Monday, June 14, 2010

Top 20 Cleveland Cavaliers: #14 Bob Sura

You better believe he was going to make the list.  At #14, we arrive at legendary Cavalier, Bobby Sura.  One of my favorite Cavaliers of all-time, Bobby picked up the game of basketball at age 4.  His uncle built him a wooden goal to practice on, and he took advantage of it.

Bobby played his high-school b-ball at G.A.R Memorial High in Pennsylvania, where he lead his team to two consecutive state championship games.  He was voted Pennysylvania small-school player of the year in 1991 after he averaged more than 35 points a game.  Bob was pretty much the real deal.  He set the school record for points scored, and in four years his team went a perfect 80-0 in league play.

Somehow, Bob was still not heavily recruited after his domination in high school, but he soon made headlines when he dropped 68 points in a single game.  This convinced Florida State head coach Pat Kennedy to offer him a scholarship, and he took his game to the collegiate ranks.

As a true freshman, Sura was named ACC rookie of the week 3 times.  He also was named ACC rookie of the year, a nice little exclamation point to a great freshman season.  In Bobby's sophmore campaign, he averaged almost 20 points a game.  FSU finished 25-10, and came within one game of making the final four.  He was the face of the team the next two years, and was named to the All-ACC first team.  Additionally, he was the only Seminole ever to finish with 2000 points, 700 rebounds, 400 assists, and 200 steals.  Talk about doing it all.

The Cavaliers were well-aware of Bob Sura's basketball talents, and thus drafted him with the 17th overall pick in the 1995 NBA Draft.  Wearing the classic jersey #3, he brought a level of excitement to the franchise.  He could play both guard positions, and had great ball-handling skills.  Don't forget about his above-average leaping ability, solid rebounding skills, and ability to defend. 

Bobby Sura took part in All-Star weekend multiple times.  His rookie season he played in the Rookie/Sophmore challenge.  He also was in the 3-point contest and even made an appearance alongisde Kobe Bryant in the 1997 Dunk Contest.  His best season in a Cavaliers uniform was his last, when in 1999-2000 he averaged 13.8 points a game.  The Cavaliers traded him to the Golden State Warriors after that season however.  He also made stints in Atlanta, Detroit, and Houston before he unofficially ended his playing career in 2007.

When he played in Atlanta, he was still a solid scorer.  Bobby made news when he almost recorded a third consecutive triple-double, in true Ricky-Davis fashion.  Already notching two-straight triple-doubles, he intentionally missed a layup to grab that elusive 10th rebound.  The league eventually took the rebound away, but we all credited him for at least "trying".

Bob Sura will always remain in the heart of Cavaliers fans everywhere.  His ability to jump and the excitement he brought to the game was admirable.  On a team with Shawn Kemp and Derek Anderson in 1997, Bob Sura was arguably the best dunker.  He was a legitimate threat as a shooting guard in the Association during his time.  Bobby Sura is Underrated   

                      

2 comments:

  1. Sura was a heckuva player.

    Athletic, gritty and not a bad shooter to boot. If he was on a high level team Sura would have received much more pub in his career.

    Ryan

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  2. Agreed.

    His career went downhill after the Cavs traded him and he got injured. Houston eventually cut him but he was underused and underappreciated. Maybe underrated too?

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