
By Rich Monetti6 years ago in Unbalanced
2001-2003 New Jersey Nets
I was recently watching some of the old NBA finals games and I came across this gem. The New Jersey Nets. The Nets went to finals for two straight years, and although they failed both times to capture the title, they were a great team and an exciting one to watch too.
By Shandon Pendleton6 years ago in Unbalanced
NBA Twitter Celebrates the Apparent Demise of John Paxson
Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reports that the Chicago Bulls are actively seeking a new top basketball executive. In other words, Thank U John Paxson, NEXT! NBA Twitter is celebrating as only this snarky, schadenfreude-loving, maniacs can. As a Chicago Bulls fan myself, I am completely here for this, lapping up every nasty, flippant, insulting moment of it. Let’s go to the twitter pile-on of all twitter pile-ons.
By Sean Patrick6 years ago in Unbalanced
Portland Trail Blazers
The Portland Trail Blazers is a professional American basketball team based in Portland, Oregon, and is simply called the Blazers. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association, as a part of the NBA's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team played its home games in the Memorial Coliseum before moving to Moda Center in 1995. Between 1977 to 1995, the franchise sold out 814 straight home games, the longest such streak in all professional sports in America at the time, and only since the Boston Red Sox surpassed that, the club entered the league as an expansion team in 1970. The Trail Blazers became the last NBA team located in the bi-national Pacific Northwest, after the Vancouver Grizzlies relocated to Memphis and became the Memphis Grizzlies in 2001 and the Seattle SuperSonics relocated to Oklahoma City in 2008. Sports promoter Harry Glickman desired the National Basketball Association's Portland franchise as far back as 1955, where he suggested two new expansion teams, the other one located in Los Angeles. As the Coliseum Memorial opened in 1960, Glickman saw the potential it could bring as a professional basketball venue, but it wasn't until February 6, 1970, that the NBA's board of directors gave him the rights to a Portland franchise. Glickman partnered with the real estate magnates of New Jersey's Robert Schmertz, Los Angeles 'Larry Weinberg, and Seattle's Herman Sarkowsky to receive the $3.7 million entrance fee funds. Two weeks later, on 24 February, team members held a contest to select the project name and received more than 10,000 submissions. "Pioneers" was the most popular choice, but that name was omitted from the list because it was already used by the Lewis & Clark College in Portland for sports teams. The name "Trail Blazers" earned 172 entries and was ultimately chosen by the reviewing jury and revealed on March 13 at the Memorial Coliseum in the half-time of a SuperSonics contest. Driven by explorers constructing trails through the mountains through the trail burning process, Glickman named it a name that could "represent both the ruggedness of the Pacific Northwest and the beginning of a major league era in our community. In Portland, the name Trail Blazers became popular in the middle of the initial mixed reaction, often shortened to simply "Blazers." During the 1980s the team became a consistent presence in the NBA each season, failing to qualify for the playoffs alone in 1982. However, they never advanced beyond the semi-finals of the conference during the decade. During the decade, the Los Angeles Lakers dominated the NBA's Pacific Division, and only the Lakers and the Houston Rockets represented the Western Conference in the NBA Finals. Core players for the Blazers during the early 1980's included Mychal Thompson, Billy Ray Bates, Fat Lever, Darnell Valentine, Wayne Cooper, T. R. Dunn, Jim Paxson, and Calvin Natt. The Blazers finished the 2014 season with 21 more wins than the previous season, which led to the largest single-season improvement in franchise history. This involves a November run in which they played 11 straight games and 13–2 overall during the month that coach Terry Stotts took off the Coach Month honors. On 12 December 2013, Aldridge scored 31 points and pulled down 25 rebounds against the Rockets in a home game, the first time a Trail Blazers player posted a 30-point, 25-rebound result. On 14 December 2013, the Blazers made a franchise record 21 3-pointers against the Philadelphia 76ers. 19 days later, they tied the current record against the Charlotte Bobcats, becoming the first NBA player to score 20 or more three-pointers in a game more than once in a season. Lillard was named as a starter to his first All-Star game, joining Aldridge in representing Portland at the tournament. Portland had finished 54–28, securing a fifth seed in the playoffs against the Rockets. The squad also shot 81.5 percent at the free throw line, made 770 three-pointers, and played four positions in all 82 regular-season games, all franchise records.
