Daniel Gibson

Daniel Gibson

Position	Point Guard / Shooting guard
Nickname	Boobie[1]
Height	ft  in ( m)
Weight	lb ( kg)
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers
Nationality	USA
Born	February 27 1986 (1986--) (age 21) Houston, Texas
High school	Jesse H. Jones
College	Texas
Draft	2nd round, 42nd overall, 2006 Cleveland Cavaliers
Pro career	2006–present

Daniel Hiram^[2] Gibson (born February 27 1986, in Houston, Texas) is an American professional basketball player currently playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the NBA. His nickname, "Boobie", was affectionately given to him by his mother.^[1]

High school

Daniel Gibson averaged 25.5 points per game while leading Jones High School in Houston, Texas to a 31-5 record and the Texas Class 4A state title as a senior. It marked the school's first state championship since 1965. Gibson graduated sixth out of 212 students in his high school senior class and was a member of the National Honor Society.^[3]

College

Gibson starred as a guard in college basketball for the University of Texas at Austin. In his two seasons with the Longhorns, he scored 935 points, including 175 three-point field goals. Gibson made 101 three-point field goals during the 2005-2006 season, including a school record nine against the Baylor Bears on January 21, 2006. He scored a personal-high 37 points in that same game.

Gibson played two seasons at Texas and averaged 13.8 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.5 assists in 68 games (all starts). He was named Honorable Mention All-America by The Associated Press following his sophomore season. Gibson averaged 13.4 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game as a sophomore. He earned First-Team NABC All-District 9 honors and was named All-Big 12 Third Team. He set a school record for most three-point field goals made in a season (101). He was one of 16 finalists for the Bob Cousy Award, given to the nation's top point guard. He hit at least four three-pointers in a game on 10 occasions. Gibson was named the Big 12 Freshman of the Year after his freshman season in which he averaged 14.2 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game. He was also named All-Big 12 Third Team and became the first freshman in school history to lead Texas in scoring.^[2]

On June 7, 2006, Gibson announced his decision to forgo his two remaining years of college eligibility and enter the NBA Draft.

NBA

Draft

On June 29, 2006, Gibson was drafted in the second round with the 42nd overall pick of the NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers. After a May 2006 pre-draft workout with the Cavs, Gibson canceled all his remaining workouts with other teams and refused to work out for any other team before the draft. It is believed this was the reason Gibson fell to the second round after some thought he might be drafted in the first round.^[4] He joined a Cavaliers backcourt that was worst in the league in scoring the previous season.

2006-2007

In his rookie season, Gibson averaged 4.6 points per game and led all rookies in three-point field goal percentage, shooting .419. Daniel contributed in helping the Cleveland Cavaliers reach the NBA playoffs. Cavs coach Mike Brown gave Gibson his first place in the starting line-up on January 30, 2007, against the Golden State Warriors.^[5] He finished the game with 12 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists. Shortly after Gibson was hit with an injury and was replaced in the lineup by the Cavaliers, moving Larry Hughes to the 1 spot and starting Sasha Pavlovic at the 2.

Gibson got his first big playoff opportunity in Game 3 of the 2007 Eastern Conference Finals against the Detroit Pistons. He came up big for the Cavaliers scoring 9 points, including two 3-pointers. He also grabbed 2 rebounds, blocked 1 shot, and had an important steal from Tayshaun Prince late in the fourth quarter. He followed this in Game 4, scoring 21 points, which came from only 7 field goal attempts. He was also 12 of 12 from the free throw line.

Gibson was the star of Game 6 of the 2007 Eastern Conference finals against the Detroit Pistons. Gibson's superb performance — career high 31 points (19 in the 4th quarter) on 7 of 9 field goals, 5 of 5 from the three point range, 6 rebounds and 2 assists — was reminiscent of team-mate LeBron James' dominating performance in Game 5 of the series. Gibson's 31 points were the most by a rookie in a series-clinching win since Magic Johnson led the Lakers with 42 points to clinch the championship in the 1980 NBA Finals. After a 98-82 victory, Gibson and the Cavs moved on to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history. With the win, the Cleveland Cavaliers became only the third team to win an NBA Conference Championship series after being down 0-2.^[6] Gibsons solid performance in the playoffs against the Pistons made Boobie a fan favorite in Cleveland. Many stores marketed his nick name by making t-shirts with the following text, "Shoot Boobie Shoot". Gibson mentored under Eric Snow in the 2006-2007 season improving his defense abilities.

His first start in the playoffs came in the third game of the 2007 NBA Finals, due to the injury to Larry Hughes. He started the following game as well, in which the Cavaliers lost the championship.

Personal

His parents are Byron and Cheryl Gibson.^[2]

Notes

External links

• Daniel Gibson Player Info at NBA.com
• Daniel Gibson Statistics at Basketball-Reference.com
• Daniel Gibson profile at Texas Sports

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