Portland Trail Blazers – No. 2 | |
Point Guard | |
Born | February 26, 1980 Hollywood, Florida |
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Nationality | American |
Listed height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
Listed weight | 172 lb (78 kg) |
League | NBA |
High school | Miami Oak Hill Academy |
College | Maryland |
Draft | 38th overall, 2003 Washington Wizards |
Pro career | 2003–present |
Former teams | Washington Wizards (2003–05) Portland Trail Blazers (2005–06) Milwaukee Bucks (2006–07) Denver Nuggets (2007) |
Profile | Info Page |
Steven Hanson Blake (born February 26, 1980 in Hollywood, Florida) is an American professional basketball player at the point guard position. Currently he plays for the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers; previously he played for the Washington Wizards, Milwaukee Bucks and Denver Nuggets.
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High school career
Blake attended Miami High School, where he played with another future NBA player, Udonis Haslem. Miami won consecutive state championships, but after the Miami New Times exposed the fact that Blake and other players were using fake addresses to enroll in the school, one of the titles was expunged.[1][2] After being banned from playing again anywhere in the FHSAA, he then attended Oak Hill Academy before coming to Maryland.
College career
After high school, he attended the University of Maryland. Blake was the team's starter the first day of his freshman year and was the first ACC player to compile 1,000 points, 800 assists, 400 rebounds and 200 steals. He finished his career 5th in NCAA all-time career assists with 972. Widely known for his superb passing ability, Blake helped lead the Terrapins to a Final Four appearance (2001) and the 2002 NCAA championship; less well-known for his scoring, Blake did average eleven points per game in his senior year.[3] He averaged over six assists per game in each of his four years, including averages of 7.9 and 7.1 in 2002 and 2003, respectively. For his efforts, he was named to a variety of all-ACC teams during his career, including the rookie and defensive squads, capped by a first-team All-ACC spot his senior year. At the start of the 2003–04 basketball season, Blake's uniform number (25) became only the 15th to be retired to the rafters of Maryland's Comcast Center.[4]
A highlight of Blake's career at Maryland was when he stole the ball from Duke's Jay Williams right before halftime in the final Maryland-Duke game played in Cole Field House. Williams was looking to his coach for instructions, and Blake snuck up from behind to take the ball. Blake scored a layup off of the steal. The New York Times called the play a "cathartic moment" in Maryland's 87–73 win over then top ranked Duke.[5]
NBA career
Washington
Blake was selected by the Washington Wizards with the 38th pick in the 2003 NBA Draft. He averaged 5.9 points, 2.8 assists, and 18.6 minutes per game while playing in 75 games his rookie season with the Wizards. In his second season Blake's playing time decreased to 14.7 minutes and only 44 games played.
Portland
In September 2005, Blake (then a restricted free agent with the Wizards) was offered a contract by the Portland Trail Blazers, which the Wizards declined to match. This became the second reunion with former Maryland Terrapin and Washington Wizards backcourt teammate Juan Dixon, who also signed with the Trail Blazers in the 2005 off-season.
In Blake's first season with the Blazers, he became a starter and played a significant role when Sebastian Telfair was injured. Blake's playing time increased from 14.7 minutes and 44 games with only one start in 2004–05 to 26.2 and 68 games with 57 starts in 05–06. Blake reestablished himself as a terrific passer and fundamental point guard claiming third in the NBA in assist-to-turnover ratio. He also increased his field goal percentage by 11%.
Milwaukee
In July 2006, Blake was traded (along with Brian Skinner and Ha Seung-Jin) to the Milwaukee Bucks for Jamaal Magloire.[6]
Denver
On January 11, 2007, Blake was traded to the Denver Nuggets in return for Earl Boykins and Julius Hodge.[7] Blake started in 40 of the 49 remaining games of the Nuggets' 2006–07 season, and in five playoff games in a 4–1 first-round loss to the San Antonio Spurs.
