How good was Dino Radja back in the day?

[masonanddixon]

I don't remember him but it looks like he had a monster post up game.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ct8wHrSakKk

[Haymaker]

Radja was Splitter with better offensive game. Kinda stiff, but had a very good post game.

[RRR3]

His stats are pretty good. Why didn't he play longer?

How was his defense?

[masonanddixon]

Radja was Splitter with better offensive game. Kinda stiff, but had a very good post game.

Looks like he was dunking all over guys though. Was he just lazy as shit?

[masonanddixon]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zi4I2z62J7Y

This is impressive as ****

[Haymaker]

His stats are pretty good. Why didn't he play longer?

How was his defense?

Decent defense, he had bad knees though.

[Vancouver-Grizz]

Radja was Splitter with better offensive game. Kinda stiff, but had a very good post game.


You kidding me? Radja's offensive was light years ahead of Splitters... :coleman:

[Collie]

Radja basically had what Brandon Roy had, cartilege problems and his knees were bone on bone, so he couldn't really play 82 games anymore, or even stretches of games. So he was waived and went back to Europe.

Pretty effective player while he was healthy though, kinda like a more athletic Enes Kanter.

[Cleverness]

Those post moves in that highlight vid were awesome.. can spin move either way, almost looks ambidextrous

He only played for a few years in the US

http://www.celticslife.com/2010/12/what-hell-happened-todino-radja.html


Today he'd without question be a center (even though back then he played power forward). If you never got to see him play, think of a superior version of Nenad Krstc. A better shooter, rebounder, defender and more athletic. I mean the better comparison to Radja in his prime would've likely been a poor man's Kevin McHale overall with more athleticism. A less athletic Tom Chambers without the perimeter oriented game. Alright, I give up- Dino was his own man! Check this move out for good measure against the Dream Team of all opponents to make your own judgement:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgWOhgTv-eU

[kkb_12]

The most underrated Croatian player ever - high basketball IQ, great post moves, very fast and athletic for his size, nice mid range shot, solid defense, great at center but even greater at power forward.... Played on bad team, but held his ground individually vs. all top PF's at that time - Barkley, Malone, Rodman...

When healthy, 20/10 player in NBA.

[fandarko]

Pretty effective player while he was healthy though, kinda like a more athletic Enes Kanter.

This is a good comparison, but Radja was better.

I've watched Radja from his earliest day, live in the then Yugoslav first division and on the highest European level.

If such a player came up today, he would have been a lotery pick and all star ultimately.

Radja had it all, though being mediocre defensively. Physically, he was OK, but today he would have adapted physically.

Him and Divac were incredible for Yugoslavia, with Divac being the all round guy and Radja being Kevin Mc Hale.

His generation (Radja is 1967 born) of Yugoslav players back in the day was so good (Kukoc 1968, Paspalj 1966, Divac 1968) would have been much better in the NBA had the league been open for international talent like today. They would all have all star careers.

[3ball]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ct8wHrSakKk

I don't remember him but it looks like he had a monster post up game.


That's just how good big men were back then - he wasn't even a top 10 big back then, but today he'd be top 3-4.

In today's game, the top 5 big men in post efficiency (points-per-possession, PPP) are Jonas Valcunious, Kevin Love, Donatas Montejunas, Lamarcus Aldridge, and Marc Gasol.

http://stats.nba.com/playtype/#!/post-up/?dir=1&sort=PPP&CF=Poss*GE*200&Season=2014-15&SeasonType=Regular%20Season

They all achieve the standard for elite efficiency of 1.00 PPP or thereabouts, despite having weak post games.. The top bigs from 1996 are better (listed below) - these guys would achieve much higher PPP than the elite percentages already achieved by today's inferior bigs:

Hakeem
Shaq
Robinson
Ewing
Alonzo
Sabonis (25 PER)
Karl Malone
Barkley
Webber
Kemp

And probably Rik Smits, Vin Baker, Dino Radja, and certainly Derrick Coleman.

The league changed the rules in 2005 to increase the efficiencies on ball movement and dribble penetration, which have surpassed post-ups.. But the percentages on post-ups themselves haven't diminished at all, as proven by the elite post efficiency of today's bigs.

The elite efficiency of today's inferior bigs should serve as the floor for how much better the superior bigs of previous eras would do in today's game.

[TripleA]

Dino Radja top 3 big men you gotta be kidding me.
the 90s love is going too far.

[Soundwave]

I always liked his game better than Kukoc's to be honest. Harder to play against, used his size far better.

[Sakkreth]

That's just how good big men were back then - he wasn't even a top 10 big back then, but today he'd be top 3-4.

In today's game, the top 5 big men in post efficiency (points-per-possession, PPP) are Jonas Valcunious, Kevin Love, Donatas Montejunas, Lamarcus Aldridge, and Marc Gasol.

http://stats.nba.com/playtype/#!/post-up/?dir=1&sort=PPP&CF=Poss*GE*200&Season=2014-15&SeasonType=Regular%20Season

They all achieve the standard for elite efficiency of 1.00 PPP or thereabouts, despite having weak post games.. The top bigs from 1996 are better (listed below) - these guys would achieve much higher PPP than the elite percentages already achieved by today's inferior bigs:

Hakeem
Shaq
Robinson
Ewing
Alonzo
Sabonis (25 PER)
Karl Malone
Barkley
Webber
Kemp

And probably Rik Smits, Vin Baker, Dino Radja, and certainly Derrick Coleman.

The league changed the rules in 2005 to increase the efficiencies on ball movement and dribble penetration, which have surpassed post-ups.. But the percentages on post-ups themselves haven't diminished at all, as proven by the elite post efficiency of today's bigs.

The elite efficiency of today's inferior bigs should serve as the floor for how much better the superior bigs of previous eras would do in today's game.
Jonas Valanciunas, Donatas Motiejunas.

[JohnnySic]

Radja-Bias-Lewis would have been a hell of a trio. :cry:

[duskovujosevic]

he had an outstanding feeling for the game. was already experienced when he reached nba, which helped him to give an imidiate impact on the court.

[Thorpesaurous]

Dino was definitely a stud. A genuine monster on the block. Defensively he was ok. And he wasn't a great passer. But the knees just killed him. There are just some guys out there who aren't designed to play an 80+ game season. Doesn't mean they aren't or weren't great basketball players, maybe just not designed for the specific NBA season.

[Derka]

I remember when the Dream Team played against Croatia in the 1992 Gold Medal game; my dad pointed to Dino and said something to the effect of "Pay attention because we drafted that guy a few years ago and he's gonna be a Celtic real soon."

Good player but not great by NBA standards. Was maybe just a level below McHale once he got the ball in the post with the moves he could put on you. Wasn't a very strong rim defender for a guy his size at all, but he was okay there. Overall, pretty damn good player and a guy Boston fans would have liked to keep around longer than we did.

In the end, he was done in by shitty knees and the barrel of fecal waste that is Rick Pitino. A shame too because as bad as our teams were in those years, he enjoyed playing here.

I think JohnnySic hit the nail on the head: a Bias-Lewis-Dino core would have been pretty nasty to see. Alas...

[wang4three]

About as good as Luis Scola. Maybe a bit more athletic.

[Lebron23]

I never saw him play, but his stats were very impressive when I saw it at the back of my nba cards.