Tag: George Gervin

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Other Sports

The Numbers Game

What a weekend to be a sports junkie!  As I’ve been comprehensively consuming games, numbers, scores and stats using my TVPTP (tv, phone, tablet, paper) method, I’ve been awed by the historical significance of some of the performances that we’ve been treated to from all corners of the sporting universe.

Witnessing these feats made me recall a quote I once read by Tonto Coleman, the former czar of the Southeastern Conference: “I turn to the front pages of my newspaper to read about men’s failures.  I turn to the sports pages to read about their triumphs.”

Jumping right into the Super Bowl fire and calmly glossing over Pete Carroll’s decision to keep the ball from Beast Mode down on the goal line, how about these Pats and in particular, that Brady character?  His tally now stands at 6 Super Bowl starts, 4 Rings, the most TD passes of All-Time in the Big One, and barring Gisele demanding that he start wintering with the family in Brazil, he’s not even close to done.  Spectacular.  Brady went out and executed the perfect game plan to counter the ‘Hawks aggressive defensive scheme to the tune of 328 yards and 4 TD’s.  It’s not like Brady had Jerry Rice and John Taylor lined up on each side either.  Total team effort, but credit to the QB who is now in the 4-Ring Club with Montana and Bradshaw.

And a special Sam Adams Winter Lager toast to the great Bill Belichick.  I just hope that when the City of Boston erects the Belichick statue someday that he is wearing the hoodie.

Moving from football to the hardwood, how about the amazing Atlanta Hawks and their 19 game winning streak?  For your reference, 19 in a row places them in a 6th place tie for the longest winning streak in the history of the NBA.  MJ’s Bulls never won 19 regular season games in a row.  And this coming from a team who looked to be in turmoil before the season with both the owners and GM Danny Ferry embroiled in a racial remark scandal. Take a look at https://www.headphonage.com/ website where you can get the headphones you’ve been looking for at a very affordable price.

But credit to Coach Mike Budenholzer, a 16 year Pop assistant in San Antonio, for installing a motion offense that these guys are thriving in.  If they can keep Al Horford on the floor, who has only played in 160 of a possible 328 over the past 4 years due to injuries, they may just make a run at the Cav’s and Bulls.

This is not a misprint: The 37-8 Golden State Warriors play at the 40-8 Atlanta Hawks this Friday night!

On the college hardwood, I was amazed to see that Coach K’s kids rallied late to win a road game at then 19-0 Virginia.  Coach K is now at 1,001 wins over the past 40 years while consistently playing the toughest competition in the land.  Insane.

From the insane on the hardwood to insanity on the hard courts, how about Serena Williams winning her 19th major at 33 years of age and Novak Djokovic continuing the male dominance by the Big 3?  I have to admit, I’m boggled with the domination of the Big 3 (Novak, Rafa, Federer).  From the 2004 Australian Open through today’s final, only 6 men not named Novak, Rafa, and Roger have won majors and they’ve captured 38 of the past 45 tourneys!  Can you imagine only 3 golfers winning every game in the eye xo launch monitor?  These guys are basically a lock to win.  And spare a thought for Andy Murray, who has two major wins in 8 finals appearances.  He’s arguably is one of the best ever but he’s had the unfortunate luck of playing in this amazing era.

Numbers, numbers, numbers.  Great stuff this sports.

 

Finally, check out this little nugget that Bruce Jenkins wrote in the SF Chronicle today:

Klay Thompson’s 37-point quarter broke the record of 33, set by San Antonio’s George Gervin on the final day of the 1978 regular season. Gervin was a man possessed that night, knowing he needed 58 points to steal the scoring title from Denver’s David Thompson, who scored an astounding 73 earlier in the day. No problem: Gervin went for 63 — and by the way, “I don’t feel Thompson broke my record,” Gervin told Bleacher Report. “I’d like to see him try to get 33 or 37 in a quarter when there was no three-point line.”

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From the Darkside - The EJ Files

Klay Thompson Breakdown by EJ

Editors Note:  The following post is the work of a bonafide sports nut currently residing in DC.  This person, EJ, was a college soccer goal keeper, a lover of King Cobra and once crashed his bike badly en route to interview with Lute Olson for the role of Basketball Team Manager, but still managed to make the interview in ripped pants and a blood stained shirt.  He didn’t get the job.

Later in life he joined the Peace Corps and at one point was the head women’s basketball coach at a Russian University.  He speaks multiple languages, has worked in Afghanistan, has a pilots license, and enjoys a pint or two of Vodka with his Uzbek father in law.

He is the worlds most interesting man and somebody that I’m proud to call a new columnist for Bulseyeview.com.  Enjoy his first post below and be sure to check out his own category, “From The Dark Side.”