Portland
Blake became an unrestricted free agent on July 1, 2007, and agreed to a three-year deal with the Portland Trail Blazers on July 13, 2007.[8]
The 2008–09 season has seen a rise in Blake's numbers. Through his first 38 games, he has averaged a career high 11.7 points per game, while also achieving career highs in free throw percentage and three point percentage.[9]
On February 22nd 2009, Blake tied an NBA record with 14 assists in the first quarter of a game against the Los Angeles Clippers.[10]
NBA career statistics
Legend | |||||
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GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage |
RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
Regular season
Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2003–04 | Washington | 75 | 14 | 18.6 | .386 | .371 | .821 | 1.6 | 2.8 | .8 | .1 | 5.9 |
2004–05 | Washington | 44 | 1 | 14.7 | .328 | .387 | .805 | 1.6 | 1.6 | .3 | .0 | 4.3 |
2005–06 | Portland | 68 | 57 | 26.2 | .438 | .413 | .791 | 2.1 | 4.5 | .6 | .1 | 8.2 |
2006–07 | Milwaukee | 33 | 2 | 17.7 | .349 | .279 | .550 | 1.4 | 2.5 | .3 | .1 | 3.6 |
2006–07 | Denver | 49 | 40 | 33.5 | .432 | .343 | .727 | 2.5 | 6.6 | 1.0 | .1 | 8.3 |
2007–08 | Portland | 81 | 78 | 29.9 | .408 | .406 | .766 | 2.4 | 5.1 | .7 | .1 | 8.5 |
2008–09 | Portland | 69 | 69 | 31.7 | .428 | .427 | .840 | 2.5 | 5.0 | 1.0 | .1 | 11.0 |
Career | 419 | 261 | 25.4 | .410 | .392 | .784 | 2.1 | 4.2 | .7 | .0 | 7.6 |
Playoffs
Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
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2004–05 | Washington | 4 | 0 | 4.3 | .250 | .000 | .000 | .8 | .5 | .0 | .0 | .5 |
2006–07 | Denver | 5 | 5 | 36.0 | .452 | .500 | .000 | 2.4 | 4.6 | .6 | .0 | 7.2 |
2008–09 | Portland | 6 | 6 | 38.5 | .489 | .417 | .714 | 4.0 | 6.2 | .8 | .0 | 9.8 |
Career | 15 | 11 | 28.5 | .463 | .439 | .714 | 2.6 | 4.1 | .5 | .0 | 6.5 |
References
- ^ Powell, Robert Andrew (February 24, 2005). "Sanitized by the Herald". Miami New Times. http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2005-02-24/news/sanitized-by-the-herald/. Retrieved 2009-04-04.
- ^ Watford, Jack (1998-08-11). "Miami High School found guilty of FHSAA rules violations". FHSAA. http://www.fhsaa.org/news/1998/0811.htm.
- ^ "Steve Blake, Maryland, 6-3, G" (in English) (HTML). SportsStats. http://www.sportsstats.com/jazzyj/greats/03/blake.htm. Retrieved 2008-11-29.
- ^ "Athletics - The University of Maryland Terrapins - Official Athletic Site". UMTerps.com. http://umterps.cstv.com/ot/md-ask-testudo.html. Retrieved 2008-11-29.
- ^ Drape, Joe (February 18, 2002). "For Maryland, Happiness Is Beating Duke". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/18/sports/college-basketball-for-maryland-happiness-is-beating-duke.html?n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/People/W/Williams,%20Jason. Retrieved 2009-04-04.
- ^ "Trail Blazers Acquire All-Star Center Magloire". NBA.com. 2006-07-31. http://www.nba.com/blazers/news/Jamaal_Magliore-185803-1218.html.
- ^ Stein, Marc (2007-01-12). "Nuggets deal Boykins, Hodge to Bucks for Blake". ESPN. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2727760.
- ^ Lopez, Aaron J. (July 13, 2007). "Nuggets lose Blake". Rocky Mountain News. http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/nba/article/0,2777,DRMN_23922_5628146,00.html. Retrieved 2007-07-13.
- ^ "Steve Blake 2008-09 stats". NBA.com. http://www.nba.com/playerfile/steve_blake/career_stats.html. Retrieved January 21, 2009.
- ^ "Blake, Trail Blazers top Clippers 116-87". Associated Press. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hapM0xex16cNEA_Kk_J4zidCxH6AD96GVVV80. Retrieved 2009-02-23.
External links
- Steve Blake Statistics at Basketball-Reference.com
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