Language of action

Blazers' Arvydas Sabonis quietly refines his NBA fluency

Arvydas Sabonis usually lets his game do the talking. Lately, the 
Trail Blazers' center of few words, in any of the five languages 
he speaks, has had a lot to say.

Sabonis has played well against NBA Shaquille O'Neal, Hakeem 
Olajuwon and Alonzo Mourning.

It has been even more difficult to stop Sabonis off the court than 
on it. Although his English has improved in the last year, the 
Lithuanian star still shies away from interviews.

Even after his play has led the Blazers to victory, the 7-foot-3 
center rarely says more than a sentence or two, if that. Rip City, 
the team's official magazine, has tried for months, without 
success, to pin him down for questions and answers. Always says 
hello with a friendly nod or wink, however, and he seems more
comfortable this season with his surroundings.

The Sabonis family -- which consists of Arvydas; his wife, 
Ingrida; and young Zygimantis, Tautvydas and Domantis -- miss life 
in sunny Spain and the attractions that a bigger city such as 
Madrid has to offer.

But for now, as Sabonis made clear after last week's loss to Miami, 
getting the Blazers back to the playoffs and then winning playoff 
games is uppermost in his mind.

"If I were in Europe, I could tell you how many games we might win 
this season, because I played there for many years," Sabonis said 
through his interpreter, Edis Jurcys of Portland, when asked 
whether Portland finish better than 44-38, last season's record. 
"This being only my second year here, it's very hard for me to say.

"We have young players, very good prospects, very talented players. 
And, of course, this year for the team, it is much better to have 
these new players.

"But I don't know if we are playing better. I think we are playing 
like last year, like waves. The beginning this year was bad, but 
lately we are doing well."

Sabonis said the Blazers' bench is deeper this season.

"Gary Trent is playing better; this year, he is a very serious 
player. And, of course, we now have Rasheed Wallace," Sabonis said.

Are the Blazers good enough to win the NBA championship?

"We have to see first how we do going into the playoffs. And we 
have to get there first. After that, you can ask that question, and 
we can talk about championships," he said.

Sabonis, who turned 32 last month, is the oldest player on the team. 
He is 14 years older than Blazers rookie Jermaine O'Neal and has 10 
years on Wallace, Trent, Dontonio Wingfield and Marcus Brown.

Having been an international star since he was 17, Sabonis also has 
more mileage on his basketball body than some players several years 
older. Yet he continues to play and play hard, despite constant pain 
in his feet and damage earlier in his career to his Achilles' 
tendons and knees.

"In my heart, I feel I'm as young as my teammates," he said. "My 
body is not the same, not like theirs, of course. I cannot jump like 
them, and I am not fast like them, but I have experience and use my 
head. I am a smart player, and my experience helps me to be in good 
position on the court and play good games."

Sabonis said he is playing better and smarter than he did in 1995-96, 
his long-awaited first venture through the NBA.

"The first year was very hard. Everything was new. I had to adjust 
to new rules," he said. "Now I don't think about things like illegal 
defense.

They are more automatic.

"But from another standpoint, it's a little bit harder this season 
because the other teams know me and know how I play, and I have to 
do some new things."

The best part of his game? That depends on the day, he said.

"One day I can shoot three-pointers," he said. "One day I'm good at 
team defense, one day I'm good at offense. One day I can block shots. 
One day I can get rebounds. Some days, not much happens, and I can 
hardly do anything."

Sabonis hasn't had many unproductive days lately. In the last eight 
games, he has led the team in rebounding and averaged 21.4 points and 
10.3 rebounds.

Still, he said, "I have to improve everything. Every day you have to 
improve your game. This is not like building a house. You build a 
house, and you are done. In basketball, you can build and build and 
build. There are no limits."

Too many fouls were a problem for Sabonis early this season.

"I was making mistakes," he said. "Maybe some fouls I didn't do, but 
sometimes I was stupid and was putting my hands where I didn't have 
to put them. Right now, I am trying to be more careful."

The Blazers handled Sabonis with care last season, not starting him 
until the stretch run. He averaged 23.8 minutes per game.

This season, the Blazers are being a little more adventurous. Sabonis 
is starting and playing 26 minutes per game. In the last eight games, 
he has averaged 32.6 minutes.

"I can play five, 10, 20, 30, or whatever -- it depends on the coach,"
he said. "I'm not counting minutes. Whenever the coach tells me, I 
will play."

Sabonis said he doesn't worry about getting hurt or running out of 
energy before the end of the season.

"There is no time to think about injuries, and there is no reason to 
think about that," he said. "Even if you have some pain, you don't 
have to think about that. If you are thinking about that, then you 
are not thinking about the game. And if you thinking about the game, 
you won't be good for the team."

Although noting that European basketball is not as demanding as NBA 
play, Sabonis that he often played 35 or more minutes overseas. And 
he joked about Portland fans' concerns for his health.

"Playing 30 minutes, I hope I won't collapse," he said.

Another concern is assist-to-turnover ratio. A brilliant passer, 
Sabonis has 74 assists but 73 turnovers this season.

"It's very bad," he said. "I have some games where I turn the ball 
over six or seven times, and some games when I don't lose the ball at 
all. I feel bad when I make turnovers, but I'm not paying too much 
attention to the statistics, and I am doing my best to win the games."

ne change is visible in Sabonis this season -- he is not as stoic as 
he once was when referees' calls go against him. He makes a face or 
holds his arms up, as if to ask, "What? Why?"

"I'm not screaming at the referees, I'm screaming at myself, just to 
express myself inside," he said. "Last year, I tried to keep all my 
emotions inside and not express myself. This year, I am expressing 
more. Next year, I don't know if it will be more or less."

Sabonis said he tries not to say anything to the officials, though, 
and he must be doing a good job. He has yet to get a technical foul 
in the NBA.

That's a pleasant surprise for a player who was considered short-
tempered in international competition.

"I didn't complain at the referees at Europe. They complained at me 
because I was too big for them," he said. "Like against Miami, when I 
took the ball from Sasha Danilovic. In Europe, that would be a foul, 
and the referee would be explaining to me, `You are so big, you 
cannot do that. You have to leave the smaller players alone.' "