HoopsAnalyst

Bird talking about going up against Magic in 84:

Bird v Magic played each other more in the Finals (19) than tthe regular season (18). Some notes on reg season:
-Magic was held to single digits 4x
-Bird's low was 11 pts
-Bird had 2 trip-dubs, 0 for Magic
-Magic had the 2 highest scoring games
www.sports-reference.com/stathead/tin...

Bird's 3-point attempts by month in 90-91:

From "Unfinished Business," Larry Bird critiques Jack McCallum's fantasy hoops team. Bird says Brad Lohaus won't get any stats in MIL. Also, Bird was not bullish on Benoit Benjamin ("overweight" and "inconsistent"). Also Bird admits he stopped shooting 3s to help his FG%:

1980-81 Johnson's by WS:

Marques 11.2
Dennis, 8.4
Eddie (ATL), 6.9
Magic, 6.4
Vinnie, 5.9
Mickey, 5.3
George T, 4.5
Clem, 3.7
Reggie, 3.0
George, 2.2
Ollie, 1.3
John, 1.2
Lee, -0.2

Bonus Hollander POTD George Johnson. St John's F was drafted 12th in 78 by MIL. Sat as rook & was sold to DEN in 79. Sold back to MIL in 80 but traded to IND, where he was solid big from 80-84 (peaked at 13 ppg). Out of NBA by 86 (age 29). Not to be confused w/George T Johnson.

We asked ChatGPT for a sim of the 88-89 Celtics with a Healthy Bird:

Hollander POTD Larry Bird. Bio from after his lost 88-89 injury ridden season. Boston was a .500 team without him. There was talk of activating him for the playoffs but they wisely decided it wasn't worth the risk. Came back in 89-90 not quite as good but still a star.

Report on the Gilliam-Pearl tiff: www.deseret.com/1989/4/20/18...

From Heeren's 91-92 Basketball Abstract, the All-Mean Team:
-Cartwright for elbowing peeps
-Barkley for techs & fan interactions
-Mahorn for KOing Price
-Gilliam for trying to attack Pearl after a game
-LaSalle does a lot nasty little things
-Laimbeer more whiner than hacker

‘Where Are They Now?’ I first met Gary (Garland) Houston in 2007 in Atlanta, Georgia when I was the head men’s basketball coach at Clark Atlanta University. Despite us both

2024 interview with Garland: njurbannews.com/2024/01/07/w...

Bonus Hollander POTD Gary Garland. NJ hooper went to DePaul & was 2nd scorer after Aguirre for great 78-79 team. Was drafted 30th in 79 by DEN. Had 4 ppg as rookie but was waived. Became a singer and was a backup singer for his sister Whitney Houston (really).

Digger Phelps on Hanzlik:
-Smartest player Digger ever coached
-Mentored Laimbeer who had initially flunked out of school
-Kareem praised his defense
-Chosen over Hawkeye Whitney by Seattle, making Digger look good to Lenny Wilkens

Hollander POTD Bill Hanzlik. Notre Dame SF was drafted 20th by SEA in 82. Traded to DEN in 83 where "forte first, last and always is defense." Was designated non-scorer on high octane Doug Moe offense thru 90. Peaked at 13 ppg in 86-87. Had epic cowboy mustache.

YouTube video by rigidity678 tyson chandler vs eddy curry in highschool nasty dunk

Curry v Chandler in high school: www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKWn...

Hollinger POTD Eddy Curry. Baby Shaq was HS big man drafted 4th in 01 by CHI. He could score in the post but was not great at D or passing. NY gave him big deal + he put up 19.6 in 06-07 but issues kept him off the court. Retired in 13. Also a shoutout to Hoopsworld in this bio.

YouTube video by ChiQui_421 Butch Lee the Boriqua basketball player from Spanish Harlem NY

Feature on Lee's legacy as the first Puerto Rican-born NBA player: www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_tU...

Bonus Hollander POTD Butch Lee. Puerto Rico-born hooper was a star on Marquette's 76-77 title team. Drafted 10th in 78 by ATL but Hubie was not a fan & traded him to CLE after 49 gms. Had 9 ppg as a rook but blew out knee in 79 ending NBA career. Played & coached in PR after.

Lane's 25 board game came as the final game of the Westhead Nuggets....fun box score: www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/19...

Hollander POTD Jerome Lane. Pitt PF broke glass w/dunks & FTs. Drafted 23rd by DEN in 1988. Great boarder had 9.3 rpg in 1990-91 but struggled in other areas. Bounced around NBA from 1991-93 before doing CBA/abroad thru 2000. Among best Akron-born hoopers.

YouTube video by Kent Blazemore Donyell Marshall (24pts/9rebs) vs Corliss Williamson (23pts/10rebs) (1997)

Corliss v Donyell in college: www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSoJ...

Hollinger POTD Corliss Williamson. Big Nasty won a title w/Arkansas. Drafted 13th in 95 by SAC. Undersized PF who could score in the post (peak 17.7 ppg in 97-98) but a tweener in other areas. Great bench scorer for DET (6th Man of Yr in 01-02). Ended career back in SAC in 07.

From a 1985 issue of Jet, some hoops stuff and bonus Dave Parker sighting:

Eisley went 8-5 against his mentor Stockton, though Stockton had slightly better stats:

Bonus Hollander POTD Howard Eisley. BC PG drafted 30th in 94 by MIN. Waived 2x as a rook. In 95, signed by UTA + became Stockton's best caddy thru 00. Got huge contract w/DAL but was not great as a starter. Played til 07. Has been an asst coach in the NBA & at Michigan.

Soccer Job Gives Cousy Sports Role (Published 1974)

Didn't know it but apparently quite true: www.nytimes.com/1974/12/20/a...

Yup

In 82, King was traded from GS to NY for Sugar Ray, who was traded again midway thru the season to NJ for rookie Sleepy Floyd. An interesting series of challenge trades that worked for all parties to some degree. Here are post-trade stats: www.sports-reference.com/stathead/tin...

Hollander POTD Bernard King. Tennessee SF was 7th pick in 77 by NJ. Scored in NJ but traded to UTA where he had bad time. Traded to GS in 80 & he got his life & game together. Traded to NY in 82 where he leveled up even further. Per Attles: "Best practice player I've ever seen."

A little more love for Elden Campbell, coverage of his great work against Shaq in Game 1 of the 04 Finals (he also played well against the Bulls in the 91 Finals as a rookie): www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/20...