"Superstar Card: Arvydas Sabonis (European League version
Team: Real Madrid/Portland Trail Blazers
Age: 31
First position: Center
Second position: Power forward
…
Hidden attributes of the body
Lower body strength: 90
Upper body strength: 88
Speed: 65 Explosive power: 66
Agility: 74 Jump: 62
Bullet speed: 72 Physical: 75
Resistance to injuries: 72
Offensive ability
Relying: 96 Layups: 98
Mid-range shot: 88 Long shot: 72
Dunks: 70 Passes: 92
Ball possession: 82 Free throws: 76
Breakthrough: 75
defensive ability
External defense: 70 Internal defense: 91
Rebounds: 86 Blocks: 80
Steals: 74
Comprehensive evaluation: 89 (quasi-superstar)
Talent skills:
Terminator (Purple Diamond)
The movements are less likely to deform when performing a layup or dunk, and can offset 30% of the hit rate interference caused by physical contact with opposing players.
Miao Chuan Tian Wang (Purple Diamond)
Greatly enhance global vision and stability, increase the probability of triggering fancy passes by 25%
Team Leader (Gold)
Within 10 seconds after short-term control, the offensive ability of all teammates increases by 5 points.
Marksman (gold)
The difficulty of receiving passes and shots from teammates will be reduced by 7% within three seconds.
Defensive Pillar (Silver)
After colliding with the opponent within the three-second circle, all defensive attributes of yourself and your teammates will be increased by 3 points during this round of attack."
…
Damn it!
Blocked my old baby!
When Wang Zelin Farm read all the ability values of "Roof of the World" Sabonis, he fell into a long silence...
After a long time, I managed to suppress the shock in my heart.
He must admit that he may have underestimated the senior Sabonis a little too much.
Especially when he saw the system's detailed career description of Sabonis on the lottery panel, various complex emotions such as shock, regret, respect, regret, etc. suddenly came to his heart.
This is completely a monster without any reason!
In 1982, the former Mao Xiong national team visited America. The Chinese team sent many university teams to compete with the former Mao Xiong national team. The two sides conducted a basketball diplomacy.
Most of the national team players sent by the former Mao Xiong are much older than the college players in the American NBA, but among a bunch of uncles, there is one who is younger than the students in the United States. juvenile.
This is the 17-year-old Sabonis!
Immediately afterwards, the underage Sabonis scored 25 points, 8 rebounds and 3 blocks in the next game against Indiana University. It can be said that he truly became famous in one battle!
After the game, then-Indiana University head coach Bobby Knight specifically mentioned Sabonis:
"That kid is the best non-American basketball player I've ever seen!"
By the way, Bobby Knight, nicknamed "The General," is a famous American basketball coach. He once coached the U.S. national team and coached young Jordan. It is said that he once scolded Jordan to tears.
There is another interesting news about Bobby Knight.
Before the 1984 draft, Inman, then the general manager of the Trail Blazers, once asked Bobby Knight who should be selected, and the latter answered without hesitation:
"You must choose Jordan!"
Immediately afterwards, when Inman repeatedly emphasized that they needed a center, Bobby Knight shouted out the well-known words regardless:
"Then just pick Jordan and let him play center!"
Back to business.
Back to Sabonis.
After the game against the Indiana Pacers, a few days later, Sabonis met a local American super giant.
The next year's NBA No. 1 pick will be Ralph Sampson, a giant inside player who averages 20+10 points per game as soon as he enters the NBA.
At the time, 22-year-old Ralph Sampson had just led the University of Virginia to a 25-5 record in NC.
But in this game, Mao Xiong relied on Sabonis's 21-point performance to beat Sampson's 13 points and successfully defeated his opponent.
The monster is growing, his footsteps rumble, and the ground of the furry bear begins to shake!
…
Four years later, Sabonis, who was under 22 years old, won the following honors:
European Player of the Year, European Basketball Mr. European Championship MVP, Champions League scoring champion, FIBA Intercontinental Cup champion...
The young man who used to wear bright clothes and angry horses has already aspired to the throne of the King of Europe.
1986, Men's Basketball World Championship finals.
United States vs. Bear!
The most anticipated matchup between the two teams is undoubtedly the contest between David Robinson, the strongest center in the University Forum from the U.S. Naval Academy, and the most mysterious monster outside the U.S. basketball world.
