1.
Houston
–
Houston is the most populous city in the state of Texas and the fourth-most populous city in the United States. With a census-estimated 2014 population of 2.239 million within an area of 667 square miles, it also is the largest city in the southern United States and the seat of Harris County. Located in Southeast Texas near the Gulf of Mexico, it is the city of Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land. Houston was founded on August 28,1836, near the banks of Buffalo Bayou and incorporated as a city on June 5,1837. The city was named after former General Sam Houston, who was president of the Republic of Texas and had commanded, the burgeoning port and railroad industry, combined with oil discovery in 1901, has induced continual surges in the citys population. Houstons economy has an industrial base in energy, manufacturing, aeronautics. Leading in health care sectors and building equipment, Houston has more Fortune 500 headquarters within its city limits than any city except for New York City. The Port of Houston ranks first in the United States in international waterborne tonnage handled, the city has a population from various ethnic and religious backgrounds and a large and growing international community. Houston is the most diverse city in Texas and has described as the most diverse in the United States. It is home to cultural institutions and exhibits, which attract more than 7 million visitors a year to the Museum District. Houston has a visual and performing arts scene in the Theater District. In August 1836, two real estate entrepreneurs from New York, Augustus Chapman Allen and John Kirby Allen, purchased 6,642 acres of land along Buffalo Bayou with the intent of founding a city. The Allen brothers decided to name the city after Sam Houston, the general at the Battle of San Jacinto. The great majority of slaves in Texas came with their owners from the slave states. Sizable numbers, however, came through the slave trade. New Orleans was the center of trade in the Deep South. Thousands of enslaved African Americans lived near the city before the Civil War, many of them near the city worked on sugar and cotton plantations, while most of those in the city limits had domestic and artisan jobs. Houston was granted incorporation on June 5,1837, with James S. Holman becoming its first mayor, in the same year, Houston became the county seat of Harrisburg County and the temporary capital of the Republic of Texas
2.
Portland Trail Blazers
–
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
3.
Sacramento Kings
–
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
4.
2014 McDonald's All-American Boys Game
–
The 2014 McDonalds All-American Boys Game is an All-star basketball game that was played on April 2,2014 at the United Center in Chicago, home of the Chicago Bulls. It was the 37th annual McDonalds All-American Game for high school boys, the games rosters featured the best and most highly recruited blue chip boys high school basketball players graduating in 2014. Chicago, which became the first city to host the game in years in 2012. 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 the field with four commits each, one of the games 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 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 and 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. Media related to 2014 McDonalds All-American Boys Game at Wikimedia Commons Official website
5.
United States
–
Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
6.
United States men's national basketball team
–
The USA Basketball Mens Senior National Team, commonly known as the United States Mens National Basketball Team, represents the United States in international mens basketball. The USA team is the most successful team in competition, winning medals in all eighteen Olympic tournaments it has entered. The United States is currently ranked first in the FIBA World Rankings, traditionally composed of amateur players, a 1989 rule change by FIBA allowed USA Basketball to field teams with professional players. The first such team, known as the Dream Team, won the medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. With the introduction of professionals, the team was able to spark a run of dominance after capturing only a bronze medal in 1988. A team of professional players competed at the 1994 FIBA World Championship, in 1996,2000,2008,2012, and 2016 the USA again captured gold medals at the Olympics. Facing increased competition, the USA failed to win a medal at the 2002 FIBA World Championship, determined to put an end to these failures, USA Basketball initiated a long-term project aimed at creating better, more cohesive teams. The USA won its first seven games at the 2006 FIBA World Championship in Japan before losing against Greece in the semi-finals, the USA won gold two years later, though, at the 2008 Summer Olympics with a dominant performance. The USA continued this streak of dominance by going undefeated and capturing gold once more at the 2012 Summer Olympics,2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, the United States possessed a clear advantage in the early decades of international play. Through the next six tournaments, the United States went undefeated, collecting gold while not losing a single contest in the held in London, Helsinki, Melbourne, Rome, Tokyo. Roster until the formation of the 1992 Dream Team, the 1952 team included big man Clyde Lovellette of the University of Kansas, a future Hall of Famer and NBA star, but Kurland once again led the team to victory. The 1956 team was led by San Francisco Dons Bill Russell, the 1972 Olympic mens basketball gold medal game, marking the first ever 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. With three seconds left in the medal game, American forward Doug Collins sank two free throws to put the Americans up 50–49. However, the buzzer sounded before Collins second free throw, immediately following Collins free throws, the Soviets inbounded the ball and failed to score. But one official had whistled play to stop with one remaining after hearing the earlier horn. The Soviets argued that they had requested a timeout before Collins foul shots, the referees ordered the clock reset to three seconds and the games final seconds replayed. However, the clock was in the process of being reset when the referees put the ball in play
7.
