1.
Pineville, Louisiana
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Pineville is a city in Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is adjacent to the city of Alexandria, and is part of that citys Metropolitan Statistical Area, the population was 14,555 at the 2010 census. It had been 13,829 in 2000, population grew by 5 percent over the preceding decade. The Central Louisiana State Hospital, the Pinecrest Supports and Services Center, Long Memorial Hospital, the Alexandria Veterans Administration Medical Center, and the Alexandria National Cemetery are all located in Pineville. Pineville is also home to several large non-government employers including Baker Manufacturing Inc, crest Industries, LLC, and Dresser Industrial Valve, Inc. Louisiana State University was founded by the Louisiana General Assembly in 1853 and it was founded under the name Louisiana State Seminary of Learning & Military Academy and was located near Pineville. The first session began on January 2,1860, with General William Tecumseh Sherman of Ohio as superintendent, the military opened for its fourth session in November 1862 with 112 students. Superintendent William A. Seay found the task of holding the cadets in class hopeless, winters of Louisiana Tech University, The undisciplined young cadets with their enthusiasm for war were a continuous source of trouble. Around April 1,1863, the decided to close the school. They broke into the kitchen, smashed all the furniture, and seized all the cutlery, dishes, pots and pans, most of the students then went home to volunteer. Professor Seay was able to keep a few students until April 23, Pineville is located at 31°20′20″N 92°24′45″W. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 12.1 square miles. This climatic region is typified by large temperature differences, with warm to hot summers. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Pineville has a subtropical climate. As of the census of 2000, there were 13,829 people,4,994 households, the population density was 1,204.8 people per square mile. There were 5,448 housing units at a density of 474.6 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 69. 57% White,26. 08% African American,0. 51% Native American,1. 90% Asian,0. 09% Pacific Islander,0. 30% from other races, and 1. 55% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1. 14% of the population,32. 5% of all households were made up of individuals and 12. 2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older
2.
Houston
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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
3.
1998 NBA draft
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The 1998 NBA draft took place on June 24,1998, at General Motors Place in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. This draft helped turn around three struggling franchises, the Dallas Mavericks, the Sacramento Kings, and the Toronto Raptors, the Mavericks, despite having a talented nucleus of Jason Kidd, Jamal Mashburn and Jimmy Jackson in the mid-1990s, had not had a winning season since 1989–1990. By the end of the 1997 season, all three players were traded and it was time to rebuild, with the sixth selection in 1998, they drafted Robert Traylor and quickly traded him to the Milwaukee Bucks for Dirk Nowitzki and Pat Garrity. They then traded Garrity in a package to the Phoenix Suns for Steve Nash, with Nash and Nowitzki, the Mavericks quickly went from a lottery team in the late 1990s to a perennial playoff contender throughout the 2000s. Nowitzki went on to win the 2011 NBA Finals with Dallas without Nash, meanwhile, the Raptors were a recent expansion team that had failed to win more than 30 games in its first three seasons. With the fourth pick they selected Antawn Jamison, whom they quickly dealt to the Golden State Warriors for Vince Carter, the Kings, having been a perennial lottery bound franchise, skyrocketed in popularity with the addition of Chris Webber and 7th pick Jason Williams. The Kings went to the playoffs that year and took the defending Western Conference Champions to the game of their 1st round Playoff series. First overall pick Michael Olowokandi is regarded by Sports Illustrated as one of the biggest draft busts in NBA history. Five players from the 1998 draft class have played in the NBA All-Star Game at least once in their careers, Nowitzki, Carter, Jamison, Paul Pierce, all of them have reached the 20,000 points plateau during their careers except for Lewis. Only Nowitzki currently plays for his original team and these players were not selected in the 1998 NBA Draft but have played at least one game in the NBA. Archived from the original on 2001-02-14, cS1 maint, BOT, original-url status unknown 1998 NBA Draft at Basketball-Reference. com
4.
