UCLA: Where Amazing Begins
by Nestor on May 24, 2008 5:19 AM PDT
in Basketball
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HoopsWorld re UCLA's impact on the NBA :
Current NBA Players: This season 11 former Bruins suited up for an NBA team. Baron Davis is one of the most dangerous run-and-gun point guards in the league, a two-time All-Star who is hitting his prime. Jason Kapono is a two-time winner of the Foot Locker Three-Point Shootout and the NBA's all-time leader in three-point percentage; Jordan Farmar is an emerging point guard for the Los Angeles Lakers who represented the sophomores in the this season's T-Mobile Rookie Challenge & Youth Jam; Aaron Afflalo and Trevor Ariza are other young UCLA alum while Matt Barnes and Earl Watson have spent five years and more in the league.
All-Time Greats: Before there was Michael Jordan, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar dominated the NBA. The Hall of Fame inductee is the NBA's all-time leading scorer and ranks third all-time in blocks. Abdul-Jabbar won the MVP award six times while making 19 All-Star teams. His success wasn't contained to the regular season; he won six championships, two of which he was named MVP of the Finals … Like Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Walton is another Hall of Famer from UCLA. In addition to earning All-Star honors twice in his career, Walton is an NBA MVP, NBA Finals MVP, and two-time NBA champion … Walton and Abdul-Jabbar are joined in the Hall of Fame with Gail Goodrich, an NBA champion and five-time All-Star … Jason Kapono is following in the footsteps of another sharpshooting Bruin - Reggie Miller hit the most three-point shots in NBA history and ranks 12th all-time in scoring. The five-time All-Star is also an Olympic and World Championship gold medalist.
Future Prospects: Projected lottery pick Kevin Love headlines the list of Bruins in this year's NBA Draft. Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Josh Shipp, and Russell Westbrook have also declared. That leaves UCLA's second-leading scorer, Darren Collison, to take the Bruins through the tournament in his senior year.
The pipeline would have been even more impressive than it already is if players such as Gadzuric, Moiso and Rush had a chance to play for Coach Howland.
The list is going to be even more impressive in the future as more talent (Morgan being the latest example) line up to play for Howland.
GO BRUINS.
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Don Barksdale
In terms of impact on the NBA, another UCLA name would be Don Barksdale, the first African American to play in an NBA all-star game. He was also the first African American to be a consensus All-American (1947) and the first African American to play with the US Olympic basketball team.
Just another in an amazing list of UCLA trail blazers.
by islandbruin on May 24, 2008 6:28 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Of course, don't forget...
... that Gadzuric has been a reliable reserve for the Milwaukee Bucks since 2002.
M
"In this program your passion bucket must be full to play SC." -- CRN, to Dan Patrick, 1/2008
by Meriones on May 24, 2008 11:54 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Morgan ...
... is a nice player, but I have doubts about his NBA potential. He’s a widebody, but not very athletic at all.
But, you never know. He is a nice pickup for the Bruins and should be a good player for you guys.
Congrats on the pickup.
A Sea of Blue -- Kentucky Sports for the Discerning Fan
by Truzenzuzex on May 24, 2008 12:26 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
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