2016 ACC Men's Basketball Tournament
The 2016 Atlantic Coast Conference Men's Basketball Tournament is the postseason men's basketball tournament for the Atlantic Coast Conference and was held at the Verizon Center in Washington D. C. from March 8–12, 2016. The winner of the tournament receives the conference's automatic bid to the 2016 NCAA Tournament; the tournament included 14 of the 15 ACC teams due to Louisville's self-imposed postseason ban. This was the 20th consecutive ACC Tournament that featured UNC in the championship game; the top 10 teams received first round byes and the top 4 teams received double byes to the Quarterfinals. Teams were seeded by record within the conference, with a tiebreaker system to seed teams with identical conference records. * denotes overtime period Tournament MVP: Joel Berry II, North CarolinaAll-Tournament Teams: 2016 ACC Women's Basketball Tournament
2017 NBA draft
The 2017 NBA draft was held on June 22, 2017, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association teams took turns selecting amateur U. S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. The draft lottery took place during the playoffs on May 16, 2017; the 53–29 Boston Celtics, who were the #1 seed in the Eastern Conference and reached the Eastern Conference Finals at the time of the NBA draft lottery, won the #1 pick with pick swapping rights thanks to a previous trade with the Brooklyn Nets, who had the worst record the previous season. The Los Angeles Lakers, who had risked losing their 2017 first round pick to the Philadelphia 76ers, moved up two spots to get the No. 2 pick, while Philadelphia moved up to receive the No. 3 pick due to the Sacramento Kings moving up in the draft, which activated pick swapping rights the 76ers had from an earlier trade. On June 19, four days before the NBA draft began, the Celtics and 76ers traded their top first round picks to each other, meaning the holders of the top four picks of this year's draft would be the same as the previous year's draft.
The draft class is the youngest draft class with the most freshmen and fewest seniors selected in the first round. It was the third time, the second in a row, that three players were selected from Serbian team KK Mega Basket in the same draft, with it occurring during the 2014 and 2016 NBA draft; the draft received a lot of media coverage from ESPN pertaining to eventual No. 2 pick Lonzo Ball and his outspoken father, LaVar Ball, much to the chagrin of many sports fans and some ESPN employees. This was one of the rare occasions where a player drafted from their year did not win rookie of the year. Despite a terrific season from rookie Donovan Mitchell the award went to 2016 first overall pick Ben Simmons the first player to win the award in a year they weren’t drafted since Blake Griffin These players were not selected in the 2017 NBA Draft, but have played at least one game in the NBA; the draft is conducted under the eligibility rules established in the league's 2017 collective bargaining agreement with its player's union.
The CBA that ended the 2011 lockout instituted no immediate changes to the draft, but called for a committee of owners and players to discuss future changes. All drafted players must be at least 19 years old during the calendar year of the draft. In terms of dates, players who are eligible for the 2017 draft, must be born on or before December 31, 1998. Since the 2016 draft, the NCAA Division I council has implemented the following rules for that division that changed the draft landscape for college players:Declaration for the draft no longer results in automatic loss of college eligibility; as long as a player does not sign a contract with a professional team outside the NBA, or sign with an agent, he will retain college eligibility as long as he makes a timely withdrawal from the draft. NCAA players have until 10 days after the end of the NBA Draft Combine to withdraw from the draft. Since the combine is held in mid-May, the current deadline is about five weeks after the previous mid-April deadline.
NCAA players may participate in the draft combine, are allowed to attend one tryout per year with each NBA team without losing college eligibility. NCAA players may now withdraw from the draft up to two times without loss of eligibility; the NCAA treated a second declaration of draft eligibility as a permanent loss of college eligibility. The NBA has since expanded the draft combine to include players with remaining college eligibility. Players who are not automatically eligible had to declare their eligibility for the draft by notifying the NBA offices in writing no than 60 days before the draft. For the 2017 draft, this date fell on April 23. After that date "early entry" players were able to attend NBA pre-draft camps and individual team workouts to show off their skills and obtain feedback regarding their draft positions. Under the CBA a player may withdraw his name from consideration from the draft at any time before the final declaration date, 10 days before the draft. Under current NCAA rules, players have until May 24 to withdraw from the draft and retain college eligibility.
