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Matt Bullard Bio

Often only one attribute is needed to stick in the NBA, Bullard had two. He had height, 6-10, and a great shot from outside.

On a Houston Rockets team that surrounded Hakeem Olajuwon with shooters, he was a good fit.

Bullard was born in West Des Moines, Iowa and attended high school there. He then went to Colorado to start his college basketball career.

He had an exciting freshman year scoring 12.7 points per game at 60.4% from the field and 81.8% on free throws. The next season his averages were 16.6 points and 10 rebounds. He only stayed two seasons in Colorado, he would then transfer to Iowa.

At Iowa, Bullard refined his outside shot. In his first year there he hit 17 three-pointers at 39.5% and the following season hit 25 three-pointers at 35.2%. His points per game averages at Iowa were 9.1 and 11.4.

His play got him noticed by NBA teams but not enough to get drafted. The Houston Rockets signed him as a free agent.

Matt Bullard was a role player with a specialist assignment, to stand outside when playing power forward to allow Hakeem Olajuwon to work inside. Bullard would play 10 to 17 minutes per game, helping space the floor. In 1994, Bullard was part of the Houston Rockets team that won the NBA championship.

He was also part of a trade that wasn’t allowed, which would have an impact among many NBA teams in the future. Bullard and Robert Horry, and a couple of second round picks, were sent to Detroit for Sean Elliott. The trade didn’t go through as Elliott failed his physical, which meant Horry would stay with Houston for two titles and eventually Elliott would be sent back to the Spurs by Detroit where he would win.

For season 1994-95, Bullard went overseas. He played with PAOK and had a much bigger role than he ever had in the NBA, or even college. Bullard scored 18.5 points per game and NBA fans would be surprised to know he also had 11.5 rebounds per game.

After a year out of the NBA, Bullard was back after signing as a free agent with Atlanta. He played 46 games, with an average of 10 minutes per game. After the Hawks, five more years in Houston occurred after Bullard signed again as a free agent. Bullard was an even better outside shooter during his second stint with the Rockets. For the 2000 season, Bullard hit 44.6% of his three-pointers.

For that season, there were plenty of open looks as defenders were busy trying to contain Steve Francis, Cuttino Mobley, Charles Barkley, Shandon Anderson, Walt Williams and Hakeem Olajuwon.
There was one final stop for Bullard in his NBA career. He signed with the Charlotte Hornets.

During his NBA career, Bullard started in 79 games of the 615 he played in. On average, he hit one three-pointer per game, at a very solid 38.4%.

His career field goal percentage was 41.8% but that also takes into account that around one of every two shot attempts he had was from three-point range.

 

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