1.
Center (basketball)
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The center, also known as the five or the big man, is one of the five positions in a regular basketball game. The center is normally the tallest player on the team, and often has a deal of strength. The tallest player to ever be drafted in the NBA was the 78 Yasutaka Okayama from Japan, the tallest players to ever play in the NBA, at 77, are centers Gheorghe Mureșan and Manute Bol. Standing at 72, Margo Dydek is the tallest player to have played in the WNBA. The center is considered a component for a successful team. But recently, the NBA has turned into a point guard league, great centers have been the foundation for most of the dynasties in both the NBA and NCAA. In the 1960s, Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain further transformed basketball by combining height with a level of athleticism than previous centers. Following the retirement of George Mikan, the rivalry of the two big men came to dominate the NBA, many of the records set by these two players have endured today. Most notably, Chamberlain and Russell hold the top eighteen season averages for rebounds, Bill Russell led the University of San Francisco to two consecutive NCAA Championships. He joined the Boston Celtics and helped make them one of the greatest dynasties in NBA history, Russell revolutionized defensive strategy with his shot-blocking, rebounding and physical man-to-man defense. His principal rival, Wilt Chamberlain, listed at 71,275 pounds, Chamberlain played college ball for the Kansas Jayhawks, leading them to the 1957 title game against the North Carolina Tar Heels. Although the Jayhawks lost by one point in overtime, Chamberlain was named the tournaments Most Outstanding Player. He also won seven scoring titles, eleven rebounding titles, and four regular season Most Valuable Player awards, including the distinction, in 1960, stronger than any player of his era, he was usually capable of scoring and rebounding at will. Most notably, Chamberlain is the player in NBA history to average more than 50 points in a season. He also holds the NBAs all-time records for rebounding average, rebounds in a single game, in contrast to the Celtics dynasty of the 1960s, the 1970s were a decade of parity in the NBA, with eight different champions and no back-to-back winners. At the college level, the UCLA Bruins, under Coach John Wooden, built the greatest dynasty in NCAA basketball history, UCLA had already won two consecutive titles in 1964 and 1965 with teams that pressed and emphasized guard play. After not winning in 1966, Woodens teams changed their style when Lew Alcindor became eligible and he led UCLA to three championships-in 1967,68 and 69-while winning the first Naismith College Player of the Year Award. During his college career, the NCAA enacted a ban on dunking primarily because of Alcindors dominant use of the shot
2.
Ontario, California
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Ontario is a city located in southwestern San Bernardino County, California, United States,35 miles east of downtown Los Angeles. Located in the part of the Inland Empire region, it lies just east of the Los Angeles county line and is part of the Greater Los Angeles Area. As of the 2010 Census, the city had a population of 163,924, up from 158,007 at the 2000 census, making it the fourth most populous city after San Bernardino, Fontana. The city is home to the Ontario International Airport, which is the 15th busiest airport in the United States by cargo carried, Ontario handles the mass of freight traffic between the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and the rest of the country. It is also the home of Ontario Mills and former home of the Ontario Motor Speedway and it takes its name from the Ontario Model Colony development established in 1882 by the Canadian engineer George Chaffey and his brothers William Chaffey and Charles Chaffey. They named the settlement after their province of Ontario. At the time of Mexican and later of American settlement, active Native American settlements were scattered across the entire valley, remains of a Serrano village were discovered in the neighboring foothills of the present-day city of Claremont. Following the 1819 establishment of San Bernardino Asistencia, which may have served as an outpost of the San Gabriel mission, it part of a large. In 1826, Jedediah Smith passed through what is now Upland on the first overland journey to the West coast of North America via the National Old Trails Road, the 1834 secularization of California land holdings resulted in the lands transferral to private hands. In 1881, the Chaffey brothers, George and William, purchased the land and they also created the main thoroughfare of Euclid Avenue, with its distinctive wide lanes and grassy median. The new Model Colony was originally conceived as a dry town, the two named the town Ontario in honor of the province of Ontario in Canada, where they were born. Ontario attracted farmers and ailing Easterners seeking a drier climate, to impress visitors and potential settlers with the abundance of water in Ontario, a fountain was placed at the Southern Pacific railway station. It was turned on when trains were approaching and frugally turned off again after their departure. Agriculture was vital to the economy, and many street names recall this legacy. The Sunkist plant remains as a vestige of the citrus era. The Chaffey brothers left to found the settlements of Mildura, Australia and Renmark, Australia, Charles Frankish continued their work at Ontario. Mining engineer John Tays refined the design of the mule car. At that point, the two mules were loaded onto a platform at the rear of the car and allowed to ride, soon replaced by an electric streetcar, the mule car is commemorated by a replica in an enclosure south of C Street on the Euclid Avenue median
3.