Seattle SuperSonics
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The Seattle SuperSonics, commonly known as the Sonics, were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle, Washington. The SuperSonics played in the National Basketball Association as a club of the leagues Western Conference Pacific. After the 2007–08 season ended, the relocated to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Sam Schulman owned the team from its 1967 inception until 1983 and it was then owned by Barry Ackerley, and then Basketball Club of Seattle, headed by Starbucks chairman, president and CEO Howard Schultz. The sale was approved by the NBA Board of Governors on October 24,2006, home games were played at KeyArena, originally known as Seattle Center Coliseum, for 33 of the franchises 41 seasons in Seattle. In 1978, the moved to the Kingdome, which was shared with the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball. They returned to the Coliseum full-time in 1985, moving temporarily to the Tacoma Dome in Tacoma, Washington, the SuperSonics won the NBA championship in 1979. Overall, the franchise won three Western Conference titles,1978,1979, and 1996, the franchise also won six divisional titles, the most recent being in 2005, with five in the Pacific Division and one in the Northwest Division. The SuperSonics franchise history, however, would be shared with the Thunder, on December 20,1966, Los Angeles businessmen Sam Schulman and Eugene V. Klein and a group of minority partners were awarded an NBA franchise for the city of Seattle. Schulman would serve as the partner and head of team operations. He named the SuperSonics after Boeings recently awarded contract for the SST project, the SuperSonics were Seattles first major league sports franchise. Beginning play in October 1967, the SuperSonics were coached by Al Bianchi and featured All-Star guard Walt Hazzard and NBA All-Rookie Team members Bob Rule and Al Tucker. The expansion team stumbled out of the gates with a 144–116 loss in their first game, Hazzard was traded to the Atlanta Hawks before the start of the next season for Lenny Wilkens. Wilkens brought a strong game to the SuperSonics, averaging 22.4 points per game,8.2 assists per game. Rule, meanwhile, improved on his rookie statistics with 24.0 points per game and 11.5 rebounds per game, the SuperSonics, however, only won 30 games and Bianchi was replaced by Wilkens as player/coach during the offseason. Wilkens and Rule both represented Seattle in the 1970 NBA All-Star Game, and Wilkens led the NBA in assists during the 1969–70 season, Schulman also threatened to move his soon-to-be ABA team to Los Angeles to compete directly with the Lakers. The Oscar Robertson suit delayed the merger, and the SuperSonics remained in Seattle, early in the 1970–71 season, however, Rule tore his Achilles tendon and was lost for the rest of the year. The following season, the SuperSonics went on to record their first winning season at 47–35, for the 1972–73 season, Wilkens was dealt to Cleveland in a highly unpopular trade, and without his leadership the SuperSonics fell to a 26–56 record
5.
Orlando Magic
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The Orlando Magic is an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association as a club of the leagues Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The franchise has played in the NBA playoffs for more than half of its existence. Orlando has been the second most successful of the four expansion teams brought into the league in 1988 and 1989 in terms of winning percentage, after fellow Floridian team Miami Heat. In September 1985, Orlando businessman Jim L. Hewitt approached Philadelphia 76ers general manager Pat Williams as they met in Texas on his idea of bringing an NBA team to Orlando. Intrigued by the project, Williams signed on as the front man of the investment group one year later as he left the 76ers, on June 19,1986, the two held a news conference to announce their intention of seeking an NBA franchise. At the same time Hewitt and Williams decided to hold a contest in the Orlando Sentinel newspaper to get names for their new franchise. Out of a total of 4,296 submitted entries, the names were subsequently narrowed to four, Heat, Tropics, Juice, the last one, which had been submitted by 11 people, was picked after Williams brought his 7-year-old daughter Karyn to visit in Orlando. On July 27,1986, it was announced that the committee chose the Magic to be the new name of the Orlando franchise in the NBA, the name Magic alludes to the citys biggest tourist attraction and economic engine Walt Disney World, along with its Magic Kingdom. Hewitt added that You look at all the aspects of Central Florida, and you find it really is an exciting place, a magical place. Many, including Williams himself at first, thought that Miami or Tampa were better locations in Florida for a franchise, given Orlando was a small town lacking a major airport and a suitable arena. Meanwhile, Williams gave presentations to NBA commissioner David Stern and the owners of the teams of the league that the town was viable. The Magic were one of the four new expansion franchises awarded by the NBA in 1987 along with the Charlotte Hornets, Miami Heat, the Magic became the first ever major-league professional sports franchise in the Orlando area, following an expansion fee of reportedly $32.5 million. The Magic hired Matt Guokas as the teams first coach, who helped the Magic select 12 players in the NBA Expansion Draft on June 15,1989. On June 27,1989, the Magic chose Nick Anderson with the 11th pick in the first round, the very first game played was an exhibition game on October 13,1989 against the then reigning champions Detroit Pistons, which the Magic won. Anderson was quoted as saying the atmosphere and the people watching the game was like Game 7 of the NBA Finals. On November 4,1989, the Magic played their first season game at the Orlando Arena against the visiting New Jersey Nets, the Magics first victory came two days later, as the Magic defeated the New York Knicks 118–110. The inaugural team compiled a record of 18–64 with players including Reggie Theus, Scott Skiles, Terry Catledge, Sam Vincent, Otis Smith, in the 1990 NBA draft, the Orlando Magic selected Dennis Scott with the fourth overall pick
6.
