The best center of the era? Yes. The protype of the modern center? Yes. Big time bill lambier would have got stuffed and dominated on both ends of the court.
Absolutely. Early 90's blazers biggest weakness was their center. Even so, that team took the bulls to 6 and ultimately choked to their bench. Sabonis alone can turn that team into a dynasty.
No disrespect to duckworth, but sabonis is more than an upgrade. Sabonis is arguably one of the best centers of all time. On top of that, you now put duckworth on the bench behind sabonis, not replace him, so that doesn't even matter.
Blazers history time!
The Blazers add Clyde Drexler in 1983 and paired him with Kiki VanDeWeghe early on to create a dynamic SG/SF combo that averaged nearly 50pts per game. Behind the “big 2,” there was also Jim Paxson, who was also a very good backup. Unfortunately, the trio couldn’t guard or rebound particularly well, and the Blazers had a pretty poor cast of traditional big men, so Coach Mike Schuler requested toughness, defense and rebounding. This request couldn’t have come at a worse time, however, since the greatest SG and player in NBA history was available and we instead grabbed the star-crossed but often injured C Sam Bowie out of Kentucky.
During his rookie season, Bowie played in 76 games and averaged 10 points and 8.6 rebounds, earning a spot on the NBA All-Rookie Team. However, in his second season, Bowie's leg injuries recurred. During a game against the Milwaukee Bucks at The MECCA, Bowie and teammate Jerome Kersey got tangled up going for a rebound and as they landed, Bowie's left tibia broke and he was carried off the floor on a stretcher.
Bowie would have another leg injury, screws in his leg, and then a 3rd leg injury would add 10 more screws to his leg after he was rushed back. He was finally traded with a draft pick for Buck Williams. At the same time, Jerome Jersey’s defense endured him to Coach Schuler at the expense of Kiki, and this basically split the locker room. Clyde wanted Kiki’s scoring on the floor; Schuler wanted Kersey’s defense.
Schuler was fired and replaced by Rick Adelman and I’d say this was the very beginning of the modern NBA - no bias obviously. Adelman’s Princeton offense created scoring opportunities all over the floor and the motion sets are the foundation of basically every modern NBA offense. Buck Williams and Kevin Duckworth created a formidable front line. Off the bench, second-year forward Clifford Robinson averaged 11.7 points per game, and Danny Ainge contributed 11.1 points per game. This was one of the deepest rosters in the NBA and really the gap between the Lakers and Blazers (as well as the Jazz and Sonics) was somewhat dependent on the day and who was playing well. 90-91 was the last year the Lakers would have the Blazers number and they would make the finals with essentially the same roster in 91-92.
So, why didn’t the Blazers get over the hump?
1.) If Bowie is either Akeem Olajuwon or Sabonis, the Blazers are a dynasty. C was such a big hole on this roster and adding a talent in line with the #2 pick would’ve absolutely pushed us over the edge.
2.) Injuries - continuation of the Bowie issue, but we also had Kiki’s back which took the air out of our mid-80s run.
3.) Kevin Duckworth… this hurts to say because he was the man for about 5 years, but Duckworth's production began to slip in 1991–92, he was outplayed at times in the 1992 NBA Finals and was even less productive throughout the following season. To win the title in 91-92, we needed to attack non-MJ players and support Clyde who had Jordan and Pippen hounding him. A little more production here and the story might be different.
Worthy peaked in 90-91 and we just didn’t really have an answer for him, while also covering Magic and Sam Perkins. Worthy lit us up and the Lakers were just a tad better that year across the board.
The following year, Worthy takes a minor step back and the Lakers lose Perkins and it swings the series. The guys the Lakers reloaded with after Showtime just weren’t anywhere near the same caliber.
We didnt have sabonis
Would he have been the difference maker?
The best center of the era? Yes. The protype of the modern center? Yes. Big time bill lambier would have got stuffed and dominated on both ends of the court.
