“Pistol Pete” Maravich attended Louisiana State University and is one of the greatest players in men’s NCAA Division I history. Although his dream was to play for West Virginia, his father was the varsity coach at LSU and when he offered his son a spot on the team, Pete could not refuse. In his first ever game at LSU, Maravich would record a triple-double consisting of 50 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists. His 44.2 points per game in college is a record that still stands today and may never be broken. The Atlanta Hawks selected Maravich with the third overall pick in the 1970 NBA Draft.

Pete Maravich enjoyed a Hall-of-Fame career while playing 10 years in the NBA. He was named an all-star five times, led the NBA in scoring in 1976-77 with 31.1 points per game and was named one of the 50 greatest players in NBA history.

Here are 10 great plays from Maravich’s career.

Notable Birthdays

Ray Crockett, NFL – Born January 5th 1967 (age 45) in Dallas, Texas

Joe Juneau, NHL – Born January 5th 1968 (age 44) in Pont-Rouge, Quebec

Warrick Dunn, NFL – Born January 5th 1975 (age 37) in Baton Rouge, Louisiana

The forward out of Skyline High School in Texas has only averaged 12.6 points per game this season, but his production has steadily increased throughout the month of March.  He reached his peak last night, as he recorded a career-high 40 points during a 119-104 Jazz victory.  Almost half of his points came from three-point land, where he went 6-for-7.  Miles also added four rebounds and two assists, but he was clearly a scorer, first and foremost, on this night.

The win not only moved the Jazz closer to a playoff spot, but it also gave them their first back-to-back wins since January 14.  Including last night’s victory, they have only won nine of their last 29 games.  If they wish to make the post-season, they will need to start stringing some wins together soon.  More performances like this one from C.J. Miles would certainly help, as he earns our “Stat Line of the Night” for Wednesday, March 16, 2011.

Rather than put an end to trade-season in the NBA, it appears as though the Carmelo Anthony deal has only helped get things started.  One day after the Denver Nuggets traded Carmelo Anthony to the Knicks, New York’s other team, the New Jersey Nets, decided to make a blockbuster deal of their own.

Yahoo! Sports is reporting that the Utah Jazz have traded All-Star guard Deron Williams to the Nets in exchange for Devin Harris, Derrick Favors and two first round draft picks.  It is believed that Golden State would also be involved in the deal, sending Dan Gadzuric and Brandan Wright to the Nets in exchange for Troy Murphy.

The Nets attempted to acquire Melo during the All-Star break, but were unsuccessful as they watched their New York rivals swoop in and get a deal done with the Nuggets.  That forced New Jersey to move onto the next one, and that is exactly what they did.  Although, there were several questions surrounding who that next one would be.  Some believed it could have been Chris Paul or Dwight Howard, but it now appears as though Deron Williams was the one they coveted, and after several failed attempts at acquiring other NBA superstars, Nets owner Mikhail Prokorov finally got his man.

So, with time still remaining before Thursday’s trade deadline, could there be more blockbuster moves to come?  Stay tuned to find out.

Hat Tip – [Yahoo! Sports]

Unlike some female spectators in the past, who have seemingly enjoyed having a basketball star sit on them, this woman doesn’t appear to be satisfied at all about getting up close and personal with the Mexican-born forward.

At least Najera was kind enough to flag down a beer vendor for a refill.  Although, in true Mexican fashion he did appear to have some difficulty refraining from taking a sip of his own.

Hat Tip – [Ball Don't Lie]

Driving down the right side, Odom drew a foul on the Jazz defender before putting up a one-handed prayer from the baseline that would fall through the rim with ease.  That bucket, plus the foul, put the Lakers up by an incredible 35 points.  It was no nail in the coffin.  In fact, it may have been one of the most meaningless baskets ever recorded, but the degree of difficulty gives us little choice but to provide you with another look at this incredible shot from Odom.

With the game already decided by halftime, as the Lakers went into the break leading 66-38, Kobe wasn’t needed much in the second half.  He would finish the game with just 26 minutes of playing time.  However, that was easily enough time for him to make his mark as he recorded a game-high 21 points on 7-of-11 shooting.  Kobe also added six assists, two steals and a rebound as his Lakers cruised to a 120-91 victory.

With the win the Lakers climbed to within 5.5 games of top spot in the Western Conference.  They currently sit in second despite hitting a rough patch in December, but this is clearly a team whose focus is on post-season championships rather than regular season accolades.  A key to their post-season success is the health and fitness level of Kobe Bryant, and games like this certainly help in that department as the All-Star not only got some rest, but he also earned himself “The Stat Line of the Night” for Tuesday, January 25, 2011.

The Utah Jazz mascot, “Bear”, took part in the latter Friday night when his team hosted the Cleveland Cavaliers at the Energy Solutions Arena.  During a break in the action, Bear took a sign that read “I’m A Loser”, and placed it behind a Cavs fan.  Moments later, words were exchanged and an altercation between the two spilled onto the court, where the furry mascot sent his opponent to the ground with a stiff check before security broke things up and escorted the embarrassed Cavs fan off the court.

And in case you were wondering, it was all fake, but still quite entertaining.

Hat Tip – [Deadspin]

The star of the game was by far Millsap.  He blew up for 46 points on the night.  Not only that, but 11 of those points came in the final 28 seconds of regulation with the Jazz down by 8 to send the game to overtime.  Millsap was 19-28 on the night shooting, hitting all 3 of the 3-point attempts he took.  He also had 9 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 assist, and 1 block to go with all those points.  He only turned the ball over once and also had help from his point guard Deron Williams in the form of 21 points and 14 assists.

The Jazz are fighting an uphill battle in the Western Conference, especially after losing Boozer in the offseason.  It appears as though, at least for now, the Jazz’s current “Stat Line of the Night” winner Paul Millsap may be able to fill that void.

The Lakers are now up 2-0 in the series after winning handily last night by a score of 111-103.  Kobe Bryant scored 30 points in the win.  Although is shooting wasn’t red hot, he shot 10-22, it wasn’t bad.  What he was able to do is get to the line consistently and cause foul trouble for the Jazz big men.  He went to the line 11 times, scoring on 10 of them.  He also had 8 assists, 5 rebounds, 3 blocks, and a steal.  It was a well-rounded effort by the L.A. superstar.

The Lakers seem firmly in control of the series as they head to Utah for games 3 and 4.  Even if Utah can manage a victory or two there, the Lakers have little to be concerned about.  They have homecourt advantage in the series and the Jazz have not won at L.A. in its last 16 tries.  That streak includes the playoffs.  For now, Kobe takes home “The Stat Line of the Night”.

Williams is sort of the Tim Duncan of point guards. He won’t wow you with his athleticism, but he’ll wow you with his numbers night after night. Last night he led all scorers with 34 points. He 10-20 from the floor, including dropping 5 threes on the Nugs in just 8 attempts. He also got to the line 10 times and sunk 9. He added 10 assists to give him a double-double on the night and also pulled down 4 rebounds.

I hope that Utah wins the series so the Jazz get some more prime time coverage. The world needs to see what a great player the Jazz have in Williams. Deron Williams has The Stat Line of the Night for 4/28/10.