Oscar Schmidt Believes He'd Be 'One Of The Best 10 Ever' If He Joined NBA

[10acious]

Well, you could have been an NBA player and if your initial contract didn't pay what you thought you were worth, certainly those contracts that followed would have more than compensated for the underpayment if you were in fact one of the best players ever. But you chose not to take that challenge, so shut the **** up.

[bob2]

Schmidt wasn't a 'top 10 player ever'.

But US posters should understand that basket-ball is (and was) played at a very high level outside the NBA too.

Just look how NBA players like Deron Williams struggled in Europe during the lockout. Different rules means a different game.

PS: Look at my signature if you don't believe me.

[Woody Allen]

Deron Williams did not struggle in Europe.

[Nivek]

In addition to being delusional, he's also bad at math.

[Nivek]

Schmidt wasn't a 'top 10 player ever'.

Correct.

But US posters should understand that basket-ball is (and was) played at a very high level outside the NBA too.

Perhaps you should understand that "US posters" is an insanely large group, and that it's unwise to generalize about what "US posters" understand about the level of play outside the NBA.

Just look how NBA players like Deron Williams struggled in Europe during the lockout. Different rules means a different game.

PS: Look at my signature if you don't believe me.

A) What struggle? Williams averaged 22.1 pts and 6.3 ast on .497 shooting -- .465 from 3pt range.

B) Even if Williams had struggled, it wouldn't prove the point -- it'd be a single example like the one in your sig.

[bbintheheezy]

Schmidt wasn't a 'top 10 player ever'.

But US posters should understand that basket-ball is (and was) played at a very high level outside the NBA too.

Just look how NBA players like Deron Williams struggled in Europe during the lockout. Different rules means a different game.

PS: Look at my signature if you don't believe me.

Deron Williams struggled? when was that? I know he didm't struggle during the lockout.

[ib4]

Just look how NBA players like Deron Williams struggled in Europe during the lockout. Different rules means a different game.

you mean the Deron Williams that got his jersey retired after 15 games? such a struggle

[Karl_B]

You guys never watched him play, he was a monster, he is a legend. If half crap Brazilian players like Nenê and Varejão are starters in the NBA I can't even imagine what Oscar would have done.

Calling him and idiot and saying he was scared to come to the NBA is really pathetic.

You want a top player that never played defense Nanogeek? Dirk Nowitzki and Oscar was 100 times the player Dirk is.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0pDfmleirw

You're wrong. Oscar was great, but definitely not that great. A score machine with a heart with the size of Brazil, but on the other hand a black hole with no defensive skills at all. His ego is even greater than his heart. Dirk carried a dark-horse team to NBA Championship. Oscar, not so much. The famous panamerican final game in 87 was awesome, but hey, they played against college guys, and still the game was tough, hard fought. If Dirk can score 25 ppg shooting 18 times per game at NBA level, can you imagine what he could do playing in Brazil (or even in overseas) attempting 30, 35 FG per game? And yes, I'm brazilian.

[The_Hater]

Schmidt was certainly a great shooter/scorer and would have been just that had he joined the NBA during his pime but he would have been on par with Larry Bird to be considered one of the 10 best ever and his all-around game wasn't even close to that level.

I think his impact would have been closer to that of Drazen Petrovic, or if we compared him to a couple of US born players maybe Alex English on the high end or Glenn Robinson on the low end.

Edit: Another thing people need to realize is the gap between top NBA players and top international players was still quite considerable at that time. That gap has closed quite a bit over the past 20-30 years but as the 1992 Dream Team demonstrated, top international players simply didn't play against athletes with the size/athleticism combination that NBA possessed had and they hadn't seen defense played on such a high level either. Toni Kukoc was considered the best player in the world who wasn't playing in the NBA in 1992 and he went on to have a solid but not even an all-star level career after he arrived yet Oscar Schmidt thinks he would have scored 35 ppg and been one of the top handful of players all-time? Sorry but that doesn't compute.

[HeatRing2012]

From reading these posts, the ignorance continues.

Oscar was a forward and a much better shooter/scorer than Dirk Nowitski was.

Who was Oscar? Takes Dirk's best ppg. average in his prime (26 ppg.) and add 10 points to it.

That's Oscar (say 36 ppg) in the NBA.

hold it right there youngling.

I watched Oscar regularly (I'm an old fart from São Paulo) and I also saw Dirk a lot via league pass... and I'll tell you that Oscar is _not_ the shooter Dirk is.
don't let stats fool you... I first hand witnessed situations in São Paulo were the fans booed him because he was the biggest black hole imaginable.

as for the topic, OS would never be a top 10 player. but I think he'd have an argument for being top25.

[Nivek]

From reading these posts, the ignorance continues.

Oscar was a forward and a much better shooter/scorer than Dirk Nowitski was.

Who was Oscar? Takes Dirk's best ppg. average in his prime (26 ppg.) and add 10 points to it.

That's Oscar (say 36 ppg) in the NBA.

hold it right there youngling.

I watched Oscar regularly (I'm an old fart from São Paulo) and I also saw Dirk a lot via league pass... and I'll tell you that Oscar is _not_ the shooter Dirk is.
don't let stats fool you... I first hand witnessed situations in São Paulo were the fans booed him because he was the biggest black hole imaginable.

as for the topic, OS would never be a top 10 player. but I think he'd have an argument for being top25.

I think arguing that Oscar could have been top 25 in the NBA at that time is also pretty close to delusion. He was a wonderful scorer, but he was not that level a talent.

[druggas]

He played against our college kids and then they weren't always our best college kids.

At best, he would be a 6th man off the bench. And Dirk craps bigger than him.

[Ramiro]

Depends. When he would have entered in nba?

If he came when was young, with time for adaptation, yes, he could be an amazing player.

He had the skills.
Defense he could learn, if he came early.

[bbintheheezy]

From reading these posts, the ignorance continues.

Oscar was a forward and a much better shooter/scorer than Dirk Nowitski was.

Who was Oscar? Takes Dirk's best ppg. average in his prime (26 ppg.) and add 10 points to it.

That's Oscar (say 36 ppg) in the NBA.

You're on drugs.

[Foye]

Deron Williams did not struggle in Europe.

He lit up a terrible German team in Eurochallenge with 50 points.

But I didn't think he was anywhere close to top form.

[TheMidnightSun]

this wouldn't be the first time an older generation athlete used hyperbole to talk about what he could have done here and now if his brittle saggy ass weren't so old,

his jumper is pure as hell

[streamPirate]

Too scared to play with the best when he was in his prime, now feels he could of been top 10. LOL

Spoken with a true Brazilian ego.

No D. Maybe would crack the top 50 if he found some coat tails to ride.

[bbintheheezy]

Deron Williams did not struggle in Europe.

He lit up a terrible German team in Eurochallenge with 50 points.

But I didn't think he was anywhere close to top form.

He did not struggle in Europe.

[Jefff]

never tested in the nba, but i saw oscar live, and he was simply amazing. No doubt he could score a lot, even in the US.

[Foye]

Deron Williams did not struggle in Europe.

He lit up a terrible German team in Eurochallenge with 50 points.

But I didn't think he was anywhere close to top form.

He did not struggle in Europe.

No, he didn't struggle. But he wasn't playing at top form either.