Houston Rockets
The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston, Texas. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association, as a member of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division; the team plays its home games at the Toyota Center, located in downtown Houston. The Rockets have won four Western Conference titles; the team was established as the San Diego Rockets, an expansion team based in San Diego, in 1967. In 1971, the Rockets moved to Houston; the Rockets won only 15 games in their debut season as a franchise in 1967. In the 1968 NBA draft, the Rockets, picking first overall, selected power forward Elvin Hayes, who would lead the team to its first playoff appearance in his rookie season; the Rockets did not finish a season with a winning record until the 1976–77 season, when they traded for center Moses Malone. Malone went on to win the NBA Most Valuable Player award twice and led Houston to the conference finals in his first year with the team, he led the Rockets to the NBA Finals in 1981 where they were defeated in six games by the Boston Celtics, led by Larry Bird and future Rockets coach Kevin McHale.
In the 1984 NBA draft, the Rockets drafted center Hakeem Olajuwon, who would be paired with 7 feet 4 inches Ralph Sampson, forming one of the tallest front courts in the NBA. Nicknamed the "Twin Towers", they led the team to the 1986 NBA Finals—the second NBA Finals appearance in franchise history—where Houston was again defeated by the Boston Celtics; the Rockets continued to reach the playoffs throughout the 1980s, but failed to advance past the first round for several years following a second-round defeat to the Seattle SuperSonics in 1987. Rudy Tomjanovich took over as head coach midway through the 1991–92 season, ushering in the most successful period in franchise history; the Olajuwon-led Rockets went to the 1994 NBA Finals and won the franchise's first championship against Patrick Ewing and the New York Knicks. The following season, reinforced by another All-Star, Clyde Drexler, the Rockets repeated as champions with a four-game sweep of the Orlando Magic, who were led by a young Shaquille O'Neal and Penny Hardaway.
Houston, seeded sixth in the Western Conference during the 1995 playoffs, became the lowest-seeded team in NBA history to win the title. The Rockets acquired all-star forward Charles Barkley in 1996, but the presence of three of the NBA's 50 greatest players of all-time was not enough to propel Houston past the Western Conference Finals; each one of the aging trio had left the team by 2001, the Rockets of the early 2000s, led by superstars Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming, followed the trend of consistent regular season respectability followed by playoff underachievement as both players struggled with injuries. After Yao's early retirement in 2011, the Rockets entered a period of rebuilding dismantling and retooling their roster; the acquisition of franchise player James Harden in 2012 has launched the Rockets back into championship contention in the mid-2010s. Moses Malone, Hakeem Olajuwon and James Harden have been named the NBA's Most Valuable Player while playing for the Rockets, for a total of four MVP awards.
The Rockets, under general manager Daryl Morey, are notable for popularizing the use of advanced statistical analytics in player acquisitions and style of play. The Rockets were founded in 1967 in San Diego by Robert Breitbard, who paid an entry fee of US $1.75 million to join the NBA as an expansion team for the 1967–68 season. The NBA wanted to add more teams in the Western United States, chose San Diego based on the city's strong economic and population growth, along with the local success of an ice hockey team owned by Breitbard, the San Diego Gulls; the resulting contest to name the franchise chose the name "Rockets", which paid homage to San Diego's theme of "a city in motion" and the local arm of General Dynamics developing the Atlas missile and booster rocket program. Breitbard brought in Jack McMahon coach of the Cincinnati Royals, to serve as the Rockets' coach and general manager; the team, that would join the league along with the Seattle SuperSonics built its roster with both veteran players at an expansion draft, college players from the 1967 NBA draft, where San Diego's first draft pick was Pat Riley.
The Rockets lost 67 games in their inaugural season, an NBA record for losses in a season at the time. In 1968, after the Rockets won a coin toss against the Baltimore Bullets to determine who would have the first overall pick in the 1968 NBA draft, they selected Elvin Hayes from the University of Houston. Hayes improved the Rockets' record to 37 wins and 45 losses, enough for the franchise's first playoff appearance in 1969, but the Rockets lost in the semi-finals of the Western Division to the Atlanta Hawks, four games to two. Despite the additions of Calvin Murphy and Rudy Tomjanovich and the management of Hall of Fame coach Alex Hannum, the Rockets tallied a 67–97 record in the following two seasons and did not make the playoffs in either season; because of the low performance and attendance, Breitbard looked to sell the team, in 1971, Texas Sports Investments bought the franchise for $5.6 million, moved the team to Houston. The franchise became the first NBA team in Texas, the nickname "Rockets" took on greater relevance after the move, given Houston's long connection to the space industry.
