If PRIME Arvydas Came to the NBA, Where Would Have He Ranked As All Time Center?

[Sir Charles]

How did you know? He wasn't very impressive when he is playing for the Portland Trailblazers, and Rasheed Wallace was their best player during that time.

Sir Charles, you can't just predict that he is going to be an all star in the NBA because Prime David Robinson is going to schooled him in the 1990's.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S36g_...related&fmt=18

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2EShynbM_k&fmt=18

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FInsapjeY_M&fmt=18

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sC0CN...related&fmt=18

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_GgL...related&fmt=18

You want to see him School Robinson in the 86 and 88 Olympics? Here you go..

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=_1vSc1YJ0Ys

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=7Z9NVM...eature=related

Passing vs Robinson

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=7Z9NVM...eature=related

Resume of His Career. Stronger than anyone but Shaq! and Talent wise only comparable to Jabbar and the Dream

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=gHFD6t...eature=related

[TheGrassIsGreen]

How did you know? He wasn't very impressive when he is playing for the Portland Trailblazers, and Rasheed Wallace was their best player during that time.

He wasn't impressive because he was hobbled by devastating knee injuries. He would've been a great player, I have no doubt about that, but it's hard to say where he would've stacked up.

[Sir Charles]

He wasn't impressive because he was hobbled by devastating knee injuries. He would've been a great player, I have no doubt about that, but it's hard to say where he would've stacked up.

Look Guys I`ve talked to a 37 year old Man that saw the 1988 Olympics and both Arvydas and Robinson are half a year or 1 year difference and he said that Arvydas DESTROYED Robinson. How good was Robinson? Well Good to Great right? Ok so if Someone Destroys Robinson like that then he would have not just been good but GREAT!

Height: 7-3 / 2,21. Weight: 292 lbs. /

LOOK AT THE VIDEO: 1986 vs Robinson

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=0mwuNW...eature=related

DESTRUCTION OF DAVID ROBINSON OR NOT?!

YES!

[VanillaThunder]

I'm not disputing anyone, but does anyone have a source RE: Arvydas and steroids? I tried googling and couldn't find anything and this forum is the first Ive heard of it

[Sir Charles]

I'm not disputing anyone, but does anyone have a source RE: Arvydas and steroids? I tried googling and couldn't find anything and this forum is the first Ive heard of it

Look man the Video is right there.

The Destrucction of Robinson is Evident

That was Arvydas in his 20s before his Injuries. He could Run like Shaq, Leap Better than Ewing, has Skills ala Jabbar and Kareem and his weight was around 280-290 lbs of Muscule and finally was taller than all these. Arvydas would have dominated the mid 80s ande early 90s no doubt.

Arvydas:

Born: December 19, 1964 in
Height: 7-3/ 2,21 mt
Weight: 292 lbs

Robinson:

Born: August 6, 1965 in Key West, Florida
Height: 7-1 / 2,16 mt
Weight: 235 lbs

Again the Video Prooves What I`m saying:

Arvydas vs Robinson

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=0mwuNW...eature=related

Minute 0.34 = You Saw His Leap for the Rebound and Dunk over Robinson?

[TheGrassIsGreen]

Look Guys I`ve talked to a 37 year old Man that saw the 1988 Olympics and both Arvydas and Robinson are half a year or 1 year difference and he said that Arvydas DESTROYED Robinson. How good was Robinson? Well Good to Great right? Ok so if Someone Destroys Robinson like that then he would have not just been good but GREAT!

Height: 7-3 / 2,21. Weight: 292 lbs. /

Nobody is denying Sabonis' greatness. But if you're saying that he's great because he 'destroyed' Robinson (who in 1988 was a year removed from competitive basketball), then there are hard fallacies in your logic. You base your argument off the opinion of a guy that's 37 years-old who watched the 1988 Olympics. Is the 37 year-old guy who watched the 1988 Olympics an absolute authority in basketball theory? Even so, an opinion is an opinion

[Psileas]

This man would have have averged 25-35 (55-60%) PPG, 12-16 RPG, 4-5 APG, 3-4 BPG and ofcourse Shoot Great froom the FT and 3-Point Range in his PEEK.

