Louisville still climbing

THe little birdies of Louisville are flying high. The Louisville Cardinals came away with a 2 point win against Pittsburgh on Sunday (24/2) and that has given them a 12-3 conference record with 3 games remaining. That record ties them in first place with Georgetown in the Big East.

That is not all, the team from Ville have managed to climb the national rankings once again. Hitting 13th in the Assocated Press rankings and #18 in the coaches rankings. It has been one of the greatest fightbacks in NCAA history having won their last 7 matches. They were deemed down at out early into the season with a number of key injuries but with the team fit and healthy now they sky is the limit to where they can end up.

David Padgett has been the man to push Louisville to the next level. Padgett has always been a bit of an injury magnet and this season has been no different. But he came back from some serious knee problems and has been in career form of late. His knee problem was reported as being an 11 week injury, but Padgett in his final year at Louisville wasnt having any part of that, he was back after about 7 weeks.

The fight continues though with the final 3 matches against some powerful opponents of the Big East. First up with the true fighters, those of the Irish variety. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish (11-3) are coming to town with a hope to shrink that half game gap between the two teams on the table. Luke Harangody is taking all before him this season. The Sophomore forward is averaging a double double with 20 points and 10 rebounds, Including a season high 32 points and 16 rebounds just 2 weeks back in the loss to UConn.

Ville then faces the 7-7 Villa who are a team that can match it with anyone on their day. Villanova Wildcats are on a roll of their own by winning 4 of their last 5 and the loss in that streak coming against conference leading Georgetown by only 2 points.

The final game of the Louisville regular season is a battle for the top place, they head to Georgetown. Louisville will be hoping to prove their 59-51 win back on the 9/2 wasnt a fluke. On that day the Georgetown leader Roy Hibbert wasnt on his full game and will be hoping to bounce back this time. In his last two games he has been a defensive dynamo with 18 points, 8 rebounds 2 steals and SIX blocks against Providence and 12 points FIVE blocks against Cincinatti. He is a 7-2 senior that will push Padgett to his limit.

This game will decide the final ranking fate of Louisville, I for one hope they can get up and have a top 10 ranking by the end of the year. Fingers crossed.

Coach Onski

Pictures thanks to www.allposters.com and www.espn.com

Manu-Shaka-Laka

As they used to say in the old NBA Jam days, Boom-Shaka-Laka. But I am going to have to say Manu-Shaka-Laka as the man has done it again. Manu Ginobili is starting to become the player with the most offensive arsenal in the league and even managed to get the game winner with 6 seconds remaining in today's game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, 100-99.

Manu's brilliance is excites me each time I refresh the boxscore on the games he plays. I just want to see what figures he will produce next. He is in such a groove at the moment that even the fieriest defenders might struggle. Luckily for the Spurs they have the only man that could stop him in Bruce Bowen.

As mentioned earlier, he dropped the game winner against the Timberwolves with 6 seconds remaining. It was his 13th field goal for the game in only 18 attempts, an amazing 72% from the field. This included 7 from 9 three pointers and threw in 11-12 foul shots to finish the game with 44 points. The man is playing with such precision and passion at the moment that it sends an ominous sign to the league not to right off the Spurs.

With the signing of Kent Thomas and Damon Stoudamire in recent times the Spurs are setting up a team that will have more speed and strength than before. Both of the new additions can score which is handy and Thomas should fit the team nicely with his hustle and strength under the rim.

Parker was back tonight as well and provided the team with 8 points in his limited minutes. I am not sure he is 100% fit but expect him to be leading the Spurs from the point very shortly.

Oh and Tim Duncan was just Tim Duncan tonight grabbing rebounds at will and scoring more than his fair share. The stat line reads 24 points, 14 rebounds, 7 assists, 4 blocks and 3 steals in what was just as an important game as Ginobili's 44 points.

Coach Onski Note: Farewell to Brent Barry and Francisco Elson who have both served the Spurs well in their time at the club. I am sorry to see Barry go as I think he was a potential game winner with the monster 3's he could land. You'll still be in my NBA Live team on the Xbox

Worlds Smallest Bodybuilder

Oh boy, another body building story. Once again, despite my body of pure muscle, I am not really into the body building scene but this story had to come on the site.

This is the worlds smallest bodybuilder, at 2ft 9in and weighing 9kg this Indian chap is being claimed as the worlds smallest body builder.

Aditya 'Romeo' Dev the 19 year olf of Phagwara, India is capable of lifting 1.5kg dumbells despite only weighing 9kg.

He is trained by Ranjeet Pal and completes aerobics, gymnastics, dance as well as pumping weights to get that tip top condition. Every day he gets a crowd at the gymnasium to watch him work out. He has become a bit of a celebrity and hopes one day to go to London to perform in dance and bodybuilding.

If nothing else this little fella bought a smile to my face.

Cheers

Coach Onski

Story and pictures thanks to www.dailymail.co.uk.

NBA's Man of Steal - Who is it??

When it comes to steals in the NBA it seems as though part of your name has to contain the sound of 'on' in it. Names such as Johnson, Robertson, Richardson, Don, Payton, Stockton, Iverson, Jordon (ok ok I spelt it wrong but it sounds like that), Pippon (yeah I got that wrong too).

In all the years of the NBA/ABA nobody had a better year and deserved the name 'The Glove' more than Don Buse of Indiana in 1975. In his 84 games that season he became the only player in NBA history to average over 4 steals a game. The final figure he ended up with was 4.12spg.

Nobody could get even close to that mark, including himself. His next season he tallied 281 steals at an average of 3.47, which is the 3rd best in NBA history. But does that make him the 'Man of Steal'? Or just a 'Man with a couple of good years of Steal'?

Lets take a look at players entire career of steals.

Don Buse could keep up the pace of his 75-76 seasons. His steal rates dropped off dramatically and ended his career with 1832 steals at an average of 1.77 a game. This could only plonk him in position 33 on the all time 'Men of Steal' list. Which I am guessing will drop with his limited play these days.

Who could be number 1? Surely Gary 'The Glove' Payton is up there, he has made a name for himself as a thief. Well this may surprise you but he is only in position 28 with 2638 steals @ 1.8spg.