Before the start of the 1971–72 season, Hannum left for the Denver Rockets of the American Basketball Association – renamed Denver Nuggets, who joined the NBA in 1976 – and Tex Winter was hired in his place. However, Winter's clashes with Hayes, due to a system that contrasted with the offensive style
Real Madrid Baloncesto
Real Madrid Baloncesto is a Spanish professional basketball team, founded in 1931, as a division of the Real Madrid C. F. multi sports club. They play domestically in the Liga ACB, internationally in the EuroLeague; as successful as the Real Madrid athletic association's football club, the basketball team has been the most successful of its peers in both Spain and Europe. The Real Madrid squads have won a record 34 Spanish League championships, including in 7-in-a-row and 10-in-a-row sequences, they have won a record 27 Spanish Cup titles, a record 10 EuroLeague Championships, a record 4 Saporta Cups. Madrid has won a record 5 Intercontinental Cups, they have won 3 Triple Crowns; some of the club's star players over the years have included: Arvydas Sabonis, Dražen Petrović, Rudy Fernandez, Serge Ibaka, Dražen Dalipagić, Nikola Mirotic, Juan Antonio Corbalán, Fernando Martín, Alberto Herreros, Dejan Bodiroga, Luka Dončić. Real Madrid has a developmental basketball team that plays in the amateur level Spanish 4th-tier Liga EBA, called Real Madrid B.
With a record of success that exceeds that of any other team in European basketball, Real Madrid has always lived willingly with high expectations. For at least half a century, Madrid has been a standard-bearer in European basketball, accumulating a record ten continental titles, based on its dominance in the 1960s, its early dominance in Spain has resulted in another untouchable cache of 34 national domestic league and 27 national cup trophies. And every time that Madrid did not play in Europe's top-tier level competition, it won a different continental trophy – four Saporta Cups, a Korać Cup, a ULEB Cup – as a stepping-stone back to the big time. Players like Emiliano Rodríguez, Clifford Luyk, Wayne Brabender, Walter Szczerbiak, Juan Antonio Corbalán, Dražen Petrović, Mirza Delibašić, Arvydas Sabonis, Dejan Bodiroga have turned Real Madrid into one of the biggest basketball clubs in the world. Madrid won as many as 7 EuroLeague titles between 1964 and 1980, becoming a European basketball club legend, when it took the club 15 years to win it again, it found success in other European competitions, too.
Madrid downed Olimpia Milano in the 1984 Cup Winners' Cup, on free throws made by Brian Jackson Petrović had 62 points in the 1989 Cup Winners' Cup final, against Snaidero Caserta. Madrid added a 1988 Korać Cup title, against Cibona Zagreb. Real Madrid won the 1992 Saporta Cup trophy against PAOK, on a buzzer-beating jumper by Rickey Brown, it was not until Sabonis arrived in Madrid, when Real won its last EuroLeague title in 1995, by beating Olympiacos in the final. Madrid next won the 1997 Saporta Cup title against Verona, but no more European-wide trophies came for the club in the next decade. Madrid still found success at home, winning Spanish League titles in 2000 and 2005, it all changed in 2007. With the help of players like Louis Bullock, Felipe Reyes, Álex Mumbrú, Madrid added a new trophy to its roll of honours, the ULEB Cup, as it won 12 of its last 13 games, downed Lietuvos Rytas, by a score of 75–87, in the 2007 ULEB Cup Final. Moreover, Madrid finished in 2nd place in the 2006–07 Spanish League regular season, stayed strong in its play in Palacio Vistalegre, during the Spanish league playoffs.
