I must be a really poor communicator (although Hailblazer seems to have the idea, thank you). I am wondering if Oden could emulate Sabonis' conservative style of playing (to preserve his body) and at the same time work on some of the skills that Sabonis excelled at. Maybe if he did that he could end up playing as long as Sabonis did.
What sets Oden apart, his size or his strength and athleticism? I say it's the latter. If he plays an unathletic game to emulate Sabonis and try to stay healthier, then he's basically a journeyman center with average size and average skills. I don't see how that does anyone any good.
Pre-injury, yeah. Before his last injury he clearly wasn't the same player athletically. He lumbered up and down the court and his lateral quickness was similar to Roy Hibbert. His offensive game consisted of a baby-hook and a fade away baby-hook. His offensive repertoire is nearly identical to what Dale Davis showed in Portland. Two MF surgeries and a fractured patella I'd be happy if he came back as athletic as Dale was in Portland.
I say that Oden should try to emulate Moses Malone. One thing that Sabonis retained even after the injuries, and (I hope) Oden should too, is his enormous strength. Even if he loses much of his athleticism, he can still be a force on the boards and score by offensive rebounding. Less Dale Davis, more Charles Oakley, only taller.
That Sabonis wasn't "ground bound" and unathletic. The description of Sabonis presented in the OP seemed to clearly indicate the Blazer version. He was useful on defense due to his powerful base, which made him hard to dislodge in the post...but many big men were quicker could go past him with post moves if he were isolated one-on-one. The Blazers did defend Shaq as well as any other team when Sabonis bodied him and Pippen and Rasheed doubled down. As for Oden emulating him, that doesn't really make sense. Oden doesn't have the gifts Sabonis did, he has different ones...a primary one being freakish athleticism for his size. If he can't leverage that, he won't be a terribly valuable center. He and the team have to hope he can stay healthy playing a game with athleticism, because that's where he can really differentiate himself from other big men.
When there's disagreement on the board, I'm always willing to step in decisively and settle the matter with the wisdom of experience to avoid any further disharmony. And the official answer to the thread title is-- We won't know until we see him play. But of course, I could be wrong.
I think Oden should emulate that best qualities of Wilt, Russell, Kareem, Shaq, Hakeem, and Walton, with a bit of Sabonis thrown in for fun, and perhaps some Nate Thurmond for nastiness. Is that so wrong to expect of a "once in a generation" center in the modern age of the NBA?
Arvydas Sabonis in his prime was the most complete basketball player in the history of the game. Magic Johnson was a distant second. Oden should just try to emulate an active player for starters.
Let's see him show up as consistently as Ha and then we'll talk about the next-higher guy to imitate.
[video=youtube;y7ddpKyIsxE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7ddpKyIsxE&feature=related[/video] [video=youtube;zxO9VZyfawU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxO9VZyfawU&feature=fvwrel[/video] [video=youtube;06usV6451ik]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06usV6451ik&feature=related[/video] [video=youtube;VO3IundC-e4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VO3IundC-e4&feature=related[/video]
