Jonas Valanciunas said last week that he’s working on improving his quickness and honing his jumpshot. The Raptors have called in Seattle Supersonics legend Jack Sikma to help with Valanciunas’s training.
Here’s Sikma on Valanciunas:
Q: What are you working on with him?
A: Talking with coach Casey, the Raptors would like to see him expand his game, where he has something facing up, not just a back-to-the-basket game. That’s the way I played. I’ve had quite a bit of experience teaching young kids in the league by coaching two or three teams.
Q: Your take on him speeding up his game?
A: There’s two ways to approach that. Number one is physically. I’m sure with the support of the staff, he’s going to get stronger, with his core strength. The other one is to recognize situations, and anticipate a little better, try to get there a little earlier. It’s not just reacting to a situation, but getting to the right spot before it happens and anticipating when it will happen. For bigs, it’s really important and the more time they have in the league, the more time in the league that they have, the more experienced, they better get that. To be in the right position at the rim when there’s someone penetrating, to recognize that it’s coming and to get there in time is really important.
Q: How do you view bigs and the trend of smallball?
A: Well they want to open the floor up. Again, there’s usually one guy inside and Jonas, fortunately, is a good free throw shooter, has good range, it’s not like you have to work on his shot, it’s more working on his balance and pivoting and understanding where these open slots are going to be. And then, to be confident enough to [take the jumper]. I think because of his size, he’s been taught to bang and bang and get close to the basket – and that’s good thing and he’s effective doing that – but he needs more than that if he’s going to last in the game a while.
For all the youngsters (like myself) who aren’t familiar with Sikma, let’s run down his credentials.
Sikma was a seven-time All-Star in the early Eighties with the Supersonics. He was a gifted offensive center who flashed an inside-out game. To give an idea of Sikma’s skill with the jumper, he shot 84.9 percent from the free-throw line and led the league in accuracy at 92.2 percent in 1986-67. Remember, he was a 6-foot-11 center. He even developed a 3-point shot towards the end of his career.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGMHEzY2M8Y
For his career, Sikma averaged 15.6 points, 9.8 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 33.4 minutes per game. For more on Sikma, I refer you to Sonics Rising:
During that span, between 1978 and 1985, only eight players averaged at least 17 points and 11 rebounds. They were Moses Malone, Larry Bird, Ralph Sampson, Hakeem Olajuwon, Artis Gilmore, Jeff Ruland, Robert Parish, and finally, Jack Sikma. With the exception of Ruland, who had only three seasons where he played half the games, all of the rest have been inducted into Springfield.
When you include a three assists criteria into the mix, only Bird, Ruland, and Sikma remain. Throw in one assist and one rebound, and Sikma stands alone.
For those who are not content with a mere look at his prime and place a premium on career totals, Sikma scored 17,287 points (79th in NBA history), gathered 10,816 rebounds (30th) and blocked 1,048 shots (78th). Only twelve hardwood legends ever put up 17,000-10,000-1,000. Eight of them are already in the Hall of Fame. Three of them (Shaquille O’Neal, Tim Duncan, and Kevin Garnett) will surely be. And then there’s Sikma.
Since his retirement, Sikma has served as an assistant head coach for the past decade with the Houston Rockets, Minnesota Timberwolves and Supersonics (RIP). He worked with Yao Ming, and if Jonas could come anywhere close to Yao’s game (or Sikma’s game, for that matter), we should all be delighted.