Magic Johnson? Nope 22nd on the table with 2082 steals @ 1.9spg. Scottie Pippen? 16th. Jason Kidd? 13th. John Stockton? Nope 7th. Oh ok it is Michael Jordan. Sorry guys he could only manage 4th with an average of 2.31.

So who is it I hear you ask? The number one 'Man of Steal' over his career is Alvin Robertson. Robertson with a steal rate consistency above 2 steals a game after his rookie season, is the greatest of all time. His best season were 85-86 where he had averages for the San Antonio Spurs of 3.67spg (2nd Best NBA ever) and 3.21spg respectively.

As a total over his career he finished with an average of 2.71spg. This was added to his Most Improved award, Defensive Player of the Year award and 4 All-Star Appearances. Alvin certainly was the 'Man of Steal'.

The Top 10 Men of Steal include:


Coach Onski

This article was originally posted on www.onski.blogspot.com on the 27/12/2007

Stats thanks to www.databasebasketball.com. Pictures thanks to www.viewimages.com, www.sportsencyclopedia.com, www.nba.com

Dale Ellis - Yearly Points Turnaround

At the end of the 1985 season it looked like Dale Ellis' career was at the crossroads. Would he continue to be a bit player or take control of his career and become a scoring machine. For 3 years he had been in their side since his rookie season in 1983 and since his impressive rookie average of 8.19ppg, it only rose slightly to 9.26ppg the next year then dropped 7.06ppg in 1985. Dallas didn't think he had it in him to be the machine so they traded him to Seattle.

In Seattle his minutes rose from 15mpg to 37mpg and with this Dale didn't disappoint. He became the man, scoring almost 25ppg that season in what is the greatest scoring turnaround in NBA history. He continued this scoring trend in his time at Seattle peaking at an average of 27.48 in 1989. He was then traded around the Association to Milwaukee, San Antonio , Denver, Seattle and finally in Charlotte. Each season during those trade years his average stayed fairly consistent between 10 and 17ppg.

By the end of his career he managed to score over 20,000 points which in his day ranked in the top 50 of all time, today he is slightly out of the top 50.

Thanks to http://www.viewimages.com/ for the picture and http://www.databasebasketball.com/ for the stats.

Coach Onski

This article was originally posted on http://www.onski.blogspot.com/ on the 27/12/2007

Don Maclean - Yearly points percentage turnaround

The greatest year to year points percentage turnaround in history belongs to Don Maclean in his 1998 season. In the previous year which was his 6th he had joined New Jersey after stints in Washington, Denver and Phili. After only playing 9 games and averaging 0.33ppg in 1997 for New Jersey, Don moved on to the Seattle Supersonics where he managed 17 games.

In those 17 games his minutes also increased by around 17mpg. He was able to turn that 0.33ppg into a respectable 10.88ppg which was a massive 3165% increase. Over his career he had 3 seasons averaging around 11ppg and his 2nd season he managed 18ppg so it looked like Don was back on track after a disastrous 1997.

Unfortunately for Don the next year it dropped back down to 2.63ppg and his career was over.

Picture thanks to www.viewimages.com, stats thanks to www.databasebasketball.com

Coach Onski

This article was originally written on the 27/12/2007 on www.onski.blogspot.com

Holy Ginobili!!!

Those two words were what came out of my mouth when I just saw the results from the 2007 NBA Final rematch between the San Antonio Spurs and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

I spoke highly of Spurs swingman with his performance against the Toronto Raptors, but tonights effort was another notch on the Argentine stars belt.

Now wait for the big news....he blocked a shot!!! Thats nothing you say.
How about he got 3 steals? Nope!
5 rebounds? He is getting better but that isnt enough to get you excited is it?
How about his 8 assists? Nice but we have players doing that all the time.
OK lets throw into his stat line an impressive 46 points, including 8 three pointers and 75% field goal accuracy.

Holy Ginobili!!! Thats what I said!!!

What a monster effort from Ginobili, he has made this pre-All Star week his own with some stunning perfomances. Lets hope he can keep it up.

Getting back to the game the Spurs came back from a 71-75 three quarter time deficit to over run the Cavs and win 112-105. That came with a 41 point final term which is much unlike the Spurs who usually dont figure that well in the last quarters. Tim Duncan had another double double with 23 points and 13 rebounds.

LeBron James was the best for the Cavs with a great 39 points of his own, to go with his 6 rebounds and 9 assists. But he did that on 17-31 shooting which was no match for Ginobili's 15-20 shooting.

The Spurs now go on a break for All-Star weekend, they dont play again until the 19th against the Charlotte Bobcats. Good luck to Tim Duncan and all the Spurs over the All-Star Weekend. No INJURIES!!

Coach Onski

Louisville 88 def DePaul 68

I asked for Drealon Burns of the DePaul Blue Devils to have an average night against Louisville in today's US College game in Illinois, guess what? He did. Or was it that the Cardinals had a supreme night.

Louisville started the game in style with an 8-0 run and never looked back for an 88-68 win. For the second game in a row David Padgett came up big for the Cards. On 9-12 shooting he scored 20 points, 4 rebounds and 2 blocks. Terrance Williams though was the standout for the now 9-3 Louisville side. He too managed 9-12 shooting for his 22 points which included 2 three's. He also had 8 rebounds and 5 assists to give him a nice stat line to finish the game.

Dar Tucker was DePaul's best with 22 points off the bench but it was their terrible shooting that probably cost them the match. Drealon was terrible from the arc with all of his 5 shots missing, and shooting a miserable 3-14 for the game to end up with 11 points. The entire team only had 36.5% compared with Louisville's 58.1% from the field.

In the end the scoreline of flattered the Blue Devils. The Cards were up by as much as 31 in the 2nd half and were cruising. The pedal was taken off near the end but it was too late for DePaul to claw back such a deficit.

Louisville now head to the struggling Providence's (4-8) home to hopefully decrease the gap between themselves and the Georgetown Hoya's on top of the Big East. Both Louisville and Notre Dame are 1 game behind the Hoya's and can sniff the top of the table.

Coach Onski

Ipswich and Southend Update 13/02/2008

Coach Onski doesnt have much passion for the game of Soccer, or Football for you people that believe it is the real Football code. But he does follow two team in the English Leagues.

