duncan228
07-22-2009, 08:14 PM
Rebecca Lobo wore No. 50 for the UConn Huskies because of San Antonio Spurs' David Robinson (http://www.masslive.com/basketball-hall-of-fame/index.ssf/2009/07/rebecca_lobo_wore_no_50_as_a_u.html)
by The Republican Sports Desk
http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x282/duncan228/temp/robinsonhof.jpg
David Robinson of the San Antonio Spurs, who will be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in September, inspired many young players to wear No. 50, including Rebecca Lobo of the UConn Huskies.
The Republican counts down the days to the Basketball Hall of Fame Enshrinement Ceremony with an ongoing series profiling the Class of 2009.
By Ron Chimelis
When Rebecca Lobo played high school basketball for Southwick-Tolland Regional, she wore No. 31, but a decision awaited her in college.
"Wendy Davis had 31, so I asked for No. 50 because David Robinson was my favorite player at the time," said Lobo, who entered the University of Connecticut in 1991.
Still the favorite of many fans and players, Robinson will be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in September. Unable to savor a championship for most of his career, Robinson's fortunes changed when his team, the San Antonio Spurs, drafted Tim Duncan from Wake Forest in 1997.
Two years later, the Spurs were a champion for the first of two times in Robinson's career.
"David was the Spurs' best player for years, but they didn't win," recalled Jim Powell of Agawam, an assistant at Vancouver in the 1990s, and for the past 13 years, an assistant coach and scout for the Indiana Pacers.
"He didn't get to enjoy his own team success until he teamed up with Duncan. David would have been the missing piece on 60 to 70 percent of NBA teams," Powell said.
To Powell's thinking, Robinson was a great player who needed some help. In some ways, he was an even better fit as the Spurs' No. 2 option than as its star.
"For him, that was perfect. He was definitely a No. 1 guy, a go-to player, one of the best players in the league. But, you need others to help win a championship," Powell said.
"Put a player of David's caliber on the Indiana Pacers right now, and they go deep into the playoffs. Put him on the New Jersey Nets, and they go deep into the playoffs."
His individual talent was beyond question. In 1994, Robinson scored 71 points in a game.
Only Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor, David Thompson and Kobe Bryant have also scored 70 in an NBA game.
He was perfectly willing to share the ball, too. Only four players in NBA history have logged quadruple doubles, the most recent of which was Robinson.
He had 10 assists in addition to 34 points, 10 rebounds and 10 blocked shots in a 1994 game that came two months after his 71-point performance.
Nate Thurmond, Alvin Robinson and Hakeem Olajuwon are the NBA's other quadruple-double artists.
Robinson might not have been able to carry the Spurs to a championship by himself, but he did lift them to respectability.
In 1988-89, San Antonio won 21 games. The next season, with Robinson as Rookie of the Year, they went 56-26 to win the Midwest Division title - the most one-year dramatic turnaround in NBA history to that point.
In an indirect way, Robinson also helped the Spurs land Duncan. With their center sidelined by a broken foot for all but six games of the 1996-97 season, San Antonio went 20-62, and fell into the NBA lottery.
There, despite a better percentage likelihood the Boston Celtics would get the No. 1 pick, the Spurs enjoyed that good fortune and chose Duncan, helping build the front line of a championship team.
Duncan arrived when Robinson was 32 years old, in time to help deliver the team glory Robinson always craved over personal accolades.
If there is a player in Robinson's pre-Duncan circumstance today, it might be Toronto's Chris Bosh, Powell said.
"He's the best player on Toronto, but on a championship team, he'd be a No. 2 option," the coach said.
Robinson was the NBA's 1995 MVP. While Lobo and countless others chose No. 50 because of him, his choice came in honor of Ralph Sampson, his favorite player.
Robinson's two NBA championships came with Duncan in 1999 and 2003.
He retired after the 2002-03 season. With an NBA championship in his final season, and a 13-point, 17-rebound effort in the clinching playoff game, Robinson went out in style.
He shared the cover of Sports Illustrated with Duncan, as the magazine's 2003 Sportsmen of the Year. Thus ended a 14-year career that saw Robinson score 20,790 points with 10,497 rebounds and 2,954 blocked shots.