In Pablo Laso's era, Real Madrid Baloncesto managed to find consistent success. Spanish top-tier level players of the time, like Sergio Rodríguez and Rudy Fernández, were acquired by the club. ACB Rising Star winner Nikola Mirotić was a part of the team's mix, along with Sergio Llull and Felipe Reyes, to give Real Madrid a strong home grown core of players; this group of players gave Real Madrid Baloncesto 5 Copa del Reys titles, 4 Spanish Super Cup titles, 4 Liga ACB titles, 2 EuroLeague championship, an FIBA Intercontinental Cup championship. On May 17, 2015, after waiting 20 years to win another EuroLeague championship, Real Madrid won the 2015 EuroLeague championship against Olympiacos. Madrid's Andrés Nocioni was named the Final Four MVP; this title was called La Novena. Following the EuroLeague title, the 2014–15 ACB season's championship was won by Real; because Real won the national Spanish Cup and the national Spanish Supercup that season, the club won its first "Quadruble crown". On September 27, 2015, 34 years after their last FIBA Intercontinental Cup title, Real Madrid won their fifth FIBA Intercontinental Cup trophy, after defeating the Brazilian League club Bauru.
Sergio Llull was named the MVP of the tournament. Real Madrid thus made it a record five FIBA Intercontinental Cup titles won, with the Intercontinental Cup title, became the only European basketball club to win five official titles in a single season competition. On 20 May 2018, Real Madrid conquered again the EuroLeague; the considered major leader of the team that season would be a Slovenian guard/forward named Luka Dončić, who became the designated MVP of the EuroLeague on all accounts at 19 years old. Estadio Chamartín, outdoor basketball court under the stands of Real Madrid football stadium. Frontón Recoletos, first indoor court, an adapted basque pelota fronton located in Salamanca district. Frontón Jai Alai, first big court and official headquarters of the club a converted fronton located in Los Jerónimos neighborhood. Colegio Maravillas, used during the construction of the new pavilion. Pabellón de la Ciudad Deportiva del Real Madrid, first pavillion owned by the club, located in its tra
Liga ACB
The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administrated by the Asociación de Clubes de Baloncesto, Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, with the two lowest-placed teams relegated to the LEB Oro and replaced by the top team in that division plus the winner of the playoffs. A total of 49 teams have competed in Liga ACB since its inception. Seven teams have been crowned champions, with Real Madrid winning the title a record 34 times and FC Barcelona 18 times. Real Madrid dominated the championship from the 1950s through the 1970s when was organized by the Spanish Basketball Federation. From the 1980s onwards when the ACB took control over the league, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid both dominated, though Liga ACB saw other champions, including Baskonia, Joventut Badalona, Baloncesto Málaga, Bàsquet Manresa, Valencia Basket. In more recent years, Baskonia has joined a coalition of now three teams dominating Liga ACB alongside Real Madrid and FC Barcelona.
Liga ACB is one of the most popular professional indoor sports leagues in the world, with an average attendance of 6,427 for league matches in the 2017–18 season. This is the ninth-highest of any domestic professional indoor sports league in the world and the fourth-highest of any professional basketball league in the world, behind the National Basketball Association, the EuroLeague, the Women's National Basketball Association; the competition format follows the usual double round-robin format. During the course of a season, which lasts from October to May, each club plays every other club twice, once at home and once away, for a total of 34 games. Teams receive one point for a win, no points for a loss. Teams are ranked by total points, with the eight highest-ranked clubs at the end of the season plays the playoffs and the winner of the playoffs is crowned champion. A system of promotion and relegation exists between the LEB Oro; the two lowest placed teams in Liga ACB are relegated to the LEB Oro, the top team from the LEB Oro promoted to Liga ACB, with an additional club promoted after a series of playoffs involving the second, fourth, sixth, seventh and ninth placed clubs.
