Why Dimitris Diamantidis would have found success in the NBA / News - Basketnews.com

Dimitris Diamantidis is one of the most decorated European players of all time.

Nicknamed 'the Octopus' for his long hands and defensive force, the Panathinaikos OPAP Athens legend spent all of his pro career in Greece, where he racked up every trophy and individual award imaginable.

The accolades don't stop there, but the real question is, could Diamantidis have succeeded in the NBA had he chosen to go there?

Augustas Suliauskas from BasketNews takes a look at what could have been the winning principle for the Greek point guard in the NBA and which traits would have helped Diamantidis make it to the grand stage.

For many years, Diamantidis was described as the best European not playing in the NBA. He remained loyal to PAO, while the likes of Vassilis Spanoulis and Sarunas Jasikevicius tried to find their luck in the States and came back empty-handed.

The Greek was a team-first player, so playing for a title-contending team where a smart coach knows how to utilize his best abilities coming from the bench would have been the most likely solution.

Having a 16-20 minute average on a winning team with something like 7.0 points, 3.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 1.5 steals per game could be considered nothing but a successful NBA career.

Jasikevicius had a similar stat line in Indiana. Still, that team was not even close to being a real contender for the NBA title, and Saras himself lasted only 2 years overseas.

Diamantidis was a complete all-around player who could cover the first 3 positions both on offense and defense.

His game was never about himself - he played basketball in a completely selfless way, doing simple and right things on the court. Flashy passes or crazy dribble combos were rare, yet his trophy case is one of the longest in all of Europe.

Diamantidis was never the fastest or most explosive player on the court - maybe that was the reason why his playing style always revolved around including others, especially the bigs.

The other major reason for it was Zeljko Obradovic - the greatest European coach ever.

The Serbian coach enjoys using mismatch situations near the rim, and Diamantidis was more than ideal for that kind of basketball.

If he wasn't completely open to shoot, Dimitris' first thought was to look inside. All the big men had to do was seal their man, and the ball would arrive.

Diamantidis was also a decent pick-and-roll creator. He evolved through the years as a passer, with his vision getting better and better.

Diamantidis recognized the situations and created advantages with skip passes and kick-outs outside. His size and strength allowed these skip passes to fly over the court fastly, generating open three-pointers or closeout situations where the defenders were put at a huge disadvantage.

Scoring by himself was never the playmaker's strongest side. Nevertheless, Diamantidis lived by taking efficient shots, such as open 3-pointers with his feet set and well in rhythm.

This would have been a critical aspect of his NBA success - with superstars around, shooting is as important as ever.

Winning always starts on the other side of the court. The 6'5 foot (1.96-meter) point guard was a defensive nightmare for opposing players.

Diamantidis' combination of solid lateral speed, size, and incredible wingspan for his position was usually used to defend the best perimeter players on each team.

The Greek knew how to faceguard and not allow small forwards to receive the ball, he could steal entry passes to the post and was extremely hard to beat in 1 on 1 situations.

He was even better in team defense. The playmaker was amazing in positioning himself on the court - when needed, his help always would arrive in time or even before, resulting in a steal - even 6 years after he finished his career, Dimitris is still #1 in the all-time Euroleague steals list with a significant advantage over the second place.

Diamantidis' influence on the court was enormous, which allowed him to become one of the most decorated players ever.

His tremendous defensive skills, smart offensive play, and efficient shooting would have proven useful for multiple teams in the NBA. It's a pity the fans never got to see him on the grandest stage of all.

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