Washington Wizards
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The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D. C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association, as a club of the leagues Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays its games at the Verizon Center, in the Chinatown neighborhood of Washington. The team now known as the Wizards began playing as the Chicago Packers in 1961, as the first modern expansion team in NBA history, an expansion prompted by Abe Sapersteins American Basketball League. Rookie Walt Bellamy was the star, averaging 31.6 points per game,19.0 rebounds per game. During the All-Star game, Bellamy represented the team while scoring 23 points, Bellamy was named the league Rookie of the Year, but was the team finished with the NBAs worst record at 18-62. The teams original nickname was a nod to Chicagos meatpacking industry, their home arena, however, it was extremely unpopular since it was the same nickname used by the NFLs Green Bay Packers, bitter rivals of the Chicago Bears. After only one year, the changed its name to the Chicago Zephyrs. Their only season as the Zephyrs boasted former Purdue star Terry Dischinger, in their first year in Baltimore, the Bullets finished fourth in a five–team Western Division. Prior to the 1964–65 NBA season the Bullets pulled off a trade, sending Dischinger, Rod Thorn and Don Kojis to the Detroit Pistons for Bailey Howell, Don Ohl, Bob Ferry. The trade worked out well, Howell proved to be a hustling, in the 1965 NBA Playoffs, the Bullets stunned the St. Louis Hawks 3–1, and advanced to the Western Conference finals. In the finals, Baltimore managed to split the first four games with the Los Angeles Lakers before losing the series 4–2. In the late 1960s, the Bullets drafted two future Hall of Fame members, Earl Monroe, in the 1967 draft, number two overall, and Wes Unseld, in the 1968 draft, also number two overall. The team improved dramatically, from 36 wins the season to 57 in the 1968–69 season. The Bullets reached the playoffs with high expectations to go far, the next season the two teams met again in the first round, and although this one went to seven games, the Knicks emerged victorious again. In the 1970–71 season, the 42–40 Bullets again met the 1970–71 Knicks and they were swept in four games by the powerful Milwaukee Bucks led by future Hall of Fame members Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Oscar Robertson. Even after the trades of Earl Monroe and Gus Johnson, the Bullets remained a playoff contender throughout the 1970s. Following a less than spectacular 1971–72 season, Baltimore acquired Elvin Hayes from the Houston Rockets and drafted Kevin Porter in the third round, out of St. Francis in Pennsylvania
7.
Miami Heat
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The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association as a member of the leagues Eastern Conference Southeast Division and they play their home games at the American Airlines Arena in downtown Miami. The team owner is Carnival Corporation owner Micky Arison, the president and general manager is Pat Riley. The mascot is Burnie, an anthropomorphic fireball, formed in 1988 as an expansion team, the Heat have won three league championships, five conference titles and eleven division titles. In 2013, the Heat won twenty-seven regular season games in a row, in 2016, Forbes valued the Heat at $1.3 billion as the tenth most valuable among NBA franchises. In 1987 the NBA granted one of its four new teams to Miami. The Miami Heat began their early years with much mediocrity, only making the two times in their first eight years and falling in the first round both times. Upon the purchasing of the franchise by Micky Arison in 1995, Pat Riley was brought in as the team president, Riley acquired center Alonzo Mourning and point guard Tim Hardaway to serve as the centerpieces for the team, transforming Miami into a championship contender throughout the late 1990s. With them they brought in a new team trainer, Cody Posselt. The Heat underwent a dramatic turnaround in the 1996–97 season, improving to a 61–21 record – a franchise record at the time and that same year, Miami earned the moniker of Road Warriors for its remarkable 32–9 record on the road. Their biggest rivals of the time were the New York Knicks, Rileys former team, a period of mediocrity followed after, highlighted by missing the playoffs in 2002 and 2003. In the 2003 NBA draft, with the fifth overall pick, free-agent swing-man Lamar Odom was signed from the Los Angeles Clippers. Just prior to the start of the 03–04 season, Riley stepped down as coach to focus on rebuilding the Heat. In the offseason, Riley engineered a summer blockbuster trade for Shaquille ONeal from the Los Angeles Lakers, Alonzo Mourning returned to the Heat in the same season, serving as a backup to ONeal. Returning as championship contenders, Miami finished with a 59–23 record, sweeping through the first round and the semifinals, Miami went back to the Conference Finals for the first time in eight years, where it met the defending champion Detroit Pistons. Despite taking a 3–2 lead, Miami lost Wade to injury for Game 6, the Heat would go on to lose Game 7 at home despite Wades return. In the summer of 2005, Riley brought in free agent Gary Payton from the Boston Celtics. After a disappointing 11–10 start to the 05–06 season, Riley relieved Van Gundy of his duties, the Heat made it to the Conference Finals in 2006 and in a re-match, defeated the Pistons, winning the series 4–2
8.