Now these numbers are just exaggerated speculation. Here are Sabonis' real stats:

http://www.basketpedya.com/Acc002Inf...=1754&idioma=3

You may argue that in the NBA he'd become better than he was in Europe, but how would he (even an improved, healthier version of him) produce in the NBA numbers that he never came close to producing in Europe, against much worse competition, let alone the fact that he never really cared about taking 25 shots per game? It also needs to be mentioned that:

1) A healthier Sabonis=a more grounded, less spectacular Sabonis. You can't be 300 lbs, have sensitive feet, do the crazy things that he did (run the floor, jump like a forward, etc) and still remain healthy for long.

2) Sabonis was never a big fan of practice. That's a thing even his old Soviet teammates admitted. That's another factor that prevented him from being healthy for longer.

[Lebron23]

Yao Ming was the leading Scorer in the 2006 FIBA World Championship, but he had never been selected in the NBA First Team.

[Sir Charles]

Nobody is denying Sabonis' greatness. But if you're saying that he's great because he 'destroyed' Robinson (who in 1988 was a year removed from competitive basketball), then there are hard fallacies in your logic. You base your argument off the opinion of a guy that's 37 years-old who watched the 1988 Olympics. Is the 37 year-old guy who watched the 1988 Olympics an absolute authority in basketball theory? Even so, an opinion is an opinion— wracked by personal bias and prejudice.

I don`t base my opinion on that only (by the way this guy that told me that Arvydas destroyed David was a black man from Phily). I saw Arvydas Play in the NBA when Crippled and Aged and you could Tell Inmediatly by his Play that this guy was Hall of Famer Caliber with ease and would have been a Top 5 Center of All Time if you saw what he could do in his 20s. I will not discuss it more:

[COLOR="Blue"]LOOK AT THE VIDEO:[/COLOR]

1986 Olympics

Arvydas vs Robinson

Arvydas at age 22 (half a year older)

David Robinson at 21

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=0mwuNW...eature=related

[Lebron23]

Dirk Nowitzki is still the best European that ever played in the NBA, and he was also the MVP of the 2002 FIBA World Championship

FACT

and

This is not another Whatifsports.com speculation

[Sir Charles]

Dirk Nowitzki is still the best European that ever played in the NBA, and he was also the MVP of the 2002 FIBA World Championship

FACT

and

This is not another Whatifsports.com speculation

Look dummy. The video shows it quite Clearly. Arvydas was Prime and could Leap, Run, Dunk Over Anyone, Pass, Shoot and Indimiate anyone Player with his 7`3 and 292 lbs Body.

[COLOR="Blue"]LOOK AT THE VIDEO[/COLOR] for urself

Arvydas Romas Sabonis
Born: December 19, 1964 in Kaunas, Lithuanian SSR, Soviet Union

David Maurice Robinson
Born: August 6, 1965 in Key West, Florida

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=0mwuNW...eature=related

Here is more about that:

Personal

His wife, Ingrida Mikelionytė Sabonienė, was the winner of the first Lithuanian beauty pageant, "The Beauty of Vilnius '88". They have four children. Sabonis speaks five languages: Lithuanian, Polish, Russian, Spanish, and English.

Ex-players and current players alike contend that Sabonis, little known in the U.S., would have been recognized as one of the top centers ever to play the game of basketball had he come to America in his prime. Scottie Pippen was quoted as saying that Arvydas was "the best European basketball player to ever play the game". Ex-Spur Sean Elliott routinely claimed that Arvydas "should be in the conversation as one of the greatest centers ever". Hall of Famer Bill Walton describes "Sabas" as "the greatest passing center of all time". And Dino Radja, a former Boston Celtics player, said that Sabonis would have been an all-star "ten times over" had he played his healthy years in the States.

[COLOR="Blue"]Brian Meehan, a columnist for The Oregonian, followed Sabonis' career over the course of decades. Recalling the 1988 Olympics, when Sabonis' Soviet team beat an amateur United States team with the likes of future NBA stars David Robinson and Mitch Richmond. Meehan notes one play when a healthy Sabonis reacted to a teammate's missed shot: Sabonis slashed towards the rim, jumped over Robinson, and slammed the ball home[/COLOR].