The first team is Ipwsich Town in the Championship League. Also the Southend Shrimpers get my interest in the League One. Both teams are making a claim for promotion as the seasons continue.

Ipswich are currently sitting in 6th positon which will give them a chance at making the playoffs for a chance to go up to the Premier League. Just today they had a good 1-0 win against Crystal Palace. Danny Hayes incidently headed the ball into the net on the stroke of halftime to give Ipwsich a 1-0 lead that they managed to keep for the remainder ofthe match.

Southend on the other hand didnt do themselves any favours with a loss to the lowley ranked Millwall. The Shrimpers started the game well with a 25 yarder from Nick Bailey in the 9th minute. But Milwall sturck back in the 41st with Gary Alexander heading home a corner. Dave Martin sealed the win in the 54th minute for Millwall with a free kick after Southend player Peter Clarke handled the ball. Millwall pulled themselves out of the relegation section of the table while Southend now sit in 9th, 4 points from the Promotion Zone.

Stay tuned for more results throughout the season.

Coach Onski

PS Leeds drew 1-1 with Nottingham Forest, just for you MH.

This article was written 13/02/2008.

Robert Horry - Playoff's Best Ever???

There has been a lot of talk in the past around Robert Horry being the go to guy in playoffs. And rightly so the fella has racked up a massive 7 NBA Championships and earned the nickname 'Big Shot Rob' thanks to his clutch shooting when the games matter.

But is he the player who steps it up in playoffs more than anyone else in history? Lets take a look at the stats to see.

If we look at the efficiency ratings of each player in NBA history there are a number of players who earn their money in the games that matter as compared to the regular season. One of the best was Dick O'Keefe.

Dick who? I hear you ask. O'Keefe was a 6"2' guard who played between 1947 and 1950 for the Washington Capitols. Having played 174 games in total he managed a regular season career with around 5ppg and he shot at 27% from the field and 64% from the line. Really he was just an average player for the league in the regular season where his efficiency rating was a measly 0.55.

But when it came to the playoffs Dick stood up to the challenge. He managed 7.5ppg, 2.5apg, 31% from the field and 88% from the line. He numbers rose quite a bit to give him an efficiency score of 5 in all playoff games.

That is a gigantic rise of 905% from regular season play to playoff games. Should he be known as 'Big Shot Dick'? Firstly I think he should cause it is a funny name, but realistically NAH!! Unfortunately his Capitols only got him to the playoffs twice so all this work I did analysing him was really a waste as his figures were skewed due to his measly games played. (sorry if your reading this Dick)

Some other players who had rose to the occasion like Dick but played a minimal amount of games include James Davis (efficiency rose from 0.33 to 5.03 but played only 36 games in totals, a rise of 1509%), Willi Cunningham rose from 1.78 to 19.69 in his 62 games, which is an increase of 1105% and Paul Long who went from 0.67 in the regular season to 7 in the playoffs for a 1050% increase over his 10 game career.

I have to mention a personal hero of mine Shane Heal, the blonde Australian guard who rose 336% from 1.04 efficiency to 3.5 efficiency in his 51 games. I also have to say I saw him when he played for the Brisbane Bullets in the Australian National Basketball League. He bombed away for 3 to win against the North Melbourne Giants, much to the dissapointment of my buddy MH. Heal for three still rings in his head I know.

But lets get serious, lets look at players who have played at least 50 playoff games and compare them to find out if 'Big Shot Rob' is the best step up player in the league ever.

After completing the analysis I found that Jerome Henderson came out as number 1 with a playoff increase of 587% but I had to remove him from the stats. I wasn't sure if it was true or a mistake in the stats but I saw he played 71 playoff games and only 7 regular season games. I couldn't put him in the review on this basis. If anyone out there knows the truth can you let me know.

But back to Big Shot Horry, after the analysis we find that Robert Horry is a true playoff performer. He stepped up his scoring average by 2ppg in playoffs, nearly 1.5 rebounds per game, 0.5 assists per game, 0.25 steals and he took and made on average a greater number of three's in playoffs than he did in the regular season. This took his regular season efficiency from 10.96 to 14.02, an increase of 128%. This shows that Rob was a playoff performer, he likes the action of the big dance and to be honest was a big reason that the Rockets, Lakers and Spurs won their championships with him on the side.

But he wasn't the biggest jumper from regular to playoff, he slotted in nicely at number 3.

Coming in at number 2 Was Ernie Vandeweghe (Father of Kiki Vandeweghe or Vanden Wedgie as I liked to call him when I played Lakers Vs Celtics on the old PC), whose efficiency rose 149% from 9.99 in the regular season to 14.83 in the playoffs.* He played 224 games in the regular season and 89 in the playoffs for his New York Knicks back in the early 50's. He became a solid scorer in playoffs rising from 9.53 to 15.21ppg, this was on the back of his shooting percentage rising from 42% to 49% and his foul shooting rising from 74% to 86%, It was definitely his offensive presence that made his palyoff value rise. Rebounding and assists stayed fairly static.

Finally the number 1 playoff monster was Kevin Williams. A 6'2" guard from Saint John's University, Kevin was a journey man in his career from 1983 to 1988, but is most remembered for his stint in Seattle. Rising to a total of 311 games he just snuck into this analysis with 51 of them being playoff matches. In playoffs he had an efficiency of 13.67 which was a monster 301% jump from his regular season efficiency of 4.54. During the regular season Kev managed around 5ppg, 1rpg, 1apg with steals and blocks not really worth mentioning, He shot poorly at 43% from the field and not bad at 80% from the line. As as a guard you should be able to shoot but he only managed 2/26 from the arc. Not nearly enough.

In playoffs he was still a bad long range shooter, of his 5 attempts they all were bricks. But it was his overall game that picked up. His 5ppg turned into 11.7ppg, his 1rpg flew up to almost 6rpg, steals were up, blocks were up and his field goal percentage skyrocketed to 54%. Kevin was definitely a playoff star.