By MB6 years ago in Unbalanced
Toronto Raptors
The Toronto Raptors is a professional Canadian basketball team, based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball League, as a member of the nba's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. They play their home games at Arena Scotiabank where they compete with the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League. The band was formed in 1995, along with the Vancouver Grizzlies, as part of the expansion of the NBA into Canada. Since the 2001–02 season when the Grizzlies relocated from Vancouver to Memphis, Tennessee, the Raptors were the only Canadian-based team in the League. After Carter had resigned Chris Bosh emerged as Team Leader. Bryan Colangelo was named general manager for the 2006–07 season, and the Raptors qualified in five years for their first playoff berth to win the Atlantic Division title with a mix of Bosh, 2006 first overall draft picker Andrea Bargnani and a roster revamp. In the 2007–08 season they qualified for the playoffs but struggled to reach the post-season in each of the next 5 seasons. Colangelo overhauled the squad's roster for the 2009–10 season in an effort to persuade potential free agent Bosh to return, but Bosh left to sign with the Miami Heat in July 2010, starting another phase of rebuilding for the Raptors. Masai Ujiri succeeded Colangelo in 2013 and helped usher in a new growth era, headed by a backcourt pair, DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry. The Raptors returned to the playoffs the next year and were a consistent playoff team every year of Ujiri's tenure. Under Ujiri, the team won five Division championships, and recorded their most productive regular season in 2018. However, the team's failure to reach the NBA Finals resulted in Ujiri fire head coach Dwane Casey at the conclusion of the 2018 playoffs, and conduct the high-profile swap of DeRozan for Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green later that year, as well as acquiring Marc Gasol before the trade deadline. The Raptors won their first crown in the 2019 playoffs in the Eastern Division, and advanced to their first NBA finals where they earned their first NBA championship. Initially, the team's first logo portrayed an furious, red Velociraptor wearing white shoes and bare toe claws dribbling a basketball, inspired by the Jurassic Park film's popularity and the appeal of dinosaurs to younger audiences who would grow up as franchise fans. Orange, soft gold, black and "True Naismith" became the squad's original colors. The logo proved to be very popular with fans, as by the end of 1994 the Raptors were seventh in merchandise sales in the league. For the 2008−09 season, the franchise dropped the purple hue from the original logo, making bright red the primary hue of both the team's logo and jerseys. On December 19, 2014, the Toronto Raptors released a new primary logo, which the team described as "a triangular shield with a ball torn by an unmistakable assault by a Raptor" The Toronto Raptors used different court art throughout the history of the organization. The Raptors used the Huskies logo for retro games, so long as the Raptors are among the NBA's newest teams. The Raptors will use the Welcome Toronto logo in some titles beginning in early 2018, since the Raptors share strong relations with Toronto-based rapper Drake, as well as the 3D Raptors logo. Also printed on the courthouse are the name and logo of Scotiabank partner Tangerine Bank. The Raptors jerseys debuted during the 1995–96 season, and worn until 1999, had black and white tears as pinstripes, edgy asymmetric lettering, a raptor claw on one side of the pants, and a raptor on the other side biting the 'T' of the 'TR' franchise logo; and featured a red giant and aggressive Velociraptor dribbling a basketball in the middle of the shirt. The Raptors unveiled some new uniforms in 1999−2000, revealing a distinctive road jacket with a purple forehead and a black back. In 2003−04, the Raptors unveiled a solid red alternate which would become the main road jersey in 2006−07 when purple was dropped from the club's color scheme. From 2008−09 to 2014−15, the Raptors unveiled their alternate black road uniforms which were in turn worn as often as the original red ones.
By MB6 years ago in Unbalanced
Utah Jazz
The Utah Jazz is a Salt Lake City based amateur, American basketball team. The Jazz play as a part of the National Basketball Association's Western Conference, Northwest Division of the nba. Since 1991 the team has played their home games at the Vivint Smart Home Arena. The franchise started playing as an expansion team for New Orleans Jazz in 1974. The Jazz moved to Salt Lake City in 1979. The Jazz has been one of the most successful teams in the League in their early years. Though ten seasons went by in 1984 before the Jazz qualified for their first playoff appearance, they did not miss the playoffs again until 2004. During the late 1980s, John Stockton and Karl Malone debuted as franchise stars of the organization, establishing one of NBA's most influential point guard – power forward duets. Driven by coach Jerry Sloan who took over from Frank Layden in 1988, they were one of the top teams of the 1990s, resulting in two NBA Finals appearances in 1997 and 1998, where they both lost to the Chicago Bulls of Michael Jordan. Stockton and Malone both moved on in 2003. The Jazz came back to prominence under point guard Deron Williams on-court coaching, after skipping the playoffs for three consecutive seasons. But the Jazz started reconstruction partially during the 2010–11 season, after Sloan's retirement and Williams 'trade to the New Jersey Nets. Quin Snyder had been hired to become the head coach in June 2014. With Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert developing into All-Stars, the team is once again seen as a potential championship challenger. During the jazz age in New Orleans from 1974 to 1979 the home uniform was white with gold accents, a purple "Jazz" script and purple numbers. The road uniform was purple with gold trimming, white "Jazz" writing, and white numbers. The Franchise's original violet gold and green shades are the most associated with New Orleans 'Mardi Gras. When the band moved to Utah in 1979 the Jazz made small changes to the jerseys. The home jerseys stayed the same through the 1986–87 season, with the word "Utah" being added to the logo on the middle side. The road uniforms were changed to dark green with the aforementioned Jazz logo on the middle chest and gold numbers. For the 1984–85 season, they were changed back to violet, this time with gold numbers and white padding, along with the addition of the word 'Utah' on the logo. Such uniforms were worn up until the 1995–96 season. For the 1996–97 season, the Jazz radically revamped their uniforms and jerseys with a new palette of red, gold, and turquoise colors. Their new uniform kit featured a middle chest Wasatch Range silhouette, with a modern stylish Jazz script and violet and turquoise details. The white mountain range gradually transforms to violet just above the white numbers on the purple road top, with copper interior trim and teal outline. The house white jersey numbers are red, with white interior trim and teal outline. The Jazz took on these uniforms before the 2003–04 season. The Jazz also debuted a new black uniform in the 1998–99 season with the jazz script on the middle shoulder, but without the outline of the Wasatch Series. Both the jazz script and numbers on this jersey are white, with purple interior trim and copper border, and side panels in copper. The uniform was worn until the 2003–04 season. In the 2004–05 season, the Jazz redesigned their color scheme, badges, and uniforms again. The team's new paint scheme used until the end of the 2009–10 season consisted of dark blue, light blue, silver and purple but the latter colour was used primarily on the primary and secondary logos. The squad logo stayed essentially the same except for the new color change. The new home uniform consisted of a revamped "Jazz" script on the middle collar in navy blue, with marine numbers each featuring silver interior trim and powder blue outline. The new road uniform was navy blue, on the middle collar with a powder blue "Utah" script, and powder blue numbers, with silver outline and white interior trim.
By MB6 years ago in Unbalanced