One is about to be selected as the No. 1 pick in the NBA, and one assists to lead a Lithuanian team to kill all over Europe. Moreover, the two birthdays are only more than 7 months apart, so they can match up.
Combined with the two patterns at that time, this game was extremely exciting.
The final result was that the United States won by 2 points, a near miss.
However, people are paying more attention to those two talented young people.
David Robinson had 21 points, 7 rebounds and 4 blocks. The potential talent of the No. 1 pick was undoubtedly revealed!
Sabonis had 16 points, 13 rebounds and 4 blocks. As far as this game is concerned, Sabonis also showed too much.
However, due to five years of endless fighting since the age of 17, injuries finally came to the door.
With the passage of time and injuries, Achilles tendon problems and knee problems have gradually reduced Sabonis' mobility to zero.
He was once handsome and handsome, but due to his sudden weight gain, his appearance began to seriously change.
But this did not affect his ecstasy and strong rule in Europe.
Time came to 1995, Sabonis achieved unification of Europe with Real Madrid, and won the European championship, MVP, and scoring champion, so the following sentence came out:
"There is nothing left in Europe worth pursuing!"
Therefore, the Portland Trail Blazers used a first-round pick No. 24, and after waiting for nine years for the King of Europe, they finally decided to land in the NBA when they were 31 years old.
After 9 years, what they were waiting for was no longer the monster boy. The traces of time are ruthless enough, but compared with that damn injury, they seem so insignificant.
At that time, when Trail Blazers team doctor Robert Don received the film of Sabonis's physical examination for the first time, he said the famous sentence to Trail Blazers general manager Bob Huithit:
"You can use this film to apply for a disabled person's parking permit (you can park for free with a disability permit, and many places in China now have this policy). It's good if his legs and feet can run. Play basketball? I think so. never mind."
In this way, in the report of the professional team doctor that was almost a death sentence, Sabonis started his NBA career.
In the 1995-1996 season, this 31-year-old "rookie" with mobility infinitely close to zero embarked on what may be the most cruel basketball court on the planet.
In his first season, Sabonis only played 23 minutes per game, but averaged 14.5 points, 8.1 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.1 blocks per game.
This super-old "rookie" seems to have lived up to the Blazers' 9-year wait.
However, what happened next was even more dreamy.
In this year's NBA playoffs, in order to deal with the difficult duo of Utah, the Trail Blazers tried to significantly increase Sabonis' playing time. In the 2:3 loss to the Utah Jazz, Sabonis averaged 23.6 points, 10.2 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. The price was that his average playing time in the playoffs was a full 12 minutes more than in the regular season.
Considering Sabonis's physical condition, it's no wonder that countless media outlets criticized him at the time: "This is a murder!"
After the end of the first NBA season, the report card taught by Sabonis was excellent. However, considering his 31-year-old age, people would rather believe that this was a flash in the pan.
If this was the season performance of the 21-year-old Sabonis, I am afraid that the outside world has already included him in the ranks of the league's super centers... It is a pity that the monster boy has long gone forever.
but,
NB’s life never disdains what if!
People still underestimate Sha Guzi's love for basketball and his extremely strong will.
Entered the NBA at the age of 31 and played for 7 seasons. No one knows how he sustained it for 7 seasons, but it is undeniable that the arrival of Sabonis did bring a unique scenery to the entire NBA.
There are statistics.
In the first five years of the Trail Blazers, Sabonis, the oldest player on the team, ranked first in the team in PER for 4 years. In the first 5 years, all PER values exceeded 20.
What makes the older generation of Trail Blazers fans even more unforgettable is actually the millennium season from 1999 to 2000.
In this year, the Trail Blazers and Lakers met in the Western Conference Finals.
The 35-year-old Sasha is still the starting center of the Trail Blazers. He has played in 66 games this season and started 61 games. In an average playing time of 25.6 minutes, he contributed 10.1 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1 block and 0.7 steals.
The overall shooting percentage still exceeded 50%, and the three-point shooting percentage also reached 36.6%. Considering the background of the era, Sabonis's three-point ability was definitely not bad in that era.
Unfortunately, before this set of Western Conference matchups began, no one had any hope of winning for the Trail Blazers.
Just because, standing in front of them was the Purple and Gold Army who was about to create a dynasty.
This is also true.
