Hawks honor Pete Maravich

[sox83cubs84]

On March 3, the Atlanta Hawks will retire the #44 uniform worn by the late Pete Maravich.

Dave Miedema

[Wrigley2010]

Better late than never. Pistol Pete changed the game of basketball in so many ways. He would flourish in to today's NBA something you can't say for most players of that era.

[G1X]

Saw the Pistol play a couple of times when he was at LSU. Once in his sophomore season and again in his senior year (both times in Tuscaloosa against Alabama). I had never seen anything like it, and I still haven't seen anyone duplicate some of the things he did with a basketball. Not even the Globetrotters could match his dribbling, passing, and tricks he could perform with the ball. Never mind that he scored 59 points in the 1968 game and 69 points in the 1970 game. He forever changed the game, especially in the South where basketball didn't matter much at that time outside of the Kentucky Wildcats.

I really miss those days when Maravich, Calvin Murphy, Rick Mount, Austin Carr, and others would easily score 30 to 50 points (or more) on a nightly basis. Yes, they took a lot of shots, but they were all amazing and fun to watch. I wonder what their scoring averages would be had the 3-point shot been in existence during that era.

Mark Hayne