Below is a complete record of how many teams played in each season throughout the league's history: Until 2012, in the 29 editions played of the Liga ACB, only three teams declined promotion, due to acting as reserve teams or for lack of funds: CB Guadalajara and CB Cornellà in 1993 and CB Cajabilbao in 1994. Since 2012, due to the financial crisis that started in 2008, only two teams of a possible 10 could promote to Liga ACB; this started a discussion about the promotion requirements of the ACB, considered by the LEB Oro clubs as "disproportionate". For clubs that promote and would make their debut in the ACB demands: An arena with a minimum capacity of 5,000 seats. An inbound of €3m. For clubs that return to the league after a promotion, an update of the inbound is demanded. A deposit of €1.7m that would be returned in case of relegation to LEB Oro. In case of a new promotion, this deposit is required to be restored. Conversion into a Sociedad Anónima Deportiva if the club remains in Liga ACB after its first season.
In 2012, Iberostar Canarias and Menorca Bàsquet achieved promotion to ACB, but neither could fulfill the requirements in order to promote. However, Canarias played in ACB after buying the berth in the league of Lucentum Alicante sold to the association. In 2013, neither CB Atapuerca, Ford Burgos by sponsorship reasons, nor Lucentum Alicante could promote; the seconds resigned to play in the second league and joined the fifth division. In 2014 and 2015, CB Tizona Ford Burgos by sponsorship reasons, did not promote despite achieving the place two years in a row. After its second failed promotion, the third in the city of Burgos, the club sued the Association any accused them of "distorting the reality". In 2015, despite having played in the league during the 1980s and 1990s, Club Ourense Baloncesto was not admitted in the league despite fulfilling all the requirements, after not passing an accounts audit. However, ACB would admit Ourense for the 2016–17 season if it fulfilled the requirements regardless of their position in the 2015–16 LEB Oro season.
On 24 April 2016, the National Commission of the Markets and the Competence argued that the inbound impedes, in an "unjustified and discriminatory" way, access of new clubs to Liga ACB. On June 2016, the two promoted teams from LEB Oro resigned promotion to the 2016–17 ACB season and requested to the ACB their sign-in before the 2017–18 season. However, as Gipuzkoa Basket, who finished in relegation positions in three of the last four seasons, resigned from ACB, the Association offered again its place to Palencia and Melilla under these conditions: An arena with a minimum capacity of 5,000 seats. An inbound of €2m; the second million delayed on the dates agreed between the club and ACB. A deposit of € 1,6 m. In case of a new promotion, this deposit is required to be restored. Conversion into a Sociedad Anónima Deportiva before the start of their second season in Liga ACB. Palencia and Mellila refused the invitation, to reinforce their position against the inbound to play in the league. In April 2017, the National Commission for Markets and Competition declared the entering inbound and the deposit for the regulation of promotions and relegations as illegal, as they consider it "unjustified and excessive" and imposed a fine of €400,000 to the ACB.
Subsequently, the ACB replied that it would appeal the decision of the CNMC, contending that it infringed on the self-or
University of Houston
The University of Houston is a state research university and the main institution of the University of Houston System. Founded in 1927, UH is the third-largest university in Texas with nearly 44,000 students, its campus spans 667 acres in southeast Houston, was known as University of Houston–University Park from 1983 to 1991. The Carnegie Foundation classifies UH as a doctoral degree-granting institution with "highest research activity." The U. S. News & World Report ranks the university No. 171 in its National University Rankings, No. 91 among top public universities. The university offers more than 282 degree programs through its 14 academic colleges on campus—including programs leading to professional degrees in architecture, law and pharmacy; the institution conducts $150 million annually in research, operates more than 40 research centers and institutes on campus. Interdisciplinary research includes superconductivity, space commercialization and exploration, biomedical sciences and engineering and natural resources, artificial intelligence.
Awarding more than 9,000 degrees annually, UH's alumni base exceeds 260,000. The economic impact of the university contributes over $3 billion annually to the Texas economy, while generating about 24,000 jobs; the University of Houston hosts a variety of theatrical performances, concerts and events. It has 17 intercollegiate sports teams. Annual UH events and traditions include The Cat's Back and Frontier Fiesta; the university's varsity athletic teams, known as the Houston Cougars, are members of the American Athletic Conference and compete in the NCAA Division I in all sports. The football team makes bowl game appearances, the men's basketball team has made 20 appearances in the NCAA Division I Tournament—including five Final Four appearances; the men's golf team has won 16 national championships—the most in NCAA history. The University of Houston began as Houston Junior College. On March 7, 1927, trustees of the Houston Independent School District Board of Education unanimously passed a resolution that authorized the founding and operating of a junior college.
