The young Akeem would be great, basically cyborg Capela on steroids. Old Hakeem wouldn't really exist today.
One of our biggest signings in the last 12 years was Dwight Howard. How easily we forget when we don’t like stats.
Bucks are good and a matchup problem, especially when we go away from the PNR. I think we will find that Capela and Chandler will be getting us lots of low post buckets.
Young Hakeem would indeed be a cyborg. Imagine Cyborg And Beard on the pick & roll. That would be insane. But prime Hakeem like when he was winning mvp and ships would still be the most polished and skilled player in the league and arguably its top player.
Agreed but I think he meant just in terms of running the p&r. Dream in terms of peak production and ability is easily a top 5 player. MJ’s respect for Hakeem is a telling sign. MJ might not be a great owner or gm or coach but his respect is not something that’s easy to earn.
I agree. The game used to be super restricted for big men. But if Hakeem was given the freedom to handle the ball, I think he would have worked hard and developed the skills to also attack from the perimeter. In many ways, as great as Hakeem was, the conventions of his era held him back. He could have been a much better cross between AD and Giannis. On top of that Hakeem became much more refined and developed incredible touch with his mid range and could even shoot from beyond the Arc in the 90s. Imagine if he was encouraged to shoot the 3....
This article goes into why the thought of post-ups being so "infefficient" came about. It's not that they can't score, it's because they usually bog the offense down and relies on 1-on-1 play, and there just aren't that many talented big men like a Hakeem or Shaq to take advantage of it. Like others have said, if we had a Jokic, I'm sure he'd be a cog in this offense with his passing. BTW, the article also mentions Nene and Carmelo, but keep in mind it's a 6 year old article. https://grantland.com/the-triangle/how-efficient-is-a-post-up-play/
I've been saying we need a low post scorer forever... and I get a buncha rabble about 'todays NBA evolving... blah blah blah... the big man play is dead... blah blah blah...' The prob with this view - and how we gameplan is we run everything to the nth degree... fouls best = highest %... 3 > 2... gotta be able to change onto a guard and defend.... and there's no respect to situation - and we have one of the worst in game coaches in MDA (yes, i know he has his attributes... he's an offensive genius and all that... but in game coaching/adjusting is his shortcoming - deal with it...lol)... You need to be able to play the situation - its not all an algebra equation... I'm not saying we should gameplan to feed the post all game long... but enough to keep the defense honest and not playing up on our shooters all game... plus when its crunch time of a tight game - we need a bread butter keep the scoreboard moving option... 3 ball aint falling... Harden or WB arent getting the calls on drives... we need somebody who can play through contact and finish with 2 hands at the rim! Even if its overall a more inefficient play - its better than continuing to chuck bricks and praying the next one falls... depends on the situation... I'd hoped CC would develop into this option... but as great as he can be on the alley oops - he cant be trusted to put it on the floor and create with any consistency during crunch time... Thats why so many are enthralled with House - he's shown flashes where he can put the ball on the floor - and finish at the rim... side note - the other argument is always spacing... but there are situations where Harden aint driving... we've all seen it... we're gonna dribble dribble this ball out on the perimeter for awhile - and then shoot a 3... he's not crouched dribbling like he might go around you - he's standing upright dribbling - just figuring out where he's gonna make his space to get off this shot... why cant we have a bigger rebounder in there at those points?
We don’t need a low post scorer, we need a big that can pick and pop. DMo had he stayed healthy and steered clear of ‘knowing his rights’ was actually a solid player for us back in 14-15. And he had a post game to boot. Again, we need a big that can shoot. Someone like an Ibaka.
Anthony Davis, Jokic, Montrezl Harrel, Kawhi, Aldridge, Brook Lopez, Gasol, Draymond, and I'm sure the new Barkley AKA Zion Williams, ....
Mostly good names. I don't think Draymond has much of a post game and I think Montrezl is more similar to Capela than he is to Dream or the Admiral. But even if we give those guys the nod it's still a very short list consisting entirely of people making the max or about to make the max. Marc Gasol is the only one of them I could imagine possibly being made available.
Clint should develop a little jump hook around the basket. Think of every time he gets the ball down low and can't do shxt 'cause a defender is blocking his way to the basket, I just smh.