The rest of the Top 10 and their increase are as follows:

4. Big Ben Wallace 128%
5. Jaren Jackson 126%
6. Bryon Russell 124%
7. Anfernee (Penny) Hardaway 123%
8. Walter Davis 122%
9. Moses Malone 121%
10. Aaron Mckie 121%

*Please note that the statistics for Ernie Vandeweghe had values for Steals and Blocks for his playoff games only which would have skewed the results slightly.

This article was originally posted on 24/12/2007 on www.onski.blogspot.com

Coach Onski

Photos courtesy of www.basket-plus.com/, www.1960sailors.net/, www.blogs.newsok.com, www.allposters.com/ Statistics thanks to www.databasebasketball.com.

NBA in 1961

Recently we had a look at Wilt Chamberlain of Philadelphia and his amazing statistics. One year in particular stood out, that year 1961.

Boston Celtics had come off an impressive 4-1 win over the St Louis Hawks in the playoffs the previous year which was their 3rd championship in 4 years. They were starting a dynasty that will never, in my eyes, be surpassed. I am not just talking NAB here either I am talking sport.

The Celtics went on to win the next 6 championships before slipping in 66-67 season, then picking up another two rings in the subsequent seasons.

This was the era that Wilt Chamberlain was rocking the NBA with his complete dominance, but no year he was more dominant than in 1961. Statistically he was racking up figures (yes on and off the court) that today's players can only dream of. 50 points and 25 rebounds a game, how can this be possible? And how can we forget his March 2nd game against the New York Knicks in which he scored a lazy 100 point, yes 100 points in a game. (Philadelphia won 169-147 in the shootout in front of 4,124 fans.)

Elgin Baylor of the Los Angeles Lakers was next on the points leader board with 38ppg (18rpg), and the heart of the Celtics Bill Russell was 2nd in the rebounds with almost 24rpg (18 ppg).

Other stars of the time include Oscar Robertson of Cincinnati with 30ppg, 12rpg and 11 Assists per game. Walt Bellamy had 32ppg and 19rpg, Bob Petit had 31 and 19. We also had names like Jerry West, Bob Cousey & Tom Heinsohn thumping the hardwood around the US. It was a grand time for the NBA with so many superstar efforts.

Coming to the end of the season it would seem almost certain that Chamberlain's season would provide him with the MVP. How could he not win, no other player was close to matching his season statistically.

But Boston as a team was dominating, individually they didn't blow anyone out of the water with their box scores. Tom Heinsohm was their leading scorer with a measly 22 points per game. Bill Russel managed to pull down the boards like Chamberlain and managed to grab 24 per game as mentioned earlier. But none of them were as individually great as Chamberlain.

In fact, as far as efficiency on the court is concerned Oscar Robertson, Elgin Baylor, Walt Bellamy and Bob Petit were ahead of the first Boston player in Bill Russell.


So how did Bill Russell win the MVP that year? From a statistical view it seems crazy. I was not around back then but I cant figure it out. Maybe the judges wives were part of Chamberlains 10,000 women statistic. I can only assume that Bill Russell was the best player on a great team, which at the end of the day means more than individual honours.

This article was originally posted onwww.onski.blogspot.com on the 14/12/2007.

Coach Onski

Thanks to http://www.databasebasketball.com for the stats, http://www.nba.com for a great amount of history and http://www.prairienet.org for the picture.

NBA Efficency - Best Ever - Wilt Chamberlin

Who is the best player ever in terms of efficiency ever in the NBA?

If we use the efficiency formula

(pts+reb+ast+stl+blks-((fga+fgm)+(fta-ftm)+to)/games

on all players and their season stats since 1946 we find that Wilt Chamberlin blows everyone out of the water. He had an efficiency rating of 41.5 over his 1045 game career. To manage a score of 41.5 in a game is considered a great game, to do it over your career is just phenomenal.

The Top 10 efficient players over their career are:

Wilt Chamberlin 41.5
Spencer Haywood 37.8 (only played 84 games)
Artis Gilmore 33.1
Julius (Dr J) Erving 32.3
Bill Russell 31.7
Oscar Robertson 31.6
Bob Pettit 31.1
Kareen Abdul-Jabbar 30.9
Connie Hawkins 30.3
Larry Bird 29.8

The player that most consider the greatest ever in Michael Jordan finished 12th with 29.2. Of current day players Shaquille O'Neal led the way finishing 14th with 28.3, new Boston veteran Kevin Garnett (20th) with 27.3 and star Spur Tim Duncan (25th)with 26.8.

These results are only up until the 2005 season so I am sure that Garnett has increased his position in this time, Duncan would have stayed quite constant and Shaq most likely would have dropped.

This shows what dominance Wilt had over the league in the 60's. He was unstoppable, or was it that the league was just not up to scratch. That brings the age old question, how would he go in today's game. Would he be as dominate today in the league with some much size and physical skill. Something we will never know. But let me point this fact out at well, these stats are based on the stats kindly provided by www.databasebasketball.com but unfortunately stats like steals and blocks weren't collected in Wilts day. Either were turnovers but the block factor is a big one, a guy 7-1 who scores over 20 rebounds a game would have been a block machine as well so maybe add a few extra points to his efficiency rating while your at it, or remove some from the modern day players. The guy was a freak!!

But lets not take away from some of his amazing feats. We all know of his 100 point game and the reported 20,000 odd women he has been with but what about some other facts.

If we look at his individual seasons he leads the all time list with his monster 1961 season. Where he averaged 50.4ppg shooting at .0505 from the field, pulled in 25.7rpg and had an efficiency rating of 52.3.

But wait there is more, the next 6 best efficient seasons of all time are also held by him. In fact he holds 8 of the top ten most efficient season of all time. (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has the other 2) Even in his rookie season (1959) he managed 33.8ppg and 24.3rpg. The guy is a statisticians dream he is full of mind boggling stats.

Will anyone ever be this dominant of a league? Could anyone ever be this dominant of a league? I personally don't think so.

Coach Onski

This article was orginally posted on www.onski.blogspot.com on the 13/12/2007.

Thanks to www.databasebasketball.com for the raw stats that I worked with to bring you some of these interesting NBA facts. stay tuned sports fans there will be more to come.

