Sabonis dominating the US, aged 18

[Rastapopoulos]

[video=youtube;fyzUZWVLJy8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyzUZWVLJy8[/video]

Anyone recognize any of the US players?

(Check out the goaltend at 4:50.)

 

[SlyPokerDog]

Is that when he dominated David Robinson? Sabonis was amazing when he was younger. Damn good when he was on the Blazers but just a shell of the player he was in his prime.

 

[Duckhook]

This game was played 2 years before Rudy Fernandez was born in Palma de Mallorca - Spain. I wonder if Sabes could hear Rudy bitching then too???

 

[ironcrotch]

seriously what could have been if he were here in his prime

:

 

[Ed O]

[video=youtube;fyzUZWVLJy8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyzUZWVLJy8[/video]

Anyone recognize any of the US players?

#4 is Scott Skiles. Hard to recognize him with hair.

Ed O.

 

[Ed O]

Is that when he dominated David Robinson? Sabonis was amazing when he was younger. Damn good when he was on the Blazers but just a shell of the player he was in his prime.

Sabonis dominated in 1988... this is five years earlier. Amazing.

Ed O.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

On a lark, I did a comparison:

Oden last year versus Sabonis...
1995-96:
http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/tiny.cgi?id=1fP5O

1996-97:
http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/tiny.cgi?id=5o6SU

Two things I take away from this... (1) holy crap Sabas was incredible, getting that kind of production at 32 with no Achilles tendons. (2) If Oden can maintain his performance over 72 games, he will be right between Sabas's two best seasons as a Blazer. If he improves? Oh my goodness.

 

[Cake]

Walter Berry
James Blackmon
Kerry Boagni
Kenny Gattison
Jeff Hall
Buck Johnson
Larry Krystkowiak
Scott Skiles
Mike Smith
Kenny Walker
Dwayne Washington
Steve Woodside

 

[mook]

On a lark, I did a comparison:

Oden last year versus Sabonis...
1995-96:
http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/tiny.cgi?id=1fP5O

1996-97:
http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/tiny.cgi?id=5o6SU

Two things I take away from this... (1) holy crap Sabas was incredible, getting that kind of production at 32 with no Achilles tendons. (2) If Oden can maintain his performance over 72 games, he will be right between Sabas's two best seasons as a Blazer. If he improves? Oh my goodness.

I've always said that the low side projection of Oden's career is Arvydas. Limited minutes, lots of injuries, but when you can actually get him on the damned court he has a huge impact on the game from the center position.

 

[Idog1976]

Prime Sabas + Buck + Clyde + TP + Kersey = constant struggle with Magic/Bird/Jordan over 10 titles.

Maybe not much of a struggle really except against Jordan. I wonder sometimes if Jordan wouldn't be even better were he young today. I feel like he was bored after his first 3 titles. He was so dominant compared to anyone else it was almost incredible. He would have loved the challenge.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

Prime Sabas + Buck + Clyde + TP + Kersey = constant struggle with Magic/Bird/Jordan over 10 titles.

Maybe not much of a struggle really except against Jordan.

Prime Sabas with Duck as the backup C basically takes two championships away from Detroit, and two from Chicago. I see us winning 4 straight from 1989-1992.

 

[MrSelfDestruct]

Sabas is one of my favorite Blazers and probably always will be.

I'd love to find a jersey.

 

[sabas4mvp]

Don't think I have to say much more than post... (check my username)

 

[handiman]

seriously what could have been if he were here in his prime

Sort of pointless to ponder, as he would have been doing it for the Hawks.

 

[J_Ray]

Is #15 John Stockton?

 

[Ed O]

Sort of pointless to ponder, as he would have been doing it for the Hawks.

Nah. The pick was voided because Sabas was too young.

Interesting that he didn't get hurt until AFTER picked by the Hawks, though.

Ed O.

 

[BGrantFan]

Is that when he dominated David Robinson? Sabonis was amazing when he was younger. Damn good when he was on the Blazers but just a shell of the player he was in his prime.

