Given 12 years of health, Ralph Sampson or Arvydas Sabonis?

[eliteballer]

Who would you pick if both were 21 years old and you were guaranteed 12 years of health(no major injuries)? Keep in mind I think steroids made Sabonis better than he would have been otherwise.

[RoseCity07]

Not trying to be a homer, but easily Sabonis.

This dude was the best passing big I've ever seen. He could stroke the 3 ball if he had to, and he had the hook shot down. A excellent free throw shooter.

I never got to see Sampson play. I don't know if he was nearly as skilled as Sabonis.

[gengiskhan]

fcvk dat!

Give healthy 12 more yrs to Len Bias I say. & then straight kill him in 1998.

I'll pick him over Ralphy & Arvy.

[eliteballer]

Not trying to be a homer, but easily Sabonis.

This dude was the best passing big I've ever seen. He could stroke the 3 ball if he had to, and he had the hook shot down. A excellent free throw shooter.

I never got to see Sampson play. I don't know if he was nearly as skilled as Sabonis.

Come now...really?

[gigantes]

Not trying to be a homer, but easily Sabonis.

This dude was the best passing big I've ever seen. He could stroke the 3 ball if he had to, and he had the hook shot down. A excellent free throw shooter.

well said. sabonis was an amazing player who only came to the NBA after his knees were pretty run down. would have loved to have seen him in the NBA during his prime.

even so, he was just about the only guy who could meet shaq weight-for-weight and strength-for-strength. quickness? haha, not so much...

[lucky001]

How skilled was Sabonis in his athletic prime? He was pretty skilled in portland with the passing and outside shooting. From the few memories I have of Ralph, he looked pretty skilled for guy his size during his short prime.

[Rowe]

Ralph Sampson.

Its not even all that close considering the immense talent & potential he had. He was 7'4, extremely long arms, & had a 36" vertical. Was a dominant type of player who liked having the ball in crunch time too. He had a mix of low post skill, agility, & length that was supposed to make him the 2nd coming of Wilt. We'll never know how dominant he could've been considering the injuries and the arrival of another great C in Hakeem.

I've heard all of these stories about a young Sabonis, but lets keep in mind he appeared to dominate in a much lower league in Europe at the time. Please lets keep in mind the talent level in Europe then was nothing like it is now, so please for everyone who believes the Sabonis myths dont fall for that misconception.

[iamgine]

Ralph Sampson.

Its not even all that close considering the immense talent & potential he had. He was 7'4, extremely long arms, & had a 36" vertical. Was a dominant type of player who liked having the ball in crunch time too. He had a mix of low post skill, agility, & length that was supposed to make him the 2nd coming of Wilt. We'll never know how dominant he could've been considering the injuries and the arrival of another great C in Hakeem.

I've heard all of these stories about a young Sabonis, but lets keep in mind he appeared to dominate in a much lower league in Europe at the time. Please lets keep in mind the talent level in Europe then was nothing like it is now, so please for everyone who believes the Sabonis myths dont fall for that misconception.

The stories around Sabonis revolved around how he schooled Team USA, not how he dominated Europe.

[QuebecBaller]

If I'm not wrong

Sabonis was a PG in a Center's body
and
Sampson was a SF in a Center's body

[reppy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHhnD...ailpage#t=135s

Some highlights from Sabonis' time in the NBA, long past his prime.

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

An amazing pass by Sabonis. You can hear the announcers giggling like little kids.

[KevinNYC]

Ralph Sampson.

Its not even all that close considering the immense talent & potential he had. He was 7'4, extremely long arms, & had a 36" vertical. Was a dominant type of player who liked having the ball in crunch time too. He had a mix of low post skill, agility, & length that was supposed to make him the 2nd coming of Wilt. We'll never know how dominant he could've been considering the injuries and the arrival of another great C in Hakeem.

I've heard all of these stories about a young Sabonis, but lets keep in mind he appeared to dominate in a much lower league in Europe at the time. Please lets keep in mind the talent level in Europe then was nothing like it is now, so please for everyone who believes the Sabonis myths dont fall for that misconception.