Bernard King - Biggest Yearly Scoring Drop

Bernard King was a master of the basketball court, a scoring nightmare for opposition teams. Over his career he managed to score 22.55ppg. But his final comeback from knee injury may have tarnished a legend.

In 1990 King was suiting up for Washington and averaging a solid 28.39ppg, that was until injury set in and kept him out of the game for not only the rest of the season but the entire 1991 season as well.

In 1992 he came back for the New Jersey Nets but he could no longer continue his dominance due to his knee injury. He managed 32 games that season but wasn't even half the player he once was. Dropping to a career low 6.97 points per game and never playing again.

This was a scoring drop of 21.42 from his previous years play. If we ignore the 1991 season in which he didn't play, it is the biggest year to year scoring drop by any player in NBA history (with a minimum of 30 games in his comeback season).

If we were to look at the top 3 yearly scoring drops in NBA history we would find King followed by
Jim McDaniels 1971 - 23.79ppg to 1972 - 5.56ppg
Travis Grant 1974 - 25.19ppg to 1975 - 8.0ppg

Please note this is just a statistical story, I personally think that Bernard King is a legend of the game and worthy of Hall of Fame induction. This article is just to show the massive drop (in fact the biggest) in scoring production by a player.

Coach Onski

Stats thanks to www.databasebasketball.com
Picture thanks to www.basketsession.com

Originally Posted on www.onski.blogspot.com on the 27/12/2007

Ginobili scares the Raptors

www.Not sure what Manu Obi-Won Ginobili was thinking in the recent game against the Toronto Raptors but I LIKE IT. He had a game unlike he has ever played. Going by the stats he dominated.

Racking up 34 points including 6 triples, to go along with his 6 assists was a great effort for the Argentinian swingman. Oh but hang on there is more, he racked up a monster 15 boards which was a career high!!

That stat line mad Tim Duncan's 28th double double of the season seem like a mediocre effort. Duncan popped in 22 points and 13 rebounds as the Spurs responded to the loss in Boston yesterday with a 93-88 win.

With Tony Parker due back from injury after the All-Star break the Spurs hope move from 2nd gear into 3rd so that when the playoffs come around they are in 6th gear with the turbo blasting.

Coach Onski

Brisbane Lions 2008 preview

All reports out of Queensland state that gun Brisbane Lions forward Jonathan Brown is having a super pre-season and is raring to go round 1.Although he is ready to play it is expected that he will miss the NAB cup and concentrate on the regular season.

Brisbane are hoping for an injury free campaign to this year with a couple of major injuries hampering their finals chances in the past few years post premiership era.

Bradshaw is looking the goods which is great news for all Brisbane fans. He is just as important to the team makeup as anyone else. with both Bradshaw and Brown providing options up forward it will give Brisbane's competition a few headaches in their backline setups. Throw in Jared Brennan, Mitch Clark and goal sneaks Ashley McGrath & Rhan Hooper and you have a forward line that could mess with the minds of the best defences.

Defence has been a worrying area for Brisbane in terms of depth but late last season they seemed to start getting on top of things. Merrett and Brennan were moved from the forward line into defence with great results. Merrett or Big Red as I like to call him was very average in the forward line I am sorry to say. I tried so hard to love the kid, really I did but he let me down too many times in the forward line with his inability to get the ball and dispose of it cleanly. But now down back I am really proud of him, his spoiling, body work and intensity is fantastic. He really is becoming a premier defender.

Brennan was quite the same, he had sparks of brilliance in the forward line but as a full time forward he was beaten more often than not. Down back and as the occasional move forward he has blossomed and his career is well on track to what many people had hoped.

In defence as well we have a couple of other names that are solid. Josh Drummond, Jason Roe, Jed Adcock and Robert Copeland are all hard defenders who can play on a variety of different player types. They can also be moved around the ground and have the flexibility to play a multitude of positions.

Some may even sneak into the midfield, but to be honest it is very hard to get a game in there due to the number of top end players already there. Simon Black showed why he is in the elite last season, he is cool in crisis and can make something of nothing. Dodging and weaving in the packs to evade capture and get the ball out with precision accuracy. Luke Power and Nigel Lappin are also in the elite group, where their pinpoint passing and calmness is essential in today’s game.

Lets put a few more midfielders into the list, Tim Notting last year stepped up not only as a player but as a leader. He led from the front and was one of the Lions best players in last years season.

I am also excited by Michael Rischitelli, Troy Selwood and Justin Sherman'ator'. These guys all have the capability to turn a game around off their skills. Sherman is fast, he can chase down an opponent or get away from a pursuer in a heartbeat. If these 3 guys can have injury free seasons I think this will be career years for them all.

Finally is a guy who I feel is as important as Brown and Black to the Lions side. His name is Jamie 'JC' Charman. This guy is tough, hard, a leader and a game turner. He rucks as well as anyone in the AFL and can roll forward for a few goals as well. He loves to celebrate them goals too. Only issue with JC is that he has to keep his wings in, too often he has had a break in concentration and clobbered someone (deservedly I might add). If he and Brown can limit their aggression to legal moves on the ground then the Lions will make the finals and push a top 4 finish. I am serious on that count. With Charman and Brown all firing and injury free there will be a deep Lions presence in the finals campaign of 2008.

Coach Onski

Photos courtesy of www.viewimages.com, www.news.bbc.co.uk and www.bigfooty.com.au

Louisville in the top 25 (sort of)

Well as mentioned yesterday, I expected Louisville to jump into the national rankings and that they did....just.

Louisville was the only newcomer to the top 25 this week at the expense of the rapidly dropping Marquette. As part of the Associated Press 25 Louisville jumped in at 23 with a total of 246 points. Their Big East rival Marquette dropped a massive 10 spots from 16th to an unofficial 26th.

In the ESPN/USA Poll the Cardinals are just out of the Top 25 sitting at the unofficial 26th, just 5 points behind Marquette.

It is still a long way to go for the Cardinals to climb the rankings. Memphis is leading the way with a total of 72 or a possible 72 first place votes to sit atop the AP Rankings with 1800 points. It is there I think they will stay unless they lose a game in the end stretch of the season, which I doubt.

