photo: slamonline.com
Basketball, broken down to its simplest compound, is about scoring more buckets than the team you’re playing against. The Semi-Automatic refers to players who leave bodies in their wake with their innate ability to get buckets. And few players can truly say that they are, or ever were, on the same level as the man known as “Mao Santa”, aka “The Holy Hand.”
Who is the greatest player to never wear an NBA uniform? Valid arguments could be made for asphalt legends like Joe Hammond aka “The Destroyer” aka “Dirty Hand Joe”, Oakland’s Hook Mitchell, Pee Wee Kirkland, Earl Manigault aka “The Goat” and others of similar stature.
But don’t forget about Oscar.
“Who is that?”, you might be asking yourself. Oscar Schmidt is simply a legend among legends from Brazil. Outside of America, along with those enligtened souls within the USA who understand the man’s place in the game’s pantheon, he’s considered one of the greatest basketball players to ever grace God’s green earth.
peep oscar (#9 in the dark jersey) and the late, great drazen petrovic (#5 in the white jersey) going at it in the ‘89 european cup, referred to by some as the greatest game ever played in europe
A 6′8″ scorer, Oscar competed in five Olympics. How nice was he? In the ‘88 Seoul Olympics, he averaged 42 joints and holds the Olympic record for most points in a game, with 55. In 38 total Olympic games, he averaged close to 30 points per contest. For his entire 26-year overseas pro career, he scored 49, 703 points. For a frame of reference, the incomparable Kareem Abdul Jabbar is the NBA’s all-time scoring leader with 38, 387 points.
“He never played in the NBA,” some people say, as if that diminishes his talent. If his Olympic and pro exploits overseas are not enough evidence, we can highlight one performance that encapsulates The Holy Hand’s genius.
In the gold-medal game of the ‘87 Pan American Games in Indianapolis, Oscar headlined the underdog Brazilian national team as they took on a powerhouse Team USA squad led by David Robinson, Danny Manning and “Never Nervous” Pervis Ellison. Trailing 68-54 at halftime, Oscar, almost single-handedly, led Brazil to a stunning 120-115 victory, scorching for 46 points.
Oscar was drafted by the New Jersey Nets in ‘84. He actually competed in a few training camps but chose to maintain his amateur status in order to compete for Brazil’s national team. Back then, NBA players were not allowed to compete in the Olympics, World Championships and other competitions.
In ‘91, he set an Italian League record by averaging 44 points per game. If you want to validate the respect that the game’s greatest have for the man, just approach any member of the incredible ‘92 Dream Team, except Christian Laettner, and mention the name Oscar.
Or ask Kobe Bryant about some of his childhood heroes and in the same breath, he’ll mention MJ, Magic and Oscar Schmidt, who he saw give his father, Joe “Jellybean” Bryant, the bizness in the Italian League. The man could, flat-out, get buckets.
If ya don’t know, now ya know….
October 21st, 2009 at 12:07 pm
Ali says:
yo! money hit 22 out of 25 three’s in the first clip.
October 21st, 2009 at 12:20 pm
Kenny Patt says:
I saw that game. He was sick.
October 21st, 2009 at 12:31 pm
ali says:
wish we could’ve seen him in the league. i started peeping his game in the ‘84 los angeles olympics and tried to watch every time brazil was playing in one of the international competitions that were televised. you said it best. he was sick.
October 21st, 2009 at 12:38 pm
ali says:
and the dominique/larry bird face-off in ‘88, when they went colin ferguson in the 4th quarter doesn’t have anything on the petrovic/oscar battle in ‘89. drazen had 62 while oscar couldn’t keep pace with his own 44.
October 21st, 2009 at 2:08 pm
illest says:
that guy was incredible. i remember him in 84 as well. and those pan am games he didnt miss.
