Throwback Thurday (Nov. 26)

Well, it's Thanksgiving. Not only that, but it is also Thursday. And today we are going to look back at two 50 point game that were scored on the Denver Nuggets, this day in history, and later we will look at the career of Shawn Kemp.

The Denver Nuggets have had a tough time on November 26th in the past. On November 26, 1988, Michael Jordan scored 52 points in a loss to the Denver Nuggets. Michael Jordan shot 70% from the field and 60% from 3-point range in the game. He was making everything. Not only that, but MJ had a near triple-double as he had 7 assists and 11 rebounds. Pretty impressive huh? But Mike wasn't the only one who had a good game. Scottie Pippen had a great game off the bench for the Bulls as he had 19 points and 8 rebounds along with 4 blocks. However Pippen would foul out of the game.

The Nuggets would spoil Jordan's big night as they played great offense and the Bulls wouldn't know how to respond on defense. Alex English had 29 points and 9 assists for the Nuggets. Walter Davis would come off the bench scoring 28 points. 6 players for the Nuggets had over 10 points and 3 of them had over 20 points in the game. The Nuggets played great on offense and would end up winning the game, 128-123, leaving the Bulls to a 2 game losing streak.

Now, flash-forward exactly 6 year to November 26, 1994 when the Nuggets went up against the Dallas Mavericks. In that game, Jim Jackson, of the Dallas Mavericks, had a 50 points game. He and his teammate, Jamal Mashburn, would lead the Mavericks to victory. Mashburn had 35 points in the game. Jim Jackson shot 60% from the field, however, 16 of his 50 points came from the FT line. Jackson shot 16-17 from the line and really got the Nuggets into foul trouble. All of the starters for the Nuggets had at least 4 fouls. Mutombo was the only one who fouled out of the game with 6.

The Nuggets would end up losing the game in OT 124-123. It is weird that the Nuggets had two 50 point games scored on them on the same date, but the really weird thing is that they both happened on a Saturday. So I guess Saturday, November 26th isn't the best date to be on the Denver Nuggets.

"Shawn Kemp Concord High School 1988" by Concord High School - LeCount, Gale (Ed.). (1988) Concordian 1988 (Vol. 57), (p.70). Elkhart, Indiana: Concord High School.. Licensed under Public Domain via Commons.

I also want to say Happy Birthday to Shawn Kemp. He is an NBA Legend that was well known for his time with the Seattle Supersonics. While he wasn't the greatest player, as he only averaged 14.6 PPG over his career, he was a great explosive player to watch. No one matched his explosiveness at the rim, and if you were in his way, he would go over you.

He played really great in the playoffs, averaging 18.7 PPG, 10.7 RPG, 1.3 steals, and 1.8 blocks in 7 post-seasons with the Sonics. Out of those 7 playoff runs included a trip to the Finals where him and guard, Gary Payton, lost to Michael Jordan and the Bulls.

Shawn Kemp had a career full of highlights. While the numbers don't look that impressive, he will always be remembered as a legend in the hearts of all the Sonics fans. While the Sonics don't exist today, there is still Sonics pride out there. And at the heart of it is Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp.

Throwback Thurday (Sept. 17)

Happy Birthday

"Phil Jackson 3 cropped" by Phil_Jackson_3.jpg: Keith Allison from Baltimore, USA derivative work: Chris! my talk - Phil_Jackson_3.jpg. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Commons.

Phil Jackson 

Coaches get fired all the time, but I think that there are 2 coaches who should never get fired. Phil Jackson and Pat Riley. Other than that, every coach can be fired. Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant wouldn't be the players they are today if they weren't coached by Phil.

Now, of course Phil was rewarded with some great talent, but that great talent might not have came to be used without Phil. He shaped so many players over the course of his career. Many people including, Derek Fisher, Shaq, Kobe, Steve Kerr, Ron Artest, Metta World Peace, Panda's friend (well, actually China shaped him), and of course Michael Jordan. 

He started his coaching career with the New Jersey Nets as an assistant coach. After, he went to the Chicago Bulls as an assistant coach for 2 years and in the 1989-1990 season, he took over the head coaching duties for the Chicago Bulls. His first season as head coach, he won 55 games in the regular season. His second year he won 61 games and won his first NBA championship. He would go on to win 2 more in a row. After that, Jordan left to go play baseball, but the Bulls still did a great job, however, they were unable to make it to the finals. When Jordan returned 2 seasons later, They won 3 more Championships in a row. In 9 years with the Bulls, he won 6 championships and won 545 games and only lost 193. 

After the 3rd championship, he resigned because of tension with the Bulls GM. After he was signed by the Los Angeles Lakers as Head Coach. His first 3 seasons, he had another 3 championships in a row. 6 seasons later he would win 2 championships in a row and would have one more season with Kobe and the Lakers before he would resign. He won 610 games with the Lakers after 11 seasons.

After that he was hired as team president of basketball operation by the New York Knicks in 2014. 

In 20 season of coaching, Phil Jackson not only won 1384 total games, had a winning percentage of 70.4%, and won 11 championships, but he also shaped so many NBA players to the players that we know them as today. Phil Jackson will go down as one of the greatest coaches ever. In conclusion, Phil Jackson is great. And you can't argue with that.