Plan B Forum

James Naismith (November 6, 1861 – November 28, 1939) was a Canadian-American physical educator, physician, chaplain, sports coach and innovator. He invented the sport of basketball in 1891.

Naismith was born in 1861 in Almonte (now part of Mississippi Mills), Ontario, Canada

TPFKA@W wrote:Ted Cruz, Canadian, stood in a Hoosier gym and called a hoop a "basketball ring".

The roving Raptors’ fan base has hit a nerve in the heartland of basketball. Indianapolis Star columnist Gregg Doyel wrote in Thursday’s Star that Toronto fans were on their way back for Game 6, intent on taking over the arena.

“Those basketball fans in Toronto, they’re not normal,” he wrote. “They are NFL fans with an NBA team. They travel. They drink. They scream.

“Canada is coming, Pacers fans. They’re coming with their black shirts and their white towels. They want to buy your tickets and watch the Raptors end your season and then parade back to Toronto to present Drake with a love offering: the Pacers’ season on a stick.”

Curry's crazy dagger takes Warriors past Blazers, into West finals

Stephen Curry's return from injury in Monday night's thrilling Western Conference Semifinals Game 4 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers was always going to be tough to top. After three quarters of decent but largely inhibited play, the Golden State Warriors superstar exploded in crunch time to set a new NBA record with 17 overtime points. [That was a PHENOMENAL game]

His Game 5 encore was going to be appointment viewing regardless — especially coming on the night he accepted his second-straight (and first-ever unanimous) MVP trophy — but it would have been a little much to expect it to measure up to the preceding contest.

In general terms, Curry was not quite as incredible as he was on Monday in Portland. But he still pulled off the most dramatic moment of a thrilling Game 5 victory at Oracle Arena. With the Warriors up 118-116 with under 30 seconds remaining in regulation, Curry faced off against Al-Farouq Aminu at the top of the key and pulled off one of his signature pull-up three-pointers for the series-ending dagger.

In truth, the game and series did not end right that moment. Curry nailed two free throws after a quick Allen Crabbe two on the next possession, but Blazers star Damian Lillard then coaxed Klay Thompson into fouling on a three-point attempt and made all of them. Yet the Warriors were able to get the ball to Curry on the ensuing inbound, and he made the final two of his seven points in the last 24 seconds to finish the scoring in a hard-fought 125-121 win.

Congratulations are in order for the two top seeds in the NBA's Eastern Conference.

First to the Toronto Raptors, who booked their first-ever conference finals berth with Sunday's 116-89 Game 7 victory over the Miami Heat.

But also to the Cleveland Cavaliers, who were long ago penciled in as NBA finalists and now skip the potential headache of "LeBron James vs. embittered former club" headlines. The only thing separating the Cavs from the championship round is a Raptors team that should be thrilled to be there.

Sunday's contest might have cemented this matchup, but why even play the games, right?