A player who has hired an agent forfeits his remaining college eligibility regardless of whether he is drafted. At the time, a record-high 185 underclassed draft prospects had declared themselves for eligibility at the April 24 deadline, although college players who had not hired agents or signed professional contracts outside the NBA were able to decide to return to college by May 24, 10 days after the end of the NBA Draft Combine; these players have publicly indicated that they have hired agents, or had planned to do so around the start of the draft. By the end of the May 24 deadline, 73 draft candidates from college decided to return to their respective colleges for at least another year, leaving 64 underclassmen to enter the draft this year. Additionally, two more players left entry at the end of the international player deadline, meaning both Maverick Rowan from North Carolina State and Darin Johnson from Cal State Northridge would not return for college, but one player managed to enter the college underclassman deadline, thus leaving 63 entries at hand for the NBA Draft.
International players that had declared this year and did no
Point guard
The point guard called the one or point, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has the most specialized role of any position. Point guards are expected to run the team's offense by controlling the ball and making sure that it gets to the right player at the right time. Above all, the point guard must understand and accept their coach's game plan. While the point guard must understand and accept the coach's gameplan, they must be able to adapt to what the defense is allowing, they must control the pace of the game. A point guard, like other player positions in basketball, specializes in certain skills. A point guard's primary job is to facilitate scoring opportunities for his/her team, or sometimes for themselves. Lee Rose has described a point guard as a coach on the floor, who can handle and distribute the ball to teammates; this involves setting up plays on the court, getting the ball to the teammate in the best position to score, controlling the tempo of the game.
A point guard should know when and how to instigate a fast break and when and how to initiate the more deliberate sets. Point guards are expected to be vocal floor leaders. A point guard needs always to have in mind the times on the shot clock and the game clock, the score, the numbers of remaining timeouts for both teams, etc. Among the taller players who have enjoyed success at the position is Ben Simmons, who at 6’ 10” won the 2018 National Basketball Association Rookie of the Year Award. Behind him is Magic Johnson, who at 6’ 9” won the National Basketball Association Most Valuable Player Award three times in his career. Other point guards who have been named NBA MVP include Russell Westbrook, Bob Cousy, Oscar Robertson, Allen Iverson, Derrick Rose and two-time winners Steve Nash and Stephen Curry. In the NBA, point guards are about 6' 4" or shorter, average about 6' 2" whereas in the WNBA, point guards are 5' 9" or shorter. Having above-average size is considered advantageous, although size is secondary to situational awareness, speed and ball handling skills.
Shorter players tend to be better dribblers since they are closer to the floor, thus have better control of the ball while dribbling. After an opponent scores, it is the point guard who brings the ball down court to begin an offensive play. Passing skills, ball handling, court vision are crucial. Speed is important. Point guards are valued more for their assist totals than for their scoring. Another major evaluation factor is assist-to-turnover ratio, which reflects the decision-making skills of the player. Still, a first-rate point guard should have a reasonably effective jump shot; the point guard is positioned on the perimeter of the play, so as to have the best view of the action. This is a necessity because of the point guard's many leadership obligations. Many times, the point guard is referred to by announcers as a "coach on the floor" or a "floor general". In the past, this was true, as several point guards such as Lenny Wilkens served their teams as player-coaches; this is not so common anymore, as most coaches are now specialized in coaching and are non-players.
Some point guards are still given a great deal of leeway in the offense. Point guards who are not given this much freedom, are still extensions of their coach on the floor and must display good leadership skills. Along with leadership and a general basketball acumen, ball-handling is a skill of great importance to a point guard. Speaking, the point guard is the player in possession of the ball for the most time during a game and is responsible for maintaining possession of the ball for his team in the face of any pressure from the opponents. Point guards must be able to maintain possession of the ball in crowded spaces and in traffic and be able to advance the ball quickly. A point guard that has enough ball-handling skill and quickness to be able to drive to the basket in a half-court set is very valuable and considered by some to be a must for a successful offense. After ball-handling and scoring are the most important areas of the game for a point guard; as the primary decision-maker for a team, a point guard's passing ability determines how well a point guard is able to put his decision into play.