Basketball
–
Basketball is a non-contact team sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of five players each. The objective is to shoot a ball through a hoop 18 inches in diameter and 10 feet high that is mounted to a backboard at each end of the court. The game was invented in 1891 by Dr. James Naismith, a team can score a field goal by shooting the ball through the basket being defended by the opposition team during regular play. A field goal scores three points for the team if the player shoots from behind the three-point line. A team can also score via free throws, which are worth one point, the team with the most points at the end of the game wins, but additional time is mandated when the score is tied at the end of regulation. The ball can be advanced on the court by passing it to a teammate and it is a violation to lift, or drag, ones pivot foot without dribbling the ball, to carry it, or to hold the ball with both hands then resume dribbling. The game has many techniques for displaying skill—ball-handling, shooting, passing, dribbling, dunking, shot-blocking. The point guard directs the on court action of the team, implementing the coachs game plan, Basketball is one of the worlds most popular and widely viewed sports. Outside North America, the top clubs from national leagues qualify to continental championships such as the Euroleague, the FIBA Basketball World Cup attracts the top national teams from around the world. Each continent hosts regional competitions for teams, like EuroBasket. The FIBA Womens Basketball World Cup features the top womens basketball teams from continental championships. The main North American league is the WNBA, whereas the EuroLeague Women has been dominated by teams from the Russian Womens Basketball Premier League, in early December 1891, Canadian Dr. He sought a vigorous indoor game to keep his students occupied, after rejecting other ideas as either too rough or poorly suited to walled-in gymnasiums, he wrote the basic rules and nailed a peach basket onto a 10-foot elevated track. Basketball was originally played with a soccer ball and these laces could cause bounce passes and dribbling to be unpredictable. Eventually a lace-free ball construction method was invented, and this change to the game was endorsed by Naismith, dribbling was not part of the original game except for the bounce pass to teammates. Passing the ball was the means of ball movement. Dribbling was eventually introduced but limited by the shape of early balls. Dribbling only became a part of the game around the 1950s
8.
Jahlil Okafor
–
Jahlil Okafor is an American professional basketball player for the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association. He played his season of college for the 2014–15 Duke national championship team. Okafor was heavily recruited since before high school and had been at the top of the rankings for several years. He played high school basketball in Chicago, Illinois for Whitney M. Young Magnet High School, at the 2012 FIBA Under-17 World Championship, he earned the Tournament MVP for the gold-medal winning USA team. In 2013, Okafor led Whitney Young to the 2013 Chicago Public High School League city championship and he was an All-American as a junior in 2013. The following summer, he was an All-Tournament team selection at the 2013 FIBA Under-19 World Championship for the gold-medal Team USA, following his senior season, he earned broad All-American recognition and was named national player of the year by Parade, USA Today and McDonalds among other players. He signed with Duke as a package with Tyus Jones, with recognition as the preseason Collegiate National Player of the Year. At Duke, he earned the USBWA National Freshman of the Year and ACC Player of the Year, and a unanimous 2015 NCAA Mens Basketball All-American first-team selection. In the week following Dukes victory in the game of the 2015 NCAA Mens Division I Basketball Tournament against Wisconsin. He was selected with the third pick by the Philadelphia 76ers. Okafors father, Chukwudi, known as Chuck, is of Nigerian Igbo and African-American descent, as a youth, Okafor split time between his mothers home in the 127-resident town of Moffett, Oklahoma and his fathers home in Chicago. When he was 9 years old, his mother contracted bronchitis, Okafor permanently moved in with his father to the South Side of Chicago and then to Rosemont. The adjustment was difficult because he was shy and so tall that other students thought he was put in the class for having failed, in November 2008, during seventh grade he matched his fathers height of 6 feet 5 inches. Later the family moved to Chicagos North Side so that Okafor could attend Whitney Young High School, initially, interim coach Tracy Webster, made an oral offer on January 30 outside the DePaul locker room at Allstate Arena. The offer was noted online by ESPNChicago. com and picked up by the press, I think hes probably a fan and someone who has been a fan for some time, since we have played in Rosemont for the last 30 years. Okafor and teammate Paul White were regarded as the best incoming freshmen in the Chicago metropolitan area and they joined a team with six returning seniors that had finished as state runners up the prior year. Along with 6-foot-10-inch sophomore Thomas Hamilton Jr. and White, Okafor was part of a trio of Whitney Young players ranked in the top 10 of their respective classes by ESPNU. Entering the season, Whitney Young was considered to resemble a college team due to its size and athleticism
9.
Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball
–
Georgetowns first intercollegiate mens basketball team was formed in 1907. Patrick Ewing, who succeeded John Thompson III upon his firing, is the current head coach, the team won the National Championship in 1984 and has reached the NCAA Tournament Final Four on five occasions. Their most recent trip to the Final Four was in 2007 and they have won the Big East Mens Basketball Tournament seven times, and has also won or shared the Big East regular season title ten times. They have been appeared in the NCAA Tournament thirty times and in the National Invitation Tournament twelve times, the Hoyas under Thompson III were known for employing a variant of the Princeton offense, a style of play that emphasizes ball movement. Coach Thompson learned the style while serving under then-Coach Pete Carril of the Princeton University Tigers, using this system, Georgetown had been lauded for excelling by emphasizing offensive efficiency rather than speed of play. Founded in the fall of 1906, the Georgetown mens basketball played its first game on February 9,1907. In its first 60-some years, the program displayed only sporadic success, the downtown locations of these venues was also influenced by the number of Law School students who played on the team in this era. From 1918 through 1923, while on campus at Ryan Gymnasium, a large on-campus arena was proposed in 1927, but shelved during the Great Depression. The team recruited its first All-American, Ed Hargaden, in 1931, from 1932 until 1939, the Hoyas played in the Eastern Intercollegiate Conference, and were regular-season conference co-champions in 1939. In 1942, a Hoya went pro for the first time, the next year the team, led by future congressman Henry Hyde, reached new heights by going all the way to the 1943 NCAA championship game, where they lost to Wyoming. The Hoyas coach, Elmer Ripley, would be inducted into the hall of fame in 1973. The program was suspended from 1943 to 1945 because of World War II, however, in 1953, former Baltimore Bullets player Buddy Jeannette coached the team to its first National Invitation Tournament invitation, but it lost in the first round to Louisville. OKeefe would later return to coach the team from 1960 until 1966, when the school hired John Magee, Magee led the team to the 1970 NIT, just its third post-season appearance, but a dismal three-win season in 1971–72 led to his dismissal. John Thompson, Jr. played two seasons with the Boston Celtics before he achieved local notability coaching St. Anthonys High School in Washington, D. C. to several very successful seasons. Thompson was hired to coach Georgetown in 1972, and with several recruits from St. Anthonys like Merlin Wilson, derrick Jacksons buzzer beater won Georgetown its first tournament championship, and a bid to the 1975 NCAA Tournament. The Big East Conference provided Georgetown increased competition, and several of its longest rivalries and they faced Syracuse again three weeks later in the first Big East Tournament Finals, winning 87–81. In the 1980 NCAA Tournament, the team advanced to the Elite Eight, the team moved its home arena in the 1981-82 season to the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland to accommodate its growing fan base. That season, sparked by star freshman Patrick Ewing, the Hoyas reached the 1982 national championship finals, in a highly regarded and closely fought contest the Hoyas Fred Brown threw an errant pass to Tar Heels forward James Worthy that sealed the title for UNC
10.
Maryland Terrapins men's basketball
–
The Maryland Terrapins mens basketball team represents the University of Maryland in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I competition. Maryland, a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference, left the ACC in 2014 to join the Big Ten Conference. Gary Williams, who coached the Terrapins from 1989 to 2011, led the program to its greatest success, under Williams, Maryland appeared in eleven straight NCAA Tournaments from 1994 to 2004. He retired in May 2011 and was replaced by former Texas A&M coach Mark Turgeon, the game was instrumental in forcing the expansion of the NCAA Mens Division I Basketball Championship, thus allowing for at-large bids and the inclusion of more than one team per conference. That Maryland team, with six future NBA draft picks, is considered by many to be the greatest team not to have participated in the NCAA tournament, games were played sporadically during the 1904–1905, 1910–1911, 1913–1914, and the 1918–1919 seasons, going a combined 4–32. The Old Liners, as they were known, joined the Southern Conference in their inaugural season. The team met with success that year at 5–7 and also played its first games against future ACC rivals North Carolina. The Old Liners had their first sustained success over the four seasons, finishing at or above.500 in each of them. The Aggies also played their first games against what would become their two other biggest rivals in the future during time, North Carolina State and Duke. The schools biggest success during its formative years took place in the early 1930s, around the time it adopted its current nickname, the team also had its first individual star in Louis Bosey Berger who was named to All-America teams both seasons. It was during this stretch that the school erected a new home for its teams, Ritchie Coliseum. Shipley tallied just one winning season in his last seven years before stepping down to focus on coaching the baseball team and he was succeeded by Flucie Stewart. The 1950s began with a new head coach leading the way, a disciple of legendary coach Henry Iba, Millikans emphasis on defense and fundamentals would become hallmarks of the program over the next two decades. Maryland quickly reels off seven straight winning seasons under Millikan and that season was perhaps the finest the Terrapins had experienced to date, finishing with a 23–7 record and a conference mark good enough for second in the league. Maryland experienced its first games as a team, spending the final nine weeks of the season ranked in the AP Top 20. It also featured the schools first win over a team when it beat local rival George Washington. The team was led by its second All-American, Gene Shue, after that season, the team remained the only school outside of the North Carolina Big Four – Duke, UNC, North Carolina State, and Wake Forest – to consistently field competitive teams. The Terps had another season during the 1957–58 season
.JPG)