A shell in terms of overall game, but he still averaged a 21.2 PER as a Blazer. Sabas was a fucking stud. Too bad he didn't come over to the NBA in his mid-20s. Shaq would have been jealous, and he wouldn't have dissed the old Sabas that he competed against.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/s/sabonar01.html

 

[BGrantFan]

#4 is Scott Skiles. Hard to recognize him with hair.

Ed O.

Steve Alford looks like #15. Was that Bobby Knight coaching the US?

 

[BGrantFan]

U-18 rosters back to 1990.

Interesting how many names I've never heard of are on these teams. Also interesting is that Steve Blake was on one of these teams, and so was Bayless.



http://www.usabasketball.com/mens/u18/mu18_affil_roster.html

 

[handiman]

Nah. The pick was voided because Sabas was too young.

Is that really why they lost his rights? I always thought it was because you couldn't hold onto rights indefinitely back then.

 

[Mediocre Man]

Walter Berry
James Blackmon
Kerry Boagni
Kenny Gattison
Jeff Hall
Buck Johnson
Larry Krystkowiak
Scott Skiles
Mike Smith
Kenny Walker
Dwayne Washington
Steve Woodside

I played HS basketball with Steve Woodside at Parkrose. He was very skilled for a HS player. I forgot that he played on that team

 

[BlazerCaravan]

Is that really why they lost his rights? I always thought it was because you couldn't hold onto rights indefinitely back then.

Yep, that's indeed how Atlanta lost the rights to Sabas. Check his wiki page.

 

[Boob-No-More]

I remember watching a game on live TV between the Soviets and the US, a year or so after the posted video. Sabas (I believe 19 or 20 at the time) dominated much better competition (I think Ewing and/or Sampson was on the US squad, along with some other pretty good bigs). Sabas just overpowered the US centers. I remember one play where he backed down his defender and looked like he was going to shoot a hook shot, only when the ball got to the top of his reach, he didn't let go, he continued to follow through with a massive sweeping dunk right over his defender. He looked like a man among boys, and I remember thinking at the time, "If this is the kind of player the Soviets are producing, the US will never will another Olympic gold medal". He was that dominant.

BNM

 

[handiman]

Yep, that's indeed how Atlanta lost the rights to Sabas. Check his wiki page.

I prefer more conclusive sources of information than user submitted articles... Too much stuff on the internet is rumors regurgitated as fact, whether or not that is relevant here.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

I prefer more conclusive sources of information than user submitted articles... Too much stuff on the internet is rumors regurgitated as fact, whether or not that is relevant here.

Basketball-refence.com has the same info, iirc. Regardless, it's the truth. And studies (I'll dig them up if you like) have shown that wikipedia is no more prone to errors than a hardcover encyclopedia... Just harder to read because the editors are all asperger's nerds.

 

[Ed O]

I prefer more conclusive sources of information than user submitted articles... Too much stuff on the internet is rumors regurgitated as fact, whether or not that is relevant here.

If you have any evidence to the contrary, bring it. I'd be interested.

If you want to Google it and see the myriad of sources that ALL say the same thing (he was under 21 when drafted, so the pick was voided) then I would encourage you to do that.

Ed O.

 

[handiman]

Like I said, I'm not saying you're wrong. It just doesn't jive with what I remember, and I don't trust constantly shifting Wikipedia articles for anything but mundane historical stuff. I'm confused though, what being under 21 had to do with anything? There wasn't an age limit back then, was there? There sure wasn't for Moses Malone, Magic and Bird... Did they briefly add one in the mid-80's or did the restriction only apply to international players? I'm not finding an answer on Google...

 

[handiman]

[bump]

No one knows the answer? This is why I don't trust regurgitated internet articles that don't make sense...

 

[BlazerCaravan]

[bump]

No one knows the answer? This is why I don't trust regurgitated internet articles that don't make sense...

Since you're the one with the big mission to out the internet as being wrong about this, why not look into some newspapers around the 1986 draft?

 

[handiman]

That's not the question I asked... What's the deal with the supposed age restriction (less than 21) at the time? There was no age limit before or after that time period, and I haven't seen any references to one during that period. That's a pretty important piece to the puzzle, don't you think?