It is one thing to be able to recognize the player, in a tactically advantageous position, but it is another thing to be able to deliver the ball to that player. For this reason, a point guard is but not always, more skilled and focused on passing than shooting. However, a good jump shot and the ability to score off a drive to the basket are still valuable skills. A point guard will use his ability to score in order to augment his effectiveness as a decision maker and play maker. In addition to the traditional role of the point guard, modern teams have found new ways to utilize the position. Notably, several modern point guards have used a successful style of post play, a tactic practiced by much larger centers and forwards. Working off of the fact that the opposing point guard is in all probability an undersized player with limited strength, several modern point guards have developed games close to the basket that include being able to utilize the drop step, spin move, fade away jump shot. In recent years, the sport's shift from a fundamental style of play to a more athletic, scoring-oriented game resulted in the proliferation of so-called combo guards at the po
2014 McDonald's All-American Boys Game
The 2014 McDonald's All-American Boys Game was an All-star basketball game, played on April 2, 2014 at the United Center in Chicago, home of the Chicago Bulls. It was the 37th annual McDonald's All-American Game for high school boys; the game's rosters featured the best and most recruited blue chip boys high school basketball players graduating in 2014. Chicago, which became the first city to host the game in back-to-back years in 2012, will continue to host the game annually at least until 2015; the rosters for the game were announced at 6:00 PM ET on January 29 on ESPNU. At the time of the announcement 22 of the 24 players had committed to Division I basketball programs. Duke and Kentucky led. One of the game's major storylines was that local big men Jahlil Okafor and Cliff Alexander opposed each other; the 2014–15 Duke Blue Devils and 2014–15 Kentucky Wildcats shared the lead among committed players at the time of the original roster announcement on January 29. Three hometown players were selected for the game.
Texas led the way with five natives. Rashad Vaughn committed to UNLV on February 11, but Turner remained uncommitted at the time of the game, he committed to Texas 4 weeks after the game on April 30.8 days before the game, Okafor was recognized as the Morgan Wootten Player of the Year. 2 days before the game, Grayson Allen won the slam dunk contest, James Blackmon, Jr. won the three-point contest and Tyus Jones won the skills competition. Cliff Alexander, PF, Kansas Myles Turner, C, Texas Tyus Jones, PG, Duke Karl-Anthony Towns, PF, Kentucky James Blackmon, Jr. SG, Indiana D'Angelo Russell, SG, Ohio State Justin Jackson, SF, North Carolina Melo Trimble, PG, Maryland Isaiah Whitehead, SG, Seton Hall Theo Pinson, SF, North Carolina Justise Winslow, SF, Duke Kevon Looney, PF, UCLA Jahlil Okafor, C, Duke Emmanuel Mudiay, PG, SMU Stanley Johnson, SF, Arizona Trey Lyles, PF, Kentucky Kelly Oubre Jr. SF, Kansas Rashad Vaughn, SG, UNLV Joel Berry II, PG, North Carolina Reid Travis, PF, Stanford Tyler Ulis, PG, Kentucky Grayson Allen, SG, Duke Devin Booker, SG, Kentucky Thomas Welsh, C, UCLA Frank Allocco Brian Sullivan Mark Noack Lou Wilson Dale DeBerry Hank Lloyd The West defeated the East by a 105–102 score.
Okafor and Justin Jackson earned co-MVP of the game after posting 17 points and 7 rebounds and 23 points and 5 rebounds, for their respective West and East teams. Media related to 2014 McDonald's All-American Boys Game at Wikimedia Commons Official website
College basketball
College basketball today is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including the United States's National Collegiate Athletic Association, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, the United States Collegiate Athletic Association, the National Junior College Athletic Association, the National Christian College Athletic Association. Governing bodies in Canada include the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association; each of these various organizations are subdivided into from one to three divisions based on the number and level of scholarships that may be provided to the athletes. Each organization has different conferences to divide up the teams into groups. Teams are selected into these conferences depending on the location of the schools; these conferences are put in due to the regional play of the teams and to have a structural schedule for each to team to play for the upcoming year. During conference play the teams are ranked not only through the entire NCAA, but the conference as well in which they have tournament play leading into the NCAA tournament.
The history of basketball can be traced back to a YMCA International Training School, known today as Springfield College, located in Springfield, Massachusetts. The sport was created by a physical education teacher named James Naismith, who in the winter of 1891 was given the task of creating a game that would keep track athletes in shape and that would prevent them from getting hurt; the date of the first formal basketball game played at the Springfield YMCA Training School under Naismith's rules is given as December 21, 1891. Basketball began to be played at some college campuses by 1893; the first known college to field a basketball team against an outside opponent was Vanderbilt University, which played against the local YMCA in Nashville, Tennessee, on February 7, 1893. The second recorded instance of an organized college basketball game was Geneva College's game against the New Brighton YMCA on April 8, 1893, in Beaver Falls, which Geneva won 3–0; the first recorded game between two college teams occurred on February 9, 1895, when Hamline University faced Minnesota A&M. Minnesota A&M won the game, played under rules allowing nine players per side, 9–3.