 

From the Dark Side

EJ

For those of you living on the east coast, you’ll understand.  It’s rare when you are rewarded by staying up well past midnight to catch a west coast game.  I usually find myself at 1 am wondering why the hell I’m not sleeping as the Gaels of Saint Mary’s are blowing out UTEP or the Dons of USF and Portland Pilots are battling at 48-48 in the 4th quarter.  It’s brutal.  And I can understand why nobody on the east coast cares about west coast hoops.  There just isn’t anybody to care about or worth staying up late for!  Even hoop junkies are just plain nuts to be watching these games.  Is a Nugget/Blazer game really that exciting?

But, the hoop Gods did reward us with a special, once in a lifetime show Friday night.  I’m not sure anybody outside of the Bay Area actually watched Klay Thompson and the Warriors game, but this was the stuff of legends.  Actually, it became an instant legend.  37 points in 12 minutes?!  Are you kidding me?  In an NBA game against actual NBA talent?  13-13 FG?!  9-9 3-point shots?!  Thompson’s career high 52 wasn’t even in the same conversation.  37 points in an NBA quarter is downright magical.  Draymon Green probably summed it up best, “You don’t get that hot in ‘(NBA) 2K”.

It was exactly like a video game, but even better.  Come on!  The previous high was set by the Iceman Gervin in 1978 and it was only 33!  This was headshaking stuff.  I tried to put this in perspective and it was difficult because this scoring outburst was so insane.   Last year, no NBA team averaged more than 28 points a quarter!  When Wilt was on his way to his century mark back in 1962, the most he scored in a quarter was 31.  Of course he averaged over 50 that season, won 33 games in a row at one stretch and secured 55 rebounds in a game.  John Stockton once had 38 assists in a single game.  These records, much like Thompson’s 37 in a quarter, will most likely never be broken.  That’s how incredible of a performance this was.

I loved what Warriors Coach Steve Kerr had to say afterwards, “I was one of the luckiest NBA players ever to play with Michael Jordan, Tim Duncan, David Robinson and some of the greatest players ever.  As many spectacular things as Michael did, which he did nightly, I never saw him do that.”

MJ never came close to touching this scoring highlight.  That’s what makes this even more unreal.  And it wasn’t just a spectacular basketball record.  I’m talking any sport.  We’ve seen 5 TD’s thrown in a quarter (Tom Brady), 4 goals scored in a period during an NHL game, a couple HRs in an inning during an MLB game, and even the great Olympos striker Panagiotis Pontikos from Greece, bang in 16 goals against SEK Ayios Athanasios FC to help his side win 24-3 in a Cypriot third division game in 2007.  He scored 12 in the second half.  But are we really going to compare those feats with what we witnessed on Friday night?  Not a chance.  This was history making on a different level.  Period.

Granted, I did find some other comparable, legendary basketball feats like Lisa Leslie scoring 49 in the 1st quarter and 52 in the 2nd for her Morningside High squad on their way to a 102-24 victory.  Or, Clarence “Bevo” Francis of Rio Grande College fame, go for 55 in a quarter back on Jan. 9, 1953, on his way to scoring 116 against Ashland College.  And then there was Mats Wermelin, who back on Feb. 5, 1974, went for 272 points in a game in Stockholm.  But my point is simple…Klay Thompson’s 37 in an NBA quarter equals or betters all of these.  That’s how special of a night it was.  I’m already looking forward to that Utah at Washington State game next week with the midnight tip-off!  You just never know.

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Midnite Blogger

Talk About the Midnight Blogger

And A Good Evening Boys and Girls,

It’s your midnight blogger here rapping about all things going on on the hardwood.  Time is tight, so here are a few quick bytes to chew on before it’s time to call it a night.

Don’t stop the rain Mr Klay T!  Boogie Cousins and his royal mates felt the rain inside the coliseum arena on a lovely January night in Oakland. For 12 magical minutes, Thompson staged an exhibition of unconscious shooting mastery the world has never witnessed before.   The result: 37 points on 13/13 from the floor with 9 treys.  Beyond belief.  Sorry Iceman, your record of 33 points has been smashed.

Oh but how nice would it be to see a video of each of The Iceman’s buckets over a smooth live track of Grover Washington Jr’s, “Mister Magic”?

It’s happy times in Warrior Nation right about now.  And to the Western Conference coaching All-Star electorate sitting in dark rooms breaking down game tape with a sack of Chicken McNuggets,  I think Mr Klay T has made his point.  He deserves your vote.

Pack a warm coat for the Big Apple son.

Lebron is Officially Locked and Loaded in Cleveland!  Timofey Mozgov and JR Smith to the rescue!  Who knew that those words would ever be uttered in any sort of basketball context, but Mozgov and Dirty JR are exactly what LBJ needed to get back to business.   He now has a mad shooting assassin a la Vernon Maxwell and big rim protector to play the role that Big Z played in his early days.  Look out East.

In Stan Van Gundy We Trust!  The amazing resurgence continues ever since Stan the Man put his foot down and cut Josh Smith, his highest paid player.  They are now 12-2 since the move and have surged from a horrid 5-23 to 1 game out of a playoff spot.  Don’t ever doubt a Van Gundy!

 

Until next time, this is your Midnight Blogger signing off.