Rancho Cucamonga, California
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Rancho Cucamonga is a suburban city situated at the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains in San Bernardino County, California. It is located 37 miles east of Downtown Los Angeles, the city had a population of 165,269 in 2010 and an estimated population of 174,305 in 2014. The city experiences an average of 287 sunny days per year and its climate is classified as warm Mediterranean, or Csa, under the Köppen climate classification system. The citys seal, which centers on a cluster of grapes, alludes to the agricultural history. The citys favorable location and host of public amenities have earned it numerous distinctions, notably, Money Magazine ranked Rancho Cucamonga 42nd on its Best Places to Live list in 2006. In addition, Insider Magazine established one Rancho Cucamonga neighborhood as the 13th richest neighborhood in Southern California, all of the citys four public high schools earned the Silver distinction in a 2015 ranking of the nations high schools by U. S. News & World Report. Rancho Cucamongas first settlers were Native American, by 1200 A. D. Kukamongan Native Americans had established a village settlement in the area around present-day Red Hill, near the citys western border. Kukamonga derives its name from a Native-American word meaning sandy place, after a half-century of political jockeying in the region, the land finally came under the control of Juan Bautista Alvarado, governor of Mexico. On March 3,1839, Alvarado granted 13,000 acres of land in the area called Cucamonga to Tubercio Tapia, a first-generation Spanish native of Los Angeles, successful merchant, Tapia went on to establish the first winery in California on his newly deeded land. Rancho Cucamonga was purchased by John Rains and his wife in 1858, the Rains familys home, Casa de Rancho Cucamonga, was completed in 1860 and now appears on the National Register of Historic Places. During the ensuing years the town prospered and grew, in 1887, irrigation tunnels were dug into Cucamonga Canyon by Chinese laborers and the Santa Fe Railroad was extended through the area. Among the towns economic mainstays was agriculture, including olives, peaches, citrus, in 1913, the Pacific Electric Railway was extended through Rancho Cucamonga in an effort to improve crop transportation. Several landmarks in existence today pay tribute to the citys multicultural founding, in 1977, the unincorporated communities of Alta Loma, Cucamonga, and Etiwanda voted to incorporate, forming the city of Rancho Cucamonga. The former community of Grapeland, first settled in 1869, lay roughly between todays Victoria Groves Park and Central Park, there was a schoolhouse which also doubled as a church. In 1890 an irrigation district was formed and $200,000 in bonds were sold to pay for improvements, the Sierra Vista reservoir was built in 1886-87 by J. L. Scofield as the focal point of a network of irrigation pipes. The system was unused, however, because the issue was declared illegal. Orchards and vineyards began to die, The Daily Report newspaper reported in a retrospective, the post office closed in 1905. Homes, buildings were destroyed or abandoned, the reservoir remained unused until 1956, when the Fontana Union Water Company filled it with 5 million gallons of water
4.