Those numbers would have been even higher had Robinson's NBA career not been delayed for two years by military commitments in association with the Naval Academy, where he graduated in 1987.
by The Republican Sports Desk
http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x282/duncan228/temp/robinsonhof.jpg
David Robinson of the San Antonio Spurs, who will be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in September, inspired many young players to wear No. 50, including Rebecca Lobo of the UConn Huskies.
The Republican counts down the days to the Basketball Hall of Fame Enshrinement Ceremony with an ongoing series profiling the Class of 2009.
By Ron Chimelis
When Rebecca Lobo played high school basketball for Southwick-Tolland Regional, she wore No. 31, but a decision awaited her in college.
"Wendy Davis had 31, so I asked for No. 50 because David Robinson was my favorite player at the time," said Lobo, who entered the University of Connecticut in 1991.
Still the favorite of many fans and players, Robinson will be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in September. Unable to savor a championship for most of his career, Robinson's fortunes changed when his team, the San Antonio Spurs, drafted Tim Duncan from Wake Forest in 1997.
Two years later, the Spurs were a champion for the first of two times in Robinson's career.
"David was the Spurs' best player for years, but they didn't win," recalled Jim Powell of Agawam, an assistant at Vancouver in the 1990s, and for the past 13 years, an assistant coach and scout for the Indiana Pacers.
"He didn't get to enjoy his own team success until he teamed up with Duncan. David would have been the missing piece on 60 to 70 percent of NBA teams," Powell said.
To Powell's thinking, Robinson was a great player who needed some help. In some ways, he was an even better fit as the Spurs' No. 2 option than as its star.
"For him, that was perfect. He was definitely a No. 1 guy, a go-to player, one of the best players in the league. But, you need others to help win a championship," Powell said.
"Put a player of David's caliber on the Indiana Pacers right now, and they go deep into the playoffs. Put him on the New Jersey Nets, and they go deep into the playoffs."
His individual talent was beyond question. In 1994, Robinson scored 71 points in a game.
Only Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor, David Thompson and Kobe Bryant have also scored 70 in an NBA game.
He was perfectly willing to share the ball, too. Only four players in NBA history have logged quadruple doubles, the most recent of which was Robinson.
He had 10 assists in addition to 34 points, 10 rebounds and 10 blocked shots in a 1994 game that came two months after his 71-point performance.
Nate Thurmond, Alvin Robinson and Hakeem Olajuwon are the NBA's other quadruple-double artists.
Robinson might not have been able to carry the Spurs to a championship by himself, but he did lift them to respectability.
In 1988-89, San Antonio won 21 games. The next season, with Robinson as Rookie of the Year, they went 56-26 to win the Midwest Division title - the most one-year dramatic turnaround in NBA history to that point.
In an indirect way, Robinson also helped the Spurs land Duncan. With their center sidelined by a broken foot for all but six games of the 1996-97 season, San Antonio went 20-62, and fell into the NBA lottery.
There, despite a better percentage likelihood the Boston Celtics would get the No. 1 pick, the Spurs enjoyed that good fortune and chose Duncan, helping build the front line of a championship team.
Duncan arrived when Robinson was 32 years old, in time to help deliver the team glory Robinson always craved over personal accolades.
If there is a player in Robinson's pre-Duncan circumstance today, it might be Toronto's Chris Bosh, Powell said.
"He's the best player on Toronto, but on a championship team, he'd be a No. 2 option," the coach said.
Robinson was the NBA's 1995 MVP. While Lobo and countless others chose No. 50 because of him, his choice came in honor of Ralph Sampson, his favorite player.
Robinson's two NBA championships came with Duncan in 1999 and 2003.
He retired after the 2002-03 season. With an NBA championship in his final season, and a 13-point, 17-rebound effort in the clinching playoff game, Robinson went out in style.
He shared the cover of Sports Illustrated with Duncan, as the magazine's 2003 Sportsmen of the Year. Thus ended a 14-year career that saw Robinson score 20,790 points with 10,497 rebounds and 2,954 blocked shots.
Those numbers would have been even higher had Robinson's NBA career not been delayed for two years by military commitments in association with the Naval Academy, where he graduated in 1987.