The first intercollegiate match using the modern rule of five players per side is credited as a game between the University of Chicago and the University of Iowa, in Iowa City, Iowa, on January 18, 1896. The Chicago team won the game 15-12, under the coaching of Amos Alonzo Stagg, who had learned the game from James Naismith at the Springfield YMCA. However, some sources state the first "true" five-on-five intercollegiate match was a game in 1897 between Yale and Penn, because although the Iowa team that played Chicago in 1896 was composed of University of Iowa students, it did not represent the university, rather it was organized through a YMCA. By 1900, the game of basketball had spread to colleges across the country; the Amateur Athletic Union's annual U. S. national championship tournament featured collegiate teams playing against non-college teams. Four colleges won the AAU tournament championship: NYU, Butler and Washburn. College teams were runners-up in 1915, 1917, 1920, 1921, 1932 and 1934.
The first known tournament featuring college teams was the 1904 Summer Olympics, where basketball was a demonstration sport, a collegiate championship tournament was held. The Olympic title was won by Hiram College. In March 1908, a two-game "championship series" was organized between the University of Chicago and Penn, with games played in Philadelphia and Bartlett, Illinois. Chicago swept both games to win the series. In March 1922, the 1922 National Intercollegiate Basketball Tournament was held in Indianapolis – the first stand-alone post-season tournament for college teams; the champions of six major conferences participated: Pacific Coast Conference, Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association, Western Pennsylvania League, Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association and Indiana Intercollegiate Athletic Association. The Western Conference and Eastern Intercollegiate League declined invitations to participate. Wabash College won the 1922 tournament.
The first organization to tout a occurring national collegiate championship was the NAIA in 1937, although it was surpassed in prestige by the National Invitation Tournament, or NIT, which brought six teams to New York's Madison Square Garden in the spring of 1938. Temple defeated Colorado in the first NIT tournament championship game, 60–36. In 1939, another national tournament was implemented by the National Collegiate Athletic Association; the location of the NCAA Tournament varied from year to year, it soon used multiple locations each year, so more fans could see games without traveling to New York. Although the NIT was created earlier and was more prestigious than the NCAA for many years, it lost popularity and status to the NCAA Tournament. In 1950, following a double win by the 1949–50 CCNY Beavers men's basketball team, the NCAA ruled that no team could compete in both tournaments, indicated that a team eligible for the NCAA tournament should play in it. Not long afterward, assisted by the 1951 scandals based in New York City, the NCAA tournament had become more prestigious than before, with conference champions and the majority of top-ranked teams competing there.
The NCAA tournament overtook the NIT by 1960. Through the 1960s and 1970s, with UCLA leading the way as winner
Field goal (basketball)
In basketball, a field goal is a basket scored on any shot or tap other than a free throw, worth two or three points depending on the distance of the attempt from the basket. Uncommonly, a field goal can be worth other values such as one point in FIBA 3x3 basketball competitions or four points in the BIG3 basketball league. "Field goal" is the official terminology used by the National Basketball Association in their rule book, in their box scores and statistics, in referees' rulings. The same term is the official wording used by the National Collegiate Athletic Association and high school basketball. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar holds the NBA record for field goals made in a career with 15,837. Wilt Chamberlain, one of the most prolific scorers of all time, holds the top four spots for most field goals made in a season and has the two top field goal percentages for a season. One of the greatest field-goal shooters of all time is Michael Jordan, who led the NBA in field goals made ten times. Shaquille O'Neal has the record for most seasons with the best field goal percentage, Artis Gilmore has the record for highest career field goal percentage.
Steve Nash was one of the greatest all-around shooters in the history of the NBA, holding the record for 50–40–90 seasons, a mark of all-around shooting for two-point field goals, three-point field goals, free throws. Nash recorded four of the eleven 50–40–90 seasons in NBA history. One type of field goal is called a slam dunk; this occurs when a player jumps near the basket with possession of the ball, throwing the ball down through the basket while airborne. The word "slam" is derived onomatopoeically from the sound of the player's hands hitting, grabbing releasing the hoop. NBA records
United States men's national basketball team
The USA Basketball Men's National Team known as the United States Men's National Basketball Team, is the most successful team in international competition, winning medals in all eighteen Olympic tournaments it has entered, coming away with fifteen golds. In the professional era, the team won the Olympic gold medal in 1992, 1996, 2000, 2008, 2012, 2016. Two of its gold medal-winning teams were inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in August 2010 – the 1960 team, which featured six Hall of Famers, the 1992 "Dream Team", featuring 14 Hall of Famers; the team is ranked first in the FIBA World Rankings. Traditionally composed of amateur players, the U. S. dominated the first decades of international basketball, winning a record seven consecutive Olympic gold medals. However, by the end of the 1980s, American amateurs were no longer competitive against seasoned professionals from the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia. In 1989, FIBA modified its rules and allowed USA Basketball to field teams with National Basketball Association players.