2009 NBA All-Star Game
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The 2009 NBA All-Star Game was an exhibition basketball game played on February 15,2009 at US Airways Center in Phoenix, Arizona, home of the Phoenix Suns. The game was the 58th edition of the National Basketball Association All-Star Game and was played during the 2008–09 NBA season and this was the third time that Phoenix had hosted the All-Star Game, the city had previously hosted the event in 1975 and 1995. Phoenix was awarded the All-Star Game in an announcement by commissioner David Stern on November 8,2007, the other reported contenders for the 2009 contest were Air Canada Centre at Toronto, Madison Square Garden at New York City, Oracle Arena at Oakland and Bradley Center at Milwaukee. The All-Star Weekend began on Friday, February 13,2009 with the Celebrity Game and the Rookie Challenge, on Saturday, the event continued with the All-Star Saturday Night, which featured the Shooting Stars Competition, Skills Challenge, Three-Point Shootout and Slam Dunk Contest. The H–O–R–S–E Competition was first introduced and was played before the All-Star Saturday Night, the D-League Dream Factory Friday Night was held on Friday and the D-League All-Star Game was held on Saturday. The Western Conference All-Star team defeated the Eastern Conference All-Star team 146–119, wests Kobe Bryant and Shaquille ONeal were named joint-winners of the games MVP. In the Rookie Challenge, the Sophomores defeated the Rookies, with Sophomores Kevin Durant named as the game MVP, in the All-Star Saturday Night events, Nate Robinson won his second Slam Dunk Contest while Daequan Cook and Derrick Rose won the Three-Point Shootout and Skills Challenge respectively. Team Detroit won their second Shootings Stars Competition, beating the team, Team Phoenix in the final round. Kevin Durant also took home another trophy by winning the inaugural H–O–R–S–E Competition, the coaches for the All-Star game are the head coaches who currently lead the teams with the best winning percentage in their conference through the Sunday two weeks before the All-Star game. The head coaches from the year, Doc Rivers and Byron Scott were not eligible for selection. The coach for the Western Conference team was Los Angeles Lakers head coach Phil Jackson and this was the fourth time Jackson was selected to be an All-Star coach, after previously selected in 1992,1996 and 2000. The Lakers entered the All-Star break with 42–10 record, the best winning percentage in the Western Conference, the coach for the Eastern Conference team was Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Mike Brown. This was the first time Brown was selected to be an All-Star coach and he became only the second Cavaliers coach to lead an All-Star team, after Lenny Wilkens in 1989. The Cavaliers entered the All-Star break with 40–11 record, the second best winning percentage in the Eastern Conference, the rosters for the All-Star Game is chosen in two ways. The starters were chosen via a fan ballot, two guards, two forwards and one center who receive the highest vote were named the All-Star starters. The reserves were chosen by votes among the NBA head coaches in their respective conferences, the coaches were not permitted to vote for their own players. The reserves consists of two guards, two forwards, one center and two players regardless of position, If a player is unable to participate due to injury, the commissioner will select a replacement. Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic topped the All-Star Ballots with 3,150,181 votes and he became the first player to get more than 3 million votes from the fans
9.
Mr. Basketball USA
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From 1996–2002 the selections were made by Student Sports and from 2003–2009 by EA Sports. From 2010–2012 the award was determined by ESPN HS until the award was taken over by HighSchoolHardwood. com in 2013 StudentSports. com in 2014, Grassrootshoops in 2015, and BallisLife. com in 2016. ESPN RISE does not knowingly select fifth-year players, and those due to age or academics. Furthermore, selection uses on-the-floor performance without regard to academics, volunteer work or most other off-the-court criteria, current selections are made through a season-long polling process of a 10-member expert panel with a final year-end ballot to determine the winner. The panel includes five McDonalds All-American selection committee members, the panel is polled weekly for a list of the top seven national player of the year candidates regardless of graduating class. The votes are then translated into a 10-point scoring system, with 10 points for a vote, nine points for second-place vote. — in College column indicates that player either returned to school or went directly to professional basketball in the subsequent year. Source, List of U. S. high school national player of the year awards Naismith Prep Player of the Year Award Gatorade Player of the Year awards Winner list at ESPN
10.
Basketball
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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
11.
United States
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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
12.
United States men's national basketball team
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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