October 21st, 2009 at 3:03 pm
Trevor Kapp says:
maybe this is just a generational thing and obviously i’m not old enough to have seen these guys listed above play, but i have to think gerry mcnamara should be on this list.
the guy did everything in his four-year career at cuse. he hit six 3s in the first half of the national championship game against kansas as a freshman! he basically single-handedly won the team a big east tournament chip his senior year. it always pains me to see guys like kwame brown and erick dampier, very unskilled bigs who have been in the l for years, and yet, g-mac hasn’t even gotten a sniff.
October 21st, 2009 at 3:55 pm
ali says:
whoa trevor! what list do you think mcnamara belongs on? he was a good college player, but erik dampier was a BEAST in college at Mississippi State. and coming out of high school, kwame brown was wanted by everybody, a 6′10″ manchild but he unfortunately never matured any further as a player.
and dampier has skills, don’t sleep. you don’t play 13 years in the NBA if you don’t.
the college game is much different than the pros, that’s why you see so many guys that are real good that never get a sniff. i’m sure that gerry mac could probably make somebody’s roster as a role player. but that’s about it. 6′3″ guards that are not fast nor extremely athletic have a very difficult time. they come ten dimes a dozen.
jj reddick was an all-time great in college w/ a much more decorated resume than gerry, and you see the problems he has becoming more than a role player, much less an impact player.
i hope you’re not saying that mcnamara belongs on the list of the greatest players to never play in the nba. if you are, we need to have a long talk my man.
October 21st, 2009 at 7:55 pm
Blk Caesar says:
Trevor… You just made me spit out an ice cold gulp of “red” kool-aid!!! Now I like Gerry Mc as much as the next guy but there is no way he belongs on a list with Oscar Schimdt.. That’s just hoops blasphemy
October 21st, 2009 at 9:02 pm
Trevor Kapp says:
fellas, like i said maybe it’s a generational thing, but g-mac is by far the best college player i’ve seen in my 11+ years watching to not make the league, skill wise at least.
he scored over 2,000 career points, set the big east record for ft shooting his freshman year, had a game of 43 in the tournament, absolutely carried the team to the big east chip his senior year. what didn’t he do in his career? how many other guys would’ve taken that syracuse team, whose second-best player that year was eric devendorf as a freshman, to the tournament?
fine, so he’s not there athletically. but skill wise, as good as anyone i’ve ever seen not to make it.
October 22nd, 2009 at 9:38 am
illest says:
mcnamara should not be on this list. all he is is a slow white 6′3″ guard who could shoot. if he was 6′6″ he probably would get drafted. but he is too short and slow to get a sniff in the watered down nba, which has become guard dominanted the last 5 years.
ali, i dont care what dampier did in college (he was not a beast at all) he has been a terrible and inconsistent nba player. he never has averaged at least 15 and 10 in a season in college or the nba. how is he a beast? you are buggin on that one. he is what shaq called him….erica. just because he played 13 years doesnt mean he has skills. he was on bad golden state teams and irrelevant on the mavs.
kwame may be one of the worst players in league history despite how wanted he was out of high school.
October 22nd, 2009 at 10:08 am
ali says:
gerry mac was a very good college player trevor, i’m not denying that at all. his exploits in high school in scranton, pennsylvania are legendary and he was one of the top ten players in syracuse history. he was a wonderful complimentary player to melo and warrick as a freshman on that national championship team and his senior run through the big east tourney was classic.
but there’s no way he belongs on the list of the greatest players to never play in the nba.
he didn’t impress playing for orlando’s summer league team in ‘06, and averaged around 10 ppg playing in the d-league in ‘06-’07. he didn’t impress while playing for the 76′ers summer league team that next summer either and got cut from the jazz during training camp last year. and this year, he cut cut from a d-league team.
some players, who do very well in college, just can’t make that next step, just like all the high school phenoms that ride the bench in college.
