From Sports Illustrated Vault on Celtic's Center Dave Cowens:
"Cowens remains today one of the NBA's all-time overachievement, high intensity stories. After a Kentucky high school career, the 6' 9 245-pounder starred at Florida. An excellent athlete with a big motor, Cowens simply out-hustled bigger opposing centers, drawing the attention of Red Auerbach, who had the famed Boston Celtics in a rebuilding mode. It was said to be Captain and star John Havlicek who suggested Cowens for the Celtics starting center spot based on his outstanding practice play against bigger Henry Finkel and Jim Ard. Cowens soared to Rookie Of The Year status, sharing the award with Portland scorer Geoff Petrie. The Celtics later added Paul Silas and guards JoJo White and Don Chaney. Boston then roared to a 68-win season. In the 1973-74 campaign, Cowens out-hustled superstar Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to lead Boston to the first of two NBA rings he earned. He was named the NBA's Most Valuable Player. In 1975-76, Cowens again led a NBA champion. Cowens offensive game was remarkable in that slashing past slower centers was a big part of his arsenal. His tireless energy wore centers out all over the league. A rugged rebounder and surprising shot blocker, Cowens rarely conceded anything in an era of talented NBA seven-footers. He was later inducted in the Hall Of Fame and named one of the NBA's 50 Greatest Players."
http://siwiki.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/Dave_Cowens

Both Cowens and Havlicek had big motors that wouldn't quit. Champions never quit. Hopefully the T-Pups coaches can install a conditioning and motivation program that will squeeze all of the potential out of the talent available.

We can hope that his performance against Oregon is the indicator of his drive.

"Prior to a game at Oregon, Duck fans obtained Love's cell phone number and left obscene messages as well as death threats; the fans also subjected Love's family to obscenities and threw garbage at them during the game."

So what did he do? Dive into the crowd? S**t the bed? Nope. He went off, and made the Ducks pay to the tune of 26 points and 18 boards in a 80-75 W for UCLA. For some reason that makes me smile.

papajake wrote:
We can hope that his performance against Oregon is the indicator of his drive.

"Prior to a game at Oregon, Duck fans obtained Love's cell phone number and left obscene messages as well as death threats; the fans also subjected Love's family to obscenities and threw garbage at them during the game."

So what did he do? Dive into the crowd? S**t the bed? Nope. He went off, and made the Ducks pay to the tune of 26 points and 18 boards in a 80-75 W for UCLA. For some reason that makes me smile.


Yeah... big props to him for the way he handled that. I agree. Welcome to the board and a Howl for you!

I'm definitely looking forward to the Kevin Love era. I have a feeling he's going to become my favorite wolf as Al Jefferson could use a little more personality.

I'm not as excited as I would have been about the OJ Mayo era, but that's another story.

Willis Reed - New York Knicks
"Reed was the heart, soul and backbone of the Knicks' 1970 and 1973 championship teams. The 6-9½, 240-pound former Grambling Tiger played 10 seasons in New York and appeared in seven NBA All-Star Games. He was NBA Rookie of the Year in 1964-65 and NBA Most Valuable Player in 1969-70. He was selected Finals MVP both years that the Knicks wore the crown."
http://www.nba.com/history/players/reed_bio.html
Reed played better at center than power forward:

Reed wrote a pretty good book about his career:
www.amazon.com/view-rim-Willis-Reed-bask...22279&sr=1-1

Kevin Love's dad, Stanley Love, played with Washington Bullets star, Wes Unseld. Kevin's middle name is Wesley -named after Unseld. Unseld was known for his rugged rebounding and amazing outlet passes. Unseld played center at 6 foot 6 and 1/2 inches. In 1968-69, he was the NBA Rookie of the Year and MVP. Unseld played in the NBA finals four times winning the NBA championship with Elvin Hayes and Bobby Dandridge over the Seattle SuperSonics in 1977-78. Unseld was the Finals MVP. He was undersized, wasn't a great leaper and wasn't fast, but he understood the game.

Here is his bio: http://www.nba.com/history/players/unseld_bio.html

Here is Wes Unseld battling Kareem:

Here is the complete story:

I fell in love with NBA basketball watching the Bullets lose to the Golden State Warriors in the 1974-75 championship and then battle the Sonics two years in a row. I loved Elvin Hayes fade-away jumper. After Unseld and Hayes retired, I followed the Show-Time Lakers with Magic's passing, Kareem's skyhook, Rambis' rebounding, Cooper's defense, Norm Nixon's/Byron Scott's shooting and Wilkes'/Worthy's finishing. I was ecstatic when the Timberwolves came to Minnesota and hope we have a championship soon.