Louisville have 7 games left in the regular season and that leaves them with a chance of going 15-3 for the year. Surely this will grant them a top 10 ranking. Unfortunately in those games they face Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Notre Dame and Georgetown who are all going well this year.

With this still in mind I am excited about the chances of the Cardinals as they seem to enjoy the challenges of playing quality sides, and so far this season they have done well in those games.

Stay tuned for the 12th Feb game against DePaul, hopefully we can keep their scoring machine Draelon Burns down and come away with the Win.

Coach Onski

On a side note lets take a look back at DePauls scoring machine Draelon Burns. Back on November 28th this year the Blue Demons faced the Texas A&M-CC Islanders. True the Islanders are not quite the top of the quality tree but they put up a good fight against DePaul until 9 minutes remaining in the game. In this game Burns was on fire. He led the team with 32 points, on 11-13 shooting. But this also included an amazing 8-8 from beyond the arc, what a game, what shooting. DePaul ended up winning 85-70 but as mentioned the game was much closer until the final 9 minutes. Lets hope that the defence of Louisville can stop this kind of 3 point dominance from Burns tomorrow.

Images courtesy of www.viewimages.com

The Man Whose Arms Exploded

Is bodybuilding a sport? I dunno but it involves lots of effort, working out and sweat. So I guess it is some sort of sport. But that being the case I guess sex is a sport as well. Oh well for the sake of this story I am placing bodybuilding as a sport.

A few weeks back I saw a documentary on bodybuilding and the use of steriods to achieve the biggest and baddest bodies on the planet. It focused on the biggest and the baddest of them all, a man called Gregg Vanentino. The documentary was called, 'The Man Whose Arms Exploded', normally I wouldnt have watched this but come on if you heard that name you would wanna see what it is all about.

It is stated in the documentary that Gregg had the biggest biceps ever, some saying they were 28 inches. For 20 years he did the hard work drug free and plateued so he needed more. Then the 'roids came into play. He not only used them but got involved in the sale of them. He got invovled with some pretty dodgy characters and had his life on the line a few times when deals went bad. He even got arrested as the amounts he was dealing were extreme.

His drug use was not the most hygenic also. He stated in the doco that he often reused syringes, blew them clean if they fell on the floor and never really thought about what a dirty syrine could do to him until it was too late.

He got an infection in his right bicep which turned into a hematoma. The then self confessed 'idiot' decided to drain the blood from his hematoma with the same needles that gave him the infection. Pumping the blood he then squirted it into cups. Occasionally the syrine would extract just air from his arm so he would pump this air back into his arm until he extracted some blood. (not what I would consider a safe move)

As he was doing this he was taping himself via a mirror reflection with his free hand on his video camera. So we got to see the blood being extracted from his arm, the state of the syringe which had a 45 degree bend in the needle, Gregg on the phone at the same time to a mate, the syringe sticking in his arm while he swung it about, the blood all over the bathroom, the gunk he extracted from his arm (not just blood).

After 2 cups of blood he was rushed into emergency surgery at the hospital. In which time he had his right bicep cut in the middle leaving a canyon-like- scar running from the inner to outer of his right bicep.

Gregg luckily survived the event and was willing to tell the tale in this documentary. It was an interesting story to watch on a topic that really isnt that dear to my heart. So if a story that I am not that interested in can keep my interest then it cant be that bad. Check it out if you have a chance.

Cheers
Coach Onski Article Written 11/02/2008

Louisville Beats Georgetown (6)

I have been talking up the Aussies in the US College system of late, but none of them play for the team I supoort. The boys I follow are the mighty Loiusville Cardinals. Do I know why? Not really, I think I saw a player do a monster dunk back in the 90's and it was such a good dunk I thought that would be a good enough reason as any to support them.

Anyway over the weekend bought Louisvilles biggest test of the season. Facing the Big East leaders in the Georgetown Hoyas (9 wins - 1 loss). Having only lost 1 conference game all season and won the past 6 in a row the Hoyas were looking to run away with the conference. They were ranked 6th in the country, whereas Louisville (7 wins - 3 losses) were not ranked at all (Seriously dont know how but that is another story).

This game was being shown on ESPN's prime time so Louisville called for a 'White Out' Night which they got all the crowd wearing white. Even the Cardinals coach Rick Pitino donned a pure white suit. Hey definately looked the part being in Kentucky and all the KFC bosses could have linked him to Colonel Sanders.As the game started it was close for the beginning as the teams started to warm up, but as the quarter progressed Georgetown started to stamp their dominance. Stretching their lead to 8 points at the half with the scoreline being 31-23.

Half time Pitino musnt have been a happy man. He came back after the break in his tradional black suit and this change must have flipped a switch in the Louisville game as well. After about 1 minutes gone in the quarter Louisville revved the accellerator and took control. They sparked a turnaround and with a 3 pointer 6 minutes into the half Lousiville had the lead and never looked back. They then ran away with the match and outscored the Hoyas 20-36, to win the game 59-51.

It was a great effort from the Cardinals who now should crack a national ranking. Finally we got to see the David Padgett we have been waiting for. He was the key to the Cardinals win with 18 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists. I have been waiting for Padgett to be the big man we know he can be and I think this game may have been the turnaround. Now dont get me wrong, I think he is a quality player, it is just he has been hampered with injuries throughout his college career and he just needs to get the games on the board to convince the country he is the player he can be.

Jerry Smith also managed to knock down 4 of 5 three's in his 16 points and was the only other Cardinal in double figures. it was definately not a big scoring event, the Hoyas best was their big man Roy Hibbert and guard Austin Freeman who both ended up with 14 points.

This game brings Louisville within 1 game of top spot in the east. Georgetown is still on top with Notre Dame behind them by half a game. Louisville next play DePaul (5-6) on the 12/2 in which they must keep the momentum going for thier push up the NCAA rankings.

Coach Onski.

As an endnote Pinito told ESPN he changed his suit at halftime as he had spilt Diet Coke on it. Other sources state that he was sweating so much in the Linen that his blue jocks were soon to be seen so he felt he had to change. No matter why he did it, the Hoyas were the ones that cooled down in the second half.