i would throw him on a list with guys like carolina’s ed cota, chicago’s ronnie fields, boston’s chris herren who was skip’s backcourt mate at fresno, arizona’s miles simon, fab five’s ray jackson, cali’s charles o’bannon, the kid reggie williams from VMI, arkansas’ scotty thurman, seton hall’s shaheen holloway, cali’s kenny ‘bad santa’ brunner, cincy’s steve logan, nyc’s kareem reid, g’town’s joey brown, brooklyn’s booger smith, the kid from boston who played for maryland – mike jones along w/ another terp john gilchrest, patrick ewing jr, the ‘cuse’s billy edelin and stevie thompson, pitt’s brandin knight and jerry mcullough, my man from around the way – conrad “mcnasty” mcrae, the kid who played at uconn briefly – doug wrenn, the kid from the new orleans projects who went to weber state – harold arceneaux, washington heights’s felipe lopez, ohio state’s scoonie penn, the kid from north philly that went to st. joseph’s – marvin o’connor and b-more’s marcus hatten who did it at st john’s.
that’s the list that jerry mac belongs on trevor, recent modern era players that were very could but couldn’t catch a cup of coffee in the league. and btw, this list would be headed by the phenomenal victor paige, the answer’s running mate at g’town and unlv’s superb, ben gordon-esque anderson hunt.
but, i’m sorry, there’s no way on god’s green earth that gerry mac deserves mention on the list with the likes of curtis jones, raymond lewis, oscar schmidt, joe hammond, the goat, hook mitchell, pee wee kirkland and the greats of all greats who never got their chance, for whatever reasons, to play in the nba.
October 22nd, 2009 at 10:24 am
ali says:
ay yo illest,
do you not recall erick dampier leading mississippi state to the SEC tourney title and the final four in ‘96? he was a beast in college.
as a pro, he hasn’t been anything to write home about but, again, you don’t play for 13 years in the nba w/out bringing something of value to the table. his second year in the league, 12 pts and 9 boards. ‘04 in golden state, double-double w/12 points and twelve boards. for the most part, he never played starters minutes but if you project his stats at to 36 minutes per game, over 13 years, that projects to a career double-double avg. granted, he’s no superstar, i ain’t saying that. he’s a 6′11″ role player who gets boards. no shame in that.
and coming out of high school, everybody was willing to draft kwame brown in the top 5.
and as a 21 year old, kwame avg’d 11 pts and 7 boards for the wiz. again, he’s nothing more than a role player, but he is what he is. one of the worst players in league history? i don’t agree. probably one of the the worst #1 picks overall. he’s a bust, in terms of his draft position. no doubt.
October 22nd, 2009 at 10:37 am
funkalot says:
Trevor,
G Mac was a 2 guard in a 1’s body and simply overmatched and underdeveloped for the “L”. A good college player, but as Ali, Illest and Blk Caesar have said, the pro game is a different animal, not dissimilar to College Football, where in most cases the Heisman trophy winner (a good to great college player)is not a first round draft choice or even a star in the NFL.
Ali,
Dampier is this generation’s Jon Knocak, Paul Mokeski or Dave Corzine, a journeyman player, at best. In college he was metza metza, as his running mate Dontae Jones was that dude for Mississippi State. Oh, we can add Adonal Foyle to this list of bustas who have manitained a 10+ year career in the League. It does not certify them as nice, but serviceable.
Please add Chitown’s Billy “The Kid” Harris to the list of greats who never really made the pros or Mike Hermon, who was at Indiana Univ(with General Knight) and who killed in the Chi for sometime on the playgrounds.
October 22nd, 2009 at 10:57 am
ali says:
nobody is this generations paul mokeski. the man stands alone. lol!
October 22nd, 2009 at 11:00 am
ali says:
gosh, can’t a brother be a low level role player nowadays and get some love! ya’ll go for the jugular. hey, i appreciated them skips and fayva joints when moms couldn’t afford pumas and adidas and i see kwame and dampier in the same light.
and during mississippi state’s final four run, dontae jones was catching wreck b/c dampier was a horse down low.