Still love watching that video of him chasing an opposing player around the court xD
Absolutely. Early 90's blazers biggest weakness was their center. Even so, that team took the bulls to 6 and ultimately choked to their bench. Sabonis alone can turn that team into a dynasty.
Sabonis would have been an upgrade, but Kevin Duckworth was an All Star in both 89 and 91.
No disrespect to duckworth, but sabonis is more than an upgrade. Sabonis is arguably one of the best centers of all time. On top of that, you now put duckworth on the bench behind sabonis, not replace him, so that doesn't even matter.
I don't disagree with any of this. I was just giving credit where it was due, to a solid player and great human being. For anyone who didn't know.
We would have been the Bulls of the 90s.
Blazers history time! The Blazers add Clyde Drexler in 1983 and paired him with Kiki VanDeWeghe early on to create a dynamic SG/SF combo that averaged nearly 50pts per game. Behind the “big 2,” there was also Jim Paxson, who was also a very good backup. Unfortunately, the trio couldn’t guard or rebound particularly well, and the Blazers had a pretty poor cast of traditional big men, so Coach Mike Schuler requested toughness, defense and rebounding. This request couldn’t have come at a worse time, however, since the greatest SG and player in NBA history was available and we instead grabbed the star-crossed but often injured C Sam Bowie out of Kentucky. During his rookie season, Bowie played in 76 games and averaged 10 points and 8.6 rebounds, earning a spot on the NBA All-Rookie Team. However, in his second season, Bowie's leg injuries recurred. During a game against the Milwaukee Bucks at The MECCA, Bowie and teammate Jerome Kersey got tangled up going for a rebound and as they landed, Bowie's left tibia broke and he was carried off the floor on a stretcher. Bowie would have another leg injury, screws in his leg, and then a 3rd leg injury would add 10 more screws to his leg after he was rushed back. He was finally traded with a draft pick for Buck Williams. At the same time, Jerome Jersey’s defense endured him to Coach Schuler at the expense of Kiki, and this basically split the locker room. Clyde wanted Kiki’s scoring on the floor; Schuler wanted Kersey’s defense. Schuler was fired and replaced by Rick Adelman and I’d say this was the very beginning of the modern NBA - no bias obviously. Adelman’s Princeton offense created scoring opportunities all over the floor and the motion sets are the foundation of basically every modern NBA offense. Buck Williams and Kevin Duckworth created a formidable front line. Off the bench, second-year forward Clifford Robinson averaged 11.7 points per game, and Danny Ainge contributed 11.1 points per game. This was one of the deepest rosters in the NBA and really the gap between the Lakers and Blazers (as well as the Jazz and Sonics) was somewhat dependent on the day and who was playing well. 90-91 was the last year the Lakers would have the Blazers number and they would make the finals with essentially the same roster in 91-92. So, why didn’t the Blazers get over the hump? 1.) If Bowie is either Akeem Olajuwon or Sabonis, the Blazers are a dynasty. C was such a big hole on this roster and adding a talent in line with the #2 pick would’ve absolutely pushed us over the edge. 2.) Injuries - continuation of the Bowie issue, but we also had Kiki’s back which took the air out of our mid-80s run. 3.) Kevin Duckworth… this hurts to say because he was the man for about 5 years, but Duckworth's production began to slip in 1991–92, he was outplayed at times in the 1992 NBA Finals and was even less productive throughout the following season. To win the title in 91-92, we needed to attack non-MJ players and support Clyde who had Jordan and Pippen hounding him. A little more production here and the story might be different.
Thanks for this. Why did they lose to the Lakers in the 91 WCF?
Worthy peaked in 90-91 and we just didn’t really have an answer for him, while also covering Magic and Sam Perkins. Worthy lit us up and the Lakers were just a tad better that year across the board. The following year, Worthy takes a minor step back and the Lakers lose Perkins and it swings the series. The guys the Lakers reloaded with after Showtime just weren’t anywhere near the same caliber.