Meehan is of the opinion that it was the play of Arvydas in the 1988 Olympics that influenced Team USA to use professional players in the Olympics, hence the "Dream Teams" of 1992 and 1996. [COLOR="blue"]Meehan ranks Sabonis as the 6th best all-time center behind, in no particular order, Hakeem Olajuwon, Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Shaquille O'Neal, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar[/COLOR].

[Manute for Ever!]

I don`t base my opinion on that only (by the way this guy that told me that Arvydas destroyed David was a black man from Phily). I saw Arvydas Play in the NBA when Crippled and Aged and you could Tell Inmediatly by his Play that this guy was Hall of Famer Caliber with ease and would have been a Top 5 Center of All Time if you saw what he could do in his 20s. I will not discuss it more:

[COLOR="Blue"]LOOK AT THE VIDEO:[/COLOR]

[COLOR="Magenta"]1986 Olympics[/COLOR]

Arvydas vs Robinson

Arvydas at age 22 (half a year older)

David Robinson at 21

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=0mwuNW...eature=related

Hey genius, this is the third time you have mentioned the mythical "1986 olympics". Where were they held, Who won gold in b'ball? Was this this the only time the Olympics were bi-annual, because I remember the 1984 LA games and the 1988 Seoul games.

If you are trying to convince somebody to believe your point, try getting the basics correct first.

[Lebron23]

It's time to ban this troll.

Welcome to the Village of the Banned

Sir Charles.

[VCMVP1551]

He was [COLOR="Blue"]7-3 ft [/COLOR]([COLOR="blue"]1 Inch Taller than Jabbar, 2 Inches on Shaq and Robinson, 4 Inches on Ewing and 5 inches on Hakeem)[/COLOR])

If you're going by real height then Robinson is 7'0" not 7'1" and I think Sabonis is 7'2" without shoes.

Robinson measured 7'0" at the 1988 Olympics.

One useful feature of the trials is that players are measured and weighed, rather than listed at their media-guide sizes, which are usually inflated. Thus, David Robinson, heretofore listed at 7-1, 235, is down to 7-0, 226.

http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/59884817.html?dids=59884817:59884817&FMT=ABS&FMTS= ABS:FT&date=May+21%2C+1988&author=MARK+HEISLER&pub =Los+Angeles+Times+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&desc=U.S.+Olympic+Men's+Basketball+ Trials+The+Real+David+Robinson+Surfaces+Again&pqat l=google

Sabonis never looked taller than Zydrunas Ilgauskas who is 7'2" but listed at 7'3".

Weight: [COLOR="blue"]279 lbs [/COLOR]([COLOR="blue"]Only Shaq Could have Battled Him in the Paint[/COLOR])

Mutombo may have have done a good job guarding him.

[B]I think he would reached the 30 + PPG mark and 14-16 rpg for a couple of seasons too.

There's no way his numbers would have been that high. He didn't even come close to that in the Euroleague.

I think his ASP average would been 2-3 for his first 8 to 9 seasons because the team that would have gotten Arvydas would have wanted him as the Focal Scoring Point and they would have taken advantage of his Physical Prime but then in his last 5-6 or seasons this man would have probaly averaged 4-5 ASPG with ease. His Blocks for his first 8-9 Seasons would have been 3 to 4 for a couple of Seasons too and rarely below 2.

His blocks wouldn't have been much over 2 per game. Maybe 2.5 at best. He was never one of the best shot blockers in the world..

Arvydases FG% would have hit the 60% Mark a couple of times if not more! and rarely go belowe 55% in his Prime.

No, he shot too many jumpers to be in the 55-60% range. His FG% would probably have been closer to Hakeem, Robinson and Ewing.

This man would have have averged 25-35 (55-60%) PPG, 12-16 RPG, 4-5 APG, 3-4 BPG and ofcourse Shoot Great froom the FT and 3-Point Range in his PEEK.

Nope. No way he even approachs 4 bpg and I highly doubt he'd have over 3. He wouldn't come close to 16 rpg or 35 ppg either.

[allball]

Are you kidding me? He dominated Robinson in the 1988 and 1986 Olympics and Sabonis was just 1 year older.

Sabonis in the 90s would have only been a a match up in the Paint to Shaq and away from the paint to Hakeem.

true dat. he wore D-Rob out in 88.