October 22nd, 2009 at 11:20 am
illest says:
ali….he still was not a beast with that state team. yes i do remember it but never was i just amazed at what he was doing when i watched that team in the tourney. as far as kwame…worst in terms of draft position indeed. or larue martin.
wow fayvas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!ali come on yo no low level player gets credit when it comes to this game. you know that.
funk…indeed on foyle.
October 22nd, 2009 at 12:09 pm
funkalot says:
Ali,
Giving these average dudes credit is like saying George Bush was that dude, just because he was President for two terms. It ain’t happening, bruh.
If youse nice, youse nice and if you isnt’ you ain’t.
October 22nd, 2009 at 12:37 pm
funkalot says:
Fellas,
Since Oscar Schmidt is the focus of this feature, it made me ponder who are the greatest non-American ball players ever; who played a significant portion of their basketball careers not in the NBA.
Of course, we can start with Oscar and I would add Sabonis, Kukoc, Radja, Rueben Rodriguez, Jose Ortiz and Saruna Marciulionis, to name a few.
October 22nd, 2009 at 1:25 pm
Blk Caesar says:
Funk,
That’s a great question… I always wonder what Sabonis might have done in the league if he came in his prime.. Wow Dino Radja.. I have not heard or even seen that name in years.. Beantown!
October 22nd, 2009 at 1:39 pm
funkalot says:
Blk Caesar,
Sabonis’ skillset, even at his advanced stage,was pimp.
I would place him in the top 50 of all-time easily.
October 22nd, 2009 at 2:12 pm
ali says:
sabonis, bar none. cease said it, if he’d played in the nba during his prime, he’d easily be a top fiddy selection.
and scrubs need love too fellas. ya’ll never looked around at closing time and said, “That one will just have to do!”?
same concept.
and i don’t care what you say, dampier was nice at miss state.
October 22nd, 2009 at 2:21 pm
illest says:
sabonis was so ill especially in seoul. hes the reason for the dream team.
too much erica dampier discussion for one day.
October 22nd, 2009 at 3:40 pm
ali says:
you harsh today illest. don’t hate on the role players man. everybody can’t be an all-pro. and i’d hold tight on those erica dampier statements. remember what happened to jim rome when he called rams qb jim everett, chrissy everett?
October 22nd, 2009 at 5:37 pm
Dan the Man says:
Phew ! Ali, I’m glad you finally remembered to throw Raymond Lewis aka Ray-Lew in there. This is what Carl Williams owner of the Long Beach Breakers ABA Basketball team had to say about Raymond, “Best shooter EVER PERIOD. No one in the NBA now or ever has shot or will shoot like him. He was magical, impossible what he did. Layup from 30 feet for him and ball wouldn’t even touch the rim as it went thru the basket.”
http://www.raymondlewis.com
October 22nd, 2009 at 6:18 pm
Blk Caesar says:
Jim Rome vs. Jim Everett!!! Now that was entertainment…. I think this has to be the first forum on Eric Dampier I have ever read! Hey at least he is better than Jerome James.
October 22nd, 2009 at 6:27 pm
Dan the Man says:
Ali, another great scorer was “Arkansas Red” Allen, who tore up the L.A. playgrounds. See what Willis Reed said about him: http://www.palmbeachpost.com/sports/content/sports/epaper/2007/02/25/a1b__allen_0225.html
October 22nd, 2009 at 8:37 pm
Dan the Man says:
Ali, Please note:
Joe Weakley Run Shoot & Dunk League in Los Angeles
League’s Leading Scorer
!969 James “Arkansas Red” Allen 35.4
1970 James “Arkansas Red” Allen 33.2
1971 Raymond Lewis 35.0
October 23rd, 2009 at 8:36 am
illest says:
ali….indeed everyone cant be all pro. but erica is terrible no matter how you say it. and the rome thing was comedy.
what about this magic and bird book and magic killing isiah? im sure magic stands by what he said. thats bs if magic is talking about isiah like that. and isiah is right on that 85 all star game. isiah didnt do anything to freeze out jordan.
