Post by Rog on Apr 8, 2018 16:36:19 GMT
The and first from 2030 and 116th nominee for the NBN Hall of Fame, Dario Saric was a curious case of a player. He started off pretty slow in his career before exploding into one of the better SFs in the league and someone who did enough to also play powerforward. Just as quickly as he entered the scene, he excited becoming nothing more than a pure role player late in his career. Was his peak good and long enough to justify his induction, or was he just a great player passing through? Lets take a look.
Career Stats
32.9 MPG, 17.3 PPG, 8.4 RPG, 2.9 APG, 1.5 SPG, 0.6 BPG, 2.0 TOPG on 45.5% From the field, 82.4% from the line, and 43.8% from three
Best Season
Jazz(2023) - 25 PPG, 11.1 RPG, 3.3 APG, 1.4 SPG, 0.8 BPG, 2.0 TOPG on 46.5% from the field, 84.7% from the line, 44.9% from three
Career Highs
Points: 57
Rebounds: 24
Assists: 10
Steals: 9
Blocks: 6
Achievements
Championships: 0
Player of the Game: 78
Player of the Week: 1
Player of the Month: 0
Double Doubles: 409
Triple Doubles: 3
Career Leaderboard Rankings
Games - 80th
Points - 96th
Awards
2013 - All-Star Rookie Game Participant
2014 - All-Star Rookie Game Participant
2015 - All-Star Rookie Game Participant
2025 - All-League Third Team
Arguments for Induction
- Saric's main claim to fame, and his biggest argument here, is his scoring. For seven seasons in a row, Saric scored 20+ points per game. He had five seasons right at or above 24 points per game, making him an elite small forward scorer as you have to remember small forwards have to do it all and normally aren't the elite scorers on the team. His percentages during that time were good too, shooting around 46% from the field, 83% from the line, and 44% from three. You could count on him during his pretty damn impressive peak to really put the ball in the basket well and often.
- Despite being a small forward through and through entering the league, he really developed into a plug and play type player. During several seasons with the Jazz he was used as a power forward, and he rebounded at the 11 range, blocks came up a tad and the team did really well. There are few SFs in league history that would have been any where near as successful at switching to a higher position at any long of a time. A very versatile player who deserves more looks than some of his stats might indicate.
- Again going in on the theme of versatility, there wasn't anything that Saric really just was bad at. He turned it over only at a 2 per game clip, in his prime was a 2 to 1 assist to turnover ratio guy, which is great for a small forward, due to averaging around 4 assists per game. He constantly averaged around 2.5 stocks per game as well during his prime. He always had an A defensive rating, indicating some good under the hood ratings. The guy could do it all.
- Overall, despite pretty bad career numbers, you look at the time when he blew up and see an elite small forward who could do it all. He doesn't have the awards or the numbers, but he was just such a workable piece in a lineup that could give you 24 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, didn't turn it over, was automatic from three and was a good to great defender. That is a guy that you want on your team, leading the way. He is a Hall of Famer.
Arguments Against Induction
- Seriously, take a look at his awards, both yearly and weekly/monthly awards and tell me this is a Hall of Famer, and I'll go back and look at your vote history pointing out guys with more awards you turned down due to their awards.
- He averaged over 20 points for only half of his entire career. He is 96th, 96TH!, in points. He was not an elite scorer save for 2 years and while his percentages were good they simply weren't amazing. His career average of 17 points per game is very average. He had six seasons in his career averaging under 12 points a game, is that a Hall of Famer? I really don't think so. At least its not something that you can call upon as a real reason for his induction.
- Versatility doesn't make a Hall of Famer, it makes a guy who was good but wasn't elite at anything. Averaging 2+ turnovers a game at SF or PF is bad. The assists are good but don't really matter. He rebounded good for a small forward, poor for a power forward meaning he shouldn't have played there and was a negative. 2.5 stocks is decent, especially for a small forward, but he doesn't have any awards at either position so can you call him a good defender? No. On and on and on you can go with his versatility and pick it apart.
- Saric had some good years, even two great years where if he kept that up he would have been a lock. But no awards besides one Third team, no championships, doesn't come with dominant statistics, and his big claim to fame can be picked apart relatively easily. What do you rest your case with him on? Regardless, its a pretty weak case that doesn't deserve much consideration because Saric simply stated is not a Hall of Famer.
Vote carefully, and remember to throw out arguments regardless of which side you're on. This should be a discussion that eventually gets the league to the proper decision on him. Your vote can also be retracted after it's been cast if you feel like switching to the other side based on the arguments that have been made. To be inducted, a player needs 70% and to be considered in a later class they need 50%. Vote carefully.
***BONUS - Don't forget that everyone who votes gets $25 and the person that makes the best argument or contributes to the discussion the best will be awarded an extra $25***
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