The junior college was operated and administered by HISD. HJC was located in San Jacinto High School and offered only night courses, its first session began March 1927, with an enrollment of 232 students and 12 faculty. This session was held to educate the future teachers of the junior college. A more accurate date for the official opening of HJC is September 19, 1927, when enrollment was opened to all persons having completed the necessary educational requirements; the first president of HJC was Edison Ellsworth Oberholtzer, the dominant force in establishing the junior college. The junior college became eligible to become a university in October 1933 when the Governor of Texas, Miriam A. Ferguson, signed House Bill 194 into law. On April 30, 1934, HISD's Board of Education adopted a resolution to make the school a four-year institution, Houston Junior College changed its name to the University of Houston. UH's first session as a four-year institution began June 4, 1934, at San Jacinto High School with an enrollment of 682.
In 1934, the first campus of the University of Houston was established at the Second Baptist Church at Milam and McGowen. The next fall, the campus was moved to the South Main Baptist Church on Main Street—between Richmond Avenue and Eagle Street—where it stayed for the next five years. In May 1935, the institution as a university held its first commencement at Miller Outdoor Theatre. In 1936, heirs of philanthropists J. J. Settegast and Ben Taub donated 110 acres to the university for use as a permanent location. At this time, there was no road that led to the land tract, but in 1937, the city added Saint Bernard Street, renamed to Cullen Boulevard, it would become a major thoroughfare of the campus. As a project of the National Youth Administration, workers were paid fifty cents an hour to clear the land. In 1938, Hugh Roy Cullen donated $335,000 for the first building to be built at the location; the Roy Gustav Cullen Memorial Building was dedicated on June 4, 1939, classes began the next day.
The first full semester of classes began on Wednesday, September 20, 1939. In a year after opening the new campus, the university had about 2,500 students; as World War II approached, enrollment decreased due to enlistments. The university proposed to be in a new unusual training activity of the United States Navy, was one of six institutions selected to give the Primary School in the Electronics Training Program. By the fall of 1943, there were only about 1,100 regular students at UH; this training at UH continued with a total of 4,178 students. On March 12, 1945, Senate Bill 207 was signed into law, removing the control of the University of Houston from HISD and placing it into the hands of a board of regents. In 1945, the university—which had grown too large and complex for the Houston school board to administer—became a private university. In March 1947, the regents authorized creation of a law school at the university. In 1949, the M. D. Anderson Foundation made a $1.5 million gift to UH for the construction of a dedicated library building on the campus.
By 1950, the educational plant at UH consisted of 12 permanent buildings. Enrollment was more than 14,000 with a full-time faculty of more than 300. KUHF, the university radio station, signed on in November. By 1951, UH had achieved the feat of being the second-largest university in the State
Vancouver Grizzlies
The Vancouver Grizzlies were a Canadian professional basketball team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. They were part of the Midwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association; the team was established in 1995, along with the Toronto Raptors, as part of the NBA's expansion into Canada. Following the 2000–01 season, the team relocated to Memphis, United States, are known as the Memphis Grizzlies; the Grizzlies played their home games at General Motors Place for the entirety of their six seasons in Vancouver. Like most expansion teams, the Grizzlies struggled in their early years; the team finished last in the division in five of its seasons, never won more than 30% of its games in any of the team's seasons in Vancouver. In total, the team won 101 games, lost 359, never qualified for the NBA playoffs; the two expansion teams were denied early draft picks in the first season, but the Grizzlies secured Shareef Abdur-Rahim in 1996. The team continued to lose games despite high draft picks.