The 35-year-old Sasha was unable to resist the new behemoth of the 1990s, Shaquille O'Neal, who was at the peak of his career.
But the Trail Blazers still gave the Sharks the most uncomfortable series experience. In this series, O'Neal averaged "only" 25.5 points and 12.1 rebounds per game, and his shooting percentage was only a "poor" 53.7%...
en, considering O'Neal's 30.0+16.2 in the previous round of the series and O'Neal's 38+16.7 in the finals, the third team and the Trail Blazers have done well enough.
How good is it?
The two sides fought fiercely to grab 7, and with the last 10 minutes left, the Trail Blazers led the Lakers by 15 points and had half a foot on the floor of the Finals.
And then, OK, the group’s most classic collaboration shot seems to have come into being:
At that time, No. 8 Kobe, who was still wearing an afro, was double-teamed by two people and made a fake shot. The next moment...
The shark suddenly surfaced!
The suspense of the game came to an end in this space.
The Sharks finally achieved a shocking reversal, advancing to the finals, winning the championship, and establishing a dynasty...
As for the Trail Blazers and Laos?
Sorry, it’s most appropriate to borrow a classic quote from an old blacksmith in Los Angeles:
"Second place is the biggest loser!"
In the sports arena, not many people care about what you have done to reach the final destination.
Only by getting first place and taking off the laurels can we be worthy of being remembered by fans, media and history!
It's cruel, but it's true.
If the Blazers hadn't been reversed back then...
In an interview with ESPN, Drexler said about Sabonis:
"If in 1986, after Avidas was drafted, he could immediately come to play in the Trail Blazers, would the Trail Blazers have won a championship at that time?"
"We could win four, five or six championships together! I guarantee you, man, he was that good!"
This is actually true.
The Trail Blazers reached the Finals in both 1990 and 1992. What if they add a Sabonis who is a few years younger?
If he was not forced by the money-bearing system to fight continuously with injuries...
If he can receive scientific sports treatment...
If he could stand in the NBA at the age of 21, represent the Trail Blazers in the league, meet the Flyers and Magicians, and meet Dream, General, orangutan...
If the top four centers become the top five...
If later fans can watch the video and witness that there was such a super giant in the NBA in the past who combined top passing skills, outstanding running and jumping, the ability to back up, and even three-point shooting range.
Speaking of ifs, the Portland Trail Blazers have a lot of “ifs”:
If Bill Walton, who led them to championships in the 1970s, had not been seriously injured;
If they selected a shooting guard named Michael Jordan with the second pick in 198-10;
If they don't have a trader, another European talent, Petrovich;
If they hadn't sent away Jermaine O'Neal, who had incredible potential;
If Greg Oden doesn't naturally become the first great king because of his damn injuries;
If Brandon Roy hadn't died due to injury and turned into a high school coach with a head and a round face like Gordon in advance;
If they hadn't been prepared to hire those unreliable vets in the first place...
What a pity!
After reading the entire resume of Sabonis’ NBA career, Wang Zelin couldn’t help but sigh:
NB people, after all, are NB!
Take Sabonis.
He played a circle in the NBA, using his already aging body to experience the intensity of the NBA reaching the Western Conference Finals. With a series of real performances and impeccable high-level data, he confirmed people's expectations of his peak health. guess.
Incidentally, he also became the inspirational idol for Chairman Yao to choose the path of basketball, and even played against Yao Ming several times after he landed in the NBA in 2002.
It seems extremely dreamy, because in the minds of many fans, the two are not players of the same era at all.
But this is what really happened.
But who allowed Sabonis to work until May 4, 2003, when he lost in the tiebreaker of the playoffs between the Trail Blazers and the Mavericks, officially announcing his career finale.
However, after retiring from the NBA and returning to his hometown of Lithuania, Sabonis couldn't help but play for another year and give back to the fans with a season's retirement tour.
There is no doubt that his retirement tour has Lithuania and the whole of Europe excited.
Of course, this guy is not limited to just playing around.
In the 2003~2004 season, Sabonis led the team to win the Lithuanian League Championship!
In the same year, he was crowned European League regular season champion, Top 16 MVP, and European First Team!
In the same year, he was crowned the European League regular season rebounding leader + block leader!
In the twilight of his career, Sabonis once again declared to the European basketball world: Your emperor is back!
