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View Full Version : Arvydas Sabonis Offense and Defense Highlights – Before Injuries


Round Mound
08-03-2022, 10:50 PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1LMU2rZ3XA

:bowdown:
Xiao Yao You
08-03-2022, 11:08 PM
One of my favorites. Too bad politics kept him out of the league in his prime.
bizil
08-04-2022, 04:29 PM
Embid and Joker are the top two centers in the league as we all know. Peak-prime wise, I think BOTH are in that top 10 center of all time group. BUT the SCARY PART about Sabonis is he's like a COMBO of those two players! And Sabonis was 7'3! He was an elite athlete at his size who is a highly skilled scorer-defender like Embid. BUT his overall offensive skillset and IQ was the PRECUROR to Jokic. Both you could LEGIT SAY were like 7'0 center versions of Bird. Or in Sabonis' case a 7'3 version. IF he hits the league in his prime would have been in the best center in the world convo. BS kept Sabonis off the Hawks with Nique. And a bit later off Portland with Drexler.
FilmyCogTurner
08-04-2022, 04:35 PM
The Sabonis homer in me says he could have ended up top 5 had he been able to come over right away. This above anything else is the biggest NBA what if to me.
Xiao Yao You
08-04-2022, 05:25 PM
Embid and Joker are the top two centers in the league as we all know. Peak-prime wise, I think BOTH are in that top 10 center of all time group. BUT the SCARY PART about Sabonis is he's like a COMBO of those two players! And Sabonis was 7'3! He was an elite athlete at his size who is a highly skilled scorer-defender like Embid. BUT his overall offensive skillset and IQ was the PRECUROR to Jokic. Both you could LEGIT SAY were like 7'0 center versions of Bird. Or in Sabonis' case a 7'3 version. IF he hits the league in his prime would have been in the best center in the world convo. BS kept Sabonis off the Hawks with Nique. And a bit later off Portland with Drexler.

Jokic certainly the closest thing to Sabonis that we've seen.
Xiao Yao You
08-04-2022, 05:27 PM
The Sabonis homer in me says he could have ended up top 5 had he been able to come over right away. This above anything else is the biggest NBA what if to me.

Hard to say? I think he may have been a player more like Stockton, KG, Webber etc. that were too unselfish for their own good. Jokic was like that. He became MVP because he was able to play more aggressively
bizil
08-04-2022, 05:34 PM
With a healthy Sabonis, the only question indeed is how aggressive would he have been scoring. The two NBA teams he was supposed to go to were the Hawks and Portland. GOOD NEWS is if he did indeed think more like a 2nd option type guy, u had two supreme alpha scorers in Nique and Drexler around. BUT if Sabonis thought like Jokic, then u get an all time great perimeter- center tandem. Nique-Sabonis or Drexler-Sabonis would have been two absolutely devastating tandems.
Round Mound
08-05-2022, 01:47 AM
A healthy Sabonis in his 20s I think would have averaged something like 20-22 ppg, 10-11 rpg, 5-6 apg and 2.5 bpg. He also would probably had a better post game with the training in the NBA. He had a hook shot, strength and great touch around the basket. He also had 3-point range. I think he was stronger than Jocker (obviously taller aswell).