After they selected Steve Francis as second pick in 1999, he refused to play in Vancouver and was traded away. After the 1998–99 lockout, lower attendance and a weak Canadian dollar caused the owner Orca Bay Sports and Entertainment to start losing money on the franchise. After a failed attempt to sell the team to Bill Laurie, it was instead sold to Michael Heisley and subsequently moved to Memphis, Tennessee for the 2001–02 season; the only former professional basketball team to play in Canada was the Toronto Huskies, who played a single season in 1946–47 before folding. Attempts had been made by Nelson Skalbania, a local entrepreneur, to get an NBA franchise to Vancouver in the 1980s, but had failed. Arthur Griffiths, owner of the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League through Northwest Sports Enterprises, announced in February 1993 that he hoped to bring an NBA franchise to Vancouver. Griffiths was developing a owned 20,000-seat arena for the Canucks in downtown Vancouver, scheduled for completion for the 1995–96 season.
The Toronto Raptors were awarded an expansion franchise for that season on September 30, 1993. On February 14, 1994, the NBA's Expansion Committee gave a preliminary approval for Vancouver, with full approval being granted by the Board of Governors on 27 April. Both franchises paid a fee of US$125 million, up from $32.5 million paid during the 1988–89 expansion. The Grizzlies became the NBA's 29th franchise. One hindrance for the expansion was that the NBA wanted the Province of British Columbia to abolish wagering on Grizzlies games by removing the games from the Sports Actions betting. NBA betting accounted for CA$1.56 million with the profits going to provincial health care. Similar demands were laid forward in Ontario. There was large public opposition against the league's demands; this issue was resolved on February 9, 1994 after the franchise company agreed to donate $500,000 per year to health care. The company hired Stu Jackson as general manager on 22 July, at the time head coach of the University of Wisconsin Badgers and head coach for the New York Knicks.
Jackson started by hiring a scouting department headed by Larry Riley. Original proposals were for the team to be called the Vancouver Mounties, but objections from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police forced the team to find a new name, announced on 11 August, named for the bear indigenous to British Columbia; the team colors were announced to be turquoise and red. The Grizzlies were the first NBA team to have a website, created in 1995 by Bob Kerstein, Chief Information Officer of the Grizzlies at the time. Josh Davis was credited with designing the Vancouver Grizzlies logo in 1995. To start playing, the team needed to have sold 12,500 season tickets with 50 percent payment prior to January 1, 1995; this was a number higher than that of the Canucks, both Orlando Magic and Minnesota Timberwolves had seen problems reaching 10,000 during the 1989 expansion. On December 21, 1994, only about 10,000 tickets had been sold when Shoppers Drug Mart purchased the necessary 2,500 tickets to push the team over the limit, in a deal similar to what was necessary in Toronto.
On March 7, 1995, the majority of the holding company was sold from Griffiths to Seattle-based John McCaw, Jr.. Griffiths and McCaw, Jr. proceeded to create a parent company for the Canucks and the General Motors Place, which at first was baptized Northwest Entertainment Group, but got renamed in August as Orca Bay Sports and Entertainment. Brian Winters was announced as head coach on 19 June. Winters had spent the past nine seasons as an assistant under Lenny Wilkens with the Atlanta Hawks and Cleveland Cavaliers. Prior to the draft, the team signed the team's first player. Five days the Grizzlies and Raptors attended the 1995 NBA Expansion Draft; each of the 27 NBA teams could protect eight of their players, the two expansion teams could select one unprotected player from each team. Vancouver won the coin flip, opted for a better position in the upcoming draft, allowing the Raptors the first pick. Vancouver's first pick was Knicks' point guard Greg Anthony; the team selected forward Kenny Gattison, center Benoit Benjamin, forward Larry Stewart, Rodney Dent, Antonio Harvey, Reggie Slater, Trevor Ruffin, Derrick Phelps and Doug Edwards.
Both the Canadian teams were hampered by the NBA's decision to deny them one of the top five picks in the draft. The teams would not be allowed a top draft pick in the following three seasons if they should win the lottery; the teams were hindered from using their full salary cap the first two seasons. In the first d
Block (basketball)
In basketball, a block or blocked shot occurs when a defensive player deflects a field goal attempt from an offensive player to prevent a score. The defender is not allowed to make contact with the offensive player's hand or a foul is called. In order to be legal, the block must occur. A deflected field goal, made does not count as a blocked shot and counts as a successful field goal attempt for shooter plus the points awarded to the shooting team. For the shooter, a blocked shot is counted as a missed field goal attempt. On a shooting foul, a blocked shot cannot be awarded or counted if the player who deflected the field goal attempt is different from the player who committed the foul. If the ball is heading downward when the defender hits it, it is ruled as goaltending and counts as a made basket. Goaltending is called if the block is made after the ball bounces on the backboard. Nicknames for blocked shots include "rejections," "stuffs," "bushed", "fudged", or notably "double-fudged", "facials," "swats," "denials," and "packs."