2009 NBA draft
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The 2009 NBA draft was held on June 25,2009, at the WaMu Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York City. In this draft, the National Basketball Association teams took turns selecting amateur U. S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. The Los Angeles Clippers, who won the lottery on May 19,2009. However, he missed the entire 2009–10 season due to surgery on his left kneecap. Tanzanian-born Hasheem Thabeet from University of Connecticut was drafted second by the Memphis Grizzlies, Thabeet became the first player born in Tanzania to be drafted by an NBA team. James Harden was drafted 3rd by the Oklahoma City Thunder and this made him the first player to be drafted by the franchise as the Oklahoma City Thunder whose franchise moved from Seattle to OKC in 2008. Spanish teenager Ricky Rubio was drafted 5th by the Minnesota Timberwolves, 23rd pick Omri Casspi became the first Israeli player to be drafted in the first round, and later he became the first Israeli to play in the NBA. The 2009 draft marked the first time three sons of former NBA players were selected in the top 15 picks of the draft, stephen Curry, son of Dell Curry, was drafted 7th by the Golden State Warriors. Gerald Henderson Jr. son of Gerald Henderson, was drafted 12th by the Charlotte Bobcats, austin Daye, son of Darren Daye, was drafted 15th by the Detroit Pistons. The draft also marked the first time a high school player who skipped college to play professional basketball in Europe was selected in an NBA draft. Brandon Jennings, who skipped college to professional basketball with Italian team Lottomatica Roma, was drafted 10th overall by the Milwaukee Bucks in the draft. Of the 60 players drafted, four were freshmen, nine were sophomores,12 were juniors,22 were seniors, and 13 were international players without U. S. college basketball experience. The University of North Carolinas Tar Heels had the most players selected in the draft and this marked the second time ever that four Tar Heels players were selected in the first two rounds of an NBA draft. The Minnesota Timberwolves had the league-high four first-round draft picks and the first time in history that the team held two top-10 draft picks. The Timberwolves also had two draft picks and became the team with the most draft picks in the 2009 draft with a total of six draft picks. The Houston Rockets and the Orlando Magic were the only NBA teams who did not have a draft pick this year, ^ a, Nick Calathes was born in the United States, and has dual U. S. and Greek citizenship by birth. He had represented Slovenia internationally in 2008, before switching to Turkey. ^ d and these players were not selected in the 2009 NBA draft but have played at least one game in the NBA. The basic requirements for eligibility are, All drafted players must be born on or before December 31,1990
5.
Sacramento Kings
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The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association as a club of the leagues Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the team in the major professional North American sports leagues located in Sacramento. The team play its games at the Golden 1 Center. The Kings are the oldest franchise in the NBA, and one of the oldest continuously operating professional basketball franchises in the nation and they originated in Rochester, New York as the Rochester Seagrams in 1923 and joined the National Basketball League in 1945 as the Rochester Royals. They jumped to the Basketball Association of America, forerunner of the NBA, as the Royals, the team was often successful on the court, winning the NBA championship in 1951. However, they found it difficult to turn a profit in the comparatively small market of Rochester. In 1972, the relocated to Kansas City, Missouri. In 1975, the Kings ceased playing home games in Omaha, the team again failed to find success in that market, and moved to Sacramento in 1985. The Royals defected to the NBLs rival, the Basketball Association of America, in 1948. In 1949, as a result of that absorption of the NBL by the BAA, the Royals became members of the newly formed NBA along with the Fort Wayne Pistons, Minneapolis Lakers. A year later, the BAA absorbed the remaining NBL teams to become the National Basketball Association, the move to the BAA took away Rochesters profitable exhibition schedule, and placed it in the same Western Division that Minneapolis was in. Of the two best teams in pro basketball, only one of them could play in the finals from 1949 to 1954. Minneapolis, with George Mikan, was almost always a little better at playoff time than the Royals, Harrison knew that the NBA was outgrowing Rochester, and spent most of the 1950s looking for a buyer for his team. The Royals won the NBA title in 1951 by defeating the New York Knicks 4 games to 3 and it is the only NBA championship in the franchises history. However, the title did not translate into profit for the Royals, the roster turned over in 1955, except for Bobby Wanzer, the team moved to the larger Rochester War Memorial. Now a losing team filled with rookies, the Royals still did not turn a profit, meanwhile, the NBA was putting pressure on Harrison to sell or relocate his team to a larger city. With this in mind, the 1956–57 season was the Royals last in Rochester, in April 1957, the Harrison brothers moved the Royals to Cincinnati
6.