October 23rd, 2009 at 9:31 am
ali says:
yeah illest, this magic book and strained friendship w/ isiah is taking on a desperate housewives dynamic. i don’t think he froze jordan out per se. mike was the young boy on the come up, but moses, bird and dr j were supposed to get their touches. all players have to pay their dues in their first all star game. if this controversey picks up steam, we’re gonna see them on maury sooner or later. gosh, i just hope if there’s a paternity test that cadillac anderson is not the pappy!
October 23rd, 2009 at 9:51 am
ali says:
and, i promise this is the last time i’m gonna say it, dampier is not terrible. dude goes after the offensive boards and has been a consistent top performer in the league in offensive rebounding, at least from ‘97-’06.
when i think terrible, i think george zidek, matt fish, todd fuller (drafted ahead of kobe and nash, btw), Zarko Cabarkapa, darko (please tell me that i’ll wake up from the nightmare of him on my knicks roster, Dalibor Bagaric and wayne simien.
you want the worst nba player ever, that would be Pavel Podkolzin, the 21st pick in ‘04. he put together the mind numbing career point total of 4. and that was over a two-year span.
October 23rd, 2009 at 10:06 am
illest says:
i definitely want to read the bird magic book because those years between them were the best. i dont care much for the magic isiah gossip. very juvenile.
October 23rd, 2009 at 11:28 am
ali says:
i wanna check seth davis’ book on larry bird and magic as well
October 23rd, 2009 at 12:19 pm
illest says:
ali…the magic bird book bothers me. there has been nothing in basketball the last 30 to 40 years as riveting as the bird magic rivalry from 84-88 with isiah in between those years from 85-89. especially as a kid in the 80s when the knicks were terrible (except for 84). isiah being the only black person (maybe a few more) in the boston garden during the finals taking it in. would you see lebron at the finals if he wasnt playing? not at all. the whole racial dynamic between celts and lakers. the hate between magic and bird. now bird and magic write a book and magic is killing isiah in part of it. they cant call each other and settle it like men. whats the truth? how does laettner get a usa jersey and not isiah? why now is magic coming out with this?
October 23rd, 2009 at 12:22 pm
illest says:
and isiah has hit rock bottom and now magic wants to bash him. isiah ran the knicks, the raptors and the cba. now hes at fiu. magic is a chump for doing that putting personal matters in a book. captivating to me since i lived that rivalry.
October 23rd, 2009 at 3:20 pm
funkalot says:
Illest,
First, I take umbrage (LOL), as I was in the Boston Garden, so Isaiah was not alone and there is a small smattering of “black leprechauns”, who are rabid Celtics fans. I just do not happen to be one of them.
Second, the hate between Bird and Magic subsided after the commercial. Do not get it twisted, they still wanted to “one up” the other, whenever they met, though.
Third, I agree with your comment about Magic using the book as a forum to out his supposed friend “umpteen” years after the fact. It definitely is a cowardly act. I personally do not care for Zeke, as he is a spoiled and petulant dude. But he should have been on that Olympic squad before Laettner, heck Shaq merited strong consideration as the college participant on that squad.
If you add those two, it would have further enhanced the original dream team’s status as the GOAT.
October 25th, 2009 at 5:50 am
Daniele Vecchi says:
I’m italian and I’ve seen several times Oscar’s performance live when I was a child and later, and he was incredible. Simply you can’t stop him. Times are changed, there’s more physical in the game, and I don’t know if he could be the same devastating factor also right now in this ball game, but he was the best shooter I’v seen in my all life, being a deciding factor in all the games he played. He also played at the top level until he was over forty years old.
Respect to Oscar Schmidt.
Peace
Daniele
October 26th, 2009 at 8:56 am
illest says:
funk….i did say a few more than isiah. of course he should of been on that dream team. and there was no point to have laettner or oneal on that team since it was supposed to be pros.