Blocked shots were first recorded in the NBA during the 1973–74 season. Due to their height and position near the basket and power forwards tend to record the most blocks, but shorter players with good jumping ability can be blockers, an example being Dwyane Wade, the shortest player, at 6'4", to record 100 blocked shots in a single season. A player with the ability to block shots can be a positive asset to a team's defense, as they can make it difficult for opposing players to shoot near the basket and by keeping the basketball in play, as opposed to swatting it out of bounds, a blocked shot can lead to a fast break, a skill Bill Russell was notable for. To be a good shot-blocker, a player needs great court sense and timing, good height or jumping ability. One tactic is that a shot-blocker can intimidate opponents to alter their shots, resulting in a miss. A chase-down block occurs when a player pursues an opposing player who had run ahead of the defense, blocks their shot attempt; the block involves hitting the ball into the backboard as the opponent tries to complete a lay-up.
One of the most recognized chase-down blocks was then-Detroit Pistons' Tayshaun Prince's game-saving block on Reggie Miller in Game 2 of the 2004 NBA Eastern Conference Finals against the Indiana Pacers. Pistons announcer Fred McLeod, who first witnessed this style of blocks from Prince, created the chase-down term with the Cleveland Cavaliers. During the 2008–09 NBA season, the Cavaliers began tracking chase-down blocks, crediting LeBron James with 23 that season and 20 the following season. Another landmark chase-down block occurred in the 2016 NBA Finals when Lebron James, in the closing minutes of the 4th quarter delivered what became known as "The Block" on a lay-up attempt by Andre Iguodala with the score tied at 89 and 01:50 remaining in the game. Most blocks in a single game: Elmore Smith Most blocks in a single half: Elmore Smith, George T. Johnson, Manute Bol Most blocks per game in a season: Mark Eaton Most career blocks: Hakeem Olajuwon Most blocks per game in a career: Mark Eaton Most blocks in NBA Finals game: Dwight Howard Most blocks in a non-NBA Finals playoff game: Andrew Bynum, Hakeem Olajuwon, Mark Eaton Most career blocks: Jarvis Varnado – Mississippi State Most blocks single season, player: David Robinson – Navy Most blocks per game single season, player: Shawn James – Northeastern Most blocks single season, team: Kentucky Most career blocks: Brittney Griner – Baylor Most blocks single season, player: Brittney Griner – Baylor Most blocks per game single season, player: Brittney Griner – Baylor Most blocks single season, team: Baylor List of National Basketball Association career blocks leaders List of National Basketball Association season blocks leaders List of National Basketball Association players with most blocks in a game List of NCAA Division I men's basketball career blocks leaders List of NCAA Division I men's basketball season blocks leaders List of NCAA Division I men's basketball players with 13 or more blocks in a game ^a Brittney Griner's 736 career blocks is recognized as the all-time NCAA record, men's or women's.
Hall of Famer Anne Donovan, who played for Old Dominion from 1979 to 1983, recorded 801 blocks while playing in the AIAW, therefore her total is not recognized as an NCAA achievement. Career block leaders on Basketball-Reference.com Bill Russell Block Art on YouTube
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is a men's professional basketball league in North America. It is considered to be the premier men's professional basketball league in the world; the NBA is an active member of USA Basketball, recognized by FIBA as the national governing body for basketball in the United States. The NBA is one of the four major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada. NBA players are the world's best paid athletes by average annual salary per player; the league was founded in New York City on June 1946, as the Basketball Association of America. The league adopted the name National Basketball Association on August 3, 1949, after merging with the competing National Basketball League; the league's several international as well as individual team offices are directed out of its head offices located in the Olympic Tower at 645 Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. NBA Entertainment and NBA TV studios are directed out of offices located in New Jersey; the Basketball Association of America was founded in 1946 by owners of the major ice hockey arenas in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States and Canada.