Portland Trail Blazers
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The Portland Trail Blazers, commonly known as the Blazers, are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association as a club of the leagues Western Conference Northwest Division. The team played its games in the Memorial Coliseum before moving to Moda Center in 1995. The team has advanced to the NBA Finals three times, winning the NBA championship once in 1977 and their other NBA Finals appearances were in 1990 and 1992. The team has qualified for the playoffs in 31 seasons of their 45-season existence, including a streak of 21 straight appearances from 1983 through 2003, the second longest streak in NBA history. The Trail Blazers 31 playoff appearances rank third in the NBA only behind the Los Angeles Lakers, six Hall of Fame players have played for the Trail Blazers. Bill Walton is the franchises most decorated player, he was the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player in 1977, four Blazer rookies have won the NBA Rookie of the Year award. Sports promoter Harry Glickman sought a National Basketball Association franchise for Portland as far back as 1955 when he proposed two new teams, the other to be located in Los Angeles. To raise the money for the $3.7 million admission tax, Glickman associated himself to real estate magnates Robert Schmertz of New Jersey, Larry Weinberg of Los Angeles and Herman Sarkowsky of Seattle. Two weeks later, on February 24, team management held a contest to select the teams name, the most popular choice was Pioneers, but that name was excluded from consideration as it was already used by sports teams at Portlands Lewis & Clark College. The name Trail Blazers received 172 entries, and was selected by the judging panel. Despite initial mixed response, the Trail Blazers name, often shortened to just Blazers, along with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Buffalo Braves, the Trail Blazers entered the NBA in 1970 as an expansion team, under coach Rolland Todd. Geoff Petrie and Sidney Wicks led the team in its years. During that span, the team had three coaches, team executive Stu Inman also served as coach. The team won the first pick in the NBA draft twice during that span, in 1972, the team drafted LaRue Martin with the number one pick, and in 1974 the team selected Bill Walton from UCLA. In 1976, the ABA–NBA merger saw those two rival leagues join forces, four ABA teams joined the NBA, the remaining teams were dissolved and their players distributed among the remaining NBA squads in a dispersal draft. The Trail Blazers selected Maurice Lucas in the dispersal draft and that summer, they also hired Jack Ramsay as head coach. The two moves, coupled with the stellar play, led Portland to several firsts, winning record, playoff appearance
7.
Indiana Pacers
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The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association as a club of the leagues Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first established in 1967 as a member of the American Basketball Association and they play their home games at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. The team is named after Indianas history with the Indianapolis 500s pace cars, the Pacers have won three championships, all in the ABA. The Pacers were Eastern Conference champions in 2000, the team has won nine division titles. Five Hall of Fame players – Reggie Miller, Chris Mullin, Alex English, Mel Daniels, in early 1967, a group of six investors pooled their resources to purchase a franchise in the proposed American Basketball Association. For their first seven years, they played in the Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum, in 1974, they moved to the plush new Market Square Arena in downtown Indianapolis, where they played for 25 years. Early in the Pacers second season, former Indiana Hoosiers standout Bob Slick Leonard became the head coach. Leonard quickly turned the Pacers into a juggernaut and his teams were buoyed by the great play of superstars such as Mel Daniels, George McGinnis, Bob Netolicky, Rick Mount and Roger Brown. The Pacers were – and ended – as the most successful team in ABA history, in all, they appeared in the ABA Finals five times in the leagues nine-year history, a feat that was never bettered by any other ABA franchise. The Pacers were one of four ABA teams that joined the NBA in the ABA–NBA merger in 1976, for the 1976–77 season the Pacers were joined in the merged league by the Denver Nuggets, New York Nets, and San Antonio Spurs. The league charged a $3.2 million entry fee for each former ABA team, as a result of the merger, the four teams dealt with financial troubles. Additionally, the Pacers had some financial troubles which dated back to their days in the ABA. The new NBA teams also were barred from sharing in national TV revenues for four years, the Pacers finished their inaugural NBA season with a record of 36–46. Billy Knight and Don Buse represented Indiana in the NBA All-Star Game, however, this was one of the few bright spots of the Pacers first 13 years in the NBA. During this time, they had only three non-losing seasons and only two playoff appearances, a lack of continuity became the norm for most of the next decade, as they traded away Knight and Buse before the 1977–78 season even started. They acquired Adrian Dantley in exchange for Knight, but Dantley was traded in December, while the Pacers second-leading scorer, the early Pacers came out on the short end of two of the most one-sided trades in NBA history. In 1980, they traded Alex English to the Nuggets in order to reacquire former ABA star George McGinnis, McGinnis was long past his prime, and contributed very little during his two-year return
8.