Sabonis easily. Could play on the block with a nasty hook shoot or hit any open man on the court. Could play outside with a very nice jump shot. Size gave people fits. Sabonis before he got injured was a great, great center.

Sampson never played up to his size. Before he got injured he was a very good and promising center. He was 7'4" and in his first three seasons in the league he had about as many rebounds as Larry Bird. Look at Sabonis's and Sampson's numbers per 36 minutes. At 31, a post-injury Sabonis was rebounding at a higher rate than a 24 year-old pre injury Ralph Sampson.


Wow, I just checked Sabonis's Wikipedia page and Bill Walton called him a 7'3" Larry Bird.

Clyde Drexler on Sabonis

If Arvydas Sabonis had come over immediately after he was drafted in 1986, do you think you would have won a title with the Blazers?
Clyde Drexler
(4:22 PM)


We would have had four, five or six titles. Guaranteed. He was that good. He could pass, shoot three pointers, had a great post game, and dominated the paint. And he would have been younger. He was very effective in the NBA as an older player who had suffered an ankle injury.

[Stuckey]

sabonis all day

[KevinNYC]

well said. sabonis was an amazing player who only came to the NBA after his knees were pretty run down. would have loved to have seen him in the NBA during his prime.

even so, he was just about the only guy who could meet shaq weight-for-weight and strength-for-strength. quickness? haha, not so much...

His first significant injury was an achilles tendon injury which is a brutal injury. Prime Sabonis was quick, agile and could jump. Post injury he was planted like a tree. People who saw this guy play raved about him.
http://articles.latimes.com/1996-04-...rvydas-sabonis

Picture a player with quickness, anticipation, leaping ability, soft hands and one of those genius basketball IQs one sees only a few times a decade: Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, Chris Mullin, John Stockton.

Picture all that on a player as massive as Mark Eaton, 7 feet 3 and 292 pounds. That was Sabonis in his prime.

"A quicker Bill Walton," says Phoenix Sun assistant Donnie Nelson, who coaches Sabonis on the Lithuanian national team.

"You didn't have to be a rocket scientist to know he'd play well. The guy's 7-3, he has that bulk and his passing ability. He was the second-best three-point shooter on our Lithuanian team to Rinas Kurtinaitis, who's world class.

"The guys on the Dream Team told me they couldn't believe how big the guy is. You see tall guys, but you don't see guys who are that tall and that bulky or proportioned.

"When you've got guys who understand the game like Chris Mullin and Stockton and they see a guy who's got that kind of vision, who understands the game--guys like that like to play against each other.

"Coaching him was a cakewalk. The game is so easy for him. He's so smart."

He was Shaq-like (Shaq-lite?) with crazy passing skills and a 3 point game and not at all Shaq like from the foul line. 78% for his NBA career.

[Rowe]

The stories around Sabonis revolved around how he schooled Team USA, not how he dominated Europe.

Its still nothing but a myth.

Just looking at the posts above it seems as if people are talking about Sabonis like he is Bigfoot.

[Rowe]

Sampson never played up to his size. Before he got injured he was a very good and promising center. He was 7'4" and in his first three seasons in the league he had about as many rebounds as Larry Bird. Look at Sabonis's and Sampson's numbers per 36 minutes. At 31, a post-injury Sabonis was rebounding at a higher rate than a 24 year-old pre injury Ralph Sampson.

Well, lets factor in 3 things.

1. Larry Bird statistically is the great rebounder from the SF position post-merger as the SF position became definitive.

2. Ralph Sampson played just 1 season going for 11 RPG where he was told to not give it his all as he later confirmed 10+ years later while the Rockets planned from the beginning to tank.

3. Ralph's following 2 seasons were spent playing PF with Hakeem.

The per 36 numbers arent a reliable statistic considering they arent adjusted for pace or fatigue. They're basically taking the numbers accumulated and projecting it as if the player continued what he did in a set amount of minutes over a 36 minute threshold.