Damn Dream going off on post game haters :grin: http://www.foxsports.com/nba/story/hakeem-olajuwon-small-ball-post-play-isn-t-dead-121015
Nah, it's really just that Dream had the best post game. If you have a finesse post game like Dream had then you could still dominate in the low post in today's game. Definitely so. Dream had power and post game, really when big men want to learn how to play down there just watch Dream. No need to watch anyone else. BUT...the call the game differently now. If Dwight gets a smaller player on him he doesn't have the finesse to hook it over that guy. When Dwight gets a smaller guy on him the smaller guy will take one or two bumps, flop, and the refs will call Dwight for Charging. That's how they call the game nowadays. Power post players just don't get a chance any more. All of the best low power scorers are finesse guys. No one bangs anymore unfortunately. Hakeem is right though, just that there is no one in the NBA with even 25% of his post skill. Which is a shame.
Dwight Howard looks so terrible in the post... it has took a toll on the leagues understanding of how relevant and important post game is.
this sounds more like a penisclubber post. is that you? you have fake accounts? and no, green would have to retire if he had to guard prime hakeem. he fortunate to live in the era of soft jump shooting bigs
Recently addressed this topic Hakeem is right. McHale made a similar comment about Draymond guarding him. "He's just not tall enough" It's always silly when guys argue the ineffectiveness of post game nowadays by using Dwight (the greatest center in last decade) as an example. There were about 15 better post players than him in the 90's and all would dominate Green. Dwight struggles to get position, shoot a hook, maintain possession, shoot a jumper, shoot a FT... basically EVERYTHING involved in offense. The cold part is, despite all his flaws, if he could JUST SHOOT 65+ FT%, he might already have a championship. If anyone argues today's ineffectiveness of low post, use a different example than Dwight.
If by "a lot of trouble" you mean averaging 26.9 ppg, 3.6 assists, and 9 rebounds while shooting 50% from the field and throwing in 3.9 blocks and 1.6 steals while carrying the defense, then yeah. Mason "gave" Hakeem "a lot" of "trouble." I also "have" some "land" in Florida to "sell" you. That Knicks team is often mentioned as one of the greatest defensive teams in history, if not the greatest, and Hakeem destroyed it.
Of all the legendary big men, Hakeem would have thrived under today's rules. He would have shot more threes, but he would have thrived. Every other big man from that era (Ewing, Robinson, Shaq, Kemp, Parrish, Mourning, Rik Smits) sees their numbers go down. David Stern and Adam Silver have made a concerted effort to take the ball out of the hands of the big man and into the hand of the scrawny runt that NBA fans can identify more with. They tried to do it first with Nash, and now their dreams have been fulfilled in the form of Curry. Hell, even Aaron Brooks almost scored 20ppg at one point! What did all of these players have in common? They don't play a lick of defense, and the new hand checking rules allow them to do whatever the hell they want in the paint without repercussions. It's a shame, especially because Houston has traditionally been THE big man sports city.
That's what p!sses me off about Shaq calling out Dwight. In today's game Shaq would be Dwight. Shaq's game was get the ball down low & butt bump his way to the basket for a dunk. I'll always have images of Shaq throwing his butt into Sabonis' belly & moving him back a foot. That wasn't a foul back then. Today Shaq would foul out the 6th time he had the ball.
Olajuwon was Mr. Points from the Paint! He was the creator of my moniker, and all things around the basket. The Man was silky smooth at his craft.