San Antonio Spurs
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The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio, Texas. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association as a club of the leagues Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its games at the AT&T Center in San Antonio. The Spurs are one of four former American Basketball Association teams to remain intact in the NBA after the 1976 ABA–NBA merger, the Spurs five NBA championships are the fourth most in history behind only the Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers, and Chicago Bulls. The Spurs currently rank first among active franchises for the highest winning percentage in NBA history, in their 40 NBA seasons since 1976–77, the Spurs have won 21 division titles. With their 50th win in the 2016–17 season, the Spurs extended their record for most consecutive 50-win seasons to 18. Thus, since the 1997–98 season, the Spurs have had 20 consecutive seasons with a percentage of.610 or greater during the regular season which is also an NBA record. Only the teams current head coach, Gregg Popovich, who had been the general manager before replacing Bob Hill in 1996, has had a longer tenure with the Spurs. The Spurs are the only team in any of the four major U. S. professional sports leagues. Since 2003, the team has been forced on a road trip for much of February since the AT&T Center hosts the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo. This is informally known as the Rodeo Road Trip, the Spurs have consistently posted winning road records during this period, including an NBA-record longest single road trip winning streak. When the Spurs have won the NBA title, the victory parades have been boat trips on the San Antonio River Walk. The San Antonio Spurs started out as the Dallas Chaparrals of the version of the American Basketball Association. Coached by player/coach Cliff Hagan the Dallas Chaparrals were one of 11 teams to take the floor in the season of the upstart ABA. The Chaps second season was a bit of a disappointment, as the finished in 4th place with a mediocre 41–37 record. In the playoffs the Chaparrals quickly fell to the New Orleans Buccaneers, the team suffered from poor attendance and general disinterest in Dallas. While the Chaparrals had been successful on the court, they were sinking financially by their third season. After missing the playoffs for the first time in their existence in the 1972–73 season, a group of 36 San Antonio businessmen, led by Manager/Angelo Drossos, Chairman of the Board/John Schaefer and President/Red McCombs, worked out a lend-lease deal with the Dallas ownership group
9.