Rick Pitino Photo courtesy of Joe Robbins/US Presswire & www.espn.com, David Padgett picture courtesy of www.scout.com, Cardinal picture courtesy of www.allposters.com

Hawthorn Hawks New Jumper

The Hawthorn Australian Rules Football Club have revealled their newest jumper to be used as an away or 'clash' jumper. As you can see from below it is a very white number which I think the pretty boys at Hawthorn will love, as it will show off their tans that they work so hard on.
Above is a picture from the Hawthornfc.com.au website of Shane Crawford in the new strip. My view of it is that is will definately be a clash and also it is a tonne better than their tartan idea a few years back. I did my best to search for the old tartan Hawthorn jumper to no avail. But I think below is what it was modelled on.

In other AFL news the Brisbane Lions are searching for 28 on 08, that means they are after 28,000 members in 2008, so if you haven't signed up yet, get on board at www.lions.com.au.

Coach Onski

Southend Shrimpers 1 - Manchester United 0

I posted this email back in November 2006 on www.onski.blogspot.com and had to republish it on the all new www.onskisport.blogspot.com.

Southend Shrimpers Football Team in England beat powerhouse Manchester United in the Carling Cup. Freddy 'Dirty Harry' Eastwood shot Man U's hopes with a superb free-kick goal in the first half.

Manchester with 10 international players was unable to equalise so Southend ran out with the victory 1-0.

Great effort by Southend who are one of two teams that I keep my eye on in the English Soccer as well as Ipswich Town (both in the Championship League)

For more details go to:

www.soccernet.com

Coach Onski

Lincoln 201 - Ohio State-Marion 78

Back in December 2006 I posted this news story on www.onski.blogspot.com and just had to bring it over to www.onskisport.blogspot.com.

Just to keep you up to date with news from around the world on the 2nd December 2006 Lincoln University had a mammoth win over Ohio State-Marion in a Division III basketball contest in the US. Lincoln scored 201 points to Marion's 78 which became a Division III record for points and a NCAA (US College) margin record.

They also scored a record amount of points in a half with 97 points in the first half, but then beat that record with 104 in the second half.

Also a big feat was Sami Wylie the 5-11 guard who scored 69 points and that included a record 21 three pointers. He did this in only 24 minutes on the court.

Finally they broke the scoreboard as the final score read 01-78 as the scoreboard wasnt designed to go any higher than 199.

Well done Lincoln!!

For more details click on the below link:
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=2683783

Coach Onski

Tracey McGrady 13 points in 35 seconds

Yes this was against my team, The San Antonio Spurs, but it was arguaably the most amazing solo performances in the history of the NBA. The man just lit it up to win the game.

Trust me it is worth it. Let me know your thoughts on this amazing half minute of basketball and similar feats.

Jordan at his best

Chicago Bulls @ LA Lakers
Finals Series

This is my favourite shot of all time.

I was in LA at the time supporting the Bulls from my LA hotel room.

To make a shot like this in the regular season is awesome, to do it in the Finals Series is Legendary. Jordan is the greatest.

Let me know your favourite moves of all time?

Shaq a Sun, Marion a Heat

Well I thought the trade of Gasol to the Lakers was big news, but Kobe's mate couldn't stay out of the action. Shaquille O'Neal would have heard the news of the Lakers and wanted to be the headline.

So what happened? The big man was traded to the finals regular Phoenix Suns. Phoenix in exchange sent off the swingman and perennial double-double man Shawn Marion and guard Marcus Banks.

What do I think of this trade? Well I think it is a terrible move from Phoenix. Phoenix needed a big man to help out on defence when they come up against the Tim Duncan's, Yao Ming and other West big men in the finals. Shaq can do this, but my problem is will he actually be right to play. Hampered by hip, knee and ankle injuries he hasn’t been himself for quite a while now. If he suits up for half of the possible games for the Suns I would be shocked.

Being a Spurs fan I have to say I am wrapped at this move. Out of all the teams in the West the Suns scared me the most. Now Marion is gone I am not as scared of them. Shaq is no longer what he was and will feel the pressure (if he plays) of the West’s big men. They will expose his lack of game winning skills and speed, which will finally ring the bell on his illustrious career.

Miami on the other hand will be happy with this trade. I am a big fan of Marion, he is a player with long arms for defence, quick, flexible and a tonne of fun to watch. He is more to Phoenix than they give him credit for. I think he is the guy who can be relied upon to win you those big games. Always putting up great figures and more valuable in my eyes than Steve Nash. His game is perfectly suited to that of Dwayne Wade and now Miami will have the up-tempo game that will get a bit of excitement back into the American Airlines Arena, and maybe a few more wins. Marcus Banks is no slouch either, he will definitely benefit from the new move and exposure he will get.

Coach Onski
Article Written 7th February 2008

Gasol a Laker

Today I found out about the Lakers having traded Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, Aaron McKie, the draft rights Marc Gasol (Pau's Brother) and first round picks in 2008 and 2010 for Pau Gasol and a second round draft pick in 2010. This was huge news that would definately increase the Lakers chances of progressing in the finals.

Gasol will add that second star to the Lakers team which is essential for any team to be a champtionship team. Just look at the past Isiah Thomas & Joe Dumars, Michael Jordan & Scottie Pippen, Shaquille O'Neal & Kobe Bryant or even the triple threat of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker & Manu Ginobili. (Yeah I am a bit biased)

But seriously teams can not win championships with 1 star. That is why LeBron James will not win a championship at Cleveland. While he plays there they will be a good team but will never get a good enough draft pick to add to the team to help him out. Unless he is traded he will be one of those champions without a chamionship.

Back to the Lakers, like I said, great move to pick up the Spanish Gasol, and for the Lakers to give up some fairly average players that is a top move for them. Although the 2 first round draft picks could be very harmful, especially as they may need them in those years when Kobe has finally had enough and wants out of the Purple and Yellow.

As for Julians call that this move will bring back the Lakers Vs Celtics finals campaign, I would like to go to the Steakhouse when that doesnt come to fruition. That bet is as good as won by Coach Onski!! Thanks

Coach Onski
Article Written 7th February 2008

Aussies in US College Basketball - Patrick Mills

Continuing on the review of the 35 Aussies in College Basketball, I am have decided to change from the big men and take a look at a smaller fella, the guard from the St Mary's Gaels, Patrick Mills.