On November 1, 1946, in Toronto, Canada, the Toronto Huskies hosted the New York Knickerbockers at Maple Leaf Gardens, in a game the NBA now refers to as the first game played in NBA history. The first basket was made by Ossie Schectman of the Knickerbockers. Although there had been earlier attempts at professional basketball leagues, including the American Basketball League and the NBL, the BAA was the first league to attempt to play in large arenas in major cities. During its early years, the quality of play in the BAA was not better than in competing leagues or among leading independent clubs such as the Harlem Globetrotters. For instance, the 1948 ABL finalist Baltimore Bullets moved to the BAA and won that league's 1948 title, the 1948 NBL champion Minneapolis Lakers won the 1949 BAA title. Prior to the 1948–49 season, however, NBL teams from Fort Wayne, Indianapolis and Rochester jumped to the BAA, which established the BAA as the league of choice for collegians looking to turn professional.
On August 3, 1949, the remaining NBL teams–Syracuse, Tri-Cities, Sheboygan and Waterloo–merged into the BAA. In deference to the merger and to avoid possible legal complications, the league name was changed to the present National Basketball Association though the merged league retained the BAA's governing body, including Podoloff. To this day, the NBA claims the BAA's history as its own, it now reckons the arrival of the NBL teams as an expansion, not a merger, does not recognize NBL records and statistics. The new league had seventeen franchises located in a mix of large and small cities, as well as large arenas and smaller gymnasiums and armories. In 1950, the NBA consolidated to eleven franchises, a process that continued until 1953–54, when the league reached its smallest size of eight franchises: the New York Knicks, Boston Celtics, Philadelphia Warriors, Minneapolis Lakers, Rochester Royals, Fort Wayne Pistons, Tri-Cities Blackhawks, Syracuse Nationals, all of which remain in the league today.
The process of contraction saw. The Hawks shifted from the Tri-Cities to Milwaukee in 1951, to St. Louis in 1955; the Rochester Royals moved from Rochester, New York, to Cincinnati in 1957 and the Pistons relocated from Fort Wayne, Indiana, to Detroit in 1957. Japanese-American Wataru Misaka broke the NBA color barrier in the 1947–48 season when he played for the New York Knicks, he remained the only non-white player in league history prior to the first African-American, Harold Hunter, signing with the Washington Capitols in 1950. Hunter was cut from the team during training camp, but several African-American players did play in the league that year, including Chuck Cooper with the Celtics, Nathaniel "Sweetwater" Clifton with the Knicks, Earl Lloyd with the Washington Capitols. During this period, the Minneapolis Lakers, led by center George Mikan, won five NBA Championships and established themselves as the league's first dynasty. To encourage shooting and discourage stalling, the league introduced the 24-second shot clock in 1954.
If a team does not attempt to score a field goal within 24 seconds of obtaining the ball, play is stopped and the ball given to its opponent. In 1957, rookie center Bill Russell joined the Boston Celtics, which featured guard Bob Cousy and coach Red Auerbach, went on to lead the club to eleven NBA titles in thirteen seasons. Center Wilt Chamberlain entered the league with the Warriors in 1959 and became a dominant individual star of the 1960s, setting new single game records in scoring and rebounding. Russell's rivalry with Chamberlain became one of the greatest rivalries in the history of American team sports; the 1960s were dominated by the Celtics. Led by Russell, Bob Cousy and coach Red Auerbach, Boston won eight straight championships in the NBA from 1959 to 1966; this championship streak is the longest in NBA history. They did not win the title in 1966–67, but regained it in the 1967–68 season and repeated in 1969; the domination totaled nine of the ten championship banners of the 1960s.
Through this period, the NBA continued to evolve with the shift of the Minneapolis Lakers to Los Angeles, the Philadelphia Warriors to San Francisco, the Syracuse Nationals to Philadelphia to become the Philadelphia 76ers, the St. Louis Hawks moving to Atlanta, as well as the addition of its first expansion franchises; the Chicago Packers (now Wa