Los Angeles Clippers
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The Los Angeles Clippers, often abbreviated as the LA Clippers, are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association as a club of the leagues Western Conference Pacific Division. The franchise was founded in 1970 as the Buffalo Braves, one of three teams to join the NBA that year. The Braves moved from Buffalo, New York to San Diego in 1978, in 1984, the Clippers moved to Los Angeles. Through much of its history, the failed to see significant regular season or playoff success. The Clippers fortunes turned in the early 2010s with the acquisition of core players Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan, and Chris Paul. In 2013, the franchise won its first division title, as the made the playoffs for the ninth time in franchise history. They repeated as champions in 2014. They played their games at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium, along with another Buffalo team that would begin play that year. After two bad seasons, the Braves fortunes started to change under coach Jack Ramsay and star forward/center Bob McAdoo, McAdoo led the NBA in scoring three consecutive seasons and was named the leagues MVP in the 1974–75 season. The Braves qualified for the three times in a row, losing thrice to the eventual Eastern Conference champions. As a result, after an attempt to sell the team to an owner who intended to move it to South Florida. Brown, Jr. who decimated the roster, traded away all of its stars. Eventually in 1978, Brown dealt with Celtics owner Irv Levin so they would trade franchise ownerships, southern California resident Levin then decided to move the Braves to San Diego, something the league would have never allowed him to do with the Celtics. In 1978, San Diego welcomed the relocation of the Buffalo Braves franchise because the city had lost their Rockets to Houston seven years earlier, when the Clippers moved to Los Angeles in 1984, they kept their nickname. Playing at the San Diego Sports Arena, the Clippers posted a record of 43–39 in their first season in California under new head coach Gene Shue and it would be the Clippers last winning season for 13 years. It was also in that first season in southern California that long-time announcer Ralph Lawler began his association with the club. The 1979–80 season saw the Clippers begin to struggle despite adding center Bill Walton, Walton missed 68 games due to foot injuries
10.
PBC CSKA Moscow
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PBC CSKA Moscow is a Russian professional basketball team that is based in Moscow, Russia. The club, currently owned by Norilsk Nickel, is a member of the VTB United League and the EuroLeague. It is often referred to in the West as Red Army or the Red Army team for its past affiliation with the Armed Forces sports society, which was associated with the Soviet Army. In their second most recent EuroLeague championship in 2008, they defeated Israeli powerhouse Maccabi Tel Aviv, 77–91, CSKA lost in the 2007 final 93–91 to Panathinaikos on the Greens home floor, the Nikos Galis Olympic Indoor Hall in Athens. In 2008, they won a rematch of the 2006 final against Maccabi 91–77 in Madrid, in 2009, they lost a rematch of the 2007 final against Panathinaikos 73–71 in Berlin. The club competed in 8 consecutive EuroLeague Final Fours from 2003 to 2010, over many years, CSKA has the reputation for being one of the richest clubs in Europe. CSKA was founded on 29 April 2013, then known as OPPV, OPPV, which means Опытно-показательная военно-спортивная площадка всевобуча, a department in the General military education service, was the first central sports deparment of the Red Army. It was based on the pre-revolutionary Community of Amateur Skiers, the first success of the basketball department came at the 1924 Soviet Championship, which was played between cities, not clubs. Two more titles followed in 1928 and 1935, in 1938, the Soviet Championships were played between clubs, and CSKA under the name CDKA debuted there. By the end of the Great Patriotic War, CSKA established itself as one of the most respected Soviet basketball teams. In 1953 and 1954, the club was renamed CDSA, between 1955–60 it was known as CSK MO, and finally in 1960 it received its current name CSKA, CSKA has had a long history of success. They won the European Cup in 1961,1963,1969, and 1971, won the Soviet Championship 24 times, and won the Russian League title every year from 1992 through 2000, and 2003 through 2013. CSKA also made the Final Four of the EuroLeague in 1996,2004, though CSKA eventually lost in the semifinals on their home court to Spanish League club Tau Cerámica and to Panathinaikos of the Greek League in the third-place game. That sent them to the 2nd grade teams in the EuroLeague draw and that same year they also lost a game in the finals series of the Russian League, but they eventually got the Russian League crown. In 2006, CSKA qualified for the 2005–06 Euroleague Top 16 by finishing third in their group and they finished at the top of their Top 16 group, being denied a perfect record at Tau in their final match. CSKA entered the Final Four on a roll as the club to sweep their best-of-three quarterfinal series defeating Turkish League power Efes Pilsen. Panathinaikos won a closely fought battle, in 2008, their EuroLeague win put them in sole possession of second place for overall European titles. Only Real Madrid, with nine titles, had won more than CSKAs six titles at the time, on October 14,2008, the team played a NBA preseason game with the Toronto Raptors at Air Canada Centre in Toronto
