Jimmy Oliver (basketball)

Jimmy Oliver
Personal information
Born	July 12, 1969 (age 54); Union Olimpija
2006–2007	Apollon Patras
Career highlights and awards
	FIBA Saporta Cup champion (2001); FIBA Saporta Cup Finals MVP (2001); FIBA Saporta Cup Finals Top Scorer (2001); 2× Greek League All-Star (2001, 2002); Slovenian League champion (2006); Slovenian Cup winner (2006); Slovenian Super Cup winner (2005); Galician Cup winner (1993); First-team All-Big Ten (1991); Mr. Basketball of Arkansas (1987);
	Stats at NBA.com
	Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Representing United States
FIBA World Cup

Jimmy Allen Oliver (born July 12, 1969) is an American former professional basketball player who played several seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round (39th pick overall) of the 1991 NBA draft.

College career

Jimmy "Slice" Oliver attended

Community College for one year and then transferred to Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana and played under head coach Gene Keady. The 6'6", 208 lb guard-forward appeared in 31 games in his sophomore season, playing behind Center Steve Scheffler and alongside guard Matt Painter

. He averaged 5.3 points while averaging 18.2 minutes per game in his first eligible season.

Jimmy started his junior season out receiving more minutes and improved his shooting percentage to nearly 50%, while also improving his points average to 8 a game. He helped lead the Boilers to a 2nd-place finish in the

NCAA Tournament

with a 22-8 record.

Averaging 19.2 points a game during his senior year, fourth in the conference, and owning an .861 free throw percentage to lead the conference, he was an All-Big Ten First Team selection. Jimmy led Purdue to a second straight

NCAA Tournament appearance. He finished his college career with a 40.6% accuracy from 3-point land. Jimmy led the Boilers

in assists (89) and minutes per game (35.4) in his senior season. He played his last collegiate game in the NABC All-America Game at the 1991 NCAA Final Four, where he recorded a game-high 25 points.

Professional career

Oliver was selected in the second round with the 39th pick by the

Washington Bullets (1997–98) and the Phoenix Suns

(1998–99). Playing on five different NBA teams throughout five seasons, he played in a total of 78 games (14 starts) and scored 331 points with 34% three point and .772% free throw accuracy.

After his NBA tenure, Jimmy Oliver played for several European clubs, including the Greek club

Chalon.^[1]

Earlier, he had won the 1993

Slovenian League and Slovenian Cup

titles.

National team career

During the NBA lockout, Jimmy played for the US national team in the 1998 FIBA World Championship, teamed up with the likes of another former Boilermaker, Brad Miller.^[2] Jimmy Oliver was the leading scorer of Team USA averaging 11.8 points per game, leading them to the bronze medal.^[3]

References

^ Marousi Saporta winner Archived February 17, 2013, at archive.today (in Greek)
^ 1998 USA Basketball Archived September 30, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
^ Mundobasket 1998 USA stats

External links

Career statistics and player information from NBA.com and Basketball-Reference.com
NBA Historical Profile
Euroleague.net Profile
FIBA Europe Profile
Italian League Profile (in Italian)
Spanish League Profile (in Spanish)

[1] Marousi Saporta winner Archived February 17, 2013, at archive.today (in Greek)

[2] 1998 USA Basketball Archived September 30, 2007, at the Wayback Machine

[3] Mundobasket 1998 USA stats

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