Mills, a 178cm Freshman out of Canberra (AIS again I assume) rocketed onto the college front pages with his 37 point demolition of Oregan back in November.

Since then his figures have been fairly good (although not nearly as stunning) but he is definately someone that the scouts are eyeing off as that was only his 4th college game ever.

He is the starting point guard for the St Mary's team who have shot to a 18-3 start to the season. Many are saying that Mills is the reason why and with his stats you cant really debate it.

Averaging 14.5ppg, 3.9apg, 2.4rpg & 1.7apg in your opening college season running the point is definately a step in the right direction and lets hope this Aboriginal Australian can make it big as his career goes forward.

Coach Onski
Article Written 5th Feburary 2008

Aussies in US College Basketball - Aleks Maric

Continuing on the review of the 35 Aussies in College Basketball, I am now looking at another big centre in the Nebraska Cornhusker team, Aleks Maric.

Maric, a 211cm Senior out of Sydney has had a solid 4 year college career. Starting back in the 2004-2005 season he averaged 8ppg and 6rpg which is respectable fogures in your opening season. But since then his figures have risen and currently his scoring average is 15.4ppg and 8.7rpg, oh and dont forget the 1.9bpg.

His scoring is a little down from last seasons 18.5ppg but his game has transformed into a more even product. Boosting his assists and steals, all while reducing his turnovers and fouls.

Maric can put up some big figures too. Only November 17 against Alabama A&M he racked up 21 points, 16 rebounds, 4 steals and 4 blocks. This gave him a 34 effeciency for the game.

This was the first of his 4 double doubles for the season, surpassing Aussie Scoring leader Ogilvy who only has 2 to date.

Maric is also slighty ahead of Ogilvy in the efficency ratings. He is averaging 19.6 this season to Ogilvy's 19.5, which means that as far as efficency is concerned Maric is leading the Aussie charge.

I would assume that Maric will look to play in the NBA next season. Hopefully he makes it and he can have a good showing rest of the NCAA season for his Cornhuskers.

Coach Onski
Article Written 5th February 2008

Spurs sign Damon Stoudamire

The San Antonio Spurs have signed former Rookie Of The Year, Damon Stoudamire.

Stoudamire is a quailty point guard and is good enough to be the Spurs #1 guard but will most likely play a backup role to Frenchman Tony Parker.

He is a great addition to the sliding Spurs who are questionable this season due to injuries to their big three. At various times Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Parker have been out of the side which has severly disturbed the cohersion of the Spurs team.

Parker is currently out of the side along with Brent Barry, who is one of their backup points. But with the inclusion of Stoudamire, they have a legitimate PG who can score and do what is needed for the Spurs.

This was shown in the first outing for his new side. Against the Indiana Pacers he started and managed to score 11 points in the easy win for the riegning champions.

Coach Onski
Article written 7th February 2008

Aussies in US College Basketball - Andrew Ogilvy

As part of my ongoing articles on 35 Aussies in US College Basketball lets today focus on the leading scorer.

Well from a Points Per Game perspective 11 of the blokes are dropping over 10ppg which is a great effort in the college game.

Leading the way is the Andrew Ogilvy of the Vanderbilt Commodores. (I can only guess he is a Holden fan for joining that team) Ogilvy is a 208cm Freshman centre who has been listed by ESPN as coming from Canberra (my guess is the Australian Institute of Sport). He is currently racking up 17.7PPG including a 26 point effort in the win against Lipscomb back in early December. Shooting at a respectable 60% from the field ranks him as one of the best offensive big men in the college game today.

Ogilvy is not a big number player, as I mentioned his highest score is 26 this season which is good but not super. As for rebounds he averages 6.6RPG and his biggest haul was 11 against UMass early January. Of that 11 he hustled for 5 Offensive boards that night, which is one of his big assets. His hustle on the offensive boards allows his team a number of second chances.

Defensively he is a force too, where he manages 1.4 blocks per game. This takes into account his blockfest against Kentucky where he rejected 5 shots. Unfortunately it wasn't enough and they lost that game.

His efficiency per game is averaging around 19.5 including 2 games where he scored a 30 efficiency. The first being that game against Liscomb. The second against Iona a couple of weeks later. Both ended in big wins for Vanderbilt.

Overall Ogilvy has produced a quality season that will get the NBA scouts thinking. But I think he should stick it out in the college game a bit longer. His last few games, against quality opposition has been fairly average and in turn Vanderbilt has been average too. Disappointing as they started the season with a 16-0 run. Since they have been 2-4 and 3 of those losses have been in around the 20 point loss mark. I think he can come back along with Vanderbilt, but as for his NBA career, like I said hold on at least 1 more year.

Good luck to Andrew in the coming 9 games of the college season and beyond in the NCAA tournament. You are doing Australia proud.

Coach Onski
Article Written 5th February 2008

Australians In College Basketball

Currently I am looking at 35 young Aussie fella's making there way through the College Basketball system in the US. Some of them are making big waves while others are finding it tough.

We wont hamper on about the ones finding it tough, but lets wish them all the best as they put in the hard work to increase their figures or for some even to get a game would be great.

So who is making it big? Well from a Points Per Game perspective the average of the group is 7.6 and 11 of the blokes are dropping over 10ppg which is a great effort in the college game. Leading the Australian contingent is Andrew Ogilvy of the Vanderbilt Commodores with 17.7ppg.

As for the monsters on the boards we need to head to Nebraska, home of the Cornhuskers, where will will find thee big man Aleks Maric pulling in an Aussie best 8.7 per game, including a season best 16 in one game.

Who is the next Jason Kidd or Oscar Robertson when it comes to Aussie kids and their assists? Well the name Patrick Mills should stick in your mind. He is dishing out 3.9 dimes a game and leading the St Mary Gaels from the point.

They are the main categories that give you a sneak peak into the Aussies taking over the US. In the following articles we will go into a bit more depth of players from a statistical perspective and future Boomers we should look out for.

Stay tuned to this site as we head closer into the NCAA season and tournament, to see where your favourite Aussies take their respective teams.

Coach Onski
Article Written 5th February 2008