One Missed Shot Worth More Than 100 in the Books

Frank Selvy is known for scoring an NCAA Division I record 100 points in 1954 for Furman in a game against Newberry.

As a Laker, however, he is known for a shot he didn’t make. With the score tied in the seventh game of the NBA finals against Boston in 1962, Selvy had an open 10-foot baseline shot in the final seconds.

He missed, the Celtics won in overtime for their fourth consecutive NBA title, a streak that would stretch to eight through 1966.

Selvy is quoted in the NBA Basketball Encyclopedia as saying, “It was a fairly tough shot because I was almost on the baseline. But I would trade all my points for that last basket.”

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Trivia time: What major league record does former Dodger Todd Zeile share?

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Day dreaming? Even though the Celtics are in fifth place in the Atlantic Division of the NBA’s Eastern Conference, Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe is impressed with Rick Pitino’s young team.

“The NBA’s new basic agreement will allow them to keep their best players. They have a good coach. They are going to get better. They are going to get back to the big games. And it is going to be fun to watch.”

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Greenhorn: San Diego Padre Manager Bruce Bochy to Garth Brooks, as the country singer headed out to his only at-bat in a recent intrasquad game: “You might want to get a helmet.”

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Fan-like response: Steve Rosenbloom in the Chicago Tribune: “Bermuda soccer player Ryan Swan was banned for seven years for kicking a downed opponent in the head during a match, and his brother, Wendell, was banned for two years for first dragging the opponent to the ground and then punching him.

“Jeez, who do they think they are, soccer fans?”

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Grungy bunch: Steve Rushin of Sports Illustrated is not buying into NASCAR’s rising popularity:

“Race fans, I had inferred from my one visit to the Indianapolis 500, fell into one of two categories: tattooed, shirtless, sewer-mouthed drunks, and their husbands.”

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Strange apparel: Bernie Lincicome in the Chicago Tribune: “Scottie Pippen looks like a Chia pet in his Houston Rocket costume. I don’t mean that to sound bitter.”

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Too old, too soon: Blackie Sherrod in the Dallas Morning News: “Height of Luxury: Michael Jordan never wears a golf shirt more than once. (Saves on laundry bills?)”

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Trivia answer: Most errors in a game by a first baseman, four, while playing for Philadelphia in 1996.

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And finally: Laker Coach Kurt Rambis says Dennis Rodman knows more about basketball than 99.9% of the people on the planet, prompting this from Jay Leno:

“And this isn’t even Dennis’ home planet.”