The first such team, known as the "Dream Team", won the gold medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, being superior in all matches. With the introduction of NBA players, the team was able to spark a second run of dominance in the 1990s. Facing increased competition, the U. S. failed finishing sixth. The 2004 Olympic team, being depleted by a number of withdrawals, lost three games on its way to a bronze medal, a record that represented more losses in a single year than the country's Olympic teams had suffered in all previous Olympiads combined. Determined to put an end to these failures, USA Basketball initiated a long-term project aimed at creating better, more cohesive teams; the U. S. won its first seven games at the 2006 FIBA World Championship in Japan before losing against Greece in the semi-finals. The team won gold two years – at the 2008 Summer Olympics – in a dominant fashion; this success was followed up at the 2010 FIBA World Championship, where despite fielding a roster featuring no players from the 2008 Olympic team, the U.
S. did not lose a single game en route to defeating host Turkey for the gold medal. The Americans continued this streak of dominance in the 2010s by going undefeated and capturing gold at the 2012 Summer Olympics, 2014 FIBA World Cup. At the 2016 Summer Olympics, the team, led by Mike Krzyzewski for a record third time, won its fifteenth gold medal, making him the most decorated coach in USA Basketball history; the US men were dominant from the first Olympic tournament to hold basketball, held in Berlin in 1936, going 5–0 to win the gold, joined by continental neighbors Canada and Mexico on the medal platform. Through the next six tournaments, the United States went undefeated, collecting gold while not losing a single contest in the games held in London, Melbourne, Rome and Mexico City. Participation in these tournaments were limited to amateurs, but the US teams during this period featured players who would go on to become superstars in professional basketball, including all-time greats Bill Russell, Oscar Robertson, Jerry West, Jerry Lucas.
S. roster until the formation of the 1992 Dream Team. Alex Groza and Ralph Beard, both NBA stars, made the 1948 squad as Kentucky Wildcats, with 3-time Oklahoma State All-American and 6-time AAU All-American, Hall of Famer Bob Kurland leading the way; the 1952 team included big man Clyde Lovellette of the University of Kansas, a future Hall of Famer and NBA star. Kurland once again led the team to victory; the 1956 team was led by San Francisco Dons Bill Russell and K. C. Jones; the 1960 team included nine future NBA players, including not just Robertson and West, but Bob Boozer, Adrian Smith, Jay Arnette, Terry Dischinger, Rookie of the Year in 1963, another Hall of Famer in Walt Bellamy. The 1972 Olympic men's basketball gold medal game, marking the first loss for the USA in Olympic play, is arguably the most controversial in Olympic history; the United States rode their seven consecutive gold medals and 63–0 Olympic record to Munich for the 1972 Summer Olympics. The team won its first eight games in convincing fashion, setting up a final against the Soviet Union, holding a 6–0 advantage over the Soviets in Olympic play.
With three seconds left in the gold medal game, American forward Doug Collins sank two free throws to put the Americans up 50–49. Following Collins' free throws, the Soviets inbounded the ball and failed to score. Soviet coaches claimed; the referees ordered the clock reset to three seconds and the game's final seconds replayed. The horn sounded as a length-of-the-court Soviet pass was being released from the inbounding player, the pass missed its mark, the American players began celebrating. Final three seconds were replayed for a third time; this time, the Soviets' Alexander Belov and the USA's Kevin Joyce and Jim Forbes went up for the pass, Belov caught the long pass from Ivan Edeshko near the American basket. Belov laid the ball in for the winning points as the buzzer sounded; the US players voted unanimously to refuse their silver medals, at least one team member, Kenny Davis, has directed in his will that his heirs are never to accept the medals posthumously. It was revealed that game officials might have been bribed by the Communist party.
After the controversial loss in Munich, 1976 saw Dean Smith coach the USA to a 7–0 record and its eighth Olympic gold medal in Montreal. The success at this tou
